Part 1, Chapter 4 Summary

Carlos begins to develop a social awareness as a result of his family's loss of land. He becomes aware of poverty and degradation. The father cannot acquire land from anywhere and hires himself out as a day laborer. The father acquires the use of land in Mangusmana when his wife's mother dies, but it is not good land. Carlos is sent back to Binalonan for school with his father working the land himself. In Binalonan, Carlos finds they are building a highway from Manila to Baguio, which passes through Binalonan. Carlos secures employment working on the project. He turns his earnings over to his parents, and that, along with what they receive from Macario, is enough for a payment on their land to the moneylender.

Macario reads Robinson Crusoe to Carlos and begins to educate his younger brother. Carlos begins to...