The Avocado Tree Summary/Reaction

The Avocado Tree Summary

Author: Daniel-Jay Pascual
Class: IP 411: Ilokano Literature in Translation/English

The Avocado Tree, by Marceline A. Foronda, Jr., is a story about a family of three undergoing the hardships of life in the city. The round characters in this story are the father/husband, the mother/wife, and the son. The father is best described as a hard-working individual who strives to provide for his family. Initially, he places his wife and his son as top priorities in life. The wife can be described as the care taker of the house. She cares for the well-being of both the husband and their son. The son can be described as a rebellious one who chooses to lead a life chosen by him, as opposed to one suggested by the father.

The setting takes place at their residence. The story involves flashback memories all of which convey the fact that all characters are alive. The other portion involves a real time setting in which only the mother/wife is alive, the father/husband being in jail, and the son dead. The home is described as a bamboo hut with an iron roof. The garden is overgrown with decaying plant growth. The main object in this particular story is the Avocado Tree. The tree resembles a bond with the son in which the life and death of it correspond with that of the son’s life.

The story is basically about a hard-working father who sacrifices his life to provide a better life for his family. Aspirations of sending his son to school to become and engineer is a goal the father wishes to accomplish. At an early age, the son is given two gifts, a toy pistol and a doll. The son’s decision to choose the doll suggests that he has chosen a rather feminist life. The story describes how the son is often, “out with the boys,” and never with girls. The finds reasons as to why their son is that way, but the father has different thoughts. After returning from the war, the father seems to have a different overall attitude. He looks upon his past sacrifices and finds himself frustrated with what has happened. The father learns that the son has chosen to work at a restaurant and live there. The father’s hopes of his only son to uphold the family name has been chattered.

One day, the father decides to search out his son. The story ends with a flashback of a horrid event that takes place at the residence. The father/husband returns with the son and stabs the son with a knife. After killing his son, he turns to the Avocado Tree and stabs that as well.
All of this has been in the thoughts of the mother/wife. A woman who has to cope with the experiences she has gone through in her life.


The Avocado Tree Reaction

Author: Daniel-Jay Pascual
Class: IP 411: Ilokano Literature in Translation/English

The Avocado Tree is another excellent story portraying real life events that a few families have actually experienced. The Avocado Tree is an excellent representation of the life of the son in the story. From the planting of the tree as a young seedling, to the death of it by murder, the tree can be analyzed to represent a strong interpretation of the son. The story talks of how the tree is not producing fruit as it should, this can be perceived as the uneasy upbringing of the son as he chooses an identity which is frowned upon by his father. In the end, the tree is also massacred by the father as done with the son. Therefore, the Avocado Tree can essentially be seen as the son.

Ultimately, this is a sad story. Although I support the idea of “living a life you choose to live,” the story has a few concepts that are also important. For example, the sacrifices the father made in order to provide a better life for his family should not be taken for granted by the son. Unfortunately, the mother/wife is the one who suffers in this story, an ill-fated truth experienced by many people in these situations. If this son recognized the sacrifices and the opportunities given to him, he should have at least shown some respect to his father and abide accordingly. In one point of the story, I remember that the father spoke of not being able to provide money for the education he sought for his son. In this case, the son should have helped out the family instead of moving away. In the end, I believe the father should not have killed his son. The problem could have been worked out with communication and time.