In “The Plum Plum Pickers,” Raymond Barrio concludes that humans are built to “experience a certain sense of honor and pride” (2). He believes that a person’s propriety and wealth should not stop him or her from feeling honorable and proud; all human beings have the chance to feel this way. Barrio is able to create this idea through his variation in characters and sentence structure, symbols, and repetition. One word paragraphs are used to emphasize short periods of time. Symbols are used throughout the story; they vary from the names of different characters to the setting of the story. Repetition is used frequently in order to show the importance of his idea and the cycle of humans’ daily lives. Barrio uses many literary techniques in order to form his idea.
Manuel is a poor fruit picker who works in “an endless maze of apricot trees” (1). This “endless maze” (1) symbolizes “the jails of hell” (1); it is a place where there is no escape and where he is “trapped” (1). The setting creates the allusion that Manuel is a lowly-regarded “animal” (1) being trapped inside a cage. To Manuel, “lunch [and] midafternoon” (1) are the only times during which he can rest and that they are short periods of time. Barrio used one word paragraph to show the short periods of time lunch and midafternoon have taken up in Manuel’s daily life. Manuel “endlessly [piles up] bucket upon box upon crate upon stack upon rack upon mound upon mountain”; he works everyday, doing the same thing over and over again. Manuel is symbolic of “an automator” (1) because of his non-resting and repeated work. Manuel’s name is symbolic of a poor worker who works without stopping; Manuel sounds like the word manual.
The higher authorities are wealthy, but selfish; they “didn’t give a shit how that migratory scum lived” (2). They believe that “it was no concern of theirs. Their wives said it was no concern of theirs [and] their aldermen said it was no concern of theirs” (2). Barrio emphasizes the authorities’ lack of care for the workers through his use of repetition. Roberto Morales cheats his workers’ hard-earn money by saying that “there was a miscalculation” (2); he is not only selfish, but inhumane. Roberto Morales’ name is significant because it is symbolic of a “robber” (1) who is “moral less”. The “anglo growers and güero executives” (1) feel proud because they believe that they “cheated no one” (2) and that they are “honest” (1). Morales tries to look as if he is “firm, fair, and square” (1) all the time. Although these authorities committed faulty acts, they still want to experience the sense of honor and pride.
Humans show “defiance” (2) to something oppressive and that they disagree with. Similarly, Manuel earns “respect from his fellow slaves” (2) when he shows defiance toward Morales, who unreasonably take their money. He does this by tipping over his bucket of cots; he proves to his fellow slaves that they should be able to feel honorable and proud too. Barrio believes that “men counted for something” (2). They are built for something “more important and less trifling than the mere gathering of prunes and apricots, hour upon hour, decade upon decade” (2). Again, Barrio used repetition to show the non-stopping work of poor men. Barrio shows through his story that not only the wealthy people are able to feel proud, but also, those who are poor and who work continuously. He purposely composes a character, like Manuel, in order to show his reader the idea that even the lowest class man can feel proud. Through the use of repetition, symbols, and sentence structure, Barrio is able to portray his idea about men.
Manuel is a poor fruit picker who works in “an endless maze of apricot trees” (1). This “endless maze” (1) symbolizes “the jails of hell” (1); it is a place where there is no escape and where he is “trapped” (1). The setting creates the allusion that Manuel is a lowly-regarded “animal” (1) being trapped inside a cage. To Manuel, “lunch [and] midafternoon” (1) are the only times during which he can rest and that they are short periods of time. Barrio used one word paragraph to show the short periods of time lunch and midafternoon have taken up in Manuel’s daily life. Manuel “endlessly [piles up] bucket upon box upon crate upon stack upon rack upon mound upon mountain”; he works everyday, doing the same thing over and over again. Manuel is symbolic of “an automator” (1) because of his non-resting and repeated work. Manuel’s name is symbolic of a poor worker who works without stopping; Manuel sounds like the word manual.
The higher authorities are wealthy, but selfish; they “didn’t give a shit how that migratory scum lived” (2). They believe that “it was no concern of theirs. Their wives said it was no concern of theirs [and] their aldermen said it was no concern of theirs” (2). Barrio emphasizes the authorities’ lack of care for the workers through his use of repetition. Roberto Morales cheats his workers’ hard-earn money by saying that “there was a miscalculation” (2); he is not only selfish, but inhumane. Roberto Morales’ name is significant because it is symbolic of a “robber” (1) who is “moral less”. The “anglo growers and güero executives” (1) feel proud because they believe that they “cheated no one” (2) and that they are “honest” (1). Morales tries to look as if he is “firm, fair, and square” (1) all the time. Although these authorities committed faulty acts, they still want to experience the sense of honor and pride.
Humans show “defiance” (2) to something oppressive and that they disagree with. Similarly, Manuel earns “respect from his fellow slaves” (2) when he shows defiance toward Morales, who unreasonably take their money. He does this by tipping over his bucket of cots; he proves to his fellow slaves that they should be able to feel honorable and proud too. Barrio believes that “men counted for something” (2). They are built for something “more important and less trifling than the mere gathering of prunes and apricots, hour upon hour, decade upon decade” (2). Again, Barrio used repetition to show the non-stopping work of poor men. Barrio shows through his story that not only the wealthy people are able to feel proud, but also, those who are poor and who work continuously. He purposely composes a character, like Manuel, in order to show his reader the idea that even the lowest class man can feel proud. Through the use of repetition, symbols, and sentence structure, Barrio is able to portray his idea about men.
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