The Centipede
The Centipede is a short story in English by Filipino author Rony V. Diaz, a writer who hails from
Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija. The story was first published in 1953 (some say 1952) and it won the Carlos
Palanca Memorial Awards for Short Story.
The Characters:
1. Eddie - A teenaged boy who is confused as to why his older sister is always mean and hateful towards
him.
2. Delia – has a weak heart. Eddie's older sister.
3. Berto – one of the dorkmen of the family.
4. Eddie and Delia's father - A loving father who only wanted what's best for his son and daughter.
Plot and Summary:
EDDIE sees his sister Delia beat up his dog Biryuk with a stick. This makes Eddie very angry and he wants
to run over and help Biryuk. But he can't for the simple reason that Delia has some kind of a heart
illness. Suddenly confronting her will surprise her and cause her weak heart to react. If this happens,
Delia will be in a lot of physical pain.
In a flashback, Eddie tells the story of how he got his dog Biryuk. He was thirteen years old when his
father took him to go hunting for brown pigeons. While scouting for pigeons with his hunting rifle in the
ready, a small dog appeared out of the woods and dispered a flock of feeding pigeons. This afforded
Eddie full sight of the fleeing pigeons. Eddie fired and three of the pigeons fell to the ground.
Eddie asked his father if he can keep the dog. His father said yes but told him that if someone goes
around looking for the dog, Eddie should give the dog back. He didn't want his son to be accused of
being a dog thief. Eddie and Biryuk became the best of friends. Every afternoon after school, Eddie and
the dog would run around the fields chasing after quails or flushing birds at the nearby riverbank.
BEATEN up, the dog scampers away as Delia throws a stick after it. Delia calls Eddie over and twists his
ear. She tells Eddie that she doesn't want to see the dog near the house ever again. She tells him that the
dog has destroyed his slippers, again. She also threatens to have the dog killed by Berto (a household
member) if she sees it near the house again. Delia pushes Eddie and he tumbles to the ground. Angry
and filled with hate, Eddie remains calm and doesn't do anything.
In another flashback, Eddie recalls something that happened between him and his sister back when they
were a bit younger. Eddie accidentally broke the leg of his siter's playdoll as well as destroy her
playhouse. This made Delia very angry. She started beating Eddie with a tree sapling. But then suddenly,
she stiffened and collapsed to the floor with forth forming around her mouth. She was taken to a nearby
hospital. When she returned home, she became meaner than ever towards her younger brother. She did
everything to destroy things that Eddie liked. She had Eddie's pet monkey killed by Berto because the
monkey snickered at her. She told their father that Eddie's pet pigeons stink so Eddie had to give them
away. Eddie didn't complain because he knew that everything had to be done to keep his sister calm and
quiet. Making her unhappy might make her heart illness rear its ugly head.
But when Delia destroyed Eddie's pet butterflies, he came to realize that Delia was only doing the things
to spite him. The butterflies didn't stink nor did they snicker at her. When confronted by their father,
Delia reasoned that the butterflies were attracting ants. Which was not true at all.
EDDIE follows after Biryuk which has fled to the bushes. He finds the dog whimpering with one of its
eyes bleeding. The eye got hit with the stick when Delia was beating it moments before. Eddie screamed
in anger and frustration. Frightened by Eddie's outburst, the dog scampers and fleds. Eddie doesn't
bother running after it.
On his way back home, Eddie finds Berto splitting wood. Berto shows him a centipede that he pinned to
the ground with a small stick. The centipede is still alive. Eddie picks up another stick and sticks in into
the body of the centipede until he thinks it's dead. He picks up the centipede and wraps it inside a
handkerchief. Back home, Eddie finds Delia sitting on a chair and working on an embroidery project.
Delia has her back towards Eddie. Eddie approaches her, unwraps the centipede, and throws it on her
lap. Delia shrieks in horror, stands up, turns around, and sees Eddie. But she collapses again to the chair
clutching her chest and writhing in pain. Delia accuses Eddie of trying to kill her.
Feelings of pity and guilt engulfs Eddie. He tries to explain to Delia that the centipede is dead. He picks
up the creature and pinches the head between his fingers. Delia doesn't respond nor move.
Theme
Hatred- Delia’s resentment towards Eddie for their Mother’s death and feels jealousy over their father’s
affection for him. This animosity culminates when Eddie seeks revenge for Delia’s cruelty to his dog,
using centipede as a weapon.
Anger- Eddie’s internal struggle with anger leads him to seek revenge against Delia, highlighting the
destructive nature of unchecked emotions.
Moral
Every decison has consequences
The story illustrates the dangers of allowing anger to consume one’s actions, highlighting the
importance of managing emotions and choosing more constructive responses to conflict.
