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)