The story follows a teenage boy in 1930s Philippines who buys pandesal (bread of salt) every morning from a bakery near the house of his classmate Aida, of whom he has grown fond. He joins a private band in hopes of earning money to buy Aida a gift. However, during a performance, he embarrasses himself in front of Aida. Humiliated, he realizes he is still too immature to face reality, like the pandesal that is not yet ready in the bakery. The story explores themes of young love across social classes and the boy's coming of age.

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Bread of Salt
N.V.M Gonzalez

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a) Place
• Bakeshop
• Aida’s house for the party
• School
b) Time
• 1930’s in the Philippines
Setting

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• Boy- main character of the story (name not mentioned)– Protagonist
• Grandfather and Grandmother of Albert
• Aida- object of the boy’s affection
• Pete Saez – the guy who invites then boy to join his band
• Other bandmates – preferably two guys
• Josefina and Alicia – Aida’s cousin
• Don Esteban- J & A’s father
• Mr. Custodio
Characters

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 Rising Action:
When the fourteen year old boy started to learn and master playing violin.
 Conflict:
When his aunt doesn’t support him to perform in public or parties because the
musicians are the last to eat during parties. (Man vs. Society, Man vs. Circumstances)
 Climax:
When Aida caught him packing some of the food in the party.
 Falling action:
When the fourteen year old throw away the food that he packed.
 Resolution:
The boy realized that like a pandesal he is still not yet ready to face reality.
Plot

6. + Summary
The story is about a teenage boy who buys pandesal or “bread of salt” because
of its wonderful flavor. Every day he walks by the house of the old Spaniard’s niece
Aida whom the boy liked.
He could follow her everyday to school. He would also think about how he
would confess his feelings for her during classes. He joins Pete Saez’ private band
Minviluz Orchestra. One of the reasons he joined was to save money tobuy a brooch
for Aida. Also it was his dream to be a violinist. Though his aunt did not want him to
pursue his passion.
One night when the band was performing the boy did something
embarrassing that Aida saw. Embarrassed he walked out in shame. He was probably
thinking that because of what he had done. There is no chance for Aida to like him
back. Pete led him home and passes by baker’s on the way. They ordered pandesal
but the bread was still not ready.

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First person narrator
-Simple routine in life
-Love bet. Social status
Because it all started when he was
buying pandesal every morning in the
bakery near the great Spanish house
where his mestiza classmate Aida
lived and where he begun to fall in love
with Aida.
Point of View
Theme
Why the story
revolves in the
title “Bread of
Salt”

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"Literature is an affair of letters,” - N.V.M. Gonzalez
 A teacher, author, journalist and essayist
 His most notable works include the novels The Winds
of April, The Bamboo Dancers and A Season of
Grace, short story collections Children of the Ash-
Covered Loam and The Bread of Salt and Other
Stories and essay.
 Distinctively wrote of the Filipino life, of the Filipino in
the world
 The affair of letters Gonzalez created is more than
literature. It is the story of a Filipino in the world. It is
his story.
 Nestor Vicente Madali Gonzalez, familiarly known as
simply "N.V.M.,"
 He was born on September 8, 1915 in Romblon,
Romblon and moved to Mindoro at the age of five.

15. + Studied at National University in Manila, he never obtained a degree.
 First published essay appeared in the Philippine Graphic and first
poem in Poetry in 1934.
 After Gonzalez returned to the Philippines in 1950, he began a long
teaching career, at the University of Santo Tomas. Gonzalez also
taught at the Philippine Women's University
 As a teacher at the University of the Philippines for 18 years,
Gonzalez was only one of two people to teach there without holding a
degree.
 Produced 14 books and accumulated many awards
 Received an honorary doctorate from the University of the Philippines
in 1987 and became its first international writer in residence in 1988.
 N.V.M. started his career at the age of 19
 65 years later, he was still creating affairs with letters. He passed
away on November 28, 1999, due to kidney complications.
 He was 84. N.V.M. Gonzalez is remembered as an innovative writer,
a dedicated and humble worker and an honest witty friend.

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 Jostled - to push against someone while moving forward in a
crowd
 Assent - to agree/approve of something, esp. after carefullly
thinking about it
 Ostensibly - seemingly/ said to be true but possibly not so
 Buxom - a healthy/attractive woman
 Spinsters - an unmarried woman past the usual age for
marrying/ unlikely to marry
 Solfeggio - a singing exercise esp. using the Sol and Fa
syllables

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 How I enjoyed jiggling those coins
in my pocket -Sound
 The men who, stripped to the
waist, worked their long flat
wooden spades in and out of the
glowing maw of the oven -Sight
 I imagined the patter of her shoes
upon the wooden veranda floor -
Sound
 Pete pressed my arm –Touch
 In her blue skirt and white middy
she would be half a block ahead –
Sight
 Sea wind carrying the straggling
notes across the pebbled river –
Sound
 In low bossomed voile bodices
and white summer hats -Sight

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 It would be a silence full of voices -Oxymoron
 I could feel my body glow in the sun as though it had
instantly been cast in bronze -Simile
 Why did it have a pair of lips convulsed into a painful
frown? -Personification
 My head began to whirl -Hyperbole

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 Relevance:
- The Story, to its very core, is very Filipino.
 Pan De Sal as a staple food of the masses.
 Musicians/Art Performers shown as low-class citizens
(Eat last at parties).
 Somewhat of a touch on colonial mentality
 But especially, this shows about a Filipino’s pride in the
ways they show their class eg. Parties
 And lastly, this shows a Filipino’s take on puppy love as it
may seem, and the perennial “katorpehan” of Filipino
males. 

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 Love: grounded by God
 Humility: acceptance for the demand of realism, & also Simplicity
 Conversatio: the process of letting go in day-to-day life of one's
predilections and false securities
 Discipline: focusing energy and attention on what matters

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