Waste Picking (Symbol)
The waste picking the novel's protagonists spend every day engaged in is symbolic of extreme income inequality. The boys risk injury to find anything of value in the trash that wealthier members of society have discarded without a thought. While certain characters have sympathy for the extreme poverty in which the boys live, others, such as the police, treat the boys as though they are trash themselves. Rather than direct disgust toward the broken system that has led to people struggling to survive among garbage, the police are prejudiced against the boys, as though they chose their circumstances.
Rented Graves (Symbol)
The cubby-like grave boxes that poor families rent at the Navaro Cemetery symbolize how the humiliations of income inequality continue into the afterlife. While rich people purchase burial plots in the regular side of the graveyard, the poor rent stacked concrete boxes that are just big enough to fit a coffin. A wall separates the rich and poor sides, further emphasizing the economic divide. When a family stops paying the rent on a grave box, the undertakers pull out the corpse and leave it in a corner, treating the body with little more regard than a pile of fallen leaves.
“It is Accomplished” (Motif)
The phrase “It is accomplished” is a recurring motif in the novel. The message is said to be the final words Jesus spoke on the cross before dying, suggesting that he fulfilled his role in sacrificing himself for the sins of humanity. These are also the words that close the letter the boys find with the money. The use of the phrase underscores the spiritual themes the novel addresses and suggests that José Angelico takes inspiration from Christ in accomplishing his goal of undermining his corrupt employer. Having done what he set out to do, Angelico is resigned to meet his fate at the hands of the corrupt police he knows will come for him.
José Angelico (Symbol)
José Angelico is a symbol of Christ-like self-sacrifice. Although Angelico is already dead before the story begins, he maintains a significant presence in the boys' consciousnesses as they seek to carry out his wishes and honor his legacy of knowingly endangering his own life to better the lives of society's most maligned members. To further emphasize Angelico's symbolic connection to Christ, Mulligan has him die at thirty-three, the same age Jesus is said to have been when crucified. The symbolic resonance permeates the entire story, as José Angelico's letters guide his apostles to spread his gospel of equality.
Hook (Symbol)
The hook Gardo and all dumpsite boys keep on them is a symbol of how they've come to accept danger as normal. As boys living in unsecured homes among desperately poor people, the threat of being robbed or attacked is a constant. When going to meet the prison guard to buy Gabriel's Bible, Gardo comments on how he is reassured to have his sharpened hook with him, adding that "it was sharp all down the edge, because I have had to fight before, and cursed when I had nothing." The hook proves vital when the prison guard attempts to trap Gardo at the teahouse and Gardo frees himself by slashing the man's face.
