Thinking about it, the Philippines is similar to Australia in a way. In comparison to her other stories, this one gives off more optimistic vibes. This is a great example of a positive multiculturalism. It was interesting how Bobis used tongue as symbolism of our differences. The final scene of the story truly symbolized Australia with it’s foreign influences as of this moment, considering the fact that many people from different countries have migrated or immigrated to the land down under.
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However, as the story unfolds, we begin to see that even though we possess our tastes for our own native dishes, these said dishes can be inspired to turn into another dish or include a better and flavor in them - This shows that no matter the differences of our cultures, as long as we learn how to share and listen to one another, we can make better products or even build a better community. All these five live in one neighborhood, Bessel Street, despite being drastically different. An Earnest Parable talks about five foreign people: a baker from Turkey, a Filipino cook, an Australian couple running a fish shop, an Italian butcher and a Sri Lankan tailor.
An Earnest Parable is simple a short story that is a part of her novel, White Turtle, which is a compilation of meaningful twenty-three short stories that are set in the Philippines and Australia.Įvidently, there were some symbolism in An Earnest Parable that involved food and taste, just exactly like her cup of tea. She also likes to use food and taste as her focused devices when telling a story. Her stories often involve immigrant experiences, perhaps from a woman’s perspective. She’s known to write in both Filipino and English in her stories. She was born in Legazpi City, Albay and has a bachelor of arts degree from Aquinas University and also her postgraduate degree from the University of Santo Tomas (UST) and the University of Wollongong. You might think it has something to do with the bible since parables are often found in gospel readings or such, but funnily, it’s not.Īn Earnest Parable is written by author Merlinda Bobis, a Filipina writer who now resides in Australia. The food we eat, the food that we end up craving for, are possibly a part of other countries’ cultures that were just brought from one nation to another.Īn Earnest Parable is a short story that will tackle this kind of multiculturalism trope. Australians put Vegemite on their breads and savor its salty relish early in the morning, Japanese people would eat ramen or noodles in a nearby run-down restaurant at the end of the street or Americans will just stop by at Subway for a gigantic sandwich as a snack. We eat pandesal and dip it in our scalding hot coffee in the morning and this is a tradition or food that we only find here around the Philippines. The food we eat is also a part of a country’s culture. Not everyone might be like that, but most of the people I know definitely possess similar behaviors.
Whenever you’re bored or you’re out of ideas of what to do next and apparently, you’re all alone in your house, what do you do? You go to the refrigerator without knowing it or subconsciously look for a snack or so to relieve yourself.
Everyone loves eating food, especially if they’re delicious or if they’re absolutely hungry, obviously.