The Rent Collector

CHAPTERS 1-9

Reading Check

1. “[P]atience and persistence” (Chapter 1)

2. “[G]arbology” or trash-sifting (Chapter 2)

3. Because she is too drunk (Chapter 4)

4. The Rent Collector, Cow, and Teacher (Chapter 5)

5. To teach him how to write his name (Chapter 6)

6. “Samnang” (i.e., “luck”) (Chapter 7)

Short Answer

1. Sang Ly lives in a shed alongside Stung Meanchey, which is “the largest municipal waste dump in Phnom Penh, indeed in all of Cambodia.” Although life is difficult—with constant fear of toxic water, rashes, and pollution—Sang Ly notes that “in spite of its hardships, there are slivers of time when life at the dump feels normal, almost beautiful.” (Chapter 1)

2. Sang Ly and her husband, Ki, are unable to pay the rent because Nisay needed expensive medicine. Ki is confident he will be able to collect the money owed on the same day from searching in the dump; however, he is robbed and stabbed by one of the gang’s dumps, forcing him to find medical care and leaving them without the money. (Chapter 2)

3. Sopeap asks to buy the book from Sang Ly, but Sang Ly says it was a gift. As a result, Sopeap does not charge them the rest of the month’s rent, and Sang Ly asks if Sopeap can teach her how to read. (Chapter 3)

4. “Koah kchol,” which means “to scrape air,” is an ancient Cambodian health remedy “to bring toxic air to the body’s surface and restore the natural balance of hot and cold.” Since Nisay is a sickly child who suffers from diarrhea, Sang Ly uses it to alleviate the pain, as the Western medicine she was previously given had since run out. (Chapter 5)

5. After Sang Ly learns how to read, she explains to Sopeap that she wants to study literature. Sopeap is initially dismissive of the idea. After giving Sang Ly homework to find a piece of “literature” and embarking on a political analysis with her, Sopeap agrees to continue their lessons—as long as they are done quickly, as she is making plans to leave the dump. (Chapters 8-9)

CHAPTERS 10-18

Reading Check

1. “[T]hat to stay alive in the world, it’s best to lie low, mind your own business and let the others do the fighting” (Chapter 10)

2. Aesop (Chapter 10)

3. “Literature should be loved.” (Chapter 11)

4. “Fight ignorance with words. Fight evil with your knife.” (Chapter 13)

5. Snails (Chapter 16)

6. The assault of Lucky Fat (Chapter 17)

Short Answer

1. Lucky Fat asks Sang Ly to help his friend Maly, who has just received her first menstrual cycle. After Sang Ly shares with her the important information of menstruation, Maly and Lucky Fat share with her that Maly’s brother will now sell her into prostitution for money. (Chapter 10)

2. After Sang Ly explains that she is helping Maly hide from her brother, who plans to sell her into human trafficking, Sang Ly’s mother thanks her daughter “[f]or helping a mother to feel like she has raised her child right.” The plan is to send Maly to a family; however, they need to ask Sopeap for the money first. Sopeap gives Sang Ly the money. (Chapters 11-12)

3. Sang Ly believes that Sy Mao’s Advice for Growing Rice actually contains instructions on how to grow rice. When she sees that someone has added “and children” under the title, she realizes how adding two words can change the meaning of a text. (Chapter 14)

4. Sopeap introduces Sarann, a story of a Cambodian girl that is similar to the North American tale of Cinderella. Sopeap notes that this story “can be found in hundreds of versions all over the world, in every country, continent, and culture,” which points to the fact that hope is essential for humanity. (Chapter 15)

5. Sopeap and Sang Ly engage in a discussion about heroes in real life and heroes in stories. Sopeap states that heroes make sacrifices for the good of other people. Although everyone wants to be the hero, in reality, people are other characters as well. (Chapter 16)

6. Sang Ly comes across the corpse of Maly’s brother, who was beaten to death. Although she initially wanted him to stop hunting his sister, she realizes at this moment that the dichotomy between good and evil is more complex than she originally thought. (Chapter 18)

CHAPTERS 19-25

Reading Check

1. Because “all the major companies have factories in Cambodia” (Chapter 19)

2. Metaphors (Chapter 19)

3. So he can visit the healer (Chapter 21)

4. He says the way a person lives is more important than where the person lives. (Chapter 23)

5. Maly (Chapter 24)

Short Answer

1. Sang Ly requests Sopeap to bring the book she originally found in the dump so she can read it to her son. Love Forever is a children’s book, and Sopeap reveals that the book was written by her friend, but before it could be published en masse, the Khmer Rouge soldiers invaded the city. The book was written about Sopeap and her son. (Chapter 19)

2. Sopeap is dying from a tumor in her chest. Sang Ly is frustrated with the news; however, they continue to meet for class until either Sopeap passes away or Sang Ly no longer wants to work. (Chapter 20)

3. As Nisay expresses discomfort on the bus ride home, Sang Ly begins to read aloud from “The Tiger Road,” a story in the book that Sopeap gave her. Although Sang Ly is concerned that she is bothering the other passengers, she soon realizes that they are very much interested in the story, exemplifying what Sopeap said about literature bringing people together. (Chapter 21)

4. Sang Ly informs her aunt that she hates life in the dump and wants to move back to the village; however, her aunt reminds her that life is also difficult in the village and there is “beauty” in the dump, too. Sang Ly realizes that there are some benefits of living in Stung Meanchey. (Chapter 22)

5. Sopeap, whose real name is Soriyan, adopted the name of her housekeeper after she sacrificed herself to the Khmer Rouge soldiers so Sopeap could live. Her husband and child were executed, and Soriyan was sent to a camp to learn farming as a part of the Khmer Rouge education program. She stayed there until the war ended, then she moved to Stung Meanchey and developed an alcohol addiction. Sang Ly becomes emotional at the news and tries to find her teacher. (Chapter 25)

CHAPTERS 26-30

Reading Check

1. A large collection of books (Chapter 26)

2. That she was a landowner and had transferred the deed of the land to Sang Ly and Ki (Chapter 27)

3. The house where her husband and child, as well as the real Sopeap, were murdered (Chapter 29)

Short Answer

1. Sang Ly begins to search for Sopeap, who has now left the camp. She discovers that Sopeap stopped her medical treatment and refused to travel to Thailand to receive further treatment. (Chapter 26)

2. Chanda Lai Sin is an inheritor of Soriyan’s land; Rathana is the real Sopeap’s sister. Since they are unsure of where Soriyan or Sopeap are due to the war, Sang Ly shares the real story with them. (Chapter 27)

3. After Soriyan’s death, Sang Ly returns to Stung Meanchey to revise the “false fable” of Sopeap/Soriyan’s birth, which claimed she came from “Vadavamukha, a sky god with the body of a man and the head of a horse.” In Sang Ly’s version, Vadavamukha and his wife send Soriyan to bring hope to Stung Meanchey; however, Soriyan received a head injury on the way and forgot her true purpose. As her memory returned, she wrote her stories down so others could learn the important lessons of life. Sang Ly’s revision of the “false fable” honors the memory of her teacher. (Chapter 30)