Literary Analysis

“The Bread of Salt”

Submitted by: Ian Carlos Tan

Submitted to: Mr.Dalida
Section: 11-C STEM
 The story “The Bread of Salt” that was written by Nestor Vicente Madali Gonzales or also
called as N.V.M Gonzales portrays about the goals, hopes, and downfall of a 14-year old boy. The
author did not give a name for the boy so I will just refer to him on my analysis as young boy.

I think the setting of the story is in the 1930’s where the whole story started when the
young boy was doing his daily routine, which was buying pandesal on a bakeshop on Progreso
Street. Based on the story the young boy was tired of doing his daily routine when the young boy
stated “For my reward, I had only to look in the direction of the sea wall and the fifty yards or so
of riverbed beyond it, where an old Spaniard’s house stood.” As if seeing that view gives the
young boy the motivation to buy pandesal daily.

Then one day he learned that Aida his classmate in highschool was the old Spaniard’s
niece whom he had feelings for. And throughout the story I can say that the Young boy is a
dynamic character because he grows as the story progressed. It can be seen when he realized
the difference of status between him and Aida which he didn’t knew at the beginning of the story.

And speaking about Aida, She is a static character which is visible when I read the story.
She did not have a noticeable change when the story begun until it ended. But there are things
that has been highlighted about Aida according to the Narrator, those things are about her
physical appearance. Some examples of this are “I saw Aida in a long, flowing white gown and
wearing an arch of sampaguita flowers on her hair.” And “I kept my eyes closed and held for as
long as l could her radiant figure before me.” Those were the statements that prove the feelings
of the young boy for her and the purpose of Aida in the story. Other characters doesn’t have a
big role in this story but only minor ones. They are Mr. Custodio who was in charge of the school
orchestra of the young boy, Pete Saez the guy who invited the young boy to join his band, Josefina
and Alicia The two cousins of Aida and their father Don Esteban, and lastly among the characters
is the boy’s grandparents. These characters may not have a major role in the story but they are
critical for the changes on the young boy’s character throughout the story.
 The Plot Structure of the story was chronologically arranged. Which started from the
exposition, Where the boy was doing his daily routine to buy pandesal for his Grandmother, and
it was visible that he was tired and bored of doing this everyday. This can be seen on the story
when the young boy’s aunt came on the holidays and brought a maidservant, who was given the
chore to buy pandesal and then he said that “I could not thank my aunt enough.” But before his
aunt came the only thing that motivates the boy to buy pandesal daily is the old Spaniard’s house,
where the girl who he desires lives which is Aida.

Then the rising action happened when the narrator said “And how I endeavored to build
my body so that I might live long to honor her.” From this statement I saw that the young boy’s
feelings for Aida grew even more. The young boy also improved his violin skills and joined the
band of Pete Saez. Then he started to perform in public or parties which his aunt does not support
because she said that musicians eat last every performance, when only the leftovers are
available. Like a dog who is waiting for leftovers. This also is a type of conflict which is Person vs.
Society because of what the young boy’s aunt told him.

And then his band performed in a holiday party where Aida was, at first it was all going
so well and they performed also well while the party gathered around the great table at the end
of the sala. And then Pete signaled to put their instruments away because they were about to
eat. The young boy was fascinated by how much the food before him was. And because he was
with his friends he became greedy and put the egg-yolk things in a napkin. Then the climax
happened when Aida the girl he desires saw him putting those foods on a napkin. Then was asked
if he was hungry and that she could get more for him. I can only imagine how embarrassed the
young boy was. Not only he was seen by the girl of his dreams but also there the falling action
happened. He threw away the foods he kept in the napkin and realized that there is a big
difference between his status and Aida’s. then the Denouement is when he was on his way home
with Pete Saez.

After they divided the money that they earn, he decided to buy pandesal with his own
money on the way to his Grandmother’s house. On this part I think that he realized that he was
not ready to face reality.
 The theme of this story was about simple people living simple life and also falling into love
Where social status plays important aspect in the story. It was showed by the character of the
young boy, who experienced a lot throughout the story it started when he admire and desired
Aida then as the story progressed his feelings for Aida also grew which inspired and motivated
him to build his body so he could live long to honor her. But even after all the changes he did in
the end he realized the big difference between the two of them.

The style of the author is descriptive. It can be seen on how he described the characters in this
story like Aida there are a lot of things that the author described about her which I stated earlier
in this analysis.

There are also some imagery that can be seen on this story just like the pandesal. It
indicates a simple life of the young boy in the story, it also signifies the social status of the
character. Because it is inexpensive and simple just like the protagonist of the story.

The Bread of Salt is a great story, the pandesal’s color is brown and sometimes darker and
also small which refers to the protagonist of the story who is still young at the time of the story.
His feelings for Aida is clearly amazing, but the boy was not matured enough to realized that even
though the girl he desires is at a higher social status he can still admire her just like he did
before. But what else can he do he’s just a young boy who is still growing like a pandesal that is
being baked in the bakery he must learn many things and wait for the right time where he can
prove himself deserving of his goals and dreams in life.