THE BOY NAMED CROW

           "The Boy Named Crow" is an excerpt from the famous novel "Kafka on the Shore"  written by a Japanese author,  Haruki Murukami in 2002.This novel is one of the most inspiring novels in the 21st century that's why it is not surprising that this novel was recognized by many big titles in the world. In 2005, the novel was recognize as one of the The 10 Best Books of 2005 by The New York  Times newspaper and recieved the World Fantasy Award in 2006.  In an excerpt of the Kafka on the Shore “The Boy Named Crow”,Haruki Murukami introduces the readers to a new world combining the reality and imagination wherein he gave an important message to the readers for them to become responsible and stronger in every challenges that they face in their lives.
               The story is about a boy named Kafka and Crow talking about Kafka’s plan to run away from their home. Crow asks Kafka if he has the money for his needs when he will go fly for his freedom, but Kafka seems so hopeless when he answers Crow. Crow repeatedly reminding Kafka what he has and give him an advice that the fate is something that he can’t escape whatever he’ll do, he just need to be strong and brave enough to face his problems in life. Kafka holds this advice to his mind and heart that he should be the strongest 15 year old boy in order for him to live and survive his life.

               At first, it is hard to understand, because I don’t have any idea who is Kafka, why he wants to run away from his home and who is Crow. But through reading and discussing the text I clearly understand the confusions I had. Crow only refers to Kafka himself. Crow is just his own thoughts, his mind probably wants him to remind himself what will possibly happen when he do it without thinking. It shows that every conversations that Crow and Kafka has is just an imagination to Kafka's mind because he is just talking to himself alone by analyzing things before he do what he wants to do.
                   In the text, the fate is compared to a sandstorm in a metaphorical way “Fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing direction”, “You change direction but the storm chases you” it shows that the author, Haruki Murukami wants us to understand that we can’t escape the reality of challenges and problems but don’t ever give up. We need to face our responsibilities in our lives for us to grow and be stronger than we are before. We people, tend to run away from our problems in our life by simply giving up and losing hope for ourselves, but Haruki Murukami wants us to understand that running away from those problems will only cause us regrets and consequences in our lives.

                This text leaves a mark on my heart. I really appreciated this text even though it is confusing at first because it’s just an excerpt from a novel, it still has a deep meaning that can change a man’s perception in life. As a student who read this text,  what I'd learned from this excerpt is not to give up on the life that I'm living because everything happens for a reason, and that reason can make me the better person than what I am before. Even if life is very difficult and unfair sometimes, running away from the problems is not the answer and solution for it, facing those problems and responsibilities leads us to the good fate that we want in growing and becoming stronger in the future. 

DEAD STARS

Dead Stars is a short story by Paz Marquez Benitez, written in 1925. The story is all about the forbidden love and conflict in choosing between what you want and what you have, that every one of us may encounter in our lives. The story revolves around Alfredo Salazar and two women; Esperanza which is his fiancé and Julia Salas a girl from out of town. It started when the main character, Alfredo, his sister and his father were talking about the relationship of Alfredo and Esperanza until he reminisce Julia, a girl he met in the house of Judge Del Valle. Alfredo is a lawyer that’s why he is always in the house of the Judge. In the beginning the relationship of Alfredo and Esperanza was full of enthusiasm, full of love and happiness. But like other long term relationships, their feelings for each other changes as time goes by. Alfredo and Julia started to talk and meet each other all the times and that time Alfredo knows that he is already fall in love with Julia, even if he has a fiancé. After a procession in Calle Real, Julia found out that Alfredo is already engaged to someone and goodbye to him. Alfredo went to home and Esperanza told him that she knows everything with Julia and say the last words. Esperanza and Alfredo continue their marriage and after eight years, because of Alfredo is working in the case and finding a girl in Sta. Cruz, the home town of Julia Salas. He went to Julia’s house and they meet again. Julia is still single but Alfredo noticed that Julia had changed. Alfredo realized that the love he has for Julia was like a dead star, it doesn’t exists anymore.

The title itself “Dead Stars” symbolizes the love that he had for Julia, it existed but now, it is nowhere to be found because it was already faded. Paz Marquez Benitez uses symbolic events that illustrate Filipino culture where society greatly affects how we make decisions. Judgemental society will lead you to do the decisions that you never wanted to choose. Alfredo shows that he is weak in making mistakes and weak for being too easy to fall inlove in just a second.

In the story, traditional gender roles were portrayed in every characters. Esperanza was just a typical woman waiting for his fiancé’s decision. She even has an idea at first that her love is eyeing for other woman. While Alfredo shows that he is a man that will never be contented in the love he has for his fiancé because it still change even though he offers Esperanza a ring to marry him. Julia Salas clearly shows that she's not a girl who will run after to a man that will never be with her and never been hers.

This short story made me realize that no matter what happen, when the feelings that you have will change you will no longer can control the things even if its right or wrong. But as time passes, the love that you have in just a mistake can be fade until it will not exists.

FRAY BOTOD

“Fray Botod” is one of Graciano Lopez-Jaena’s satire work and was published in 1874. It’s all about a bloated, boastful and hypocrite priest who used the religion to abuse others for his satisfactions in food, money and lustful desire. The name of the priest is Ano but the people in his town called him as Fray Botod which means big bellied-friar.

The story started with a conversation of a Filipino and his friend, a liberal Español. They talked about the bad attitudes of the priest in different situations like doing gambling, dishonesty, greediness for power, greediness for foods, taking a long sleep in the afternoon and abusing his workers in church. Fray Botod was actually not a Filipino priest, his parents where unknown and he just founded by a good man near the steps of Our Lady of the Pillar Church. The good man educated Fray Botod the best way he could but at the age of 14 he ran away from his adopted father and went to the convent of the Augustinain fathers. When he reached 20 years old, he was sent to the Philippines.  In his stay in the Philippines for many years, he used his power to abuse other people especially the poor and women. He also uses his power to manipulate the futures of the young women by promising for their poor family that he will give an education to those young women but instead of doing his promises, he will just use the children in the future for his lustful desires.  Aside form those women, he also threatening and punishing some students from the University of Manila, neglecting his duties as a parish priest in favour of gambling, conducting his business unfairly, and barbarously punishing an Indio labourer who failed to work at his estate for three days because of his sick wife.

The title itself refers and describes Fray Ano as a priest in the town. Graciano Lopez-Jaena uses symbolic events that shows how the Spaniards treat us Filipino in that time. The text is clear to understand because it uses figurative and descriptive languages that creats an imagery and imagination to the mind of the readers.

Females in this text were being discriminated for their strengths because they are just women. They were just used as slaves of Fray Botod for his lustful desires. Fray Botod did not respect the women the way that they should be. Even those female children, Fray Botod did not treat them as women and children but a material thing that he can use for his desires.

The poor family of those children were also have been discriminated by the priest because they cannot afford to send their children to school. The Indio labourer who failed to work for Fray Botod was punished. It shows that Fray Botod looks for the social class of a person and abuses them because he has a power and he has a control to destroy the lives of Filipino.

This text symbolizes how the Spaniards treat us Filipino. It shows how they abuse their power to manipulate the minds and state of every Filipino in our own country. Just like Fray Botod, the Spaniards also used the religion as an excuse to colonize us, theymade promises that they will protect and give education to every Filipino, but instead of fulfulling their promises, they abused Filipinos and degraded our own country and treat us the way like a slaves who's waiting for the freedom that they can give.

RIDDLE, RIDDLE ON MY WALL.

RIDDLE, RIDDLE ON MY WALL.

RIDDLE,RIDDLE ON MY WALL.

TANAGA (Alapaap)

DALIT (Alay ko Sinta)

"Without Literature Life is Hell" -Charles Bukowski

     
                 

       Have you ever imagined yourself learning without reading? Have you ever realized what will happen if literature doesn’t exist?  Literature was found in the beginning of all things and continuously living throughout the ages. Long before human civilization, stories about gods and goddesses already existed. Long before languages have been invented, stories were already carved on tablet stones and on walls. Long before humans know how to read and write with the words that our ancestors created, literature already existed. Nowadays literature keeps on expanding and growing as time passes by. Literature is being used by humans in giving opinions and views in the situation of the society and the community. It is a one way to know, to learn and to discover the realities in life that people must be informed about. Without literature, life could become miserable.

     

           Charles Bukowski’s quote, “Without literature, life is hell”, can be reflected in the situation of a bird inside a cage, —cannot fly freely and express itself. This is what will happen when literature doesn’t exist. People cannot do what they want for themselves, people cannot express their desires in the society and people cannot fly to explore and discover more realities in life. Literature lets people reflect the life that they have into words, and that is important. Everything that happens in our daily lives could serve as an inspiration to others, especially in writing our experiences in the challenges that we encounter. Everything that happens in our society, like our own legacy and biography, can be written, recorded, and learned from a piece of literature. Literature also plays an important part in telling our history. This serves as our key to know more about what our future would become. Literature is like a vehicle in our life that leads us in the right path to be the best version of ourselves. Without literature, life is like living in hell where you drown in the river of fire and death. People seem to find it funny and uninteresting but them being unaware, they are already using it in their everyday lives. Once you realize the importance of literature, then you will be grateful that it exists. Without literature, life ceases to exist.