This statement is true to a large extent in the case of the boys. The boys appeared to be quite dirty and clumsy in their shabby and ill-fitted clothes. But their poor appearances hid personalities which were very rich in human values and gentlemanly qualities. As the story proceeds further, their qualities are revealed to us one by one. Their shabby appearances also deceived Luigi, the driver of the narrator, at first. All the incidents and events which are described by the writer quite clearly remove the layers of deception. We come to know about their hard-working nature. Day and night they liked to work for earning money not because they were greedy and mercenaries but because they needed enough money for the medical treatment of their sister, Lucia who was suffering from tuberculosis of the spine. 

Clean and tidy hospital, the small cubicle of Lucia with a vase of flowers, dish of fruits and a pile of books, reveal the loving care with which they looked after their sister. They spent only a meagre sum of money on black bread and figs which they ate only to keep themselves alive. The major portion of their earning was spent on the medical treatment of their sister. They may be shabby and dirty in appearance but their actions and intentions were not dirty. Rather they appeared to be shining gems of humanity.

They symbolise human love, spirit of sacrifice, complete dedication to ones cause, mutual trust and a great sense of honesty and sincerity, very rare to be found at a time when the war had dried up all fountains of human values and completely destroyed moralistic outlook.