Critique Paper about
The Sadness Collector by Merlinda Bobis
The Sadness Collector was a Creative Non-Fiction Literature
and a literary work by Merlinda Bobis that categorized as short story. Now let
us talk about the author, Merlinda Bobis was a contemporary
Philippine-Australian writer and academic; was born in Legazpi City at November
25, 1959. Merlinda written many literary pieces in various genres both English
and Filipino, her works were integrates the elements of the traditional culture
of the Philippines. Aside The Sadness Collector her other works are; Rituals:
Selected Poems, Summer was a Fast Train without Terminals, White Turtle, The
Kissing, Banana Heart Summer, The Solemn Lantern Maker, Fish-Hair Woman, The
Locust Girl: A Love Song. Now let us talk about The Sadness Collector.
As a
reader, I should understand the message that the author made for the story, the
message of the story is Rica was missing the affection of her mother. If we
connect it to reality, many parents made a big decision that they will leave
their children to work overseas. To those children that are being left by their
parents will grow up eventually had a revulsion to their parents.
A brief
summary to the story is about the little girl named Rica and was sad for her
mother left for Paris to work as a domestic helper, and as stated to the story “since
Rica was three, when her father told her about Big Lady just after her mother
left for Paris, she was always listening intently to all night – noises from
the kitchen” it means that when her father shared a story there was a cause to
make a apprehension to Rica’s mind. That made her to rebel herself towards the
family or whatsoever.
But the
structure of the story made me confused, because some of the language or in
other words it doesn’t reach my vocabulary. But for how many times I read it, I
managed to know the deep meaning or message of the story and appreciated how
beautiful the story is, even though it has many negative thoughts. Though I am
not one of the target readers of the story, but I understand the message of it.
There is
part of the story where Rica and her father talked in a “Taglish” language
(Tagalog – English language) that made me also confused because who is talking
is it Rica or her father that made a cause not to emphasize correctly I
realized that it is all in the conversation where the language is present that
made me laugh a little but then, the author did well to explain the story very
well.
The
beautiful moral of the story and leaves a lesson of it reflect to the people or
families that had been left by their loved ones just to work overseas. I’ve
encountered many children suffered like how Rica suffered too. As a reader to
The Sadness Collector, I’ve found this story a little bit confusing because of
some parts doesn’t reached my vocabulary and realized that the story seems
confusing because the author used some of the literary devices and some
figurative language. For me, I didn’t study even more about the figurative
language but when I read the story again and again, I knew the message and even
knew the deep meaning of it. But still, Merlinda Bobis made a great and
beautiful story that had many message to the readers out there.
