''Tree'' is a 1978

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the setting of particular real historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to oth ...

by Filipino National Artist F. Sionil José. A story of empathy and subjugation, it is the second in José’s series known as '' The Rosales Saga'' or the '' Rosales Novels''.Yoser, Elizabeth G
Under the Balete Tree: F. Sionil José’s Rosales Novels
World Literature Today, Vol. 62, No. 1 (Winter, 1988), University of Oklahoma, pp. 82-84, jstor.org The

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

in the novel is a representation of the expectations and dreams of Filipinos.

Description

Set in the 1950s in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

,"Tree" by F. Sionil José
Don Vicente: Two Novels, Modern Library Paperbacks, amazon.com ''Tree'' was the story about an unnamed Filipino boy, the son of a plantation manager and “subjugator of other Filipinos”, who grew up in an Ilocano town known as

Rosales Rosales (, ) are an order of flowering plants. Peter F. Stevens (2001 onwards). "Rosales". At: Trees At: Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. At: Missouri Botanical Garden Website. (see ''External links'' below) Well-known members of Rosales include: ...

Pangasinan Pangasinan, officially the Province of Pangasinan (, ; ; ), is a coastal Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region of Luzon. Its capital is Lingayen, Pangasinan, Lingayen while San Carlos, Pangasi ...

. He was surrounded by acquaintances beneath his social class, relatives, and servants."Tree" by F. Sionil José
amazon.com He was described as a youth who “searched for parental love” and a “place in a society with rigid class structures”. He was also the grandson of the landlord protagonized by José in the novel ''

Po-on ''Po-on: A Novel'' is a 1984 novel written by Filipino English language writer, Francisco Sionil José, F. Sionil José. This is the original title when it was first published in the Philippines in the English language. In the United States, it ...

''. In ''Tree'', the boy narrated the weakening relationship between the peasants and landowners in Ilocos, including how Don Vicente Asperri took over their lands. Once the center of rice trading in eastern

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

, Rosales became insolvent, thus making the protagonist child a witness to a series of social inequalities, humiliations and tragedies, making him despise his father, the overseer for the wealthy provincial and feudal landowner known as Don Vicente Asperri"Tree" by F. Sionil José
, Don Vicente: Two Novels, tribo.org (Asperri’s illegitimate son, Luis Asperri, became a main character in José’s

My Brother, My Executioner ''My Brother, My Executioner'' is a novel by Filipino author Francisco Sionil José written in Philippine English. A part of the Rosales Saga - a series of five interconnected fiction novels - ''My Brother, My Executioner'' ranks third in terms ...

) The Philippine revolution brought no changes in the feudal system of the Philippines’ agrarian economy, except for the shift from Spanish to American colonialism. Only the Filipino landowners, their people, and the industrial leaders benefited from the free trade that was established between the Philippines and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The tenants of the land and industrial laborers became impoverished. In spite of the injustices and suffering during the American period, the poor tenants became

guerrilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...

s to fight the Japanese occupiers in return for improved living conditions."Tree"
by F(rancisco) Sionil José, Contemporary Novelists, 2001, The Gale Group Inc., Farmington Hills, Michigan, encyclopedia.com The inequalities received by the tenants of the plantations resulted to the birth of an uprising that would change Philippine society forever.

References

External links

{{FSionilJose-RosalesSaga 1978 novels Novels by F. Sionil José Historical novels Philippine English-language novels Novels set in the Philippines Fiction set in the 1950s