My Father Goes To Court

My Father Goes To Court


Title: My Father Goes To Court

Author: Carlos Bulosan 

Author's Background: Carlos Sampayan Bulosan (November 24, 1913 - September 11, 1956) was an English-language Filipino novelist poet who spent most of his life in the United States.

Vocabulary:

• Aroma - a noticeable and usually pleasant smell.
• Glowered - to look at someone or something in an angry way.
• Condemning - express complete disapproval of.
• Anemic - suffering from anemia .
• Robust - strong and healthy.
• Gratuitously - without good reason.
• Feeble - lacking physical strength. 
• Preliminaries - a preliminary action or event .
• Tubercular - relating to or affected with tuberculosis. 
• Morose - sullen and ill-tempered.

Characters:

• The Narrator ( a young kid)
• The narrators Brothers 
• The narrators Sisters 
• The narrators Father 
• The narrators Mother 
• The rich man
• The rich man's children
• The police officer
• The Judge
• The Spectators

Settings: In a small town on the island of Luzon.

Exposition: The narrator which is one of the kids describes their family living in a town with a rich man and his kids living in a big house beside them. The narrators family often goes out to play and have fun while the rich man's kids stayed inside the house and kept the windows closed.

Rising Action: Time went by, the narrators family got stronger, healthier and full of life, have bright and rosy cheeks while the rich man's kids got pale, thin and sad. One morning, a policeman cam to their house and handed them a sealed envelope. The rich man filed a complaint to the young narrators family. They went to the town clerk and asked what is the complaint all about. The town clerk told them that they have been stealing the spirit of wealth and food of the rich man. 

Climax: The climax of the story is when they appear in the court, where they were the first one to come. Then, the rich man arrived looking old and weak. The Judge then entered the room and  sat on his high chair. Then it started. The judge asked the father if he has a lawyer and the father answered he doesn't need a lawyer. The judge then said "proceed". After that, the rich man's lawyer then asked a question to the father, where the father answered every question. Then there is one question that the father got confused. He then asked to see the children of the rich man. The children of the rich man shyly goes in and the people were amazed at how they look. Thin and pale. After seeing them, the father now asked the rich man some questions.

Falling action: After the questions that father has asked the rich man, the father then agreed to pay to pay the "crime" they had committed. The Father stood up and took his boy's hat, and began filling it up with his centavos then went to the mother where the mother took out her silver coins and puts it in the hat then the narrators brothers threw in their change. He then asked the judge if he can stride to the other room and stay there for a minute, the judge says "as you wish". The father thanked the judge and proceeds to the other room with the hat almost full of coins. He shakes the hat with the coins in it and asked the rich man if he heard it. The rich man answered yes. The Father said "Then you are paid" The rich man opened his mouth to speak and fell to the floor without a sound. The lawyer rushed to the rich man. The Judge then says, "case dismissed." 

Ending: The Judge came down from his high chair to shake the father's hand and told the father that his uncle died laughing. The father told the judge if he wanted to hear the father's family laugh the judge answered " why not?" The narrator's sister started laughing then the family then the spectators. The laughter if the Judge was the loudest of all.

Symbolism: The symbolism i saw in the story is the court, it symbolizes justice. The rich man's children being pale and thin. Being pale and thin represents sickness, unwell or sad. They may have everything they want, but not everything they need. i think that rich man is busy working, making money for his children to give what they want, but the children i think need their father's love.

Theme: The story is about family being happy. 

Lesson: Just be happy, spend time with your family, bond with them. If you're gonna have kids someday, don't just focus on work, giving them what they LIKE instead of what they NEED. Be happy with them.