Empowerment

By the end of the novel, ‘Trash,” Rat states, “Jun – no longer Rat. My name is Jun-Jun” (p.217).  I believe he says this because he no longer thinks himself as a rat, he doesn’t think he is worthless or useless. Raphael and Gardo enable this by treating Jun-Jun with respect, and treating him like a friend. After the adventure Raphael, Gardo and Jun-Jun have, Jun-Jun realizes that he is needed and he is important. I believe that after this adventure Jun-Jun realized that not only Raphael and Gardo count himself as a friend but Father Julliard and Sister Olivia too, that is when he gained self-respect towards himself and decided that he isn’t going to be called Rat anymore, he is going to be called by his name, Jun-Jun.