Reaction Paper

A World is an Apple
by
Alberto S. Florentino

Submitted by:
Dianne Ellen Bawalan
BSBA- Marketing Management
Trimex Colleges

Submitted to:
Mr. Nicolas Burgos
Professor, Phil Literature
Trimex Colleges
A World is an Apple by Alberto S. Florentino, 1959

An apple symbolizes wealth when only rich people can afford to put it on their tables—a
time when typical working people can only wonder how it tastes like with that shiny red color.
The drama written by Alberto S. Florentino entitled A World is an Apple depicts the daily
conflicts of ordinary Filipinos. This literary work earned him a Palanca Award in the 50s and is
also his most famous work, and is one of the most performed plays in the Philippines. The story
revolves around how a character’s decision can turn around things and go badly.

The story was set in a small home behind the Intramuros Walls. The characters in this
story, Mario and Gloria, with their daughter Tita, lived in a poor situation near a place considered
one of the most historic places in Manila. The conversation taking place in the afternoon after
work hours started when Mario went home earlier than usual, presumably from work. Alberto
created Mario as a loving father and a husband who doesn’t want his wife to worry about
anything. Although Mario was trying to work as honestly as he could for the sake of his family,
he has a dark past, and it will always stick with him.

Gloria, the wife, was a stay-at-home mother who took care of their sick child, Tita. When
she married Mario, her mother disagreed with her and told her that she would live a miserable
life because she wanted to marry a good-for-nothing man. However, she believed that Mario was
the right one for her. Throughout, their marriage she never doubted Mario until the day of their
conflict. Gloria always trusted Mario that he would never do anything at the expense of Tita. She
believed that his love for their daughter was so strong that it was enough for Mario to stay away
from his dark past. For Gloria, living an honest life is better, even if it means they have to suffer
than live a comfortable life from dirty money.
 Thinking of Pablo, I always imagine him to look like those antagonists from FPJ movies
like Paquito Diaz or his brother Romy Diaz. The kind of character who is always spending
money like there was no tomorrow. The kind who always is on the other side of the light. The
one connected to all evil doings like drugs or kidnapping or robbery. In this story, it stated that
Gloria hated Pablo because he was a bad influence on Mario. Although the two men knew each
other before Gloria met Mario, she insisted that her husband cut ties. Pablo symbolizes the
wrong choice to take in this story. However, even knowing that Pablo is a choice not to be
chosen, he also appears to be the hope that will remove them from all these heartaches and
suffering.

The conflict of the story began even before Mario decided to take the apple that caused
his job. It started inside him when all he wanted was to provide a better life for his family and
send Tita to a hospital and seek help. It is a conflict that he tries to subdue inside him because
there is nothing else to be done. He is a poor man whose work earns him less than they need to
put food on the table. It is tough to live an honest life when you see the people you love suffer,
and you can’t help them. Although taking a piece of an apple in today’s world doesn’t cause too
much trouble, it was different then. A piece of an apple was too expensive before compared to
nowadays when an apple costs around thirty pesos and anyone can buy them from the market.

Another conflict in the story is when Mario has to decide whether to go with Pablo after
he lost his job to steal an apple that rolled down on the floor or stay with Gloria and live a
miserable life or see Tita get worse. How hard must it have been for Mario to leave his beloved
daughter to join a person with his dirty work when he knows how much Gloria hated Pablo. I
think that Mario sees Pablo, and being with him will help his family out of poverty. But
believing in the long run, it is just a band-aid solution that covers reality for the meantime. When
something terrible happens to him while doing all these dirty works with Pablo, he would have
left Tita and Gloria with nothing else but misery and heartache.
 I also think that there is a conflict between Mario’s past and society. People tend to be
judging when you did something terrible in your past, no matter how long ago it may be. It’s as if
they have not committed any mistakes in their entire life. Also, the people he was working for
removed him from his employment for taking that piece of apple. They could have given him a
warning or asked him to pay for it instead. But they had to fire him and cost him his living that
feeds his family. They are so heartless and inconsiderate. However, I don’t know if they have a
reason other than Mario taking that apple. But if it is just for that one piece of apple, I think their
actions were overrated.

The story’s climax is when Mario admits to losing his job for a week before taking an
apple for Tita. Admitting your mistake or wrongdoings to someone who trusts you is very
difficult. It is not because he knew Gloria would get mad but because he doesn’t want to
disappoint his family. He had been trying to look for another job so that Gloria would not worry
and that they could buy something for Tita. As a parent, I understand the extent of things we can
do for our children, even when doing it, doesn’t go according to society’s ideal moral values. For
Mario, it was worth it if it meant losing his job to get something Tita wants and make her happy.

I firmly believe that poverty isn’t an excuse to turn the other way and commit
wrongdoings. We should evaluate things for a more extended resolution of any conflict rather
than having a quick answer to problems. Furthermore, a mistake can never correct by another
mistake. He made a wrong choice by taking that apple but deciding to join Pablo and leaving his
family behind isn’t going to fix the issue. Instead, it would just make everything worse. But I
haven’t been to any situation where I had to choose between getting something my children want
in exchange for something that helps my children attend school and put food on our table. I guess
we can never really judge Mario for self ruining to provide his family a better future.