BIENVENIDO SANTOS

Born: 22 March 1911, Tondo

Died: 7 January 1996, Legazpi City

Genre: fiction, poetry

Books: Scent of Apples, The Praying Man, You

Lovely People

Education: Harvard University (1941–1946)

Early Harvest
 Setting
✘ San Juan, Albay – below the Sinicaran hills,
which lie at the foot of Mount Mayon

✘ During the Japanese occupation in the

Philippines – World War II

Characters
Selmo – the protagonist, a child who witnessed the
Japanese colonization
Selmo’s Father – a grown man who used to be
filled with laughter not until the Japanese came
Selmo’s Mother – a religious woman who devotes
to Santa Rosa to protect her family
Cario – Selmo’s brother who went underground
when the Japanese came
Nena – the emotional wife of Cario who constantly
longs for her husband
Nonoy - son of Nena and Cario
Tiong Matias - Selmo’s family relative who would
stay at their house and help his father
Maria- daughter of Tiong Matias
Bundio- younger brother of Maria
Father Julian- an American priest who serves as
the people’s messenger of faith
Celo- a father of a child who consulted Father
Julian because his son was ill
Cardo- son of Celo who was prayed over by Father
Julian
 Plot
The story took place in a time where Japanese invaded the
Philippines. The setting was in Albay, Bicol where most of
the families had farming as livelihood. For a young man
named Selmo, everything changed in their barrio when the
Japanese came. Her father would no longer exude the same
life as her mother devoted herself to Santa Rosa. Her
brother, Cario also disappeared on the forest of La Fonte as
her wife, Nena longed for him with their son Nonoy.

Everything was no longer the same for Selmo. There's not

much fun anymore. All they experience then was shootings
in the town and the cruelties of the Japanese. The Japanese
was a bad news to them; they would take away their earned
harvest and left them with nothing.

Their little barrio became different when Father Julian who

was an American priest came. Days rose in hopes as he said
mass to the people. Lots were baptized and there were
confession ceremonies. He gave words of wisdom to them
when they felt like there was no longer hope. He was like a
saint in the barrio. In return, the people were good to him.
They gave him food and protected him from the enemy.
Father Julian felt great love from the people. From those
deeds, he knew God will reward them.

The people lost hope and stopped planting on their fields

but Father Julian encourage them to continue despite the
Japanese threat. So, they planted. The Japanese would
come every now and then to check on their crops. The
people knew they would come back and get their harvest
so, they mentioned that next Wednesday they would
harvest. The people had a plan. They harvested the crops
before Wednesday and hid them. They knew that the
Japanese would still come but Father Julian was there to
help them spiritually. Indeed, the people prayed.
Wednesday came and the Japanese had not come back.
Good thing it kept on raining after the harvest day, they
can say that the flood swept their crops away. This made
everyone so happy and hopeful. The people felt like they
won over the Japanese.
 Theme

In our most troublesome days, faith would keep us

going.

In the midst of oppression, we resist.

Moral Lesson

In times of despair, when you feel like you couldn't handle

the problems, do not lose hope because God will never
forsake His people. Sometimes faith would be a great
weapon when there’s no courage left. The faith within you
will give you hope and strength to face any problem that
may come along.
ELLAINE MAE T. CARBON JAY-AN MAE CASTILLON

KATHERINE LOUISE C. NEGRO

SUBMITTED BY: SUBMITTED TO:

IAN PAUL DAUG

Philippine Literature – GE 117