How Is Raphael Presented In The Book Trash

Trash Literary Response
Whilst reading the book trash, observations were made that indicate that that main characters in this text make decisions based on their own choices. These people choose for themselves and don’t let society influence their choices. Gabriel Olondriz is one of these characters. He had done something so large that it ended with him receiving a life sentence to Colva Prison. “I had so much evidence. Unfortunately for me, I was naive. My office was raided. The same night, there was a terrible fire at my house.” This quote was found on page 116. The so called crime that Gabriel had committed was trying to prove that the Senator had been stockpiling money in his house. Despite all that Gabriel would have to face, he was not …show more content…
Although his attempt was not successful, he tried to do what he thought was right. And his decisions were his own, not of society or the Senator. Gabriel is not the only person in this story who has a mind of his own. Another notable character in this text is, Raphael Fernandes. Raphael goes to great lengths to achieve goals that he has set for himself. “I sat shaking in the rain, and I knew for sure now that we had to go to Colva Prison to deliver the letter.” This quote can be found on page 78. Raphael has been following the lead of a deceased man whose wallet he’d found in the trash. Later on, Raphael learns that the police had killed Jose Angelico, the man in question, during an interrogation. Raphael knew that this was wrong, and that Jose Angelico did not have to be killed. He knows that no matter how much bad that someone has done, they do not deserve to die. His determination leads him to find a letter addressed to someone who is a prisoner of Colva Prison. Even after he finds out where the letter has to go, and addresses all the risks that go along with going to the prison, his goals have not wavered. He will have to go to a place surrounded by guards, and the risk of getting caught there will go up at least …show more content…
He is willing to risk it all to do what he thinks is right. Anyone else would think that he was crazy for wanting so bad to do the right thing, but Raphael isn’t influenced by other people. Raphael makes his own decisions as well as Gabriel Olondriz, and they can both think for themselves. The third and most prime example of this theory is another occurrence with Raphael in the text. ”All I could shout was no. Gardo had asked me - Rat too - did I come close to giving in? And the truth is no, I did not.” This quote can be found on page 69 of the book. As we know, Raphael was keeping information from the police, and because of this he had acted suspicious. The police noticed this suspicion and had came to arrest him for interrogation. The interrogation involved a large amount of beatings. THe police even went as far as to hang Raphael out of the window, twice. By the end of it, the police could not get anything out of Raphael. He was severely bleeding and begging for his life the entire way through. Despite all of the pain that was surging through his body, he would not give in. He knew that if he told the police where the bag was, it would be over. Everything that Jose Angelico had done to try to make things right