About the story of "Tata Selo"
The
short story “Tata Selo” by Rogelio Sicat is about a farmer named after the
title of story. Tata Selo is a widower, he lost his wife due to a sickness and
left the daughter named Saling to be alone with his father. Tata Selo wanted to
reclaim his land because he sold it for the sake of his wife who was sick at
the time. But he did not have any money therefore he has to work to reclaim the
land that he once had. The conflict of the story started when Kabesang Tano
forces Tata Selo to leave his land because he already has other farmers on his
land. While begging Tata Selo is begging to not to be dismissed, Kabesang Tano
keeps hitting him on the forehead. Defending himself, he struck Kabesang Tano
and accidentally killed him. From that point, a lot of oppression and
inequality can be perceived against the protagonist of the story.
Realizations
It
can be seen that Tata Selo was a selfless father who will do anything to
reclaim his land for the sake of what is left with his family. He fought
against authorities, against injustices because he realizes that he is in the
right and he needed to fight for what he believes in. As a reader, I pity and
sympathize with Tata Selo because he didn’t have a choice and he was desperate.
He was desperate to get his land back for the sake of him and his daughter. But
Kabesang Tano didn’t gave him a chance and his reasoning of having already
other farmers on his land and hitting Tata Selo with a cane is not justifiable.
Even when Tata Selo is explaining what happened to cause the incident the
landholder, police, and the chief of the police did not listen and did not
considered his perspective on what caused the occurrence. He did not even have
any attorney who can defend him with his case and they had him imprisoned. And
in the end, Tata Selo lost everything he had.
The happenings
in the story show the reality that there are injustices and inequalities
against the less fortunate people. There is a discrepancy between the
privileged individuals and the lower class individuals. The rich people have
more power against the poor therefore they can do whatever they want and get
away with it which can be seen in the society today. Not just in our country
but also in different places. They have more access in life because they have
the money to spend while the poor keeps struggling sometimes without help coming
from the government. It showed that there are people who are being left behind
especially in this time where the pandemic is heavily affecting the country and
the lives of the people. Not all families have the means to support themselves
through this pandemic without having to work. Furthermore, rich people do not
only have an advantage on the less fortunate, but also those people who have
power in the authorities. There have been many cases where the people in the
police force use their power to threaten civilians in the community. There are
also cases where government authorities abuse their power to reign over the
normal people in the society. And this already shows the difference in power
between the rich people and the poor people in the community.
This
circles back to the saying that the youth as being the “hope” of tomorrow. As a
part of the youth community, telling these rich people to stop oppressing the
less fortunate will not work. As an individual, I will hone myself to become
compassionate to the destitute because at the end of the day, we are all the
same people living on the same planet. The only difference is that I was
luckily born to a family who can support our way of living. From there, I will
set an example and encourage the people around me to help the needy and that
all of us are equals. Additionally, for inequality to become a thing of the
past, we should also be knowledgeable in choosing our leaders. If we choose the
right leaders to lead the country, its people will be able to help each other
without leaving anybody behind. While reading
the story, it came up to me that if there is no one to stand against this
issue, the cycle will just keep going until the next generations. There should
always be someone who will stand against the problem and lead the people so
that no one will be left behind. The story depicted the real life situations where oppression is occurring all around the world where the rich uses and abuses money and power to gain advantage over the less fortunate ones. It also depicts the difficulties and challenges of those people who does not fit a certain criteria. In addition, it also showed how desperate can people be if they are losing hope and they have nothing to cling on.
To finish, this story made its readers realize the maltreatment and abuse that the lower class community is experiencing in today's society. They live their everyday lives in a disadvantage and they keep on struggling without gaining support from the government. Tata Selo showed us that even though sometimes we are alone and we don't have any support, we should always stand for ourselves and fight for what we believe in. This battle between the rich and the poor should put to a halt and all people should realize that we are all equal and we are the same.
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