ABOUT THE AUTHOR

          
           Tao Kim Hai was born in Vietnam. He spent his first eighteen years studying in
French schools in Vietnam and at an early age, he began to write Vietnamese poems.
In 1932, he went to France where he studied law, French poetry, and short stories and
worked as a journalist. He has also written short stories and published some articles in
American magazines like Esquire, Gourmet, and The New Yorker.

          In 1945, Hai became a member of the French Delegation to the French
Conference and to the San Francisco Conference. He also became a member of the
United Nations Secretariat as area specialist for Asia and the Pacific.
    
          Tao Kim Hai’s English name is Andre M.
CHARACTERS AND CHARACTERIZATION

The Cock – agile, stubborn, impertinent, self-important and "the villain who turns out to
be a hero"

Young Woman – a sixteen year old girl that comes from a rich family; very gentle,
loving and obedient; loves the young man with all her heart

Young Man – a handsome eighteen year old boy that lives independently and is awfully
poor; is in love with the young woman; owns the cock
Father of the woman – the ly-troung or head of the village; is very firm yet loves his
daughter dearly
Mother of the woman – very superstitious on the verge that she considers them first
than listening to her daughter but still loves her daughter anyway
Neighbors – prejudicial of the couple; spread gossips
Relatives – keeps the family’s traditions keenly　
SETTING
          The story takes place in Vietnam probably between the 1800 to the 1900 when
traditions, specifically marital traditions are still practiced and stressed. The story
specifically occurred in a certain village in Vietnam wherein two faces of "living" are
pictured since the young woman comes from a very wealthy family while the young
man has nothing on his name.
PLOT
           Elements of Plot
1. Exposition
          The young woman is seemingly writing or talking to someone about the cock.
The cock is described as being old for a rooster but is still strong and agile. She also
said that the cock is the reason why she married the person that she truly loves since
the cock bridged their social differences; after all, she comes from a rich family while
the young man is very poor.
    2.    Initial Incident
          One day, the woman and the man were talking behind the bamboo hut to hide
away from prying eyes since their relationship is a secret. Suddenly, the cock
intervened in their conversation by making loud noises. Luckily, they were able to chase
it away.
     3.    Rising Action
          On another occasion, the couple once again secretly met with one another in a
trysting place. The cock came and made loud noises by flapping its wings and making
loud cries. The couple tried to chase away the cock but when they were busy doing so,
many people saw them together.
      4.    Complication
          After the couple was spotted to be together, rumors spread like wild fire. The
people speculated the young woman has lost her virginity and would soon bear a child.
These rumors reached the ears of her parents. The worst, the cock started to crow
during evenings and this crowing was said to be the sign of extramarital pregnancy.
       5.    Climax
          Since the young woman’s mother is so superstitious she believed that her
daughter was certainly pregnant. She does not listen to her daughter even she denies
the accusations. The relatives of the woman were called and the family had a meeting
while the poor young woman was locked in her room. It was then decided that the
woman must be married to the man so that the family might not loose face.
       6.    Falling Action
          Six preliminary marriage ceremonies had gone and they were married in the
strictest way possible. Their marriage was considered to be a bad match and a
scandalous one so it had been agreed that the couple must leave their native village
and make their new home in some distant province where they were not known.
       7.    Resolution

          The couple has been in the province for five years already and still the woman
did not bear a child, proving that the cock was indeed a liar. Still, the woman is grateful
for what the cock had done, since because of his doings she was married to the man he
loved the most.
 Kind of Plot
          The plot of the story is comical since the cock that always disturbed their quality
time together was the reason why they were married. At first, he become the villain
since he was the reason why their relationship had been exposed but by exposing their
relationship the impossible had become possible since they were married and of course
it was a wish come true for both of them. The cock turned out to be the hero.
 Device in Plot
          The plot is in Flashback since the story started when the woman told the
‘honored sister’ about her present condition and that of the cock. She informed her that
she was married to the man she loved because of the cock. After that, she narrated
about what happened five years ago and by the end of the story, the story returned to
the present time.
          To be specific, the story is in internal analepsis since the flashback occurred in
an earlier point of the narrative.
Point of View
          The point of view of the story is in the First Person since the story is narrated by
one character, the woman, and because she talks about herself. She explicitly refers to
herself using words and phrases involving "I". This can also be classified as First Person
because the readers only know her opinions, thoughts, and feelings, and not of the
other characters.
Tone
          Since the story is in first person and the only character "speaking" is the woman,
the tone of the story comes from her. The tone of the story is ironic* since the result of
the actions of the cock was not the expected outcome. At first, the young woman
thought that they were in trouble since their forbidden relationship was exposed.
However, they end up marrying each other.

* (situational irony) if the actions taken have an effect exactly opposite from what was
intended      
Symbolism
Honored sister – Vietnam or the land where the couple have stayed
European ideas – liberated ideas
Tongues wagging – people spreading gossips or rumors
Fall – giving away her virginity
Tears - a state of intense frustration and sadness
Theme
The worst thing that might have happened to you might lead you to the happiness that
you are looking for.

Synthesis

          The story tells us that in every dark cloud is a silver lining. We should not think
that when we are given trials, it is already the end of the world. We must be wise
enough to know that problems are there to make us stronger.

         I know that in our lives right now it is very rare that are problems would turn out
to make us happy. There are no cocks that would put us in trouble but in the end
letting us enjoy what we want to have in life. Nevertheless, we can make our problems
our friends by learning from them.

          The story, The Cock, is a masterpiece. It is indeed simple yet it is an eye-opener.
Do not take this story as merely a piece with words but an opportunity to look at an
interesting part of one's life.