Plum Plum Pickers Passage Explication

In the passage from the Plum Plum Pickers, the author, Raymond Barrio, uses Manuel, the main character, to show how we should stick up for what we think is right. Barrio uses allusion when naming the protagonist Manuel. Manuel is taken from the name Emmanuel, which is from Spanish origin. This name, in Hebrew, means “with us is God.” Barrio does this to demonstrate how Manuel in the story is representing God, who is the one that will help all the other pickers.

When Barrio introduces Roberto Morales into the passage, he uses words such as “a gentlemanly, friendly, polite, grinning, vicious, thieving brute.”(40) This shows how Roberto is meant to be the guy that is two faced. Roberto comes in smiling and acting nicely to everyone, but what he really wants is their money. Barrio also names this character Roberto Morales for a reason, as he did with Manuel. His second name says it all, ‘Morales.’ If we say it slowly enough, it comes out to sound as if the real word Barrio wanted to write was ‘moral less.’

The main situation that proves how Manuel is the hero that saves the other pickers from Roberto Morales’ greediness is when Morales comes to take two cents from their buckets. Manuel steps out and speaks for him and the others, saying “You promised to take nothing!” (41). Then he kicked the bucket of cots he had picked, showing strength and courage, and making it clear to Morales that he would not take two cents from him or any one else. Manuel, like God, also resembles fairness among all. He gives the others courage to create justice among all of them.