CHILDREN OF THE CITY

Amadis Ma. Guerrero

AUTHORS STUDY
Amadis Ma. Guerrero

He was born in Ermita, Manila in 1941. He graduated from the Ateneo de manila in 1965 And from the University of Santo Tomas in 1959. His short story Children of the City is a departure from his usual style. It won the PalancaAwards in 1971

SETTING

This story happened in the late 1980s. Everything occurred in the dark perilous busy streets of Manila

CHARACTERIZATION

Victor He is a boy from Intramuros. At the age of eight, he loses his father and his mother abandons him for some other man. He is hired as a newsboy by his uncle and starts his life on the streets. Innocent and young, he ponders on the menace and vices of his colleagues and the people all around him. Victors Dad A good-natured man and a loving father to Victor, he was apart of a workers strike. The man loved his son dearly and his death brought a huge blow to Victor.

Victors Mom She loved Victors dad but never cared felt any affection for her son. She took her husbands death grievously. But later on she ignores Victor, becomes a prostitute, then leaves Victor to his uncle to go away with her new lover. Tio Pedring Victors uncle, he adopted victor after the leaving of his sister. He forces victor to become a newspaper boy.

Nacio He is a newspaper boy. He was victors new friend. Though full of cruel vices, Victor took his death as another major loss

INTERPRETATION
Victor was the perfect example of an innocent child whose life supposedly revolved around education but somehow, things fell apart when his father died and his mother left. Victor was a victim of the cruel fate the world offered. He became a part of the huge jungle and that is the bigger world. With no one to guide him, in the end, Victor gave in to the worldly ways he never knew existed.

We can all be victims of the worldly ways. No matter how strong a person is, if fate and people around you permits, we may all give in to these like Victor who was still too fragile to face reality. Manila was likened to a jungle--the moment you let your guard down is the moment you will submit to its ways.

QUESTIONS:
1.) Describe the character development of Victor from an earnest newspaper boy too one of the boys and relate this to the moral point of the story.

2. ) How does the city shape the newsboys, child workers, beggars, orphans who ply the city for a living?

3. ) Relate this story to other naturalistic depiction of Manila as the jungle for instance, in films like Maynila sa Kuko ng Liwanag and City after Dark. Describe the details evoked to bring out this impression

4.) The last paragraph presents the city of Manila as a metaphor for moral universe of contemporary Filipino life. What ironies were used to present Victor becoming a prey in a jungle called survivor?