The White Horse of Alih (Analysis)

SETTING:

A parade during the 4th of July in a Moro Settlement in Zamboanga in the course of the American Regime

CHARACTERS:

1. Alih: a faithful Moro who planned to kill the people involved in celebrating the big American Holiday

2. Omar: Alih’s older brother who influenced him on what to do

3. Sampang: the mountain warrior who had defied a whole squad of soldiers

4. The Imam (High Priest): the village priest who tried to stop the two brothers from their plan

5. Lucy: the little girl in the reservation across the river where the Americans lived

6. Fermina: a Christian bar maid with a little black mole on the corner of her mouth, blue-black eyes that were big and alive, teeth that were white as coconut meat, and a dazzling beauty; the girl who captured Alih’s heart

7. Lim Ching: the Chinese merchant who gave them seventeen barrels of crude oil, three bales of dried fish, and a sack of rice o their promise to sell their goods to no one but him


THEME:

Tragedy, Faith and Choices (about how dishonour, shame, and redemption acted against the traditions and beliefs of the Filipinos)


PLOT:

1. Exposition: “(3) Nobody cared about Alih. Nobody knew he was in town, sworn to kill—not the men who had wronged him and his brother Omar—but anyone and everyone he could until he was killed!”

2. Rising Action: As per the short story and I quote, “(48) Holding on to a pole on the globe stood a beautiful girl… (49) Alih gazed at the girl like a man just comes out of his blindness… (51) As the float came closer, Alih thought he saw a little black mole on a corner of the girl’s mouth.” This was the moment when Alih saw a girl standing on a float and thought of her as Fermina… and found out he was right.

3. Climax: I quote, “(54) His soul instinctively recoiled. Drunk! Omar was drunk! He who had spoken of white horses and houris was drunk! (56) Terror, cold and stark was on her face as she saw Omar coming towards her swinging aloft his naked blade.” On this point, Omar, who was drunk, tried to kill Alih’s girl—Fermina.

4. Falling Action: As specified in the story, “(59) Drawing his blade from its sheath between his legs, he leaped after his brother like a horse gone wild.” He killed his brother despite their plans for the sake of Fermina.

5. Resolution: “(60) …but I, who was not even there, declare that—like many other men—Alih, simply did not love his white horse as he did his houri.” Alih was arrested by the authorities by killing his brother. After that incident, lots of questions were ventured. Some said he lost his head, some said he hated his brother. But the truth is: he never wanted his white horse anymore.


LITERARY APROACH USED:
Historical Criticism: The story happened on the 1900s. It is under the Historical Approach or Historical Criticism because you will never uderstand the story without knowing the background of the author. An example is the white horse. Without knowing the background relativity of the white horse, you will never know what is it all about. The story also approaches the hearts of every Filipino beyond racism throughout the past. The two brothers wanted to kill the people joining the parade because they promised to kill the Americans as well as the people with the same race as them.


ANALYSIS:
Some may throw questions concerning the existence of an eponymous white horse in this realistic type of story. But the story behind it had a lot of awe-inspiring aspect that will really turn your beliefs around. Explaining the white horse, it was from a Moro legend which states that if a Moro killed someone and be killed in the process, Allah, their known god, shall send for a white horse to retrieve his soul and bring it to paradise, where thousands of houri are waiting for them. This legend loomed Alih and Omar in a wrong manner. If only they thought of what is for they own good, maybe it will never end up that way. Maybe they could’ve been put into something good without sacrificing their own lives for something that is false.