NOTRE DAME OF DADIANGAS UNIVERSITY

Senior High School Department

Marist Avenue
General Santos City 9500

TITLE:

The Tale of Tonyo, the Brave

By Maria Aleah G. Taboclaon

A Literary

Analysis

Submitted by:

Angelyra P. Serapio

Gian Paolo D. Lepardo

Gwyn Stefhanie D. Roa

Mae Eloiza G. Digal

Miguel S. Ramiro

STEM 1209
 Bibliography of the Author

Maria Aleah G. Taboclaon was a writer in the Philippines. She majored English at

University of the Philippines Diliman. While working for an M.A in clinical psychology,

she works at the office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Development at U.P.

Summary/Synopsis

The story was about a boy named Tonyo who is very close to his grandfather. He

is always teased by his siblings for being a wimp. He always listens to the stories of his

grandfather that a certain incident in their town is somewhat peculiar that only his

grandfather knows the solution. He thought to sacrifice himself for his family. Tonyo was

able to fight off a "Manlalayug" or a shape shifting person that is a supernatural being.

Tonyo fought the Manlalayug to end the series of unresolved case in their town and he

somewhat managed to win with the help of his grandfather’s advice. Since then there

were no more cases of murders. He then became well known for being Tonyo, the

brave within their town for the rest of his life until he tells his legacy to his grandchildren.
 Analysis

Plot Structure

a) Exposition

 The Tale of Tonyo, the Brave is an example of a mythical tale, a traditional

story. It happened in the Philippines and depicted the life of the Filipinos in

the past. The main character is Tonyo, the youngest in the household of

six with two brothers, his parents and his grandfather, Apo, who always

tells a story. One of which was about a manlalayug and the possibility of it

still existing in the present.

b) Rising Action

 Stories were constantly told by grandfather Apo when one day, a dead

body with suspicious way of death was found from another barangay. It

was found by a dog sniffing around, it was also said that when the dead

body was inspected by the authorities and medical practitioners the report

says that neither a bolo nor a knife was used for the crime. Grandfather

Apo then suspected that a manlalayug is the suspect and was able to

convey his thoughts to the family.

c) Climax

 It was predicted that in the next full moon, another attack may occur. The

family was convinced that a manlalayug could have done it so before the

full moon, the members of the family are tense. It was then at night that

Tonyo was taunted again by his older brothers as wimp and dared to go
 out of the house to look for the manlalayug, he agreed and got out of the

house with Apo’s bronze dagger on hand.

d) Falling Action

 Tonyo encountered the manlalayug on his way back home. He shivered

both from the cold and from the fear he is experiencing. He stood

unmovingly until the beautiful girl/manlalayug got close enough to touch

him, it was then that he felt the dagger nicked him and he stab towards to

the illusion in front of him. On a spur of the moment, he remembered

Apo’s story – the right way in killing a manlalayug, to stab backwards and

run away as fast as he can – and so Tonyo did, executed poorly and

running back without looking.

e) Denouement

 Tonyo’s hands were covered in blood proof that the action that happened

where he killed a manlalayug is true. The family then went back to the

place of the fight and confirmed that a puddle of blood was lying there in

place. The whole town was in peace for the next few days and Tonyo was

no longer called Tonyo, the Wimp but instead commemorated as Tonyo,

the Brave – a name like a stamp of recognition.

Characters

 Protagonist

- Tonyo is the protagonist of the story. He was the one who bravely faced and

killed the manlalayug when it was in the midst of haunting for victims.

 Antagonist
 - The antagonist of the story is the manlalayug. It is a supernatural being

disguised as a beautiful woman to weaken a man’s will so that she can easily

haunt. The manlalayug eats the internal organs of men using its bare hands

and comes out during full moon.

 Foil

- Tonyo’s grandfather, Apo, completes the character of Tonyo. With his help,

Tonyo was able to take down the manlalayug. Fernando and Alejandro,

Tonyo’s older brothers, were also one of the foils of the story. Because of

them, the character of Tonyo is somewhat special because of their distant

behaviour/persona. Tonyo was the more serious one and behaved unlike the

two. In addition, his older brothers helped him realized that he was the one

who is meant to do the deed – to dispatch the manlalayug.

 Narrator

- The narrator of the story is the protagonist which is Tonyo. He narrated his

own experience to his grandchildren.

 Minor characters

o Static Characters – Franciso and Carmelita were the minor characters.

They are the parents of Tonyo who, from the beginning, took care of

Tonyo and his two older brothers.

Conflict

o Kinds of Conflict

- The conflict of the story is man vs prenatural where Tonyo and his family are

the only people who could stop the manlalayug – a supernatural being killing

men and eating their organs using her charm and illusions

o Types of Conflict

- Interpersonal conflict – It is an interpersonal conflict because Tonyo is

confronting the manlalayug to stop the murders to protect his family and the

barangay.

Narrative Devices

 Flashback

- The story uses flashback to make the readers know what a manlalayug is and

how she kills her victims. Using flashbacks helped the reader know how

Tonyo will defeat the manlalayug.

 Suspense

- Using suspense keeps the readers interested like how Tonya got teased and

decided rashly to kill the manlalayug and how he almost got killed by the

manlalayug.
Setting

a) Physical Location

- The story took place in Canda, somewhere south in Bukidnon here in the

Philippines. It happened on the time where “not-like-ours” or supernatural

beings are very prevalent among Filipinos.

b) Mood

- Heroism and scary are the moods of the story. Heroism because it displays

the act of great courage as Tonyo defeats the manlalayug, and scary since

the story was all about supernatural beings that frightens and alarms the

readers.

Tone

- The tone of the story the tale of Tonyo, the brave are angry, violent, curious,

dissapoint and appreciative. First of all angry, because of the manlalayug that

keeps killing people made Tonyo and other people made angry to the

manlalayug. The second one is violent; we all know that the manlalayug is

very violent to its victim. It also shows no mercy to its victim. The third one is

curious because at the first part of the story, when the grandfather of Tonyo

arrived in their house, the grandfather reported that there was another victim

of manlalayug died, then curiosity of Tonyo turns on. And the fourth one is

dissapoint. Tonyo felt unhappy because something went wrong. And the last

one is appreciative. Because at the last part of the story, people are so

grateful to Tonyo bacause he killed the manlalayug.

Point of View

In the story, Tonyo was the one who narrates the story in his own point of view.

He narrates a part of his childhood where he managed to kill a manlalayug that made

him gain his nickname, Tonyo, the Brave.

Style

a) Syntax – “It is far from here, very far. To go there, you have to travel by ship or

airplane, and by bus for more than twelve hours"

- Incorrect

"It is far from here that you need to travel by ship, airplane, and bus for hours."

- Correct

b) Diction – “Manlalayug is a creature that possesses special powers. Once she is

hunting, killing her becomes a challenge. She transforms into a beautiful woman

who will used her charm to weaken a man's will."

- As observed in the line, the word "Manlalayug" can be found. Manlalayug is a

filipino word, so we can tell that the story happens in the philippines or more

exact in the province. Because people who live in province believe more on

supernatural beings or folklore from their place.

c) Figures of speech

o Simile- " my memory is as fleeting as the summer breeze"

d) Imagery

o Visual - " he would then sit in the veranda the whole day, puffing on a rolled betel

leaf, spitting out the red goo into a small can beside him"
 "In his hands were a long bronze dagger, easily foot in length, and a piece of

cloth. He sat at his usual place and polished the blade, oblivious to the five

pair of eyes staring at him in astonishment."

o Auditory – “We just heard him rummaging in his kaban once or twice, and then all

was quite."

"When he spoke his voice is very low as if he was afraid of being heard and

we all lean forward to catch his words."

o Tactile – “When she was near to touch me, she reach out her hand and blindly, I

took it, it was soft, so soft."

o Olfactory – “I could smell her, the fragrance of the wind and the sea."

Theme

“We are all willing to sacrifice ourselves to protect someone who is very dear to

us.”

It is shown in the story that it was Tonyo who killed the supernatural being.

Because of his strong will to protect his family, particularly his father who was supposed

to do the mission, he agreed to his brothers that he will be the one to kill the manlalayug

instead. Even though he knows the possibility of getting himself killed, he was willing to

sacrifice just so his dear father would be safe together with his mother.