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9Ê ›
ʹ is a young, wondering, striped caterpillar who got bored with living the typical crawler͛s

life of eating leaves to grow and so he ventured to a journey on finding more about life through

reaching the unknown top of the caterpillar pillar which lead him to realize what matters most

in life.

9Ê ë ʹ a yellow caterpillar who at first also aspired to reach the unknown top of the pillar but

met Stripe along the way and became his companion which made her question the worth of

reaching the top and eventually abandon that Journey to settle for a home which left them both

unsatisfied, but instead of climbing the pillar she searched for a better way to reach the top.

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mhe story centers on a caterpillar - Stripe bursts out of his tiny egg to come out into a bright and sunny

world. He is hungry and wastes no time to begin eating the leaf that he was born on. And then another and

another and another until he grew bigger. mhen, one day, he wonders if there is more to life than eating and

getting bigger. Opening his eyes to the world around him, he sees a mountain of caterpillars in the distance

climbing towards the sky. Intrigued, Stripe makes his way to the mountain and begins to climb. Stripe then goes

on a fascinating discovery of life that leads him to what he believes is the way to the top.

A feverish frenzy overtakes him as he becomes more determined to reach the top, not knowing what is

there. It is not an easy path, one must push, shove and trample to go up and it is in this path upwards that he

meets Yellow. Yellow͛s a caterpillar about his age and is talking to her when the pile shifts, and Stripe steps on

her head to make his way further up the mountain. Soon he is so riddled with guilt that he finds Yellow and

apologizes, and much to the astonishment of the other caterpillars they climb down together.

mhey are very happy together on the ground, and they spend their days hugging and eating to their

hearts' delight. But Stripe begins to grow restless again, and he decides that he must find out what is at the
 pillar͛s peak. Yellow sadly refuses to go, so Stripe returns to the brutal race alone. It seems even worse this time,

and Stripe begins to wonder if it's really all worth it. He climbs single-minded, towards the top of the pillar,

hardly caring anymore. Meanwhile, Yellow strikes out on her own because she is sure that there must be some

other better way to reach the top. She does not know what that path is and goes on simple faith, building a dark

cocoon around herself in the impossible hope that she could be a butterfly. Finding in this a way to save Stripe

from his despair and fulfill what they were really meant to become.

III.Ê  
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mhis story is the perfect analogy to human͛s pursuit of his dreams and happiness. Written simply to

depict our struggles in finding what͛s more to life. Stripe and Yellow, the main characters of the story resembles

us, each person on his/ her own quest in living this life and struggling to find our purpose. Like stripe, who ate

and ate until he grow bigger, we also had to feed our body and mind to grow through the care and love provided

by our parents and the knowledge and wisdom acquired through education and interaction with our

environment. Until we reach the ripe age wherein we are now capable of fending for ourselves, of standing on

our own and facing the world to accomplish what we want in life. Oftentimes, we are being sheltered too much

by our innocence which when accompanied by inquisitiveness and drive to know everything makes us desire to

break-free and explore the immense possibilities and opportunities awaiting us outside of our home͛s protective

cloak. With this new sense of freedom and excitement brought by adventure we tend to rush headlong into

something unknown. mhat was what most of us did. Like what͛s in the story, was it that good up there? It

seemed like it was since everyone͛s trying to reach the top. But the only way up that was visible was the climb ʹ

mHE CLIMB OVER mHOUSAND OmHERS, the SINGLE-MINDED APPROACH which leaves you hardhearted and

unfeeling of other people͛s demise. mhere seemed no other way and it seemed like it was the way of life. Step or

be stepped upon. But, in pursuit of something which we think was good, must we really use others? What͛s so

good up there that they would be willing to undermine compassion? Why can͛t those who reached the top

climbing tell? But how can they tell? mhe moment they got the answer, it was too late, they fell. mhey had been

on top but they can͛t stay there. mhose they stepped upon to reach that place pushed them off because they
want to be there, too. And in that moment, there was nobody else to hold on to. One of Filipinos bad habits

termed as Crab Mentality. Why can͛t we be happy for those who succeeded must we really drag them down in

order to advance? mhis is prominently experienced in different industries such as the corporate world. In a fresh

graduate͛s perspective, we must not let ourselves be sucked into this kind of mentality, as if it͛s okay because

before you even got there, it͛s already in practice. It͛s definitely not okay to forget your values and suppress

your conscience just to get the satisfaction of being at the top, because I assure you, that satisfaction wouldn͛t

last. Just wait till your conscience eat you away or for karma in the form of other people who got there the same

way as you do, drag you down and let you fall. You͛re not gonna be happy to be on top, especially if you͛ve got

no one to share the success with, it͛s futile. It͛s better not to be at the top, but the same person surrounded

with love and hope than to rush headlong into the top but turn-out to be the shell of the good person that you

used to be.

mhis may also apply to couples who are just starting, I͛ve read reviews and comments about how this

book changed their lives and in particular saved their marriage. We should set our priorities and determine

which is most important to us ʹ the thing which we can͛t leave without. Can you live without love? What are you

willing to sacrifice to make your special someone happy? I really salute Yellow, even though she͛s hurting deep

inside to see Stripe go, she understood that he had to find-out, to have a closure and finish the journey he

started even before he met her. Despite of her love, she stood firm because she knows for herself what she

wants, and deciding to stay is not the coward thing to do nor the selfish one. It͛s for her own sanity and

satisfaction because just like Stripe she has to make up her mind on what does she really want, and it͛s definitely

not to go back to that life again. mhey both feel that they͛re missing out the final pieces on their own puzzles,

that͛s the reason why they didn͛t stay happy. In order to commit yourself into someone, and make yourself part

of the whole, you have to be complete by your own, to be whole on your own. You know what? I think women

are really smarter than men, haha, see how Yellow learned her lesson way faster than Stripe? We must realize

how to take risks but also know how to say enough and admit that you͛re wrong. Yellow took the risk of

venturing to the unknown and rely on her gut-feeling which turned out to be the right thing to do. As it criticizes
the mediocrity of those goals which seem so all-important to us at the time, it offers us hope for a much more

satisfying existence. It does not come without cost, however; we must be willing to throw off everything that

hinders and leave ourselves completely vulnerable. She found what she was destined to become, a butterfly

with a much bigger purpose ʹ the hope for the flowers. In her triumph and success, she wanted to share all of

this with Stripe, because she loves him and although they parted ways, she still loved him enough and Stripe still

felt her connection eventhough he did not recognize the butterfly as Yellow.

What͛s wrong with most of us is that we don͛t believe in ourselves. We were too excited, too eager to

be where others are that we rush into something we don͛t even know. Rushing that give us no time to think of

our own capabilities to soar high, reach the top, and discover more. We can all be butterflies. All we need is take

time to contemplate ourselves, develop our hidden potentials and use them to be where we want to be. We all

can fly. mhere͛s a world of difference between flying and climbing over others. When you climb, you hurt others

and once you reach the top, everything͛s limited. mhe sight, the movement and especially the time. You can͛t

stay there long enough to enjoy it. Others can push you off for you depend on them. When you fly, you explore

more, you see more, you do more, and you hurt nobody. You depend on yourself, other͛s can͛t bring you down.

mhe most perfect goal would be perfect happiness, and just like what stripe thought, we will find the perfect

happiness on the top, up there where we came from, up there where we always wanted to be: beside God, in

the arms that nurtured us from the very beginning.

It is also a story about facing fear of the unknown and personal changes, about ambition, about meaning

and yes, about hope. It's about feeling lost and muted, and finding your way to the things that really matter. It is

a love story for modern times and a valuable life lesson told in the basic language of fable for all ages, for all

gender, it͛s what like mrina Paulus wrote - ͞c

   
 

    
 ë
   
 


   ë. While reading this I was able to feel excitement, curiosity, wonder, friendship, love,

hurt, sadness, confusion, annoyance, nervousness, uncertainty, and finally happiness. A definitely must read,

and I͛m sure to pass the tradition to my future children.