SHORT STORY

ANALYSIS

THE LITTLE PEOPLE

By Maria Aleah

Taboclaon

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The Little People by Maria Aleah Taboclaon
A Short Story Analysis
Santa Isabel College - Manila
 Submitted by:

Sumalinog, Cherry D.

Submitted to:

Ms. Cecile M. Calabio

2015 October 05

LIFE OF THE AUTHOR

MS. MARIA ALEAH TABOCLAON

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The Little People by Maria Aleah Taboclaon
A Short Story Analysis
Santa Isabel College - Manila
 PROFESSIONAL PROOFREADER, EDITOR, CONTENT READER

VISUAL ASSISTANT BLOGGER

Ms. Taboclaon has over fifteen years of experience proofreading and

editing books, journal articles, academic papers, thesis, dissertations, e-

books and website content. She also worked as a content writer, site

manager and social media marketer. She have written on a range of

topics, but specialized on travel psychology, health, social media, writing,

internet marketing and sports.

As a Virtual Assistant, she maintains WordPress sites. She has four years

of setting up, running, and maintaining blogs on Blogger and WordPress.

She also manages social media accounts as well as do content marketing.

A graduate of University of the Philippines in Diliman with a Bachelors

Degree in Education Major in English. She had also earned an MA

(Candidate) in Clinical Psychology while working at the Office of the Vice

Chancellor for Research and Development at U.P.

Shes with Womens Crisis Center Manila as Crisis Counselor from

September 2003 to September 2007. Psychologist in Stairway

Foundation from July 2007 to December 2011. And Writer/ Researcher

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The Little People by Maria Aleah Taboclaon
A Short Story Analysis
Santa Isabel College - Manila
for Peace and Equity Foundation from June 2013 to September 2013.

In May 2013 up to the present, she is a Virtual Assistant in various

companies accomplishing numbers of tasks for several clients like

WordPress blogs, web research and maintenance, editing, social media

and content marketing, transcription and blogger outreach. To date, she

blogs about Solo Female Travelling in Solitary Wanderer

(http://www.solitarywanderercom) and continues writing inspiring

stories.

SUMMARY OF THE SELECTION

Aleah the author was only 9 years old when she and her family started

living with the elves. The communication they only got was the banging

of the elves from 11PM till 6AM in the morning. The elves even became

their alarm clock, they have settled down to a coexistence by giving them

food before they go to sleep, when morning comes theyve seen the food

were gone and the table were cleaned. First week of May, the Aleah

decided to climb the mango tree in their yard when one of its branches

accidentally broke, she met the leader and the oldest elf in the clan

named Prax. After relieving herself from consciousness, Prax told her

dont be afraid, the elf smiled and told the Aleah it would be better that

she would call him Prax instead of an elf. The Aleah wanted to ask so

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The Little People by Maria Aleah Taboclaon
A Short Story Analysis
Santa Isabel College - Manila
many things, but since Prax motives was to heal her ankle by performing

a healing massage. The Aleah has nothing to do but put into a deep sleep

with the fragrance of the oil balm. Thirty minutes later she woke up, she

hurriedly talked to her parents of what had happened, what she

witnessed makes her frustrated because of their reactions by collapsing

in the sofa. After the incident, she was told by her parents not to see Prax

again.

On the third when she was in Grade 3 she met her second elf named Bat,

he became his friends after he helped Aleah answered the difficult math

exam. They became friends, Bat gave her anything she wants, from

colored pencils to stationery that is on trend. Bat was now in love with

Aleah, he opened his feelings towards Aleah whom she didnt accept for

she was still a child and she lied that her parents were against about

their relationship. That night she got sick, to the extent that even the

very best doctor in their town cannot make her feel better, even

consulting an abularyo to heal her did not make her illness better. Years

passed, her mother got miscarriage, and the people in town believed that

its Bat behind all the incidents in the family. When she was 12, when

theyre having the banging in their ceiling stopped, it is very unusual for

them, that is why her father and her cousin got to ceiling and checked

why they stopped banging. Suddenly she saw her cousin fell from fright

or careless, her cousin was laying down in the ground with his back bent

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The Little People by Maria Aleah Taboclaon
A Short Story Analysis
Santa Isabel College - Manila
at an angle her family would never thought. After another year, her little

brother followed, he was run over by a postal service van while playing

along roadside. Six months after, her father died from drowning while

fishing. Now, there were only three of them left, Aleah, her mother and

her sister. After a week of the death of her father, her mother died

because of extreme despair. Aleah and her sister moved hundreds of

kilometers away from their house, they lived with their aunt. But they

were never spared they followed one by one, their foster family died.

From car accidents, food poisoning, assassinations through mistaken

identity. They traveled again, but a year ago they finally caught her sister.

It all happened when Aleah and her sister were riding on a bus, the tire

blew out, it crashes through a ditch and most of the passengers were

injured, but her sister was the only one fatality in that accident. She

realized that there was no escaping the fury of the little people. After her

sisters death, she got enrolled into a college and leave in the school

dormitory, Prax appeared in her dream and gave her the spell to get lost

from Bat and worst to eliminate Bat from her life. It was weekend when

Bat tracked her down, he is now old, and he screamed at Aleah and

walked away with great difficulty. Aleah pitied him. Aleah was given an

ultimatum; go with Bat or die on the spot. Aleah told Bat to wait her

outside because she needs to pack her things, and told him to count to a

hundred. When Bat was waiting outside, she took the opportunity to

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The Little People by Maria Aleah Taboclaon
A Short Story Analysis
Santa Isabel College - Manila
prepare the ingredients and mini-stove. She boiled a small amount of

sweet milk. She unwrapped Bats image made in green and brown clay,

with strands of his hair given to her by Prax, and started blowing and

chanting, Blow. Alife, casyl, zaze, hit, mel, meltat she put aside the

image and add another hundreds of brand new needles and pins that has

been blessed, she repeated the chant and immersed the image in the

boiling liquid. The count reached a hundred, Bat dissipated into mist-

shrieking. That night, Prax appeared in her dream again saying sorry

that he should have discovered the vanquishing spell to save Aleahs

family. Prax told Aleah I could not bring them back, but you can live a

good life of your own, she kissed the elf for the last time, the last of his

family go.

Aleah woke up, go to her desk and studied math, remembering where it

all began.

ANALYSIS OF THE STORY

CONTENT

First we considered the setting, in the beginning the story takes place at

the authors house when she was a child up to her dormitory. The story

was written in the present for the author uses the writing style as

narrative. The main character in the story is the author or Aleah herself,

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The Little People by Maria Aleah Taboclaon
A Short Story Analysis
Santa Isabel College - Manila
by the way she thinks you will understand her you can easily put yourself

into her shoes because everybody have been through being a child. The

author described with the help of Bat, he described Aleah as beautiful,

sensitive and romantic. From what I have read, Aleah also is very

adventurous child since she was seated at the back of their room where

no one would attempt to seat, because of the stories that there were

kapres, dwendes and white ladies. When Bat and Aleah were still friends,

Bat always give lots of presents, when she was only nine years old she

started to rely her happiness to him. But in return, Aleah changed then

after her whole family was lost, she realized that she would never be in

need for the material things for the rest of her life. The structure of the

plot was done chronologically, for me the main events in the story is that

how she survived from the fury of the little people, when shes chanting

the spell, that was the part of the story that really put me in the intense

situation, Ive been reading the line of the story with a bit nervous. The

point of view in this short story is written in the first person, the I point

of view. The author speak through the main character. The conflict in the

story is man vs nature, Aleah needs to defeat and kill Bat in order for her

to leave. I decided that Aleah represents the man because shes a human,

while Bat represents nature because I think he belonged to hidden

natures in this world. The greatest tension or the climax in the story is

when the count of Bat reached 70 and Aleah does repeatedly the spell

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The Little People by Maria Aleah Taboclaon
A Short Story Analysis
Santa Isabel College - Manila
while immersing the image of Bat in a hot boiling water.

LANGUAGE USED

Metaphor

Meanwhile, the elves had become our alarm clock.

The author compared two things here, elves being compared to being an

alarm clock.

He wore overalls unlike any clothing I knew of. Its texture was a mixture

of green leaves.

The author compares the clothes of the elf from green leaves.

Allegory

The elves came to stay with us when I was nine. They were noisy

creatures and we would hear them stomping on an old crib on the

ceiling. We heard them from morning till night. They kept us awake at

night.

In these statement the author adds interest to the idea that elves were

noisy creatures, because of that she has to explain why they were like

that. By explaining it, she uses narration for us to know more and read

more about what is she going to answer. There is some sort of

excitement.

Allusion

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The Little People by Maria Aleah Taboclaon
A Short Story Analysis
Santa Isabel College - Manila
What could our poor family do?

The author gives a brief reference of her family which we will know. It

allows us to easily come up with the image of being a poor family. The

reader can easily get an imagination.

Paradox

It clung to his skin and writhed with a life of its own.

The author explains her that the elves clothes clung to his skin, with life

of its own. She combines the idea of the clothes and the life, I think its

very illogical because clothes doesnt have life.

Hyperbole

I sniffed deeply, bringing the healing aroma of the ointment deep into my

lungs.

The author used the words deep into my lungs which was much

exaggerated.

His laugh sounded like the whistling of wind through the trees and a bit

like the breaking of the waves on the seashore.

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The Little People by Maria Aleah Taboclaon
A Short Story Analysis
Santa Isabel College - Manila
The author uses hyperbole in these statement for us to know that she

was really comfortable and well pleased about his new friend.

STYLE OF WRITING

In the story the author uses the Narrative style of writing, she narrates

everything from the beginning until the end. That elves came to their

lives when she was still nine up to her college life. From the deaths of her

whole family, to how she survived by the help of Prax. The actions and

events were narrated in a sequential manner, there were no flashbacks

inserted, the whole story started from the beginning when she met Prax,

how old is he, how her parents react about their first meeting. Also the

dispute between Aleah and Bat, when did they start hating each other,

revenge for death of someone elses life. The dialogues between her

Aleah and Bat, it was done in a sequential manner too. From how she

pretended to let go and be with Bat, when she asked her to go and wait

outside her room, she chanted the spell from the time he got out and wait

for Bat to disappear from her life. The banging of the elves that started

from 11 PM to 6PM, the time were exact, when she met Bat in her Grade

3 on the third month of that school year.

The author uses also the Descriptive style of writing, she successfully

described the characters by choosing the right words. For example, Prax

is the oldest and the leader of their clan, you dont need to think a lot

what he is in his clan. The author described also the accident when her
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The Little People by Maria Aleah Taboclaon
A Short Story Analysis
Santa Isabel College - Manila
sister died on the bus, how the tire blew up where everyones got injured

and the fatality is only her sister. She described also, how soothing is the

laugh of Prax when she was healed from falling a tree on the ground.

RELEVANCE OR TIMELINESS

The story happened in 1990s which most of children who were born that

span of years were the ones who mostly enjoyed their childhood. The

author mentioned in the story that her family was being laughed at

because of believing that they were cursed by an elf in the time of

1990s. That time people were starting to laughed at those kinds of

beliefs, incidents or creatures that were not in this world because that is

the time also that the Technology were starting to take over the

emotional well-being of people. Well you cannot argue with their actions

if they laughed at her, we all have different minds. But for me, until now I

still believed that there are someone who doesnt belong in our world,

where we cannot see them with our eyes only. Every time I go to deep

woods I still pay respect to them and say tabi-tabi po. The author

choses the relevant year for a child that is playing along roadside, or

Aleah that climbs in the trees. They were depending on their

environment, they play physically, jumping and running. The banging of

elves from 10PM to 9AM gives more ideas to the reader, the author gives

the exact details. Another example is that, when she was in the third

month of her grade three where she met Bat. You can easily say that she

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The Little People by Maria Aleah Taboclaon
A Short Story Analysis
Santa Isabel College - Manila
was only nine years old or much younger.

MESSAGES OR INSIGHTS IMPARTED BY SELECTION

TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR ACTIONS, AND DONT TAKE ADVANTAGE

FOR WEAK PEOPLE.

Dont bargain or put your life at risk for temporary happiness. We should

not be controlled by material things. Just like Aleah, she was given any

material things she wants, but Bat expected in return which is to love

him. Bat took advantage of Aleahs innocence as a child for thinking

twice of her actions and decisions as long her desire for things she

wanted was pretty pleased. She did not even hesitate to ask Bat, that

why in the first place he would helped him? There are lots of people just

like Bat, they took advantage for people in need, for people who are

vulnerable, and for people who longed for their family, for people who

lost the fight to live their life. We people tend to have that attitude, as

long as we can benefit from people we dont even know, we talked to

them and assumed that we are close friends. Isnt it true? We should also

put in our mind that not all people has always a good motive when

someone voluntarily helped us. Theres no such thing as secured

nowadays, especially when youre outside your house, but even our

houses or home which we knew could be the safest place on earth, could

be the most dangerous one.

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The Little People by Maria Aleah Taboclaon
A Short Story Analysis
Santa Isabel College - Manila
FAMILY DOESNT LITERALLY MEAN YOU ARE BLOOD RELATED.

When we say Family, the first thing that comes into our mind is that, its

either blood related to mother side or father side. But in the story Prax

became part of the Family of Aleah when her parents and siblings were

still alive. She treated Prax as if her true grandfather even if they have

insanely different worlds. But as we knew different worlds collide, so we

should not forget that even if the world seems always unfair to us, dont

forget to open our heats to see and fee; the real good people inside and

out. A persons attitude can never be measured just by simply giving you

material things, but we should not forget that good people can give us

the feeling of assurance, loved and treasured.

THERES NO SUCH THING AS EASY WAY OUT, BETTER MAYBE.

When we are having troubles, difficult situations in life, we want the easy

way out, we want the perfect way to get over it. Our world for today is

growing fast simultaneously especially when it comes to technology. That

is why we come up with its aid, most companies wants all their

transactions be automated. Hassle free. But in real life no button can be

clicked and automatically make things easier in our life, or push buttons

that can go back and correct our mistakes. People tend to forget that we

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The Little People by Maria Aleah Taboclaon
A Short Story Analysis
Santa Isabel College - Manila
are humans, we have to take things one step at a time. We must have

tons of patience and believe in ourselves, because there is no other

people who can help you but yourself. In the story, Aleah easily grabbed

the help of Bat because she wants to answer the exam for her. To make

our life easier even if it leads us to danger. We want to call proxy, we

complain easily with what can we do with our lives? To our problems?

LIFE MUST GO ON, EVEN IF YOU ARE DEAD TIRED

Aleahs life, goes on even if she lost her family and her relatives. God

helps us to be bolder and strong for the next period of our life, to the

extent that losing the most loved people in our life. Imagine waking up

with no one, tapping your shoulder to take a bathe, get dressed, and

nagged at you in the morning. I just missed my family back in the

province, they may very supportive, prayerful, caring, and open to each

other but there are times that I really feel lonely. That is why I am

grateful that this story ends and leaves a powerful reminder to me.

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The Little People by Maria Aleah Taboclaon
A Short Story Analysis
Santa Isabel College - Manila