The White Horse of Alih analysis

Alih - A moro that was in love with Fermina Fermina - A beautiful bar maid with a mole near her mouth. Lucy - Childhood crush of Alih Omar - Brother of Alih. The man that plans to kill all the people in the town and to be killed. The story happened on July 4th in a city with a parade of people. It was a happy day for everybody because they are celebrating the big American Holiday. Among the crowd was Alih, a Moro who was then looking for his brother, Omar. That day was intended for them to fulfill their plan. Their plan is to kill these people. So Alih waited for his brother, he went out of the crowd and sat under the Balete tree. While he was sitting and looking at the parade, he remembered his past, his childhood and his growing years where he met the women whom he wished and longed for and he remembered his mission. That is---to kill the people. But people can't notice them as Moros because they were in disguise. When he saw a man riding a horse and controlling the crowd, he remembered how much he longed for a horse for himself. He recalled when his brother punished him because he spent his earnings just to ride in a merry - go- round. He wanted to ride on a wooden horse because he saw the girl whom he liked most and her name was Lucy. Lucy was the girl who lived in the reservation area where the Americans live. Moros were not allowed to enter that vicinity. But because he needs to go to school, he cross the river and reached the reservation area. There he saw the first girl he liked. Though, they were not given the chance to see and talk to each other since then. When he grew up, Omar told him about how the American soldiers killed their father without any reason. Their father was known and respected in their village. With these, Omar taught him to be brave and be able to fight against these people because he believes that only by killing could they wash away their shame. He taught him words to live by and beliefs to be respected and attained.


Setting:
The story happened on July 4th in a city with a parade of people.


Characters:
Alih – A Moro who plans for killing the people celebrating the Filipino-American Friendship day
Omar – The older brother of Alih who dictates him on what to doing every aspects of his life
Imam – The village priest who tried to dissuade the two brothers, he explains to them that the prophets did not teach to do it
Lucy – Girl who lived in the reservation area where the americans live, she is the first girl Alih liked
Fermina – a beautiful bar maid with a mole near her mouth, Alih likes her so much but the woman doesn’t like him because of his impertinent manner towards her.


Plot:
Complication – when they decided to become merchants there were rebels who stole their commodities

Conflict – Alih did not want to kill but the fear he had for his brother while he was growing urged him to the killings and also because his brother taught him that killing will be their way to wash away their shame and gain respect for their father had died by the american soldiers without any reason.

Climax – As he was about to hold her completely, Omar came but to his surprise, he was drunk all along, he realized that Omar had been drinking tuba. Omar was about to kill Fermina.

Theme – the short story tells about the tradition, beliefs and faith of the Filipinos

Rising Action – he saw a float with a girl whom he thought of as Fermina. He went near the float and assisted the girl to go down to the ground and found out that it is Fermina when he saw the little black mole on the corner of the girl’s mouth

Falling Action – Alih kills his brother despite their plans to gainthe white horse for him to protect Fermina.


Literary approach

Historical Approach
Since the author was born on 1925, this may influence his work on The White Horse of Alih. The setting of the story happened on July 4th in a city with a parade of people. The author might experience this big event in the history wherein the July 4th is considered as Filipino-American Friendship Day.

Mimetic Approach
The text is can be related to the reality. If there were discrimination among races, differences among religions and traditions. And the moral aspect of killing is an issue of their faith.


Summary:

The story started of as Alih the protagonist, moved along the crowd which was celebrating the fourth of July celebration. They were expecting a lot of people in this event because they planned a mass assassination in the town. The story then went on concentrating on the actions and what the characters are thinking before their planned killing. Alih was thinking of his houri and the past memories of their family. His father was accused of killing a man that he did not kill. Alih and Omar’s father was the hadji back then and that he attended the Mecca. The Americans wanted him to submit to the judgment of the Americans. The story continued with the life of Omar and Alih as merchants. They sold their house, their boats, fishing nets and even their mother’s pearls. They then worked for Lim Ching which was a Chinese merchant. They were then robbed by men with guns and clubs. They then went back to sea and stayed there for a long time. After the consumed all their stock of food and water Omar began thinking of killing and dying. By killing we can wash our shame away’ said Omar while staring into the space. The story then went on moving to the parade. Alih saw a girl which resembled his friend that he rode with in the carousel. After confirming that the girl he is looking at is really Fermina, his brother Omar then went berserk and unsheathed his sword and killed people. Omar then went to kill Fermina but Alih protected her and killed his brother Omar.


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