ASSIGNMENT #1

The Witch

Analysis

“The Witch is a reflection of people's predisposition to embrace a "herd mentality," or when people are influenced by others to adopt a certain way of thinking or acting on an emotional level. It also shows that people are so eager to find something wrong or mistakes on something or someone that is strange to their eyes . They made a lot of accusations to Minggay because she lives far away, they accused her that she is a witch, that whenever something strange happened they all blamed it to Minggay. A trial without witness, when it involves a criminal accusation, a criminal matter, is not a true trial .They judged so easily without knowing the person's real personality, they only based on what they heard without knowing the whole thing. You should only believe what others say when you actually see it. To see is to believe. In the later part of the story when the boy realized that the old lady who helped him catch his shrimps is actually the witch, it showed how he refused to believe that the witch is actually just a mere old lady and in his last line which he described how the biggest shrimp looked, it shows how he refused to accept any of the shrimp freely given by the witch, because the protruding eyes of the biggest, which was still alive, seemed to glare at him and then they became the eyes of the witch. When you discover it yourself that's the time you believe.

Summary

The story begins with a 12 year old unnamed boy who is the narrator and the protagonist of the story. The boy goes to Liba often to visit his favorite uncle named "Tio Sabelo" and through those visits he heard strange stories about "Minggay Awok". Awok is the word for witch in Southern Leyte. Minggay was known as a witch even outside Libas. She lived in a small low hut at the back of the creek. The hut leaned dangerously to the side where the creek water ate away large chunks of earth.

People were curious of what's inside Minggay's hut but one daring man claimed to have been inside Minggay's hut and claimed that he saw things there that he assumed Minggay uses for witchcraft like bottles of different insects, ashes, and liquids. He didn't show any evidence that he actually went there but people still believed in him. People spread rumors about Minggay like those who had done her wrong never escaped her vengeance and blamed Minggay for the mishaps that happened to them and so Minggay was feared inside and outside of Liba. It was said that there were attempts of killing her but in some way she always came out alive.

Minggay lived alone with only her lean, sow, and a few chickens as her companions, all of them charcoal black and besides those she was rumored to have a wakwak and a sigbin. The 12 year old boy dreaded the idea of meeting her even in the daytime, he feared that Minggay might curse him but he never saw Minggay in her hut or even near it, he even doubted Minggay's existence if not for the fact that he sees Minggay's sow digging banana roots.

One day, he was told to go to Libas with his Tio Sabelo's sick wife's medicine, he passed by a balete tree, it was said to be Minggay's tree and so people named the tree that. He thought of the things people told him about Minggay's tree and almost ran back but he continued walking while whistling as he passed by the tree. As he walked further, he saw Minggay's hut and as he started going up the trail by the hut, he noticed a crouching old woman. He thought of the stories of how Minggay waylay travelers and so he closed his eyes and ran up the hill. When he arrived at his uncle's hut, he was badly shaken.

As days passed, his fear for the hut and the balete subsided but it still gave him chills. One evening, as he was going home, he heard splashing of water below Minggay's hut and thought it was Minggay and almost ran when he thought it was the sigbin but it was just a carabao.

One morning the boy wanted to bring home shrimps for his mother and so he went to the creek. He brought his cousin's pana. After wading for 2 hours in the creek, he saw a bathing old woman in the shade of a tree. The old woman was soaking her gray hair, the old woman noticed him and told him that he had a poor catch because he only had 3 shrimps with him. The boy thought the old woman looked young, especially her eyes but he noticed her mouth which he described as "it looked like it had tasted bitter years. The old woman gave him coconut shreds for bait and taught him tips to catch shrimps and if he sees shrimps in the traps she set, it's all his. The boy thanked her and did what she told him.

The old woman started a conversation with the boy, she asked if he still has a mother, the boy answered that he has and a grandmother too. Next, the old lady inquired why he looked unfamiliar and asked where the boy is from, the boy told her he was from the town and his uncle was the head teacher of Libas barrios school. The old woman started telling stories about herself like how her son left after her not letting him marry early and how happy she was that his husband died until the boy asked where she lived. When the woman told him she lived in the hut. The boy immediately feared her and told her he'll go. He then goes away from the creek and when he was far away from Minggay, he ran away and stopped. He couldn't believe that Minggay Awok was a mere old woman. He looked at the shrimps that kept brushing against his leg, except for the three he catched before Minggay helped him, it was all Minggay's shrimps. He looked at the eye of the biggest which he described as protruding and imagined the eyes of the witch. He then angrily threw Minggay's shrimps back to the creek.

CHARACTERS:

Minggay (a.k.a. Minggay Awok)(Antagonist) - an old woman who had been labeled as a "witch" in barrio Libas

The 12 year old boy (Protagonist) - a boy who like going to Libas because of the many things to eat at his uncle’s house. He easily believed in the rumors people said around him about Minggay being a witch even without any proofs.

Tio Sabelo (Side Character) - the head teacher of the barrio school in Libas

Tio Sabelo's wife (Side Character)- The one the boy brought medicine to

An unknown man - A man set fire to Minggay's hut one night, thinking to burn her with it.

SETTINGS:

•Barrio of Libas (Southern Leyte)

•The balete tree across the creek from Minggay’s hut.

•Creek a hundred yards from Tio Sabelo’s house.

PLOT OR CENTRAL CONFLICT :

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. 

THEME:

“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumoured by many". Never judge someone's character based on the words of another. When you see or discover it yourself, that's the time you will believe. To see is to believe.

SIDE QUESTIONS:

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

I can confirm that Minggay is a witch. In the last part of the story it stated that “The protruding eyes of the biggest (shrimp), which was still alive, seemed to glare at me---and then they became the eyes of the witch.” . This unexplained incident can’t be done by an ordinary person.

 What is the relationship between the boy and Minggay?

There is no relationship between Minggay and the boy. It stated in the story that the boy had a grandmother, so it's impossible that she is the grandmother of the boy. And I think Minggay said those words and help the boy to catch shrimps to make the boy believe that she is kind. Not all good work is accompanied by goodness, others are evil.

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

essay, etc.

The difference between poetry and short stories is not always clear, especially with the popularity of prose and narrative poetry, as well as micro-fiction. But to establish some differences, short stories usually still follow the five plot points; meanwhile, poetry is not dependent on that and can be presented in a variety of forms, whether it's traditional verse or something contemporary. Poetry must also make complex messages as condensed yet effective as possible, while short stories focus more on building characters and theme.