1. What is the importance of the Bougainvillea to the family?

The glorious bougainvillea was also a source of Mama’s pride, aside from the fact that we had a
car and went to church together as a family every Sunday
2. What belief do they have about Bougainvillea?
They believed that beneath the brightness of its flowers and vibrant leaves lay a whole different
world that they could only whisper about.
3. What does bougainvillea symbolize?
Bougainvillea stands for passion. To the Victorians, a gift of bougainvillea was meant to ignite
passion. In other parts of the world, bougainvillea flowers stand for welcoming visitors, peace,
and free trade.

4. What are the real stories behind the “possessions” of Bansing and Elsa?
There were whispers though, the bougainvillea dislike being touched. The first time anyone came
near with his shears, they say the shears fell from his hands because of the thickness of the stem.
Everyone believe that the accident had something to do with the bougainvillea. These theories
were proven right when his father’s brother, who doesn’t believe in things like spirits, came to
visit. He was too noisy, snipped too fast and had no respect for the bougainvillea. He did finish
his job but that night, he was brought to the hospital because of his ring finger, where his
wedding band resided, became swollen. It came quietly, the day Bansing was possessed. Bansing
was to have more several more seizures from the possession. After a week, Bansing went back to
the streets again. About two months after Bansing’s possession, Elsa disappeared from the streets
and the games.
5. What does this tell of the openness of the people towards these types of social issues?
The story itself shows that the females are really close to troubles than men. The author might
want to spread awareness against the abuse among females. As you can read the story, the
narrator, which is probably a female, Bansing and Elsa experienced more traumatic experience
rather than the male who did something with the bougainvillea.
In Bansing’s situation, one of the highlights in the story was Bansing’s possession which in
reality, she really wasn’t possessed. She explained the whole situation to her childhood friends
after a year. “The night before she was possessed, someone had lifted the mosquito net and
crawled into the single mat on which she lay.”, which means someone has raped her.
The story in the end explains what in reality happened but people won’t believe the fact and they
stick to their superstitious belief. These superstitious beliefs can affect people’s behavior and
state of mind like what happened to the mother’s narrator who believed that the bougainvillea had
something to do with the accident which actually doesn’t.