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Abstract

Among the many prominent contemporary novels of Bob Ong, his Alamat ng Gubat has
fascinated many readers for its impressive use of animals as an emblem of different characters in the
reality of the Philippine society. This paper aims to summarize the story Alamat ng Gubat as well as
analyzing it and concluding the main idea of it.

Summary

In the beginning, Tong the crab, son of the ill king crab was told by his mother, the queen crab, to
find a banana bud for the reason that it is believed that it will cure his ailing father. Tong wanders through
the forest searching for the banana bud, and as he roams around, he met different animals whom he
thought might help him in his pursuit for the banana bud. The first animal he has ever met in his journey is
the Crocodile who assumed to be the king of the forest according to his accomplice and teeth cleaner, the
Maya bird. Tong asked the Crocodile if he knew where to find the banana bud, but for his questions to be
answered, he must bribe him with three pearls. After paying his last three pearls, the greedy Crocodile then
tried to gobble him up but Tong found his way to escape from him.

Tong bumps into the wealthy Frog who also assumes to be the king of the forest and forces himself
to be with the beautiful Duck who is only sticking with him because of his wealth. As told by the beautiful
Duck, the Frogs pearls were loots from the sea. Suddenly, a deafening growl was heard, and then the
Duck told Tong that it was only the Mouse who somehow learned to roar like the Lion whom he is always
with. Tong asked the Duck where to find a banana bud and persuaded her with his packed kangkong and
as he gives it to her, the Lion suddenly came and made them frightened. While the Lion was grinning at
them, Tong was confused about the reason why the Lion came unexpectedly. For a while he thought that
the Lion will devour them, but was relieved right after when the greedy Crocodile shows up and told him to
return all the pearls he received from Tong. Tong thanked Lion for what he did but quickly planned to run
away because of his fear in him but the Lion insisted him to stay for a while and requested him to return the
eggs which the Frog stole from the Chicken and the Turtle and they will surely tell him where to find the
Dog who knows about the banana bud. Tong received the eggs and continued his journey. Right after
when Tong left, the Mouse and the Lion gave each other a suspicious grin. While Tong was in his way to
the Chicken and the Turtle, he found himself in a civilization a group of insects that are having a dispute
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regarding their revolution against the animals in the forest. The Grasshopper who leads the meeting is very
enthusiastic about revolting against the animals in the forest but he is unreasonable of why he wanted to
revolt against them while the diligent Ant extremely disagrees with all the plan of the Grasshopper since it
may cause chaos and all his hard work might evaporate. Tong was furious when the insects wildly argue
with each other so he suddenly interrupts their argument and interrogates them. The Ant is sick of all the
disputes so when he was asked by Tong about the location of the Chicken and the Turtle, he decisively
gave the directions to Tong on how to get to them. As Tong finds his way to the Chicken and the Turtle, he
was amazed when he saw an uncannily beautiful rock on the shore. In great astonishment, he circled
around the rock to see the other sides of it. After knowing that there is not so much greatness in the rock,
he looked around then stealthily urinates on it. As he pees on the rock, Tong was horrified when it suddenly
spoke. He then found out that there is actually a lobster living under the rock. Tong asked the lobster about
what he was doing and the Lobster answered that he was doing nothing. Tong was confused of what he
means by nothing. Tong immediately left the Lobster because of the burning heat of the sun. From afar,
he could already hear the cluck of the Chicken so he quickly walked towards it. Tong returned the eggs to
the Chicken right when he met her. He looked for the Turtle so he could return the rest of the other eggs.
He found him behind and instantly returns the rest of the egg to him. Unfortunately, Tong mistakenly
switched their eggs so he promptly exchanges their eggs. Tong, as usual, asked them where to find the
banana bud and the Dog. The Turtle gave Tong a ride and walk towards the location of the Dog. After days
of travelling, Tong and the Turtle have only reached one meter away from the Chicken. Tong and the Turtle
found the Dog. The Dog has a strange habit of ingesting what he vomited. He told the Turtle and Tong that
the banana bud is sacred it could fulfill any wish and its fruit is officially only for people with ailment, once
it is picked without using it for treating the ailment, the whole animals in the forest will be destroyed. The
Dog made an agreement with Tong that he will pick the banana bud so he could fulfill his wish while Tong
will take the fruit of it to cure his ailing father. While they were making an agreement, the Rabbit who came
from nowhere suddenly shows up and interrupted their discussion. The Rabbit was eavesdropping and
disagrees with the agreement of Tong and the Dog since he claims that he is the king of the forest. The
Turtle became furious because of the Rabbit. Little they know that there are numerous animals guarding
the banana bud. The Dog told them that Tong should be responsible in deciding whom he would take with
him in picking the banana bud. The insects suddenly came and the animals began to quarrel but the end
they decide to lift each other so they could reach the banana bud. Their plan was unsuccessful since their
selfishness and intention to keep the other fails to get the banana bud as well as how they fail too prevails.
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The Lion came and was successful in following Tong by letting the Mouse licks on the eggs of the turtle as
a hint. Chaos seize the whole forest, the animals began to act wildly and started to injure each other. Tong
wakes up and found himself on the shore and saw the carcass of the Lobster who spent his life under the
burning heat of the sun. Tong was in a complete misery, he was contemplating about all the things that
have happened in his journey and how it all ended up wasted. Suddenly, a banana peel was thrown to him
and hit his head; he looked for the suspect and found out that it was the Monkey. The Monkey asked him if
he is looking for a banana. Tong tells his story to the Monkey about his journey, his pursuit of the banana
bud in order to cure his father and how it all ended up as a failure. The Monkey lectured Tong that if he is
looking for a banana bud then he shouldve asked a monkey instead the other animals. He enlightened
Tong about the reality of the attitudes of the other animals in the forest even the truth about his father. Tong
was in shame and asked the Monkey of what he should do. The Monkey gave him the option to take the
banana bud he has and give to his father or take it for himself and eat it. Tong felt that there is something
he has to do that he is responsible of making the disordered forest into a better place. He then decided to
rule over the forest with his new friend, the Monkey and together they will build a new life for the animals in
the forest.

Review/Critique

Alamat ng Gubat is a literary work which by some means awakes us from the reality of the
Philippine society. The book itself may look like a typical children story book due to its colorful images but
little did everyone know that it is actually a reflection of the country. Each animal subtly embodies a
particular character in the Philippines society; this includes the thirst for power, wealth and influence, taking
advantage of unenlightened people, and crab mentality.

When Tong was asked by the Lion to take the eggs to the Chicken and the Turtle which was
actually licked by the Mouse and served as their hint on how to get to the tree of banana, the Lion
essentially shows the taking advantage of unenlightened people since Tong is ignorant of his true
schemes. He exploited Tongs innocence and acted as someone reliable by doing good things to him in
reminiscent of the part when he once helped him from the Crocodile, then suddenly showed his real
intentions at the end.
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The Lion and all the other animals and insects in the forest are seen as parched for power since
most of them claims that they are the King of the forest which is only hypothetical and unreasonable.
Every animal who claims to be the king of the forest began to battle for the banana bud since they believe
its power to fulfill any wish and they conclude that whoever has the responsibility of picking the banana
mad is the most powerful of them all and deserves to rule over the animals in the forest.

Crab mentality colloquially refers to a person who tries to be triumphant but once he fails, he
desires the others to fail as well. Crab mentality is analogous to crabs when put inside a container and
when one tries to escape the other crab will pull it to fail from escaping and make it struggle with them.
Instead of completely taking the banana bud all together, Tong and the other animals that climb with him to
get the banana bud failed because they kept on deceiving each other so none of them could take the
banana bud.

Other animal such as the Lobster also plays a particular role that reflects a character in the society
of the Philippines. The Lobster is known for doing nothing, he spent his life on the shore staring blankly at
nowhere under the heat of the sun. He died without being productive and developing himself unlike the
other animals. This is analogous to the famous story of Juan Tamad who is known for extreme slothfulness.
Both stories of Juan Tamad and the Lobster pertain to people in the society who waste their time being
excessively dependent and being fruitless.

Conclusion

Alamat ng Gubat is a humorous story which actually depicts the most serious problems in the
society. It effectively highlights how disorder is the society and that there is a need to solve these problems
that still prevails at the present time. The story is a great enlightenment for people who are still blind of the
reality. It gives an urge to people to fix the sociological problems by starting from their own selves.