Manipulation Of The Poor In Andy Mulligan's Trash

In the novel Trash, by Andy Mulligan, the poor often manipulate others to get what they need. There are examples of this in the real world around us, and Andy Mulligan decided to use that in his novel. In Trash, children and adults that live in Behala are poor. Kids manage to get by picking plastic out of nasty landfills. Some of the children do not even get to eat, for they are too poor and dirty to be sold food. Because of this, they manipulate people in better situations than themselves to get money, clothes, etc. In this book, Rat manipulates Father Juilliard multiple times, Gardo takes advantage of Sister Olivia, and Jose Angelico betrays the Senator’s trust and deceives him.
In Trash, Rat takes advantage of Father Juilliard even though he cares for him. Father Juilliard shows his emotion about the situation, “Raphael and Gardo were smart. But little Jun…. Rat. What he did took my breath away.” (Mulligan 91) The author illustrates

Father Juilliard’s disappointment when he depicts the boys taking advantage of the computer at Behala Mission School. “I would never take much, just a hundred or so, hoping father Juilliard would never miss it, and if he did, he’d think he’d miscounted.” (Mulligan 160) Rat manipulates Father Juilliard a second time and steals money from the safe to use for the boys adventure, which exemplifies his betrayal to Father Juilliard. While this is a great example of manipulation, there are others that can be found throughout Trash.
Another instance where the poor take advantage of others is when Gardo manipulates Sister Olivia. “Again, the prices stunned me,” (Mulligan 90) says Sister Olivia about spending money on Gardo’s new clothes. Gardo, another dumpsite boy, takes advantage of Sister Olivia’s kindness when she spends a lot of money on a brand new outfit for him “I must admit, I felt slightly sick. The day was costing me a fortune,” (Mulligan 98) exclaims Sister Olivia. She ended up spending close to 11,000 pesos just to get Gardo into the prison. The author depicts her frustration with this quote. Even though this is a fantastic example of the poor taking advantage of others, more examples can be located.
Jose Angelico manipulates the Senator and his staff in this novel.

He does this by stealing six million dollars from the house of Senator Zapatana, a fat man who does not care about the impoverished. The gardener of the Senator laughs as he tells the boys about how the money was stolen. “How did you let your houseboy walk out of the door with six million dollars?” he questions. (Mulligan 136) Jose works for the senator for years all the while planning to deceive him by stealing the money. Senator Zapatana’s gardener also declares that Jose just talks his way past all of the guards at the gate and takes the money freely. (Mulligan 138) Jose knows that he is taking advantage of the staff and the Senator for the good of the population of Behala. The author chooses this example to portray the poor manipulating others because it shows how someone can conceal their true motives with a false exterior. Jose comes up with a plan to rob the Senator for the good of the poor of Behala, and hides his intentions with a false exterior for

years.
Rat, Gardo, and Jose Angelico, three of the poor in Behala, each manipulate others for personal benefit throughout this book. The author clarifies that Rat deceives Father Juilliard twice in the novel by stealing money and misusing the computer in the Mission School. Also in Trash, it is exposed that Gardo takes advantage of Sister Olivia because she spends over 11,000 pesos on him one day. Finally, Jose Angelico manipulates the Senator and robs him of six million dollars. These are all examples of the poor taking advantage of others. Andy Mulligan made this apparent in his novel because it proves how desperate the people really are. He is showing that their dishonesty and manipulation is not always bad, because it is the only thing they can do to survive.