The World Is An Apple (Reaction Paper)

           When I first read the excerpt from this play, my immediate reaction was “wow that was it?” After my first reading of the play, I thought that it was just a simple play made for fun. But I realized after rereading it a few more times that it actually has a deeper meaning than what it appears to have.

            First, an emphasis on the love of a father should be given. Despite them being really financially unstable, Mario did everything he could to give his beloved daughter an apple; even if it means losing his own job. That time, I’m sure nothing goes inside Mario’s mind but his love for his sick daughter, Tita. Seeing his daughter weak and ill is worse than losing his job; thus, forcing him to steal an apple.

            Second, the patient love of Gloria to Mario. Gloria did all she could for Mario to stop from going back to the criminal life he once lived. She persevered and endured everything to stop her husband from treading the wrong path in life. In spite of their financial instability, Gloria cared so much for her family, a mark of a strong Filipina.

The last but the most evident sense of the play is a Filipino Family’s struggle against one of the major social issues of today’s world: poverty. Poverty is seen in almost every part of the world nowadays. News about a family not being able to eat at least three times a day is not that new anymore. Leaking roofs, broken beds, overpopulated areas, all of these are signs of poverty. Up to this date, there is no entire solution to this worldwide crisis; thus leading Filipinos to yield to criminal ways.

It is evident in Mario that he tried to change his ways more than once. But all of Gloria’s and Mario’s pains all became futile when he was faced with an obstacle where he felt so hopeless: when his beloved daughter became sick. This shows a sad reality of life: that when a person is backed up on a wall, he can do absolutely anything, may it be good, may it be bad.

Just like Adam who stole an apple from the garden of Eden for his love, Mario stole an apple from his work for his love. Humans are easily tempted. What more if they’re tempted while undergoing a personal crisis?

The play focused on the essence of a Filipino family striving in their battle against poverty and against their own selves. Mario’s weakness to temptation forced him to succumb back to his evil ways. The act of stealing a single apple, though just a simple theft, ruined all the efforts of Gloria on making her husband a changed man. These events then led to the destruction of the family. And the cause of it all? Poverty.

The Philippine government should start finding a panacea to this disease. Poverty destroys not only roofs, beds, and stomachs, but also a kid’s laugh, a mother’s smile, a father’s esteem, and a human’s soul.