A Country Boy Quits School

Reporters: Melecio L. Bernido Jr. April Blythe Lobrigas

A Country Boy Quits School By: Wang Hsiang Chen (Chinese Literature) Characters: The Boy

Teacher

Father

Grandmother

Mother

Grandfather

Setting: China

House

School

Plot: Introduction The boy in the story is described as half capable as that of a grownup. He could already do what most boys could not do at their age. Then, there was a law issued to their place that any boy aging at least 6 years old must be sent to school or else someone from the household will be sent to prison. Then the family of the boy divided to send him to school.

Rising Action The boy went home from his first day of school bringing with him eight books. His family was filled with awe and wonder at the books and its characters. But then they were listened that the books cost a lot of their money.

Climax The mother could not take longer what she sees and heard from his son. She would hear him refer to the picture of a lady in the book as “This is Mama”. She grew with distress that she asked her son to ask his teacher whose mother the lady really is. The teacher has to really explain to them that the lady is just made up. This enlightenment only created more confusion to the boy because he now believed that everything in the book are real. One time, the boys in the school decided to have tea party as indicated in the book. They divided to ask money to buy the food that they need but then their families found at and all they got is a scolding.

Falling Action The grandmother heard her grandson read from the book that the family has a “mama, papa, brother and a sister”, She got mad that she has no longer needed in the family once she did not heard her grandson mention a “Grandmother”.

Resolution The father put an end to their distress and decided that the boy should quit school even though he will be sent to jail.

Conflict: The family and even the boy don’t understand the school system. Oftentimes, the boy would be mistaken for during something wrong in his studies. Once, he was accused of playing truant after he was seen coming home early but it only because he had come to school too early that he was told to go back home yet. They were often confused on what the boy reads and sees in the book that would cause his family distress.

Theme: Cultural differences regarding education

Moral Lesson: Country Boy Quits School shows the importance of education to our lives. It clearly demonstrates how poor education may result to chaos and confusion to someone's life, even family. Just as much as it issues how significant education is, this story also addresses how not just books and teachers define education. The story Generosity on the other hand, shows the very irony of life during those times. No matter how hard one works, he is easily brought down by someone with a higher class, with no effort at all. We clearly see how large the gap between people of different classes really is.