“Three Hundred Pesos:” Story Analysis

Meet the Author

Manuela Williams Crosno (1905- 1977) lived most of her life in New Mexico. She loved the state, and she used it as the setting for her stories. They all take place in and around Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Taos. Crosnos usually wrote about Spanish settlers who lived on the land more than one hundred years ago. Crosno taught English for many years. She was also a poet and an artist. Her article “Why I Teach School” won First Prize in a statewide writing contest.

My Summary

This story is about Emilio, Anastacio, and Berta; they are siblings. Anastacio is a selfish person, he only wants money to become a storekeeper, even if his siblings need money for their families. Anastacio works to get Three Hundred Pesos, with that money he wants to have a store. He thinks that all bad things that happen to him are blame of his siblings. At the end Anastacio dies thanks to his greedy and miserliness.



Plot Analysis

Conflict:

Anastacio is very greedy, and he wants to become storekeeper.

Rising Action:

1-      Emilio needs money to buy medicine to his son, but Anastacio doesn’t lend him the money.

2-      Anastacio needs Three Hundred Pesos to become a storekeeper.

3-      He starts working to get the money.

4-      Large pieces of hail fell over the village.

5-      The Anastacio’s corn was destroyed.

6-      Emilio went to talk with Anastacio, but Anastacio wanted to put the blame for the hail on his brother.

7-      Berta goes to Anastacio’s house for help.

8-      Anastacio refused to help her.

9-      Anastacio thinks that Berta is somehow responsible for the ruined corn.

10-  Anastacio planted pinto beans.

11-  He went to sell the beans.

Climax:

Anastacio dies in an accident when he was going to sell the beans.

Resolution:

His siblings found him dead, and they are going to use the Three Hundred Pesos to make him a beautiful funeral.

Anastacio	Emilio	Berta
Greedy	Poor	Poor
Selfish	Good Father	Humble
Embittered	Helpful	Thin
Hardworking	Humble	Peaceful
Ambitious		Frail
Stingy

Moral

Not all is money in life, we need it but it is not all. This taught me that we have to keep looking what we want, we have to follow our dreams, and even if things are bad you must keep fighting and trying to do what we really want. The family is better than money; again, money is not all in life.

My Opinion

Yes I liked the story, it is very good, and has a good message to us. Sometimes we need to be like Anastacio, not greedy, selfish or stingy, but we should be hardworking, and trust in our skills or abilities. We don’t have to settle, we have to keep doing what we love or like. Emilio taught me that we have to humble, and prefer family more than money, and Anastacio taught me that we must try to do our best, and follow our dreams or goals.