In the novel, The Rent Collector, by Camron Wright, a very special type of happy ending exists. This ending beautifully exemplifies the moral growth of the main character, Soriyan, who has lost her identity only to gain it back at the end of the story. The character Sang Ly instrumentally brings about this transformation that becomes so significant throughout the story. This particular type of happy ending greatly satisfies the reader, and teaches a moral lesson. In The Rent Collector, the teacher, Soriyan Song, exemplifies a protagonist who undergoes, at the last minute of life, a major spiritual awakening that offers the reader an enduring and fulfilling happy ending through moral development. When Sang Ly asks Sopeap, “Will you teach
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The choice of Sopeap’s family to give honor and gratitude to Soriyan uplifts the reader. Soriyan even teaches this to Sang Ly by using the words of Buddha to exemplify the importance of the choice of one’s words. Soriyan explains, “Even Buddha said ‘Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care, for people will hear them and be influence by them for good or ill’” (107). This lesson clearly speaks to the reader throughout the relationship between Sang Ly and her teacher and in the coming together of Soriyan and the family of the real Sopeap Sin. Before Sang Ly asks Sopeap to teach her to read, before Sopeap moves to Stung Meanchey, before Sopeap starts going by the name of Sopeap, she calls herself Soriyan Song. Soriyan, a teacher during the time before the power of the Khmer Rouge, loses her sense of self in the guilt that she carries over her housekeeper’s sacrifice and the death of her husband and infant son. Only she survives because her housekeeper Sopeap dies in her place. Soriyan then spends her life in remorse posing as Sopeap. She gives up on literature and drinks her life away (57). Before Sopeap teaches Sang Ly, she thinks she has no one. In fact, she tells Heng Rengsey, “that she was all …show more content…
Also, learning from and applying a moral lesson to one’s life enriches literature. Stories with happy endings that include a spiritual and moral awakening have become a vital part of the human experience because they leave the reader with more than just a happy ending. In the novel, The Rent Collector, the author, Camron Wright, brings his main character along a path of moral development that both inspires good will and teaches a life lesson about choices. Guilt and attempting to escape from one’s problems makes for a miserable life. These feelings must be replaced, through hard work and effort, and by forgiveness and purpose in order to live a fulfilling
The choice of Sopeap’s family to give honor and gratitude to Soriyan uplifts the reader. Soriyan even teaches this to Sang Ly by using the words of Buddha to exemplify the importance of the choice of one’s words. Soriyan explains, “Even Buddha said ‘Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care, for people will hear them and be influence by them for good or ill’” (107). This lesson clearly speaks to the reader throughout the relationship between Sang Ly and her teacher and in the coming together of Soriyan and the family of the real Sopeap Sin. Before Sang Ly asks Sopeap to teach her to read, before Sopeap moves to Stung Meanchey, before Sopeap starts going by the name of Sopeap, she calls herself Soriyan Song. Soriyan, a teacher during the time before the power of the Khmer Rouge, loses her sense of self in the guilt that she carries over her housekeeper’s sacrifice and the death of her husband and infant son. Only she survives because her housekeeper Sopeap dies in her place. Soriyan then spends her life in remorse posing as Sopeap. She gives up on literature and drinks her life away (57). Before Sopeap teaches Sang Ly, she thinks she has no one. In fact, she tells Heng Rengsey, “that she was all …show more content…
Also, learning from and applying a moral lesson to one’s life enriches literature. Stories with happy endings that include a spiritual and moral awakening have become a vital part of the human experience because they leave the reader with more than just a happy ending. In the novel, The Rent Collector, the author, Camron Wright, brings his main character along a path of moral development that both inspires good will and teaches a life lesson about choices. Guilt and attempting to escape from one’s problems makes for a miserable life. These feelings must be replaced, through hard work and effort, and by forgiveness and purpose in order to live a fulfilling