Gabby Melo-Moore

Mr. Gallagher

Advanced Placement Literature and Composition

18 November 2010

The Plum Plum Pickers, chapter 10 section 3

Section 3 of Raymond Barrio’s The Plum Plum Pickers elucidates how the

generosity of human kind can be taken for granted due to greed and inequality. Raymond

Barrio evaluates this by exemplifying the human condition- people relentlessly working

hard yet not receiving any rewards for their dedication and living an unhappy life based

off of inferiority in a culture or society. This is clarified through the complexity of

experiences acclimatized in Manuel Gutierrez’s environment. Barrio illuminates

Manuel’s experience in his work force undesirably and illustrates that the equality and

excitement on mother earth is not what it is said to be- something moral.

Human kind’s generosity is often taken for granted in various ways. Individuals

are all given opportunities in life. Often though, some individuals seek equality, but do

not receive it. In section 3, Manuel’s work experience enlightens the idea that human

kind is frequently taken for granted due to the greed among entities in society. Manuel is

trapped in an imposing life under the ownership of Roberto Morales, a cruel, demeaning

man who takes what is seen as “important necessities” from his employees. Manuel

spends his days working- plucking fruit from trees, earning diminutive amounts of

money. He lives in a destitute shack that with his family, “No curtains. No interior

paneling. Just a shack. A shack of misery…” (87) Yet Manuel has the patience and
boldness to accept what he encloses. “He found he was able to admire and appreciate the

simplicity and the strength of the construction.” (87) Raymond Barrio gets the point

across that those who have nothing accept what they have even though it is not what they

want, through the two different lives of Manuel and Roberto. Overall, Manuel is not

pleased with his job and questions why people who work so hard have nothing and why

those people who have necessities handed to them do not care about anyone else.

Life has a theory about survival of the fittest, doing what has to be done in order

to endure. Manuel lives his life picking fruit for minimal financial earnings. Although he

dislikes his job, Manuel has realized that it has to be done in order to support himself and

his family. “And that fatigue wasn’t nearly so bad to bear as the deadly repetitious

monotony of never changing, never resting, never doing the same plucking over and over

and over again. But he has to do it. He had no choice. It was all he could do. It had to be

done if he wanted the money, if he wanted to feed his family.” (88) It is obvious that

Manuel understands the concept of his morals and the job he manages within his family.

Manuel then begins to reflect back on past memories of mountain climbing in Mexico

with his uncle. He describes the shack built on their journey, creating a beautiful memory

in his mind, for he was young and free at the time. Through this the author creates a

comparison to the life he lives now- Manuel lives in misery. Everything he delighted as a

child has become everything he has undesirably received in the environment throughout

his life.

Manuel reestablishes many times that his life is lived in pity. Throughout the

outcome in his life and in the environment, Manuel contrasts the differences in the beliefs

of mother earth and his real life experiences. The human ambition is to live the all time
“American Dream” of working hard for what is wanted and receiving it after years of

hard work and dedication. Mother earth is said to be a place where people live in, “An

ethical world. A world full of golden opportunities. A good world. A happy world.” (86)

Manuel, however, soon establishes that it is ironic because not everyone is able to attain

all of these beliefs of mother earth- living happily and getting what you want because it is

deserved. “Manuel simply couldn’t figure it out… Why was mother earth so generous?

And men so greedy?” (86) It is contradicted to be believed that human kind is great and

everyone has equal opportunities. However, according to Manuel, he does not agree.

Manuel has experienced living a life based on relentless work and recurring effort,

depicting the sense of irony used as mother earth is portrayed as magnificent.

The giving of human kind is frequently mistaken and usually misunderstood.

Entities allow greed to overpower the importance of life and equality, degrading the lives

and dreams of others around them. Manuel’s experiences in his setting create an ironic

inference on the thought of mother earth’s set out beliefs among society. Every individual

is set out to live a life based on equal opportunities and happiness, but not everyone

attains these goals and beliefs due to the intricacies of subjugation and inadequacy.
Barrio, Raymond. The Plum Plum Pickers. Binghamton, New York: Bilingual Press /

Editorial Bilingue, 1984. 84 – 94.