Plum Plum Pickers

In the story from Plum Plum Pickers’, the author Raymond Barrio suggests that men have to experience a point in their lives where they have to stand up for what is theirs and have integrity in their beliefs. Barrio suggests that men are built for this quality and that if men don’t stand up for what is rightfully theirs then “They are dead before they die” (2.) The main character in this story, Manuel, stands up for his hard-earned money against Morales who is trying to rob Manuel and his fellow workers.
The opening paragraph gives the effect of a big train of thought. The paragraph is written fast pace. Sentences in the paragraph are short and choppy. Barrio writes in a style that imitates the way a machine would process its information. The machine would process information and information and then it would end with a simple clean answer or sum up of all the information. “There had to be an end. There had to be. There – trapped. There had to be a way out. Locked. There had to be respite. Animal.” (p. 1) the way the whole first paragraph is written Barrio introduces the main character to the reader as more of a machine and animal more then as a human. Barrio wants to establish this to the reader to emphasize on the plum picker’s work style and find Manuel as a sympathetic character. “Drank the holy water in great brute gulps so he wouldn’t have to savor its tastelessness” (p.1) in this sentence there is symbolism in the “holy water”. Holy water is used in religious practices for things such as healing the sick but in this sentence holy water is seen in a negative way suggesting that religion is “tasteless” or lacking many answer’s to Manuel’s problems.
Lunch time comes and in this paragraph the lunch break seems as if it is very quick and short. “He felt his spirit swell out again like a thirsty sponge in water. Then up again.” (p.1) in this paragraph describing lunch Barrio chooses to use complete and full sentences. The sentences seem more relaxed but this is only in the first few sentences of the paragraph then the style reverts back to repetitive sentences. The repetitive sentences suggest that Manuel is back to work. The sentences also lack in verbs. Verbs in a sentence act as the action of the subject and since the sentence’s lack in action there is no movement forward which gives off the feeling of repetitiveness. “A ray of enemy sun penetrated the tree that was hiding him and split his forehead open. His mind whirred. He blacked out” (p.1) The sun is used as symbolism for torture, hell, or burning in this sentence. Barrio chooses to portray the sun as a negative symbol because it adds to the setting of the story. In this paragraph another character is introduced and that is Roberto. Roberto’s first words are “whatsamatter, can’t you see straight pendejo?” Barrio’s placement of Roberto’s dialect is directly related to Manuel’s spoken words in the begging paragraph, “Please to meetcha” These two quotes help establish characterization of the two characters and how they differ from each other. Manuel is portrayed as a more friendly character and Robert Morales and portrayed more as a mean character. Their names also impact the way they act because in Manuel’s name there is the word “Man”. Essentially Manuel is the symbol of a man. In Roberto Morales’s name there is the word “moral” and “less” so Robert is a man without morals. Barrio puts these two characters in opposition to each other to create a character conflict of good versus evil.
In the next paragraph there is a lot of detail on Roberto Morales’s character. “A real robber. A Mexican general. A gentlemanly, friendly, polite, grinning, vicious, thieving brute.” Barrio phrases this sentence to show the layers of Morales’s personality from outside to inside. On the outside Roberto is gentlemen like but on the inside he is a thieving brute. “he was actually the shrewdest, smartest, richest cannibal in forty countries around” (p.1) Barrio chooses the word cannibal to describe Roberto but not in a sense that he literally eats human beings but in a more in a sense that he “eats” at them to get what he wants. Roberto uses others and feeds off other’s work to benefit himself. Roberto is a man is a man of great power. Barrio shows the reader Roberto’s power by demonstrating how at first nobody speaks up against him when he wanted to take money from them. “Yes everyone understood. Freezing in place. After all that hard work.” The character conflict between Roberto and Manuel is intensified when Manuel spoke up against Roberto. “The two men, centered in a huge ring of red-ringed eyes, glared at each other. Reaching for each other’s jugular. The other exhausted animals studied the tableau” (p.2) There is a lot of imagery in this. The whole paragraph and description of what is going on is very vivid and intensifying. The reader is able to distinguish the beginning style to the style of the climax.
Roberto and Manuel circle each other while everyone else is watching in anticipation of who is to the make the next move. Manuel then kicks over his bucket of fruit and with the support of everyone else who “moved toward their own buckets still standing beside them on the ground awaiting the truck gatherer and took an ominous position over them, straddling their feet over them” Manuel was able to claim a power over Roberto. In turn, Manuel has his “moment of glory” that Barrio suggests that all men should have.