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Date __________

Banana Heart Summer: Food& Nenita

Food is at the heart of every story narrated by Nenita. More than just something that appeases Nenitas literal hunger,
however, food represents the different themes that the novel discusses. Identify the relationship between the food and the
conflict/issue that the following chapters tackle. (20 pts)

Chapter

Food and its characteristics

Main conflict/event in the

chapter

The devil ate my words

They could not get their
father to eat and speak
again

Floating faith kin ina

8&9

Nenita realizes she is not

meant for manolito

Contrasting tastes cannot be

mixed together

Connection between food

and conflict

14
23

The hot coconut guava dish

which was made of coconut
milk, garlic, shrimp paste,
hot chillies and guavas can

How this chapeter affected

nenita
In this chapter, Nenita is said
to have been ashamed of ChiChis hunger. She felt bad for

In this chapter, Nenita is said

to have been ashamed of ChiChis hunger. She felt bad for
her friend whose eyes were
always on the search for food.
Nenita also realizes in this

24

be compared with the

feelings Nenita had for
Manolito Ching. This
extremely hot dish, which
was capable of burning ones
mouth was like her feelings
for Maolito, strong, and had
the ability to hurt her. The
sensations that Nenita
would feel from the dish and
her feelings for Manolito
cannot be ignored.

her friend whose eyes were

always on the search for food.
Nenita also realizes in this
chapter that she has a crush
on Manolito Ching.

chapter that she has a crush

on Manolito Ching.

Nenita compares the Ching

family and the gossip
surrounding it to a
dysfunctional spleen,
constantly spewing bad
blood. Bad blood is a
commonly used idiom to
describe a bitter feeling
between people. In this
chapter, we can see that
Manolito has bad blood with

Because of the incident at the

end of Chapter 23, Nenitas
crush on Manolito grows. She
regularly prunes the hibiscus
in front of VVs lawn just
hoping to catch a glimpse of
Manolito again, and makes
herself forget about him
slipping ice down her dress
just to make him seem nicer.

The chapter briefly touches on

the subject of gossip, and how
it negatively impacts the
reputation of whoever its
about. Nenita wishes she could
save the Ching family from all
of the gossip they receive, but
is unable to do so because of
her own stature in society. She
also briefly mentions how first
loves dont always lead
somewhere, despite whatever
was felt in the moment.

his parents, his mother has

bad blood with her maid,
Nenitas mother has bad
blood with her, and the
gossipers around the street
constantly spew rumors
about the family.
27

Nenita saw that you dont

always have to follow others
The food used here was Bicol and it is not always a loss to
miss an opportunity. They
Express, which is a
didnt miss the train, the train
generally spicy and hot food missed them.

due to having amounts of

chili. Milings angry and
hateful feelings toward
Viring could be compared to
the Bicol Express and
Chilies

33

eggplants

43

Acharra puking ina

45

Nenita pushed her mom

We can see here the marriage

without the consent of the
parents and more importantly
to a girl to the parents dont
approve of. We can see how
Juanito left after Miling
humiliated his new wife.