Blueberries

 The Witch

Analysis 

Analysis on The Witch by Edilberto Tiempo is a reflection of the people, in this case Filipino provincials tend to believe on what is the talk of the town, regardless of knowing the real issue behind that. The narrator in the short story was an unnamed 12 year old son who lived in a town surrounded by barrios. He was a flat character. In line with these texts, 'once I was told to go to Libas with a bottle of business concern for Tio Sabelos' wife and I thought of bringing place shrimps to my mother' he was portrayed in the story as an obedient and a dutiful lad. Being a 12 year old boy, he was easily affected by the rumors surrounding him, to the point of almost believing them without reasonable proofs. He was unnamed because he lacks his own identity. Towards the end, he said the jump eyes of the biggest, which was still alive, seemed to glare at me--- and then they travel by out the eyes of the witch. He, himself, got confused whether it was the witch's advocate or he was just affected by the rumors surrounding him. In this case, the author, Edilerto Tiempo, was successful in creating a twine percentage that will make the readers decide whether to believe in such folklore or not. Minggay Awok was portrayed as the main antagonist in the story. She was speculated as the witch in the story and was blamed for all the unfortunate incidents that happened in their place. Toward the end of the story he finds out the witch actually seemed to be a kind old woman, but the stories he'd heard over the years would not allow him to trust her when she tried to help him.

Summary

The story written by Edilberto Tiempo is that a witch known as Minggay Awok (awok, meaning witch in Visayan language)resides nearby the creek separating the barrios of Libas and Sinit-an. Her strange appearance, solitary life and rare visits in the barrios feared the people. She has always been blamed whenever strange things happen. Thus, Minggay was often subjected to various killing attempts in order to stop the curse that she allegedly placed on them. However, their suspicions were never proven. One day, a boy who occasionally visits his uncle in Libas met an old woman while fishing in the creek. She had been so kind to direct him to a spot where he can get more shrimps. They chatted for a while until the boy finally realized that she is the "witch" that he had heard about. He immediately walked away with the shrimps and the dilemma of his encounter with the witch's contrasting image with the old woman by the creek.

Setting of the story

Barrio of Libas , Southern Leyte, Philippines

Plot

The plot is all about a witch named as Minggay Awok who resides in a nearby creek separating the barrios of Libas and Sinit-an. The story begins with a boy who is about twelve years old of age. This boy went to Libas , where Minggay Awok lived, in order to visit his favorite uncle, Tio Sabelo, His uncle is the head teacher of the barrio school there. Minggay Awok's strange appearance, solitary life, and rare visits of the barrio feared the people. She has always been blamed whenever strange things happen. One day, the boy who ocassionaly visits his uncle met an old woman while fishing in the creek. She had been so kind to him to give him a spot where he can get more shrimps. After chatting for a while, the boy eventually realized that she is 'the witch' that he heard about.

Conflict of the story

The kind of conflict in the story can be classified as a conflict between man (man versus man)

Theme of the story

The theme of the story is not all we hear from rumors is true, we can't just judge a person by believing the story that was just said by people without any proofs even if it is popular or not, Explaining an idea is not a bad thing, as long as we don't hurt or affect someone's feelings.

Side Questions:

 Do you think Minggay is really a witch? Why and why not? Explain your answers. 

*I think Minggay is not really a witch, since there are no reasonable valid proof and it is not mentiond in the story that she is really a witch. Her character is the exact opposite of an enchantress. It shows us how strong words of other people can affect us. It is very unjust to judge a person who lives far from people, far from society as different, weird, or worse, a witch.

 What is the relationship between the boy and Minggay?

* I think the relationship between the boy and Minggay is the boy is Minggay's grandson. In the end of the story, Minggay told the boy, that he looked like her son when her son was the same age as the boy, and even said that her son could be the same age as the boy's father right now.

 Explain the difference of a short story to other forms of literature like poetry, drama,

essay, etc.

*Short stories differs immensely to other forms of literature. Whereas other formats share the same storytelling characteristics but with writing short stories it needs a special approach and application. They are indeed different when it comes to the length of the story. Short stories tend to be not up to twenty thousand words. It often unfold in a single location and has limited characters. It also infuses meaning with few words giving the readers a wonderful experience. Whereas in poetry, is a form of writing in verse. In writing an essay, it get's the writer's perspective about a certain topic and in drama, it is for performing a story with and audience.