The Sadness Collector Short Story Summary

The Sadness Colector

By: Merlinda Bobis

Migration is going to another country to live and work. In the Philippines, people who are migrating is commonly called as Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW). There are a lot of Filipino parents who sacrifice and go to other countries for work and earn money. It is usually seen as a solution to poverty. The OFWs, chose to go abroad and leave their loved ones to provide their families ' needs. The short story "The Sadness Collector" by Merlinda Bobis is about a six-year old little girl who 's name is Rica, his father and the Big Lady. The story talks about the effects of migration to a family.

It all started when Rica is on the bed waiting for the Big Lady. The Big Lady is the one who collects and

Her father read the letters from her mother and even postcard stories. Ever since she was told about the Big Lady 's stories, it affected her. When there is a noise in the kitchen, she imagines and concludes that it was the Big Lady searching for sadness in their kitchen. They are helping each other. Rica is helping the Big Lady not to burst by avoiding being sad while the Big Lady is helping Rica not to become lonely. The Big Lady has become the defense mechanism of Rica in which it is her source of comfort. However, while Rica is growing up, the stories become boring and her sadness will not always be contained and hidden anymore. She waited for her father every night to ask about the Big Lady but her father always comes home drunk and very late. Until a day came where in Rica saw a photo of her mother with a baby and her mother was already a citizen in Paris. The father became in denial and serious. Rica had a idea that maybe the picture is the reason. He avoids having a conversation with her daughter because he knows that she is already grown up and she is no longer innocent.

The effects of migration in the story is clearly shown in Rica 's family. Rica and her father did not develop a nice relationship. She was always alone and had nothing to talk to. Her loniliness was kept to herself. However, she used Big Lady as her source of comfort especially when she is sad. A family needs a good communication to have a strong connection. Communication is lacking in the father and daughter relationship. It is because Rica 's father have been avoiding her since the day that Rica started to question him and when she already realised things. Her father was not strong enough to face her. It started when Rica had seen a photo of her mother and a baby. Her father thought that his wife may be married to a guy from Paris and had a family that is why she became a citizen and legal in Paris. It made Rica 's father sad and