MARTINEZ, Adrienne A.

Name __________________________________________ Score _______________

The World Is An Apple

Give 5 reasons why the selection was given such a title. Explain your reasons
fully.

a. The reason why the selection is given such a title is that it has multiple symbols that depict the life of our fellow Filipino
who lives in poverty. One of the things that it symbolizes—specifically the "apple"—is that in this world where you can't
always rely on anyone and given that you have a family, you have to provide—you have to give the "apple" to your family
and also to yourself. We saw in the story that this is the case for Mario. There is a scene in the story where he says that
they promised Tita that they would give everything to her, and for Mario, providing means giving Tita an apple that she's
been wanting for a long time now.

b. "The World is an Apple" can also represent the frustration we feel in this world or our lives, especially for those who
struggle to provide for their families with the things they want and need. Frustration was really visible to Mario, especially
when he was explaining to Gloria about the time that Tita told him he wanted an apple but his money wasn't enough and
also the time when he bought a green apple for Tita but she threw it because she didn’t like it. I think for a parent, or
maybe for anyone who's been trying to do everything for their loved ones, not being able to give them everything despite
your hard work and living an honest life is frustrating. Also, this frustration may have shattered Mario's pride every time he
realized he couldn't give Tita an apple—one of the most simple things in the world, despite working honestly and hard.
c. "The World is an Apple" can also symbolize "survival in this world," as stated above. In this world, you can't always rely
on someone or something—you have to do everything in this world to survive, even if it means doing bad things, because
man's top priority is survival—not just his own but also that of his family. After losing his job, Mario needed to find a way to
provide and survive, especially for Tita, who is sick, and the only way is to go back to his dishonest life, where Mario was
convinced that he could give everything to his family—not just what they need and want but also more.

d. Another reason is that it can symbolize "the world is full of temptation." This world is full of temptation, and it is up to
us if we will give in to those temptations. However, there are times when these temptations cannot be resisted, especially if
we are thinking about not just ourselves but also the people who we love the most and who are important to us. In the
story, Mario was tempted, and he stole the apple; however, this temptation wasn't driven by selfishness but by
selflessness—he stole it for her daughter. Toward the end of the story, Marion succumbed to the temptation to return to his
old dishonest life to provide for his family and ensure their survival. Giving in to temptation was not always driven by
ourselves; it was sometimes driven by our society—if society does not provide us with the opportunity and mocks us for
e. The last reason I can think of is that the story was inspired by or can be associated with Adam and Eve, who gave in
doing so, we will never be able to resist the temptation.
to temptation and ate the apple. The story of Adam and Eve and the play The World is an Apple both depict that wrong
decisions come with great burdens and consequences. In this drama, we saw that when Mario stole the apple, he
immediately faced the consequence—he was stripped of his job and was immediately burdened by his responsibility and
thought about how he could provide for his family. On the other hand, when Gloria learned that her husband stole an apple
and was fired from his job, she was immediately burdened by the thought of how they could survive without Mario's job;
furthermore, Gloria also felt a heavy burden when Mario decided to go back to his old dishonest life in order to provide for
himself and survive, and going back to this kind of life means there are consequences—although they were not disclosed
in the story, it is up to us, the audience, to think about what consequences Mario's action will bring to them.