Plum Plum Pickers Explication

In the Plum Plum Pickers, Raymond Barrio demonstrates the importance of pride and what it means to be a man. Barrio sets up the protagonist Manuel as a beastlike work machine through repetition and diction. The tone sways between calm dreamlike scenery to harsh work conditions up to the climax. By establishing an animal state, it is possible to show how Manuel overcomes his cage and turn into a man.

The passage begins with a descriptive paragraph about Manuel and his labor. Manuel thinks, “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” (40). Barrio uses repetition here to demonstrate the seriousness of the situation. The workers are trapped animals that could not find a way out. They were kept in a cage only to work forever. Barrio uses short and descriptive one word sentences. Each of these one word sentences contribute to the animal picture of the workers. The establishment of animals is used for comparison later to the more manlike Manuel. He worked in “the hot dry air. The hot dry air sucking every drop of living moisture from his brute body” (40). Barrio again emphasizes the lack of human treatment here. The use of the word brute degrades the workers even further.

Barrio’s then follows with a one word paragraph, “Lunch” (40). The use of a one word paragraph demonstrates how brief a period of time is to Manuel. Right after that, the tone switches to a relaxed state, touching upon lunchtime and the tranquility of it. Barrio writes “that short rest in the hot shade replenished some of his humor and resolve. He felt his spirit swell out again like a thirsty sponge in water. Then up again. The trees. The branches again” (40). Here, it is almost as if Manuel feels a bit human. The fifth paragraph also states, “Sandy dreams. Cool nights. Cold drinks. Soft guitar music with Lupe sitting behind him” (40). These dreamlike scenes build up, almost setting up for the climax of the story. Barrio reveals a glimpse of humanity and later in the climax lets it explode out of Manuel. Even then, the tone switches back to the harsh conditions of the labor, demonstrating the power of control work has on the workers. “Manuel was too tired to even curse” (40). This line is the first time that the protagonist is given a name. Slowly, the protagonist is coming to a state of manhood, a state of empowerment.

A man can stand up for himself. Regardless of attributes, according to Barrio, “men are built to experience a certain sense of honor and pride. Or else they are dead before they die” (41). Near the climax, the antagonist Roberto Morales is introduced. From his name, he is a robber and a man without morals. Again, Barrio continues with his repetition of shaming the workers. “Their only crime; their only soul grime indeed was that they just didn’t give a shit how that migratory scum lived. It was no concern of theirs. Their wives said it was no concern of theirs…” (41). The laborers are referred to as scum now, not “animal”, not “brute”, and not “savage” (40). Scum is typically referred to a person—a human. The climax of this story is when Manuel has his moment of empowerment. He has pride in his long labor and decides to stand up for himself. Placed next to his superior, he could not help himself but rebel, a normal human characteristic. Seeing Manuel rebel, his fellow workers are inspired and “moved toward their own buckets still standing beside them…and took an ominous position over them, straddling their feet over them” (41). Following someone charismatic is also a trait of humans. The power of unity and pride repelled Morales, “All right. All right, men. I shall take nothing this time” (41). It was through this conflict that Manuel learns “that a man counted for something” (41).

Manuel and his fellow workers are not the same as the animals as describe in the first paragraph anymore. They have a sense of pride now, a sense of humanity and power. Barrio transitions the transformation from animal to man throughout the passage. With pride and friends, a man will always feel “a thrill of power course through his nerves” (41).