Raphael says, "With the right key, you can bust the door wide open." Usually a key is used to open a door to let someone out. What could ‘busting the door open' represent for Raphael and Gardo? How are they trapped?

"Busting the door open" means breaking out from the poverty stricken life the two boys are living.

They are trapped in this community where poverty reigns, and they had not much to live by.

Explanation:

Andy Mulligan's Trash is a story of two trash-boys living a life of poverty but still filled with hope and determination to change their livelihood. Raphael and Gardo are the two main characters who had gone to their usual waste picking grounds to sort out the trash and if lucky, get a "special" bag.

Chapter 2 of the novel shows them discovering the "special" bag made of leather, containing an id, money and a folded map with a key in it. By saying "busting the door open", Raphael meant to imply that a certain source or "key" is all it takes to be away from the life of poverty they are living. This means that they can have access to the better side of life if they had certain things. But with their current condition of living amidst the trash picking community, they are trapped in this world of poverty, without the means to escape.

what is the question ?

the author is showing that it is the insatisfaction of basic needs that brings about the protests such as the strikes.if workers do not earn enough to buy food and feed their families and themselves in order to continue working, what is the use of working? besides, another message from the author is that of the owners of factories should be worried about ensuring their furure by having a second and third generation of workers in their industries.if they do not hear the workers demands, they will not have any more workers to make their pockets full.