Ocutare, Sheena C.

Ed Ling 206 August 26, 2017

Hunger in Barok by NVM Gonzales

(A Literary Analysis based on Marxist Theory)

The story Hunger of Barok shows the difficult situation of a poor person and a land
tenant named Pare Crispin struggling to provide food for his family because of the famine that is
happening in their town. His only way to address his problem is through Cesar Manao, a rich
landowner who let people come to him and ask for a loan or something to do and later pay him in
rice after each harvest. The social class of the two mentioned characters brought conflict mostly
to Pare Crispin who is poor and Cesar Manao who is rich.

Pare Crispin in the story experiences a class struggle which is the underlying pattern of
contradictions in a social order. This is from the perspective of George Lukacs (1885-1971). The
struggle was shown when Pare Crispin is in need of rice for his family to eat and asked Mang
Cesar to lend him some yet he failed on his first try. He even uttered the words “It’s really hard
with us…” The “us” would mean the poor and needy. They don’t have anything to eat because
there is no rain for their crops to grow. As a land tenant, life for Pare Crispin is really difficult
during drought because he only relies on his harvest which he does not have.

The character of Mang Cesar in the story is relatable to a traditional politician that we
have now. He is doing good things in front of many people but when you reach out to him
behind the curtain, like what Pare Crispin did, he will use his power and wealth to abuse your
weakness. In the story, the time that Pare Crispin asked for rice, Mang Cesar only agreed to lend
him some seed rice when Pare Crispin mentioned that he would pay him double the next harvest.
Considering the situation of Pare Crispin, if Mang Cesar is really a good person and willing to
help, he will not agree with Crispin’s proposal. This action of Cesar shows how greedy he is for
power, abusing the situation of those who are desperate to live. He is esteemed by the people
because the people think that he is a good person but in reality, he is not.

Pare Crispin in the story is having a conflict with himself and the circumstance. Being
poor, he is experiencing difficulty in providing the needs of his family caused by the famine. The
situation faced by Pare Crispin mirrors the society we have now. If you are in the lower class,
you are being abused by the higher class. And those in the higher class are those who are greedy
and will not share what they have if you don’t give any favorable condition to them. Pare
Crispin’s situation shows how a father would do anything for the sake of his family. He is
willing to do desperate actions just to provide the needs of his family.

In the end of the story, Pare Crispin was able to get a cavan of seed rice from Mang Cesar
but he has to choose whether to cook it for his family to eat or to plant it despite of the drought
they are experiencing which may hinder them to get a good harvest. The next day, Mang Cesar
went to the house of Pare Crispin expecting them to see the man and his wife pounding rice
while three hungry boys looked on. But what he thought was wrong; he saw that the family used
the rice for planting. This assumption done my Mang Cesar showed idealism as proposed by
Louis Althuser (1918-1990) which he thought that because Pare Crispin is so desperate, he will
immediately use what he borrowed for his primary needs, expecting him to use the rice to eat but
he was wrong. Mang Cesar easily judged Pare Crispin probably because of his difficult situation
yet Pare Crispin showed how hardworking and optimistic he is by planting the rice and driven by
a hope that the rain would come to give them a good harvest.
Ocutare, Sheena C. Ed Ling 206

Hunger in Barok by NVM Gonzales

(A Literary Analysis based on Marxist Theory)

The story Hunger of Barok shows the difficult situation of a poor person and a land tenant
named Pare Crispin struggling to provide food for his family because of the famine that is happening
in their town. His only way to address his problem is through Cesar Manao, a rich landowner who
let people come to him and ask for a loan or something to do and later pay him in rice after each
harvest. Unlike Cesar Manao who is rich, the situation of Mang Crispin in the story shows a class
struggle because of being poor. The story also expresses the life difference of the two characters
given their social status and how this status affects their behavior and attitude towards their needs
and interests.

According to George Lukacs (1885-1971), a class struggle is the underlying pattern of

contradictions in a social order. This class struggle was also evident in the character of Pare Crispin.
In the story, Pare Crispin is in need of rice for his family to eat and asked Mang Cesar to lend him
some yet he failed on his first try. He even uttered the words “It’s really hard with us…” The “us”
would mean the poor and needy. They don’t have anything to eat because there is no rain for their
crops to grow. As a land tenant, life for Pare Crispin is really difficult during drought because he
only relies on his harvest which he does not have.

It was expressed that Mang Cesar is esteemed by the people because he owned some land and
a house in the town of Mansalay and he was considered a different man from most landowners.
People can come to him and ask for a work to do and later pay him in rice after each harvest. This
characteristic of Mang Cesar makes him a good person in the eyes of the people. He shows to people
how good he is but that attitude was different when he was asked by Pare Crispin for a favor
personally without the people around. In the story, the time that Pare Crispin asked for rice, Mang
Cesar only agreed to lend him some seed rice when Pare Crispin mentioned that he would pay him
double the next harvest. Considering the situation of Pare Crispin, if Mang Cesar is really a good
person and willing to help, he will not agree with Crispin’s proposal.

Pare Crispin in the story is having a conflict with himself and the circumstance. Being poor,
he is experiencing difficulty in providing the needs of his family caused by the famine. The situation
faced by Pare Crispin mirrors the reality of our society now. Those poor people depend on those rich
people by getting a work in order for them to get profit for their family. In times of scarcity of the
needs of the poor people, they seek for help to those who are rich but most of the time, they are being
refused. In the story, Pare Crispin was also declined by Mang Cesar about his favor of asking for
some rice for his family. Cesar only agreed when Crispin suggested a condition that is to double his
payment on the next harvest. Some rich people are not extending help to those people in need. But
despite of Crispin’s situation, he showed how a father would do anything for the sake of his family.
He is willing to do desperate actions just to provide the needs of his family.

In the end of the story, Pare Crispin was able to get a cavan of seed rice from Mang Cesar but
he has to choose whether to cook it for his family to eat or to plant it despite of the drought they are
experiencing which may hinder them to get a good harvest. The next day, Mang Cesar went to the
house of Pare Crispin expecting them to see the man and his wife pounding rice while three hungry
boys looked on. But what he thought was wrong; he saw that the family used the rice for planting.
This assumption done my Mang Cesar showed idealogy as proposed by Louis Althuser (1918-1990)
which he thought that because Pare Crispin is so desperate, he will immediately use what he
borrowed for his primary needs, expecting him to use the rice to eat but he was wrong. Mang Cesar
easily judged Pare Crispin probably because of his difficult situation yet Pare Crispin showed how
hardworking and optimistic he is by planting the rice and driven by a hope that the rain would come
to give them a good harvest.