Answer:
“The Bolo” by Loreto Paras
sociologygroup777382593 Uncategorized February 8, 2018 2 Minutes
CHAPTER ONE:
Character Background
The short story, “The Bolo” has two main characters: Sita and Clara.
Clara wasthe eldest of the two sisters. Clara was a widow, as Ramon her previous husband has left thismortal world. Sita on the other hand was simply a young girl who was consumed by hunger.
Aside from Sita‟s misfortune did not end in her husband‟s passing, she also lost her son in the
process. For them, the last conceivable way out was to sell their most prized possession: the bolo.
Plot and Summary
The plot begins with them in desperate need of sustenance, and the only feasible methodfor the sisters is to sell the bolo. However, aside from the conflict of the two sister on finding asolution for their hunger, ano
ther conflict is present in regard of selling the bolo at Old Hison‟s
Store: Clara, the older of the two, refuses to sell the bolo, while Sita, the younger one, is persistent in selling the artifact. Clara stood her ground for she believed that the parents of thelate husband of Sita, Ramon, would still send them money, despite his departure from the mortalworld along with their unborn son. At the first three paragraphs, they not only describethemselves are famished beyond reason, but the eldest sister, Clara, is also sick. However despiteher weak state, she stands her ground in keeping the said heirloom. The narrator described the
bolo as such: „They were bound by a dull line of solid gold, the stolen piece of the heart of the
great mountain
–
and this g
old wedded the jade and the ivory to the boldly gleaming steel.‟ (p.
5
27) Despite their shared admiration toward the belief of the bolo being a legendary artifact that
has been passed down from generation to generation, Sita‟s desperation was simply greater
. As
the hour became late and dawn grew close, Sita snatched the bolo from Clara‟s weak andhelpless hands. She then went to Old Hison‟s store to sell it, and was swindled to a meager price
of fifty pesos for the blade. Sita, through the words of narrator
thought: „Oh, she was realizingthat there are other things more confounding than hunger…like shame and pride.‟ (p. 29)
Nonetheless, for her at that moment, she was without a choice and sold the bolo for the price. Nearing the end of the story, as she went away, she overheard the first customer, namedOscar, before her arrange something with the storeowner. Oscar bought the bolo for a far moresuperior price and have it back to Sita. Oscar explained that such objects must indeed becherished, pointing out that he understood the rarity of it and its value must always be
appreciated. Sita then went back to the storeowner, returned the money, and said, “Here is yourmoney and I shall keep the bolo.”
Explanation:
