The Rent Collector

Throughout the story, Sang tries to find ways of curing Nisay’s illness using both Western medicine and Cambodian folk remedies, and both function as symbols of knowledge or wisdom. Consider Sang’s attitude toward each and explain what the story implies about both knowledge and wisdom overall.

Before Sopeap agrees to teach Sang about literature, she insists Sang must find an example of literature on her own but refuses to define “literature” for her. Even after Sang finds an example, she is still unsure why it is literature. Use Sang and Sopeap’s lessons and discussions to create a definition of literature as reflected in the text.

Sopeap insists that “[g]ood stories teach” (83). However, Sopeap does not explain what makes a story good or bad. Explain the differences between good and bad stories, using the text as a guide.