Term Paper

Philippine Literature in English
REACTION PAPER ON SCENT OF APPLES

This story written by Bienvenido N. Santos implies that not all Filipinos are able to live a better life in the United States. It gives readers an impression about the hardships that one of the central characters,
Celestino Fabia, was still struggling in the United States despite settling there for a long time.
During the war, the narrator spoke before an audience in Kalamazoo, Michigan. There he met
Celestino Fabia, who said that Filipino women are different from his stereotype, in a sporadically incorrect grammar. They headed over to Celestino's house when the narrator accepted his invitation. Celestino shared that his wife, Ruth, would be pleased to meet the narrator, whom he found a "first-class Filipino." Celestino tells the narrator that he did something bad to his family, incurring his father and siblings' ire. Because of what happened to his family, he moved to the United States where he met his wife Ruth. They lived in a small hut, located in a place surrounded by apple trees. However, many of the apples picked from the trees rotted down before they could even be sold. The couple had a young son, Roger. The boy said that the narrator looked like
Celestino. Then the narrator found a picture of an anonymous Filipina wearing traditional Filipina costume.
Upon returning to the hotel, the narrator told Celestino that he would send news to Celestino's family.
However, Celestino refused, saying that his family had forgotten him.
The story is a perfect example of how Filipinos lived a difficult life during wartime. Often, some of them went to a faraway place upon doing something wrong, and their hardened minds were considered a barrier for them to return home. It goes to show that if one loves their homeland, they must look back to and embrace their roots so that they could live the good life they well deserved.