Children of the city.docx

September 16. 2013 Joyce Grace D. Tero BSE-Eng4 Literary Criticism

A Sociological Analysis of the Short Story Children of the City

Society is a struggle between good and evil. Currently, many individual struggles  just to survive either in a right or wrong way. Some people don’t even matter if the means of doing it is in line with what is appropriate just as long as they’re everyday everyday need will be  provided. At this point in time, those who are superior will always have the chance to overpower those who are inferior. The short story entitled Children of the City by Amadis Ma. Guerrero is a very agreeable story which reflects the real milieu of the society. It shows the sociological issues that undeniably a fact p resent in the society. Sociological approach according to Hypolyte Taine in his famous  pronouncement states that literature is the consequence of the moment, the race, and the milieu. Hary Levin also states that the relations between literature and society are reciprocal. Literature is not only the effect of social causes: it is also the cause of social effect. This sociological approach will be used in analyzing the literary piece. The focus of this analysis is on the social issues that are presented in the play particularly on injustice, irresponsible parenthood and child labor. At the initial part of the story, the father of Victor got involved in a company menace because of unjust salaries and compensations. On that part of the story, injustice is clearly presented. The employees were not given the right amount intended for their  work. In the society now, it is a fact that there are really instances that many employees received unequal amount of payment. There were even rallies being reported in the media that a group of individual was having h aving a strike against a certain compan y. When the father of Victor  died during the employee’s strike and his mother  remarries leaving him alone shows an act of being an irresponsible mother. Irresponsible  parents are the reason for the downfall of humanity. Nowadays, there are parents who aren’t aren’t doing their job in sustaining the family needs. They run and leave their  responsibility behind without thinking of the consequences that might result because of  their unwise and senseless actions.

Child labor is clearly seen the texts, not just on the side of Victor as well as his companions, the newspaper boys. They were given assignment in dangerous streets and in those dark street, Victor learned how to curse-say bad words and smoke cigarettes  because of the influenced by the group. Victor and his companions are supposed to go to school but because of many circumstances they are forced to do things in order to survive. Child labor is one of the many concerns nowadays and it is also one of the most rampant problems in the society. Every child has the right to the most basic necessities in life. Yet, poverty hinders the child to any of those rights and forces labor in any situations. The Children of the City story by Amadis Ma. Guerrero is a reflection of the  present occurrence on what is going on in the society. Using the Sociological approach, the critic was able to derive a conclusion based on the texts and this social issue includes injustice, irresponsible parenthood and child labor. There were really tendencies that on a certain problem, another will arise because of it. Somehow situations really connect from each other. From injustice in the work place of the father of Victor that leads to his death to having an irresponsible mother that resulted to child labor. Those problems presented in the text still exist in the present days. This literary text is an eye opener of the people in the society. Thus, in resolving these problems the government and society should take action into these issues.