The Rent Collector by Camron Wright Analysis

Does perseverance and kindness lead to personal betterment and help advance the people around them? Perseverance is the ability to continue on in spite of obstacles as well as other hardships. A large part of the overall book is someone just being kind.  The Rent Collector is a beautifully written story about Sang Ly, her husband, and son who live in a dump called Stung Meanchey. Sang Ly quickly learns in the beginning of the book that their short-tempered and drunken rent collector named Sopeap Sin. Nisay . The book conveys the theme that standing up and persevering from our previous defeats, and being kind to others through those hardships can not only improve our own lives, but the lives of the people around us. 

Being able to persevere through medical and financial hardships will lead to eventual growth and betterment as a person. In the book The Rent Collector Sang Ly has taken her son Nisay to a healer in her old village. While the healer finishes his work Sopeap says, “The healer then speaks words that cause my eyes to tear. ‘It is over’” (Wright 197). Therefore, after the healer has poked and prodded at Nisay, he was finally able to overcome the prominent danger of him dying at such a young age. Furthermore, Sang Ly’s ability to overcome the medical obstacles with her son has made her stronger. Throughout the entirety of someone trying to help with something like medical scares it’s important to have some sort of faith that you will be able to persevere and get through hard times. Having the mindset that things will get better will lead to betterment as a person and help others take example from it. Through the book Sang Ly struggles to pay for rent and other necessities. During chapter 12 Sang Ly explains, “‘The only extra we have is the money we are saving for next month's rent.’ Sopeap’s voice hardens. ‘are you asking if I think helping this girl, a stranger to us both, is more important than you paying rent?’…’Yes,’ I say. ‘I am.’ There is no mistake in her tone. ‘I won’t allow you to use your rent’ ‘But Sopeap…’ Abruptly she reaches into her pocket and removes a tight roll of money, as if she expected this all along, and passes it to me ‘This should be sufficient. However, offer it only to those you can trust-for the girl’s sake.’… I am so taken aback, I say nothing” (Wright 98). Besides the fact that Sopeap Sin may be a drunk, she has the ability to feel for someone deeply enough to the point where she will give someone anything to help save someone even if it means nothing in return for her. Helping someone through a difficult situation even when it means you may not get anything in return would have such an impact on a person going through a hard time. Just like giving a couple dollars to someone who is homeless, or something smaller such as smiling at someone from school passing them in the hallway. You have an impact on everyone around you especially when you or them are going through some time of obstacle in life. 

By being positive when going through hardships you are able to improve your self awareness. During the beginning of the book we learn that Sang Ly and her family live in a dump called Stung Meanchey. Here she is describing what she actually finds beautiful about her home, “I don’t intend to portray the place as miserable or entirely without joy. On the contrary-in spite of its hardships, there are slivers of time when life at the dump feels normal, almost beautiful” (Wright 6). In other words, Sang Ly finds her home beautiful in so many different ways, and she also sees the faults in her home. As a result of taking something that may at first sight be different from what we experience in our lives, and making it seem beautiful will be able to let you see the brighter things of life. Being able to be positive throughout life and going through hardships with a positive mindset will increase your self awareness. Within each chapter of the book we learn more about the characters and we watch them develop as people throughout the book. In chapter 2 Sang Ly explains a little bit more about her situation, “The drivers of the monster bulldozers that push the trash into piles for several days. Other times, a beautiful shelter, painstakingly crafted during the better part of a morning, may be nothing but a mix of flattened hope and moldering trash a day later. It’s a lesson that is learned early at Stung Meanchey-and yet, it’s a lesson not of discouragement but rather of persistence. Just as ants do when their nest is disturbed, we return survey the damage, and without hesitation immediately get to work rebuilding” (Wright 11). To rephrase it, where Sang Ly finds herself has put her in a position where she must be persistent and be able to come back and start fixing the damage of what was done whether that be mentally or physically. Within the world everyone is given some sort of challenge, some more difficult than others. When going through a mental block a person must be prepared to face the fact that they need persistence and patience that they must continue to rebuild their life or whatever challenges a person may be faced with. Someone may believe that failure is final when we know that we are able to recover. Success however is also not final, our small victories can be reversed as easily as we had achieved them. People must learn that they need perseverance and patience as just a basic life skill.