Robin Sharma once said “Words can inspire and words can destroy, choose yours well.” Words are an interesting invention, they’re how we communicate, express ourselves, and inspire others. Words will always be with us even when we have nothing. The Rent Collector is a book about Sang Ly, a girl in a Cambodian dump who learns how to read to make a better life for her family. Through her experience she learns how important words are. The theme for The Rent Collector is words are powerful, for they can change lives and lift us out of our struggles.
Words have the ability to influence people's lives. On page 107, Sopeap quotes Buddha, “Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care, for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good …show more content…
“We are literature--our lives, our hopes, our desires, our despairs, our passion, our strengths, our weaknesses… Literature has been called a handbook for the art of being a human” (93). Words express our deepest thoughts, they are what makes us human. We cling to them for strength and put all our emotion into them. Even though Sopeap lost everything during the Cambodian Genocide, she was able to keep going through the literature that she had with her. Literature gives us our humanity, they help people feel empathy for other humans. Literature enables us to tell our stories even to future generations. “Sopeap taught me that stories are all around us, that we are swimming in literature… literature is about us--our hopes and dreams, our trials and struggles” (177) Everyone we meet has a story that we can benefit from, at this moment in the book, Sang Ly realizes that literature does not have to be written, it can be found by talking to people, “friends, neighbors, strangers, enemies” (177). This shows how much literature is in all aspects of life, not just in the books …show more content…
“Words, Sang Ly, are not only powerful, they are more valuable than gold… While gold may pay the doctor's bill, words have already helped save the child” (106-107). You can have all the riches you could ever imagine yet, without words it all means nothing. Everything is worthless if you can't communicate and express yourself. On the contrary, if you have nothing, with words everything will be okay. On page 107, Sopeap tells Sang Ly, “Words are also like ropes… we use them to pull ourselves up, but if we are not careful, they can also bind us down--at times by our own doing.” Just as words that others say can influence us, the words we tell ourselves or that we choose to read will have the same effect. The things we tell ourselves in the mirror or the thoughts that we have can at times be even more influential than other because we take our own advice most often and our thoughts stay in our brain longer.
If you need to get out of a struggle, the most important thing you can have is literature and words. The Rent Collector proves this point repeatedly throughout the book. Sang Ly finally learns how important literature is at the end of the book. Just as words can be helpful to you, they can be just as helpful to other. Remember that when you are choosing your
Words have the ability to influence people's lives. On page 107, Sopeap quotes Buddha, “Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care, for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good …show more content…
“We are literature--our lives, our hopes, our desires, our despairs, our passion, our strengths, our weaknesses… Literature has been called a handbook for the art of being a human” (93). Words express our deepest thoughts, they are what makes us human. We cling to them for strength and put all our emotion into them. Even though Sopeap lost everything during the Cambodian Genocide, she was able to keep going through the literature that she had with her. Literature gives us our humanity, they help people feel empathy for other humans. Literature enables us to tell our stories even to future generations. “Sopeap taught me that stories are all around us, that we are swimming in literature… literature is about us--our hopes and dreams, our trials and struggles” (177) Everyone we meet has a story that we can benefit from, at this moment in the book, Sang Ly realizes that literature does not have to be written, it can be found by talking to people, “friends, neighbors, strangers, enemies” (177). This shows how much literature is in all aspects of life, not just in the books …show more content…
“Words, Sang Ly, are not only powerful, they are more valuable than gold… While gold may pay the doctor's bill, words have already helped save the child” (106-107). You can have all the riches you could ever imagine yet, without words it all means nothing. Everything is worthless if you can't communicate and express yourself. On the contrary, if you have nothing, with words everything will be okay. On page 107, Sopeap tells Sang Ly, “Words are also like ropes… we use them to pull ourselves up, but if we are not careful, they can also bind us down--at times by our own doing.” Just as words that others say can influence us, the words we tell ourselves or that we choose to read will have the same effect. The things we tell ourselves in the mirror or the thoughts that we have can at times be even more influential than other because we take our own advice most often and our thoughts stay in our brain longer.
If you need to get out of a struggle, the most important thing you can have is literature and words. The Rent Collector proves this point repeatedly throughout the book. Sang Ly finally learns how important literature is at the end of the book. Just as words can be helpful to you, they can be just as helpful to other. Remember that when you are choosing your