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 dont 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.