A FEMINIST STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF

SELECTED SHORT STORIES BY KERIMA POLOTAN-TUVERA

Mary Madeleine P. Denopra

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

Bachelor of Arts in English Studies: Language

An Undergraduate Thesis Presented to

The Department of English and Comparative Literature

College of Arts and Letters

University of the Philippines, Diliman

April 2012

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Acknowledgment

This research would not have been possible without the support and guidance of the

following:

Dr. Ma. Milagros C. Laurel, I owe you my deepest gratitude for your time, patience,

motivation, and unfailing support as my thesis adviser. You have also been a kind mother to me

during the last several months of my college life. Thank you so much, Ma’am, for not giving up

on me, for helping me organize my thoughts, and for making me feel that it is never too late to

succeed in life.

Drs. Rose Bumatay-Cruz and Jose Wendell Capili, thank you for taking the time to read

and comment on my research. Your valuable insights and suggestions have certainly added

significance to my study.

Ate Cora, Ate JT, Kuya Pabs, Ate Annie, Ate Julie, Ma’am Regina and the librarians at

CAL, I gain strength from your mere gesture of cheering me up every time you see me and I

really appreciate it.

My dear family, especially Tatay, thank you for the prayers and for embracing me with

open arms even when I seem incomprehensible. Thank you also for always reminding me of my

strengths and for believing in what I can become. Your unconditional love is the reason why I

never stop dreaming. I look forward to the time when I can give back and share my successes

with you, God-willing.

Kuya Ed and my UPSA family, your overflowing support for me has transformed and

enriched my life in so many ways. Kuya Ed, thank you for being everything to me all these years

– a mentor, a father, a brother, a faithful friend, and a personal psychiatrist. Your soothing words

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of inspiration have constantly reminded me that I can do better than my best. Kuya Paeng, even

now I am moved by your subtle yet powerful way of showing support for me as I went through

this challenge. Many thanks to you. My brothers and sisters in UPSA, thank you all for the

concern and for even lending me a hand when I needed to do some last-minute errands for my

research.

My closest friends from high school, college, and elsewhere, your habits of excellence

and success have inspired me to get to the finish line. Thank you for the loyalty, the laugh trips,

and the words of encouragement.

My best friend, Bernadette A. Bacquian, our friendship has proved to stand the test of

time and distance. Thank you for seeing the best in me and for extending support especially in

my journey towards graduation. I feel your love even if you are on the other side of the world.

My Creator, thank You for being with me every single moment of my life. You have

continued to bless me despite my unworthiness and have even sent over some angels to help,

guide, inspire, discipline, and comfort me as I wrap up my college life. My strength alone would

not have been enough. I look forward to spending the rest of my life fulfilling the mission/s you

have assigned to me. Thank You, Lord.

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Abstract

This research employed the feminist stylistic framework of Sara Mills in determining the

difference between Kerima Polotan-Tuvera’s women and men characters in her four Palanca

Award-winning first-prize short stories, namely, “The Virgin” (1952), “The Trap” (1956), “The

Tourists” (1959), and “The Sounds of Sunday” (1960). The focused reading of the texts

inevitably led to the identification of the author’s distinct writing style/practice as a fictionist.

The selected short stories were analyzed using the model provided by Sara Mills, which aims to

investigate texts at the level of word, phrase/sentence, and discourse. The research identified

dominant and recurring features in the four stories. Women characters differ from the men in that

there are more descriptions given to them which pertain to their thoughts, emotions, experiences,

vulnerability towards men, and their physical characteristics. Men are described according to

their physical strength, personalities, attitudes, which dominate women. Overall, the research

shows that at all levels of analysis, the stories consistently foreground the female consciousness

and experience. At the same time, the stories also magnify the pervading dominance of men over

women in many circumstances. In these stories, the woman’s greatest dilemma always concerns

her relationship with men, as if the woman’s worst weakness is her very own attraction and

helplessness towards them. These recurring features reveal the distinct writing style/practice of

the author. Finally, the study reveals that sexism and gender stereotyping are found in the stories,

characteristic of the writing of a female author expressing herself as a woman living in a male-

dominated society.

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgment i

Abstract iii

Table of Contents iv

Chapter I Introduction 1

Background of the Study

Statement of the Problem

Objectives of the Study

Significance of the Study

Scope and Limitation

Definition of Terms

Chapter II Review of Literature 11

Language and Gender

Stylistics and Feminist Stylistics

Feminism and Feminist Criticism

Notes on Kerima Polotan-Tuvera

Studies on Kerima Polotan-Tuvera

Chapter III Framework 23

Analysis at the Word Level

Analysis at the Phrase Level

Analysis at the Discourse Level

Chapter IV Methodology 39

Research Design

Sampling Method

Data Analysis Plan

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Chapter V Data Presentation and Analysis 42

Text 1: “The Virgin”

Text 2: “The Trap”

Text 3: “The Tourists”

Text 4: “The Sounds of Sunday”

Chapter VI Conclusions and Recommendations 145

Recurring Patterns

Kerima Polotan-Tuvera’s writing style/practice

Recommendations

References 157

Appendices 162

Appendix A: “The Virgin”

Appendix B: “The Trap”

Appendix C: “The Tourists”

Appendix D: “The Sounds of Sunday”

Appendix E: Sara Mills’ Questionnaire

Appendix F: Answers to Gender and Reading

Appendix G: Answers to Gender and Writing

Appendix H: Answers to Gender and Word Analysis

Appendix I: Answers to Gender and Phrase/Sentence Analysis

Appendix J: Answers to Gender and Discourse Analysis

Appendix K: Clause References

Appendix L: Terms describing characters

Appendix M: Transitivity Processes

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CHAPTER ONE

Introduction

Background of the Study

Feminism began in the West in the late 19th

century as a political movement that fought

for women’s suffrage (Stanford) and later for their other rights in society. The birth of feminism

in the Philippines was marked by the formation of the Asocacion Feminista Filipina in 1905 as

the first feminist organization initially aimed at promoting women’s suffrage (Helium). It was in

the 60s and 70s that feminism grew into an aggressive, vocal, and active movement led by

various proponents from the west (Stanford). Today, feminism has turned into an interesting

intellectual standpoint which permeates various fields of study, including language and literary

studies.

One branch of language studies, stylistics, has progressed from a text-immanent analysis

in the mid-20th

century into a method of study that, along with the advent of pragmatics, critical

linguistics and discourse analysis, now gives importance to context beyond the level of the

sentence (Mills, 1995). This enables stylistics to embrace different aims and approaches in

studying texts, including a feminist perspective.

Feminist linguists from the West such as Deborah Cameron, Dale Spender, and Jennifer

Coates, have devoted research to the way women are presented in language. According to

Cameron (1992), language is “a medium of representation” (p. 6). This is what feminists had in

mind when they began examining sexism or gender bias in literature and the media in the late

60s and early 70s (Cameron, 1992, p. 5). This led them to “look for some kind of linguistic

theory” (Cameron, 1992, p. 7). There are many studies now which even discuss the differences

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in the way men and women are represented in texts, as well as differences in their speech and

writings (Coates, 1993, p. 1).

In the Philippine academe, many Filipino scholars have also become interested in

conducting studies on Philippine literature in English using a feminist approach especially since

a significant number of Filipino women writers have shown exceptional mastery of their craft

with their writings included in several anthologies now. The English language first became

accessible to both men and women in the Philippines when the Americans established their

educational system as part of their colonial policy to pacify the country (Manlapaz-Zapanta,

2003, p. 12). With the introduction of the public school system, access to education was

democratized. Women acquired more formal training in schools and eventually, they were able

to contribute to the body of works in Philippine literature in English (Manlapaz-Zapanta, 2003,

p. 16). Women writers such as Paz Latorena, Angela Manalang-Gloria, Estrella Alfon, Edith

Tiempo, Kerima Polotan-Tuvera, Virginia Moreno, and Gilda Cordero-Fernando, are some of

the more prominent Filipino writers in English. Most of them were college degree holders from

the reputable universities in the Philippines (Manlapaz-Zapanta, 2003, p. 4). These women have

gained recognition from their peers including their male counterparts – this within a still overtly

male-dominated society. When it comes to writing competitions, Manlapaz-Zapanta (2003)

mentions that “a survey of the winners' list shows that women writers have consistently

performed well through the years, competing successfully against male writers” (p. 5).

Highly acclaimed short story writers such as Estrella Alfon and Gilda Cordero-Fernando

are favorite research subjects of language scholars. One successful fictionist, Kerima Polotan-

Tuvera, has also been highly respected and recognized in the Philippine literary circle for her

prize-winning works though these have not been studied as frequently as those of other women

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writers. Manlapaz-Zapanta (2003) emphasizes the significance of Kerima Polotan-Tuvera as a

woman writer of Philippine literature in English by citing an excerpt in an essay written by Nick

Joaquin in 1961:

The career of our women writers follow a pattern: they dabble in journalism, write a

handful of short stories, then they marry and the writing stops, or they turn into

columnists. But Kerima Polotan has lasted as a writer longer than any of her male

contemporaries. She is practically the only survivor of that group of writers who were

young and promising during the decade after the war (pp. 70-71)

Literary reviews of Kerima Polotan-Tuvera’s works note that her female protagonists are

usually women “caught in a dilemma from which there is no escape” (Zapanta-Manlapaz, 2003,

p. 72). In the book Philippine Fiction: Essays from Philippine Studies (1972), Miguel Bernad’s

essay maintains that the woman of Kerima Polotan-Tuvera is “a woman in hell” (p. 114).

Leonard Casper’s essay in the same book also states that the stories of the said fictionist concern

the “distribution of power in society: but chiefly as this affects the rights of women” (p. 134). In

this present study, feminist stylistics is employed to reaffirm literary criticisms, such as the one

cited above, about the said author’s writing style. This aims to provide verifiable dominant

linguistic features that can account for the uniqueness of her work as seen from a feminist point

of view.

Statement of the Problem

The primary question which this study aims to answer is: How do the women characters

in selected stories by Kerima Polotan-Tuvera’s differ from the men?

The following corollary questions will also be answered:

1. How are the characters in the stories described through lexical choices?

2. How are the characters presented in phrases and sentences?

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3. How are the characters described at the level of discourse?

4. What do these representations of characters in Kerima Polotan-Tuvera’s short

stories reveal about her writing style/practice?

Objectives of the Study

This study examines Kerima Polotan-Tuvera’s representation of characters in her stories

foregrounding the women characters. Specifically, the research aims to: (1) examine

representations of the characters at the word, phrase/sentence, and discourse levels, following

Sara Mills’ model of analysis; (2) identify recurring patterns of representations in the stories,

and; (3) determine the writing style/practice of Kerima Polotan-Tuvera in terms of character

representation. By doing this, the research seeks to fulfill the task of studying women’s writings

“to render the woman writer more visible and to bring to the surface women’s experiences and

women’s consciousness, however submerged these may be under the weight of the assumptions

and values of a dominant male culture” (in Manlapaz-Zapanta, 2003, p. 102).

Significance of the Study

This study focuses on analyzing the language style of Kerima Polotan-Tuvera in her short

stories using a feminist perspective. Similar studies using a feminist stylistic approach have been

done to analyze other women writers like Estrella Alfon and Gilda Cordero-Fernando.

The importance of this study also lies in its attempt to provide a useful addition to the

language research made on the works of Kerima Polotan-Tuvera. Previous undergraduate studies

on the said author touched on transitivity choices, a thematic analysis of characters, and verb

5

analysis. In this study, there is an attempt to show how gender and writing interconnect. This

connection also helps determine the writing style/practice of Polotan-Tuvera.

Kerima Polotan-Tuvera significance as a Filipino writer rests on the fact that she belongs

to a generation of women writers that blossomed after the second world-war and during this

time, the English language was already available to both men and women, within a society which

remained patriarchal even long after the Spaniards had left (Zapanta-Manlapaz, 2003).

Scope and Limitation

This study employs Sara Mills’ feminist stylistic analysis in investigating selected short

stories of Kerima Polotan-Tuvera. The data are narrowed down to only the first-prize Palanca

award-winning stories, which makes them fitting representations of the author’s work and widely

used in anthologies of Philippine literature in English. The analysis is focused on identifying

dominant and recurring features in all the four stories at the levels of word, phrase/sentence, and

discourse.

Definition of Terms

accretive – refers to an “increase by external addition or accumulation (as by adhesion of

external parts or particles)” (Merriam-Webster, 2012)

actor – “the person who performs an action” (Mills, 1995, p. 203)

address – “the way that a text calls on you or talks to you as a reader” (Mills, 1995, p. 203)

affix – “an element which is fixed to the front or back of words; for example, anti-sexist,

poetess” (Mills, 1995, p. 203)

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clause – “a group of words which contains a finite verb; for example, ‘Klein worked as

psychoanalyst’, ‘Foucault wrote a great many books’” (Mills, 1995, p. 204)

connotation – “words often have an overlaid meaning which modifies the dictionary definition;

for example, the word ‘scab’ in industrial disputes has strong negative

connotations” (Mills, 1995, p. 204)

co-ordination – “the linking of clauses by ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘or’” (Mills, 1995, p. 205)

critical linguistics – “a form of linguistics which is informed by political concerns” (Mills, 1995,

p. 205)

deviation – “in stylistics terms, a deviation assumes a norm which is transgressed for a purpose;

for example, rules are broken in a collocation, or a seemingly inappropriate

word is used” (Mills, 1995, p. 206)

discourse – “It has two main meanings: the first used in linguistics and the second in literary and

cultural theory. The first one refers to a group of sentences which form an extended

text; this is how it is used in the phrase ‘discourse analysis’, where relations beyond

the sentence are examined. The second usage is more complicated: discourse refers

to a much wider grouping of statements which can be seen to have some

homogeneity; it also refers to the set of rules which brought these statements into

existence. Thus, the ‘discourse of advertising’ refers to the statements which are

generated within advertising and also the rules which generated those sentences

rather than other ones. The study of this form of discourse is called ‘discourse

theory’” (Mills, 1995, p. 206)

double entendre – “a sexual play on words” (Mills, 1995, p. 206)

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external focalizer – “when a story is focused on the events through the consciousness of a

character external to the action in the story” (Mills, 1995, p. 207)

feature – “a term which refers to any typical or noticeable property of spoken or written

language” (Finch, 2000, p. 20)

female-specific – a gender-specific term that refers particularly to the female gender

femininity – “the set of socially constructed stereotypical behaviour which is supposed to be

acquired by females” (Mills ,1995. p. 207)

feminism – “implies commitment to changing the social structure to make it less oppressive to

women” (Mills, 1995, p. 4)

feminist – “a person who would like to improve the range of possibilities for women” (Mills,

1995, p. 207)

feminist stylistics – “a form of politically motivated stylistics whose aim is to develop an

awareness of the way gender is handled in texts” (Mills, 1995, p. 207)

focalization – “the process whereby the events in a story are related to the reader through the

consciousness of a character or narrator” (Mills, 1995, p. 207)

foregrounding – “the positioning of an element in a prominent place in a text which it does not

usually occupy, thus drawing attention to it” (Mills, 1995, 207)

fragmentation – “the process whereby characters in texts are described in terms of their body

parts instead of as people” (Mills, 1995, p. 207)

gender – “the sexualized identity of each individual” (Mills, 1995, p. 207)

gender bias – “the bias which is shown towards one gender” (Mills, 1995, p. 207)

gender-specific – terms that refer to a particular gender

generic – “used in a general way to refer to women and men” (Mills, 1995, p. 207)

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generic pronoun – “a pronoun which purports to refer to both men and women, whilst in fact

referring only to males: ‘he’” (Mills, 1995, p. 208)

ideology – “a set of seemingly coherent ideas which represent our experience to us in

stereotypical ways” (Mills, 1995, p. 208)

internal focalizer – “where the events of a story are focused through the consciousness of a

character in the story” (Mills, 1995, p. 208)

lexis – “simply, words and vocabulary” (Simpson, 1997, p. 201)

male-specific – a gender-specific term that refers particularly to the male gender

masculinity – “the social construct of stereotypical behaviour which men are supposed to

acquire” (Mills, 1995, p. 209)

material action process – “an action which has effects on others” (Mills, 1995, p. 209)

material action intention process – “an action which has effects on others and where the actor

does not intend the particular outcome to happen; for example, ‘He fell over the

cliff’, ‘They crashed their car’” (Mills, 1995, p. 209)

material event process – “often the action of an inanimate object; for example, ‘The ship sank’,

‘The sun shone’” (Mills, 1996, p. 209)

mental externalized process – “an action which takes place mentally but which is externalized;

for example, ‘She talked about the war’” (Mills, 1995, p. 209)

mental internalized process – “an action which takes place mentally; for example, ‘He noticed

the chance’” (Mills, 1995, p. 209)

metaphor – “When words are used with metaphoric senses, one field or domain of reference is

carried over or mapped onto another on the basis of some perceived similarity

between the two fields..” (Wales, 2001, p. 250)

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narrative – “is basically a story, of happenings or events, either real or imaginary, which the

narrator considers interesting or important” (Wales, 2001, p. 264)

narrator – “the character who mostly focalizes the story” (Mills, 1995, p. 210)

noun – “a word which refers to an object/person/concept; for example, ‘book’, ‘teacher’, ‘justice’

(Mills, 1995, p. 210)

passive – “a form of the verb where it is not necessary to specify the agent; for example, in ‘The

people were shot’ we do not know who shot the people; it is possible to add to ‘The

people were shot’ the words ‘by the intruder’, but often the passive is used to avoid

specifying agency” (Mills, 1995, p. 210)

phrase – “is a syntactic unit which typically consists of more than one word, and is intermediate

between word and clause level in sentences.” (Finch, 2000, p. 112)

plenitude – “the state of being full” (Merriam-Webster, 2012)

pragmatics – “is concerned with the study of meaning as communicated by a speaker (or writer)

and interpreted by a listener (or reader)” (Yule, 1996, p. 3)

schemata – “a set of preconstructed narrative choices” (Mills, 1995, p. 211)

sentence – “a group of words containing one or more clauses” (Mills, 1995, p. 211)

sexism – “irrelevant and derogatory reference to gender; sexism usually consists of statements

which are derogatory to women” (Mills, 1995, p. 211)

stereotypical – “preconstructed ideas” (Mills, 1995, p. 212)

stylistics – “is a method of textual interpretation in which primacy of place is assigned to

language” (Simpson, 2004, p. 2)

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subject – “a word with two meanings; first, the person or object who performs an action (agent,

actor); second, the individual from a psychoanalytical perspective” (Mills, 1995, p.

212)

text-immanent – “an interpretation that assumes that textual meaning resides entirely within the

formal linguistic properties of a text and is not influenced by dynamics of

communication, the context of textual production or by pragmatic aspects of

communication” (Simpson, 1997, p. 205)

transitivity – “the analysis of who does what to whom” (Mills, 1995, p. 212)

verb – “a word which represents an action or event; for example, ‘She took them to the station’,

‘They understood the question’ (Mills, 1995, p. 212)

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CHAPTER TWO

Review of Related Literature

This chapter covers the literature which were consulted in the general areas of language,

stylistics, and the literature of Kerima Polotan-Tuvera. Specifically, the references used are

classified under the categories of: Language and Gender, Stylistics and Feminist Stylistics,

Feminist Criticism, Notes on Kerima Polotan-Tuvera, and Studies on Kerima Polotan-

Tuvera.

Language and Gender

The relationship between language and gender has been a topic of great interest for

several decades now. Litosseliti (2006) reiterates that the “feminist movement has undoubtedly

influenced thinking in the social sciences and humanities, including linguistics, over the past 30

or 40 years.” (p. 1). It has drawn many scholars from different fields of study to conduct research

using different frameworks and approaches to address issues of gender which are observed to be

present in language use, whether it be spoken or written. First of all, it is important to take a look

at an approach to the nature of language which, in the first place, led it to be involved with

gender issues.

In their book entitled Gender Voices (1989), Graddol and Swann point out that language

is personal and that it is “an important part of our personal and social identity; our linguistic

habits reflect our individual biographies and experiences” (p. 5). The way we use language can

reveal our personalities, characteristics, as well as the environment we live in. Graddol and

Swann (1989) also reiterate the view that language is social and it is necessary for

12

communication and social maintenance between individuals (p. 5). Another view that they

present is that which is based on The Saussurean Model, which argues that “the individual

elements which made up a language system (the words of a language, say) did not have any

meaning in an absolute sense, but could be defined in terms of their relation to one another”

(Graddol and Swann, 1989, p. 5). Since Saussure believes in the arbitrary relationship between

word and meaning, he further argues that a word acquires meaning by way of a social

convention, or what he calls the ‘social contract’ among language users in a community (Graddol

and Swan, 1989). On the other hand, Gibbons (1999) sees language as “a ‘tool’ or ‘vehicle’”

(p. 3) that can be controlled or changed.

Gender is also a complex term that is viewed in several ways. Coates (1993) defines this

as a “term used to describe socially constructed categories based on sex” (pp. 3-4). A general

understanding of this word sees it as something that refers to “a social distinction between

masculine and feminine” (Graddol and Swann, 1989, p. 7). It is important to differentiate gender

from sex in order to avoid confusion on the meaning and use of these two seemingly

synonymous terms. Sex refers to “a biological distinction” (Coates, 1993, p. 3) which suggests

that a man and a woman are different from each other because of their biological make-up.

Litoselliti (2006) further explains the difference between gender and sex by suggesting that if

“sex relates to a biological and generally binary distinction between male and female, then

gender refers to the social behaviours, expectations and attitudes associated with being male and

female” (p. 1).

Language has been a major concern especially of feminists since they, especially the

English users, observe that inequality between men and women is evident in language use. When

a language presents gender bias, it is said to be sexist. Sexism is defined as “irrelevant and

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derogatory reference to gender; sexism usually consists of statements which are derogatory to

women” (Mills, 1995, p. 211). Drawing on different views by noted scholars, Graddol and

Swann (1989) summarize the relationships between language and gender as follows:

1) “Language reflects social division and inequalities;

2) “Such divisions and inequalities are created through sexist linguistic behaviour”;

and

3) “Both processes apply, and any full account of language and gender must explore

the tension and interplay between the two” (p. 10).

The first view of language is supported by Coates (1986) as she explains that linguistic

differences “are merely a reflection of social differences, and as long as society views women

and men as different – and unequal – then differences in the language of women and men will

persist” (p. vi). Dale Spender appears to agree with the second view since she stated that

language “is our means of ordering, classifying and manipulating the world” (cited in Coates,

1986, p. 10). Finally, Sally McConnell-Ginet encourages the third view by explaining that talk,

in particular, “works to create and maintain sex-stereotyping and male dominance” and that

“speech not only reflects our place in culture and society but also helps to create that place”

(cited in Coates, 1986, p. 10).

Sexism is said to be an issue initially put forward by feminists and not by linguists since

feminists see that language has always been biased against women and that the men seem to be

set as the norm (Graddol and Swann, 1989, p. 99). In her book called Feminism and Linguistic

Theory (1992), Deborah Cameron suggests that feminism is, first and foremost, political, since it

“is a movement for the full humanity of women” (p. 4). Although she makes it clear that there

are many kinds of feminism, Cameron (1992) asserts that all are commonly aimed at recreating a

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world into one where one gender is the norm or the standard and the other is deviant to that

standard (p. 4). Society appears to have positioned the woman as subordinate in many aspects of

life by way of “relative poverty, economic dependence, sexual exploitation and vulnerability,

poorer health, overwork, lack of civil and legal rights – and the list goes on” (Cameron, 1992, p.

4). Feminists who take an intellectual approach try to observe and understand the relationship

and differences between women and men, which they deem are more constructed than natural.

Linguistic theory has been utilized by feminists since the late 1960s because they have seen that

language is a powerful “medium of representation” (Cameron, 1992, p. 6) and that there have

been many instances of sexism in language use found not only in English but also in other

languages including French, German, Dutch, Italian, and Japanese (Cameron, 1992, p. 6).

Sara Mills, noted for her numerous works on feminist stylistics, expounds on sexism in

language by exposing in her book Language and Sexism (2008) as well as Feminist Stylistics

(1995) the different familiar examples of sexist language in texts and images. Many examples in

this study can be found in the chapter on Sara Mills’ framework that covers word, phrase, and

discourse analysis.

Stylistics and Feminist Stylistics

Stylistics is “a method of applied language study which uses textual analysis to make

discoveries about the structure and function of language” (Simpson, 1997, p. 4). This includes

examining linguistic features such as syntax, semantics, grammar, and lexicon. Stylistics,

however, does not employ a singular approach for analysis. It draws on diverse linguistic

perspectives (Finch, 2000) and “a range of linguistic models, from Noam Chomsky’s generative

grammar and Michael Halliday’s systemic linguistics to John Searle’s speech acts and Malcolm

15

Coulthard’s discourse analysis” (Mills, 1995, p. 4) depending on what is necessary or relevant to

the analysis of a certain text.

Feminist stylistics is a particular form of stylistics that investigates the language of texts

to answer questions asked particularly within a feminist perspective (Mills, 1995). This kind of

stylistic analysis was highly influenced by a more general functionalist approach called critical

linguistics, which involves consideration of ideologies in society and “the way social patterns of

language can influence thought” (Wales, 2001, p. 91). Mills’ framework emphasizes the political

issues of gender that are said to be present in and which affects the production as well as

reception of texts by employing theoretical linguistic models (1995).

Feminist stylistics uses a feminist approach in examining texts. Although feminist

linguists such as Deborah Cameron, Jennifer Coates, and Sara Mills, have gained recognition for

their notable works, this field of study where feminism and linguistics are involved is given a

clearer definition by Sara Mills. She defines feminist stylistics as “a form of politically motivated

stylistics whose aim is to develop an awareness on the way gender is handled in texts” (Mills,

1995, p. 207). In her book, which goes by this title, she provides a comprehensive guide in the

form of a questionnaire that serves as a helpful toolkit for any stylistician attempting to make a

thorough stylistic analysis of a particular text using a feminist approach. It covers analysis at

various levels, namely, word, phrase/sentence, and discourse. This will be discussed in detail in

Chapter Three.

Feminism and Feminist Criticism

It is important to explain how feminism came into existence both in the West and in the

Philippines in order to see how the West has influenced the language and literature of the

16

Philippines. Feminist criticism must then be described both in the context of Western (British

and American) literature and Philippine literature in English.

The general fact that there has been resistance to patriarchy in many cultures to varying

degrees throughout history proves that feminism has existed for a long time (Stanford). Gibbons

(1999) explains the concept and aims of feminism as follows:

Feminism, is, as well as a practice, a philosophy which challenges social arrangements

regarding women’s and men’s relative value, status, positions, roles and opportunities.

There is not a single, unified body of feminist thought. On the contrary, feminists differ

in what they focus in as central to women’s social oppression in the present and in their

views of the ultimate cause of women’s exploitation, marginalization, and devaluing in

society (p. 4).

The term ‘feminism’ was first used in the mid-1800s to describe characteristics of women

but became popularly used to refer to a movement that fought for woman suffrage both in

Europe and the US during the late 19th

and early 20th

centuries (Stanford). Three waves of

feminism are said to have occurred. The first wave refers to women’s struggle for political rights

which started in the mid-19th

century when women were afforded these rights (Stanford). The

second wave of feminism emerged after the two world wars, particularly in the late 1960s and

early 1970s, which extended the aims of feminism to equality in other aspects, such as, in

education, the workplace, and at home (Stanford). The third and present wave of feminism goes

even further as to critique the previous waves and point out that there are internal differences

even among women which are caused by factors such as race, class, nationality, and religion, and

these should not be ignored (Stanford).

In the Philippines, the beginnings of feminism are said to be marked by the formation of

the ‘Asociacion Feminista Filipina’ in 1905 which initially fought for women’s right to vote

(Helium). Filipino women gained the right to vote in 1937, when the law on women’s suffrage

17

was finally passed and implemented (onlinewomeninpolitics). Along with the triumph of the

Filipino woman to vote, she also became liberated when she was afforded equal education along

with the men as the American regime established its coeducational system in the Philippines

after the 1898 Treaty of Paris that ended the Spanish-American War (Highbeam). As Lilia

Quindoza Santiago (1992) notes in her essay “The Filipina as Metaphor for Crisis,” the Filipina

was “the first woman in Asia to win the right of suffrage after a hard campaign at a nationwide

plebiscite” (in Kintanar, 1992, p. 118).

The subsequent use of English and the introduction of western literature to schools all

over the Philippines gave birth to English fictionists (CCP, 1994). At first, these Filipino writers

patterned their work after their western literary models, such as, Guy de Maupassant, Edgar

Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ernest Hemingway, among others, but later on learned to

present Filipino experiences in their work, albeit the use of Western form of writing (CCP,

1994). Paz Marquez-Benitez is noted for having written the first short story in English, “Dead

Stars,” written in 1925, which is regarded as the best work published in English then (CCP,

1994). Paz Latorena was also recognized for her story “Desire,” which presented the woman’s

position as repulsive to “being treated as an object of the male gaze” (CCP, 1994, p. 250). This

was the beginning of the Filipino writers’ quest in facing the question of Filipino identity and

culture through literature. Some of the acclaimed writers of Philippine literature in English,

particularly the short-story writers, are: Francisco Arcellana, Manuel Arguilla, N.V.M. Gonzalez,

Loreto Paras Sulit, and Bienvenido Santos (CCP, 1994). In the case of the women writers, they

have proved to be highly competent and as brilliant as their male counterparts, as seen in a

survey of the winners’ list in Philippine literature in English (Manlapaz-Zapanta, 2003).

18

Feminist criticism in Philippine literature is well-defined by Kintanar (1992) in the book

Women Reading…Feminist Perspectives on Philippine Literary Texts. Kintanar says that there

are “two distinct modes of feminist criticism: one that is concerned with the feminist as reader;

the other, with woman as writer (p. 210). The book is an anthology of essays by women reading

certain Philippine literary texts “through a specifically female consciousness and bringing to bear

the experience of what it is to be a woman in Philippine culture and society” (p. 1). The

introductory essay by Thelma Kintanar reviews the history of feminism in the Philippines. She

claims that Western feminism ignited feminism in the Philippines by the availability of feminist

theories, as well as feminist criticism for literature although feminists in the Philippines utilize

these theories in order to uncover the Filipino woman’s experiences and plights throughout

history (1992). One example of a feminist theory is Virginia Woolf’s work on the “female

sentence” in which she “asserted that there was a sentence which women writers had developed”

(in Mills, 1995, p. 44). The view that women’s writing is different from men’s was also explored

by Luce Irigaray and Helene Cixous (Mills, 1995). These ignited interest among feminists in the

Philippines to probe into Philippine literature as written by women.

Historians have revealed that women during the pre-Spanish times were regarded as

men’s equals. Furthermore, the existence of the babaylan as the all knowing priestess, leader,

and healer proves that the Filipino woman had a high status in society back then (Kintanar, 1992,

p. 2). This position which women enjoyed was completely eradicated during the male-dominated

colonial times and only during the early part of the 20th

century did women gain recognition

again.

Kintanar (1994) refers to the feminist critique of Kate Millett that “showed how the

stereotypical presentation of women as sex object, wife and mother limits women to the private

19

domain where family life and domestic affairs are the main concerns and inhibits them from

taking active part in the world of politics and public affairs” (p. 4). This view can be considered

in reading Philippine literary texts by women writers. For instance, Lilia Quindoza Santiago

notices that the women characters in the novels of Rizal, Amado Hernandez and Nick Joaquin

are portrayed as weak and indecisive. Kintanar (1992) emphasizes that besides this observation,

“women writers occupy a very small place in the literary canon” (p. 6) and that women readers

are tasked “to render the women writer more visible and to bring to the surface women’s

experiences and women’s consciousness, however submerged these may be under the weight of

the assumptions and values of a dominant male culture” (p. 6-7). In her essay “The Writer and

Her Roots,” Marjorie Evasco (1992) reminds the reader that women writing for publication were

not that accepted by a still patriarchal society during the early 1900s, even though the Americans

“brought the ideas of freedom and equality” (in Kintanar, 1992, p. 12).

Notes on Kerima Polotan-Tuvera

The CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art (1994), through F. Cao, features a biographical

sketch of Kerima Polotan-Tuvera, who is regarded as one of the most highly acclaimed Filipino

writers in English. Also known by her pseudonyms, Catalina Pascual and Patricia S. Torres, she

was born in Jolo, Sulu, on December 16, 1925. Her father was an army officer and her mother, a

home economics teacher. Her early youth was spent travelling with her father wherever he was

designated which made her transfer from one school to another. She attended grade schools in

Pangasinan, Tarlac, Laguna, Nueva Ecija, Rizal, and Manila. She took up Nursing at the

University of the Philippines in 1944 and discontinued her studies due to the outbreak of World

War II which affected Manila. As a passionate writer, she then opted to pursue a Bachelor of

20

Arts degree at the Arellano University where she edited the Arellano Literary Review in 1949.

After her graduation, she worked as a high school teacher in Albay and also taught in Arellano

University. Later on, she worked for several publications, namely, Tour Magazine, This Week,

Philippines Free Press, Focus Philippines, and Evening Post.

Kerima Polotan-Tuvera married Juan Tuvera and had ten children with him. Juan

Tuvera’s position as the executive assistant to former President Marcos during the Martial Law

years linked Kerima to the Marcoses. She was made to write an official biography of Imelda

Marcos in 1970 (Philstar; Rappler) and was given the post of editor of Focus Philippines, a

government-controlled magazine (CCP, p. 225).

Kerima Polotan-Tuvera rose to prominence in the literary circle in the ‘50s and ‘60s for

her essays and short stories, many of which are prize winners. Her distinguished published works

are: The Hand of the Enemy (novel, 1962); Stories: A Collection (1968); Imelda Romualdez

Marcos, A Biography (1970); Author’s Choice (a collection of essays and journalistic pieces,

1972); and Adventures in a Forgotten Country (essays, 1975).

Many of her stories, which were initially released in Philippine magazines and journals,

won the prestigious Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards and have since been added to several

anthologies. Her prize-winning stories in the esteemed literary awards are: “The Virgin” (first

prize, 1952), “The Trap” (first prize, 1956), “The Giants” (second prize, 1959), “The Tourists”

(first prize, 1960), “The Sounds of Sunday” (first prize, 1961), and “A Various Season” (second

prize, 1966). The short story “The Virgin” also won first prize in the Free Press contest the same

year that it won in the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards.

The first prize-winning short stories of Kerima Polotan-Tuvera are included in her book

entitled Stories (1968; 1998) which contains a collection of her widely recognized short stories,

21

published by the University of the Philippines Press and the U.P. Creating Writing Center. The

story “The Virgin” is also included in the anthology released by Carlos Palanca Memorial

Awards for Literature in 1957, published by La Tondeña, Inc. The same story reappears in An

Anthology of Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards Winners published in 1976 by Bustamante

Press, Inc. It is also part of another anthology edited by Agcaoili, entitled Philippine Writing: An

Anthology (1953). In Stories (1998), Polotan-Tuvera acknowledges several magazines which

first released her first-prize stories and these are: Sunday Times Magazine (“The Sounds of

Sunday” and “The Tourists”) and Philippines Free Press (“The Virgin” and “The Trap”).

Kerima Polotan-Tuvera also received several other awards including the 1961 Stonehill

Award, the 1963 Republic Cultural Heritage Award for literature, the 1965 Asia Magazine

Award for fiction, and the 1976 Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award from the Manila city

government (CCP, 1994).

Studies on Kerima Polotan-Tuvera

Imelda I. Maminta (1988) wrote her undergraduate thesis on “Self-Imposed Unhappiness

in the Main Characters of Kerima Polotan-Tuvera: A Character Study.” Her study deals with

proving and describing the self-imposed unhappiness that is said to be present in the characters

of Kerima Polotan-Tuvera’s short stories, “A Various Season,” “Gate,” “The Virgin,” “Cost

Price,” and “The Sounds of Sunday.” This research is descriptive and analytical. It concludes

that self-imposed unhappiness is indeed present and consistent in the author’s stories.

Another undergraduate thesis by Maria Angelita A. Gaddi (1989) analyzes Kerima

Polotan-Tuvera’s selected short stories using verb analysis. It is entitled “An Analysis of the

Verbs in Kerima Polotan’s Short Stories.” This study uses frequency counting by collating all the

22

verbs the researcher found in the texts and classifying them according to tenses. The results show

that fifty percent of the verbs used were in the simple or direct past. The study is purely

descriptive and no clear explanation is given as to what this feature proves about Kerima

Polotan-Tuvera’s writings.

The most recent study conducted on the short stories of Kerima Polotan-Tuvera is

another undergraduate thesis by Imelda S. Lacandola (2003) entitled “An Analysis of Kerima

Polotan-Tuvera’s Short Stories Using the Transitivity System.” In this study, M.A.K. Halliday’s

framework is used in order to classify transitivity processes present in the short stories of Kerima

Polotan-Tuvera. The analysis reveals that Polotan-Tuvera portrays her characters “as active

persons to a greater extent. She observes that women are “thinking people” and that “articulation

of thoughts is not an enormous difficulty for them” (p. 63). Similar to the study of Maminta on

self-imposed unhappiness, this research by Lacandola also proves that the women characters in

Kerima Polotan-Tuvera’s stories “are, in a way, unhappy by choice but to a greater extent by

social pressure” (p. 67). This study recommends that “for one to have a real comprehensive

analysis…a stylistic analysis or any other linguistic framework be used to supplement and/or

validate the observations made” (p. 68).

23

CHAPTER THREE

Framework

Contemporary stylistics has significantly blossomed through its involvement with various

theories focusing on discourse, culture and society (Simpson, 2004). One of its branches is

feminist stylistics, which draws insights from feminist theory (Simpson, 2004) and utilizes

stylistics in order to address prevailing political issues on gender. Feminist theory maintains that

“women as a group are treated oppressively and differently from men and that they are subject to

personal and institutional discrimination” (Mills, 1995, p. 3). Mills further explains that feminists

also see society as “organized in such a way that it works, in general, to the benefit of men rather

than women; that is, that it is patriarchal” (p. 3). By incorporating feminist theory into stylistics,

Mills came up with her theory on “feminist stylistics” (1995, p. 1).

This particular research employs the framework of Sara Mills in conducting a thorough

feminist stylistic analysis of selected short stories by Kerima Polotan-Tuvera. Highly motivated

by previous sociolinguistic feminist work done by scholars such as Deborah Cameron and

Jennifer Coates, Mills formulates a comprehensive “toolkit” that can reveal representations of

men and women in both literary and non-literary texts (Mills, 1995). According to her, feminist

stylistics “is concerned not only to describe sexism in a text, but also to analyse the way that

point of view, agency, metaphor, or transitivity are unexpectedly closely related to matters of

gender, to discover whether women’s writing practices can be described, and so on” (Mills,

1995, p. 1). In this kind of analysis, gender is the element that is foregrounded or ‘made strange’

in texts. By answering a range of questions based on different literary and linguistic theories,

certain features which relate to gender views can be exposed. This way, feminist stylistic

24

analysis is not a strictly text-immanent form of study but also takes into account the social

context which affects the production and reception of texts (Mills, 1995). Even drawing from

critical linguistics, feminist stylistics hopes to “unmask ideologies which seem to be hidden

within language-use which poses itself as natural” (Mills, 1995, p.12). Thus, the writing practice

of a particular author may be defined according to the gender-related ideologies which she

consciously or unconsciously presents in his work.

Sara Mills organizes what she refers to as a “toolkit” (1995) by dividing her questions

according to different levels of analysis. Aside from posing questions about factual information

of the text being analyzed, she presents questions for analysis at the levels of the word,

phrase/sentence, and discourse. This enables the researcher to make a meticulous investigation of

features, particularly the dominant and recurring ones in all the four selected short stories.

Analysis at Word Level

This level of analysis focuses on gender bias that can be seen in the use of individual

words or lexical items. Mills (1995) refers to sexism in language as the basis for examining word

choice. According to her, word analysis can only be understood and done by first studying the

general and theoretical aspects of sexism and then examining the specific types of sexist

language-use. She describes sexist language as something that alienates both women and men,

and a hindrance to effective communication and social interactions. Examples of sexist language

use at the level of word are enumerated and derived from previous studies on feminist text

analysis. Word choice can be investigated by finding occurrences of sex-specific pronouns,

misuse of generics, address terms, and negative descriptions of women (Mills, 1995).

25

Generic Pronouns

Mills first defines generic forms as “those elements in language which perpetuate a view

of the male as a norm or universal and the female as deviant or individual” (Mills, 1995, p. 87).

For instance, the generic pronoun “he” is often used to refer to men and women, while, in fact,

Robertson’s research shows that people tend to visualize a male when the generic “he” is used

(Mills, 1995). Mackay argues that this becomes confusing to the reader since it is not clear if the

pronoun is to be used generically or sex-specifically (Mills, 1995). One example can be the

statement, “A good servant makes sure “he” serves “his” master well.” The pronoun “he” is also

seen to be used when certain professions are stereotypically assumed to be held only by men.

Mills (1995) discusses that professions such as professors, scientists, and engineers are

commonly associated with men. For instance, this particular example proves how the pronoun he

is used generically: “If a ‘physics teacher’ needs a lab. assistant, ‘he’ should contact the

secretary” (Mills, 1995, p. 88).

Generic Nouns

Another form of sexism in language at the level of lexical items is the use of generic

nouns. For example, “when discussing humanity as a whole, the terms ‘mankind’ and ‘man’ are

often used” (Mills, 1995, p. 89). In fact, meanings which are supposedly genderless are assigned

the word “man” because of gender stereotypes and because the male is considered the norm.

Based on previous studies, Mills presents the following examples to show these various uses:

‘to be man enough’

‘to be the right man for the job’

‘men in white coats’ (referring to scientists)

‘man in the street’ (referring to ordinary people)

‘man-power’

26

‘man-hours’

‘craftsman’, ‘policeman’, ‘fireman’, ‘postman’, ‘dustman’, ‘fisherman’

‘seaman’, ‘ombudsman’, ‘workman’

‘to man’ (used as a verb)

‘a gentleman’s agreement’ (refers to a certain behavior of women)

‘walkman’ (refers to stereo)

(Mills, 1995, p. 91)

Women as the marked form

Since man is stereotypically considered to be the norm and the universal, women are

often represented as the deviation from that norm. Mills states that “the linguistic forms present

the men as an unmarked and the female as a marked form” (1995, p. 87). Furthermore, this is

manifested in ways that are degrading or oppressive to women. Spender, as well as Kramarae

and Treichler are said to have done research which proves that women are discriminated through

language use by insulting descriptions pertaining to their sexual availability (Mills, 1995). For

instance, the following affixes which are used to refer to women are not without “derogatory or

trivializing connotations” (Mills, 1995, p. 195):

‘-lady’

‘-ess’

‘-ette’ (smaller, diminutive)

‘-enne’

‘-trix’

It is as if there is a clear need to mark the female gender and if not, then the terms will be

automatically assumed to refer to the male. Examples of words which use the above-mentioned

affixes are: “actress,” “authoress,” “bachelorette,” “hostess,” “stewardess,” “poetess,” “lioness,”

“comedienne,” and “aviatrix.” Mills (1995) suggests that even the word “aviatrix” connotes a

lack of seriousness and is degrading to women.

27

However, sometimes a word can be considered sexist in one instance, and neutral in

another. Mills (1995) mentions that Vetterling-Braggin emphasizes that “words out of context do

not mean in the way that they do in context” (p. 98) and that “we need to be very specific about

the context in which these words appear in order to come to some evaluation of whether a word

is sexist or not” (p. 98). For example, the word “girl” is not considered sexist when it refers to

females of under sixteen years of age. After this age, a female would prefer to be called a “lady”

or a “woman,” otherwise, being called a “girl” connotes a lack of seriousness on the female

being described. This kind of language use is highly reflective of the existing discrimination

against women in society (Mills, 1995).

Naming and Androcentrism

Mills reiterates Cameron’s feminist view which concludes that, in general, languages are

sexist particularly because “they represent or ‘name’ the world from a masculine viewpoint and

in accordance with stereotypical beliefs about the sexes” (as cited in Mills, 1995, p. 103). For

instance, for girls and women, there are no terms referring to their genitalia which can be used

inoffensively and in public (Mills, 1995). The terms “vagina,” “vulva,” “cunt,” and “clitoris” are

considered offensive towards women especially when used in public. Also, previous studies have

shown that some terms pertaining to sexual activity are created clearly from a male perspective

and appear to show that “sex is active for males and passive for females” (Mills, 1995, p. 106).

These terms include: “screw,” “leg over,” “penetrate,” “to get someone pregnant,” “to get

someone in the family on the way,” “to put someone in the pudding club,” and “to put a bun in

the oven”. Also, women are given titles differently from men and this shows that they are,

indeed, a marked gender. Women are given the titles “Miss” and “Mrs.,” which means they are

28

named according to whether they are single or married. On the other hand, for men, the same

title, which is “Mr.,” is given to them whether they are married or not (Mills, 1995).

Semantic derogation of women

Mills includes a previous study made by Shultz in her criteria for the sexist use of

language at word level (1995). Shultz “describes a process which she calls the semantic

derogation of women: that is, that once a word becomes associated with women, it will begin to

lose any positive quality that it originally had” (Mills, 1995, p. 116). Mills agrees that certain

terms referring to women actually indicate lower status for women and furthermore, convey

negative sexual connotations which are offensive to them. Mills’ pairing of terms referring to

men and women can be summed up in the following table:

Table 1

Mills’ Pairing of Terms referring to Men and Women

MEN WOMEN

courtier

master

host

governor

adventurer

bachelor

priest

courtesan

mistress

hostess

governess

adventuress

spinster

priestess

If the words in Table 1 are to be examined, there are, indeed, differences in connotations

carried between those terms used for men and those used for women. The terms referring to men,

when converted into forms which make the term feminine, suddenly carry sexual connotations.

The words “courtesan,” “mistress,” “hostess,” “governess,” “adventuress,” “spinster,”

29

“priestess,” which indicate marked forms, either carry sexual (e.g. “courtesan,” “mistress,” and

“hostess”) if not derogatory (e.g. “spinster” which can mean an old maid but at the same time

connoting that of being ugly and grouchy) connotations.

Metaphors for women: endearments and diminutives

Previous studies show that there are more terms used by men to refer to women which

make use of metaphors than those used by women to refer to men. Mills brings up that

metaphors are often used when creating terms of endearment for women as well as diminutives

(1995). For instance, men use the words “bird” and “chick” as terms of endearment for their

female objects of affection. In particular, the word “chick” is also a form of a diminutive which

connotes that women can be likened to small animals.

Analysis at Phrase/Sentence Level

It is a common contemporary linguistic belief that words should be analyzed “in relation

to their context” (Mills, 1995, p. 128) since their meanings are not contained only within the

words themselves. This explanation suggests that texts should also be analyzed at the level of

phrases or sentences. Mills presents certain criteria for examining texts at the level of phrases

based on previous studies. The analyst should be on guard for ready-made phrases,

presupposition and inference, metaphor, jokes or humor, and transitivity choices when

examining phrases to possibly unravel features that are significantly gender-biased (Mills, 1995).

30

Ready-made phrases

First, Mills (1995) shows that “there are…phrases which are preconstructed and which

convey sexist meanings” (p. 129). Previous studies have tried to probe texts that contain

proverbs, set phrases, and rhyming slang and have found out that there are, indeed, underlying

messages in these forms which discriminate against women (Mills, 1995). The following are

examples of phrases cited by Mills based on previous studies by other scholars:

a. “A woman’s work is never done”

b. “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”

c. “mutton dressed as lamb”

d. “trouble and strife”

e. “A woman’s place is within the home.”

(Mills, 1995, pp. 129-130)

The above examples show the various ways in which a woman can be discriminated

against in a particular text. In example a, the woman appears to be degraded in the sense that she

is assumed to be either a slow worker or the gender that does not produce a good output or does

not finish whatever it is that she is working on. Example b shows that in order for a woman to

attract a man, she must be able to cook for him, or even cook excellently for him. This seems to

show that a woman needs to be the one to please and satisfy the man and not the other way

around. A particular stereotype of a woman is ridiculed in example c by comparing her to a

“mutton dressed as lamb.” This refers to women of mature age who dress inappropriately as if

they are still very young. Example d presents women to be a burden to men since they are

equated to “trouble” and “strife.” Lastly, example e questions the capacity of a woman to work

outside the house by implying that she is fit only to be a housewife, to do house chores, and to

take care of her husband and their children.

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Presupposition and Inference

Pragmatic theorists such as Brown and Yule primarily emphasize that background

knowledge is very important in decoding phrases or sentences (Mills 1995). Pragmatics, from a

feminist’s viewpoint, is used in Mills’ framework to promote awareness that “there are [sic]

background knowledge which are presupposed when texts address a female audience or when

gender issues are discussed” (Mills, 1995, p. 131). Background knowledge, in this case,

necessarily involves gender assumptions, stereotypes, and ideologies that are present in society.

For instance, example e contains presuppositions about the capacity and the roles that a woman

should play in society. When one says, “A woman’s place is within the home,” there is an

assumption that a woman is not capable of successfully doing and accomplishing things that are

not related to housework. The inference to this would be that the woman is destined or meant to

be a housewife or someone who is stuck in the house and that is the only role she can play in her

life. It is as if the statement is saying that the woman belongs to the house and nowhere else.

Metaphor

Mills also presents metaphor as a venue for embedding gender stereotypes prevailing in

society. She cites Max Black’s description of the metaphor as “an instrument for drawing

implications grounded in perceived analogies of structure between two subjects belonging to

different domains” (Mills, 1995, p. 136). This description pinpoints “implications grounded in

perceived analogies” which only reflect certain ideologies that are sometimes associated with

gender views. For instance, the statement “That man is a wolf” (Mills, 1995, p. 137) tells many

things about perceived characteristics of man which can be found in a certain animal. Mills

explains that previous studies on metaphors show that “Male sexuality is often described in terms

32

of metaphors of animal behaviour, so that is seen to be at the same level of instinctual behaviour

as an animal’s, and as little under control” (1995, p. 137). This kind of animalistic behavior in

men is often assumed in society to be something that cannot be helped, however detrimental it

may be to women. Also, other studies show that sexuality is more commonly “described at a

metaphorical level in terms in terms of heat and lack of heat” (Mills, 1995, p. 137), as in the

statement “That girl is hot.” Hotness here connotes physical or sexual attractiveness.

Jokes or Humor

Mills demonstrates that jokes also play a part in producing gender bias in language.

According to her, since “sexism may be disguised under the cover of humour, the reader may

unwittingly participate in the perpetuation of the sexism embedded in the text when s/he laughs

at the wit” (p. 138). In this case, jokes are considered dangerous not only because they reflect

gender bias in society, but are also formulated in such a way that a reader or hearer cannot

contest but can only take lightly. Many of these jokes contain double entendres and most of the

subjects used are women who are sexually objectified and intended for men’s consumption

(Mills, 1995). An example of which can be the following:

What is the difference between a pregnant woman and a light bulb?

You can unscrew a light bulb.

(Terhune)

In the above example, the woman is compared to an object and the difference between

the two lies in their ability or inability to be screwed. Here, the woman is objectified as a sexual

object that the man cannot “unscrew” anymore since she is already pregnant.

33

Transitivity choices

Mills verifies that representations of men and women can also be revealed by looking

into the transitivity processes which are used in a particular text. Having drawn this concept from

Hallidayan functional linguistics, transitivity is defined as “the set of options whereby the

speaker encodes his [sic] experience of the process of the external world, and of the internal

world of his consciousness, together with the participants in these processes and their attendant

circumstances; and it embodies a very basic distinction of processes in to two types, those that

are required as due to an external cause, and agency other than the person or object involved, and

those that are not” (cited in Mills, 1995, p. 143). This theory suggests that there is actually a

range of choices from which the language user can choose and these may be classified into:

material, mental, and relational (Mills, 1995). Mills reiterates that material processes are “actions

which can be observed in the real world and which have consequences” (1995, p. 143). There are

two types of material processes: material action intention and material action supervention. The

difference is that in the former, there is a clear will from the part of the actor to do something,

while in the latter, the processes described are “not done intentionally” (Mills, 1995, p. 143).

Mental processes are “those which take place largely in the mind” (Mills, 1995, p. 143), while

relational processes are “those which simply relate two elements together” (Mills, 1995, p. 143).

Examples of these processes are the following:

Material action intention: I broke the window, in order to get into the house.

Material action supervention: I broke my favourite glasses.

Mental: She thought about the situation.

Relational: It is rather cold.

(Mills, 1995, p. 143)

34

Analysis at Discourse Level

Beyond the level of sentence, analysis can still be extended by exploring discursive

frameworks which might be detected as gendered. Mills tries to show that by looking at

discourse, words and phrases can be linked with gender ideologies by examining patterns and

structures in texts (Mills, 1995). This is in accordance with a general discourse theory that sees

content “as something which is the negotiation of textual elements and codes and forces outside

the text which influence both the way that the text is constructed and the way we decipher what

is written” (Mills, 1995, p. 159). In terms of gender, Mills shares Foucault’s view that “discourse

is profoundly gendered” (Mills, 1995, p. 159). This suggests that there are actually patterns and

structures in discourse which present gender difference and Mills terms them “gendered

frameworks” (Mills, 1995, p. 159). Mills organizes the way that texts can be investigated at the

level of discourse by looking into four areas of analysis which are influenced by stereotypical

notions on gender: characterization, fragmentation, focalization, and schemata (Mills, 1995).

Characterization

Mills echoes previous studies on characterization by asserting that “stereotypical notions

often inform the language choices which are made when describing characters” (1995, p. 159).

This is seen in the different texts describing men and women and these have been analyzed to

reveal stereotypical knowledge (Mills, 1995). Many studies have shown that there are patterns of

differences in the way that men and women are described in various texts (Mills, 1995). One

particular example is a study done by Batsleer et al on the novels by Desmond Bagley and Gavin

Lyall which shows that “males are described in terms of their overall appearance” (Mills, 1995,

p. 161) by using terms such as “sand-coloured”, “slight in build”, “broad”, and “stocky.” This

35

study also shows that male characterization depends on traits such as trustworthiness, strength,

and whether the narrator likes them or not (Mills, 1995). Furthermore, this study shows that

“clothes are described in order to evoke a certain type of character: a leather jacket signifying

toughness, and highly polished shows denoting a superficial sophistication” (Mills. 1995, p.

161). Men have also been presented in texts with respect to their occupations (Mills, 1995).

Other previous analyses are also said to have revealed that descriptions made of women pertain

to their sexual attractiveness and availability according to the sexual desires of men (Mills,

1995). In relation to this, there appear to be more detailed descriptions and evaluation given to

their body parts, which has not been the case with male characterization (Mills, 1995). Women

are subjected to “a position of meticulous cataloguing” (Mills, 1995, p.162). Furthermore, they

are also often described according to their relationships with other characters, as in “mother of

three” or “Mrs. Smith” (Mills, 1995, p. 163). There were also comparisons made on how gender

differences are seen in characterization in a work situation, where women are portrayed as

mother, housewives, girls helping their mothers and playing dolls, secretaries, and teachers

(Mills, 1995). Mills (1995) also presents previous studies that show that “discursive structures

present women and men as having different priorities in relationships” (p. 169). For instance,

women are described in texts to be emotional and “often ask for emotional support or care”

(Mills, 1995, p. 169). Mills cites Joanna Russ’s conclusion that “the roles that women characters

have are determined by stereotypes of what women are like: that is, concerned with emotion

rather than action, relegated to the private sphere rather than the public sphere, seen as the

appendages of males rather than characters in their own right” (p. 170). Also, Mills (1995) points

out that within the female gender itself, there are differences in descriptions based on the

different classes in society which a female represents.

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Fragmentation

Fragmentation is “the process whereby characters in texts are described in terms of their

body-parts instead of as people” (Mills, 1995, p. 207). One significant observation on linguistic

studies is that “women’s bodies are seen to be fragmentable and composed of a number of

separate objects which may be beautiful in their own right; women’s bodies begin to assume the

qualities of the elements to which they are compared: that is, natural, passive, and consumable”

(Mills, 1995, p. 173). Descriptions of men are, on the other hand, done in terms of their bodies as

a whole and not as fragmented parts (Mills, 1995). The following excerpt from Helen McInnes

(1982) shows how fragmentable a woman’s body is:

She raised her head, let her eyes meet his. . . . She held out her hand.

He grasped it, took both her hands, held them tightly, felt her draw him near. His arms

went around her, and he kissed her mouth, her eyes, her cheeks, her slender neck, her

mouth again – long kisses lingering on yielding lips. Her arms encircled him pressing

him closer.

(in Mills, 1995, p. 173)

In the above example, the woman’s body parts are enumerated while the man’s body

parts are referred to very indirectly (“her eyes meet his”; “long kisses lingering on yielding

lips”).

Focalization

Mills also points out that there are gendered discursive structures found in the analyses of

texts “at the level of narrative and at the level of association” (Mills, 1995, p. 160). Many studies

have been made on point of view and focalization in narrative texts (Mills, 1995). Focalization is

37

“the process whereby the events in a story are related to the reader through the consciousness of

a character or narrator” (Mills, 1995, p. 207). Focalization is said to be either external or internal.

External focalization “is felt to be close to the narrating agent (cited in Mills, 1995, p. 178) In

this type of focalization, the position of the narrator-focalizer is “the bird’s-eye view” which has

“omniscient access to all characters, wherever they occur within the universe of the narrative”

(Mills, 1995, p. 181). Internal focalizer, on the other hand, is applied in texts wherein the narrator

and the focalizer are the same character “but operate independently to disclose the story” (Mills,

1995, p. 181). The relevance of this area of analysis to gender is that focalization has the power

to “manipulate the reader’s sympathies by means of the vision which is presented and the

evaluation which is implicit in that representation” (Mills, 1995, p. 181-182). For instance, a

particular text that has an internal focalizer position may either draw sympathies from a male or

female audience depending on the prevailing gender ideologies that the text presents or agrees

on.

Schemata

Even larger than character focalization are the schemata, which are larger-scale

frameworks that “seem to operate over a wide range of texts to produce different visions of

males and females” (Mills, 1995, p. 187). Schemata is defined as “a set of preconstructed

narrative choices” (Mills, 1995, p. 211). In studying the schemata of texts, previous works have

found out that women are “portrayed as objects, usually sexual…actively working towards their

own destruction” (Mills, 1995, p. 188). Women are also often seen as “having problems and as

writing to someone to ask for advice” (Mills, 1995, p. 194), which gives an image of the female

as someone dependent and needs to be advised (Mills, 1995). They are also presented in many

38

texts to be “victims of terrible accidents or difficult circumstances which they go on to conquer,

because of their own personal strength” (Mills, 1995, p. 197). The men, on the other hand, have

been found to always present themselves as the superior gender by displaying macho behavior by

always being dominant and in command in many situations given in texts.

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CHAPTER FOUR

Methodology

Research Design

This study employs a descriptive design for analysis which is both quantitative and

qualitative in nature. It involves a thorough stylistic investigation of features in the texts as

guided by the framework of Sara Mills. It necessarily applies frequency counting to some

features asked in the questionnaire. After every frequency count, data analysis makes use of

qualitative interpretation of the results for the integration of the analysis. For other questions, the

analysis is qualitative since there is no frequency count needed.

Sampling Method

Since the data chosen for analysis are the anthologized works of Kerima Polotan-Tuvera,

the researcher narrowed down the selection into those stories which won first prize in the

Palanca Literary Awards (now called Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards) between the 1950s and

the 1960s. Since these are highly acclaimed first-prize stories, they may well be considered to

rightfully represent the writings of Kerima Polotan-Tuvera.

These stories have been originally included in published magazines, and later on,

compiled in a collection of short stories by the author, as well as included in anthologies of

Philippine literature in English. “The Virgin” (1952), “The Trap” (1956), “The Tourists” (1959),

and “The Sounds of Sunday” (1960), were picked out from Kerima Polotan-Tuvera’s book called

“Stories”, published by the University of the Philippines Press and the U.P. Creative Writing

40

Center in 1998. The book contains eleven short stories, including the four first-prize stories and

two second-prize stories of the said author.

Data Analysis Plan

A feminist stylistic analysis, as meticulously formulated by Sara Mills, conveniently

provides a set of guidelines that contains questions grouped into the following levels of analysis:

Context and Theoretical Model, Gender and Writing, Gender and Reading, Gender and

Individual Lexical Items, Gender and Clause Level/Sentence Level, and Gender and Discourse

Level (see Appendix E, p. 198, for Sara Mills’ list of questions). In this present study, each of the

four stories is thoroughly examined by isolating passages that illustrate the distinctive features

that will help foreground gender characteristics in the texts. These passages are classified into the

different levels of analysis: WORD, PHRASE/SENTENCE and DISCOURSE. Dominant

features are then summarized in order to show the differences in the representations of the male

and female characters of the stories. A detailed listing and analysis of these passages is found in

the appendix of this study.

After showing, through a detailed analysis of the word, phrase/sentence, and discourse,

features of the four stories, the research proceeds to show some observations about the writing

style/practice of Kerima Polotan-Tuvera.

The following flow chart shows the steps followed in conducting this research:

41

FLOWCHART

SELECTION OF

STORIES

DATA ANALYSIS

PHRASE/SENTENCE

LEVEL

DISCOURSE

LEVEL

WORD LEVEL

IDENTIFICATION OF

REPRESENTATIONS OF

WOMEN AND MEN

CHARACTERS

OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE

WRITING STYLE/PRACTICE OF

KERIMA POLOTAN-TUVERA

42

CHAPTER FIVE

Data Presentation and Analysis

This chapter includes the presentation and individual analyses of the four stories. The

analysis of each story is presented first with a summary of the story (see Appendices A, B, C,

and D to read the actual texts of the stories), and then a discussion of the dominant and recurring

features falling under the categories of word or lexical items, phrase/sentence, and discourse.

Text 1: “The Virgin”

The Story

Miss Mijares, a placement officer, is approached by a tall, big carpenter. The carpenter

sits on the chair by her desk and submits his fingerprint specimens. Miss Mijares then provides

him with a questionnaire for him to answer, says she will be back shortly, and orders that he shall

wait for her. Miss Mijares goes to the cafeteria realizing that through the years, she has become

less courteous and more impatient with the people around her, particularly the jobless applicants.

At the ripe age of thirty-four, Miss Mijares dresses up to look younger and more shapely

than her age despite her skinniness and apparent lack of physical beauty. She still secretly

imagines and dreams of finding love and having her own child. She also fantasizes and relishes

intimate scenes in the movies she watches. She was deprived of these things when she was

younger and was preoccupied only with graduating from school, supporting a niece, and taking

care of her old and sick mother. After her mother dies, Miss Mijares is filled with guilt but also

with some relief because, finally, she can think about her own happiness now. Nine years pass

and she still finds herself loveless.

43

Back at the placement office, she encounters the carpenter again. She has him sign

something for his newly obtained job. Seeing the broken paperweight on her table, the carpenter

fixes it. Miss Mijares grabs the paperweight afterwards as well as the paper he signed. The

carpenter begins a conversation by telling her that one of the applicants to whom she had given a

job is a friend of his from the pier. He goes on to say that he applied in her placement office

since his team from his previous job had broken up and that it is difficult to work fast on

carpentry when one is alone. His confidence and talkative behavior disarms Miss Mijares. She

then asserts her authority by speaking in English and offers him a relatively low-paying job at the

woodcraft section since he has said he is not starving yet. He is to work three times a week and

will be paid from two-fifty to four pesos a day, for a duration of two to three months. He then

thanks her.

The carpenter reports every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. Miss Mijares usually visits

the bureau where the men are working to check with Ato, the foreman, the list of old workers

who have completed their three-month contract. One Wednesday, Miss Mijares suddenly

requests Ato to raise the pay of the carpenter from three pesos to four pesos. Ato settles with a

three-fifty pay. The carpenter finds out his raise has been facilitated by Miss Mijares and he

approaches her at noontime, one day, to say that their foreman has told him to thank her for the

increase. Miss Mijares remarks that even without her request, the foreman would have eventually

increased his pay. The carpenter responds with a malicious tone and says she still spoke for him

and that in reality, he does not need the increase that badly since he does not have a wife yet.

Miss Mijares answers defensively by saying she would do it for anyone anyway.

The following week, the jeepney which Miss Mijares takes to go home detours. Miss

Mijares feels lost and remembers her dream where her ride kept changing directions as

44

something enormous was blocking her way home. The jeepney, which has now detoured, stops

in a place rather familiar to Miss Mijares, and then she gets down.

After a week of absence without proper notice, the carpenter reports to Miss Mijares that

he had to rush to the province because of the sudden death of his son. Miss Mijares reasons that

he should have at least sent someone to inform them. Miss Mijares becomes angry and

remembers him saying he is not married. He notices that she is upset and explains that he is not

married to his son’s mother. She becomes more furious and demands that he tell her everything,

asserting that employees’ personal lives are also her business. That afternoon, heavy rain falls

and at past six in the evening, Miss Mijares takes a jeepney once more, only to find that the

carpenter is also on the same jeepney with her. She faintly gestures recognition to the carpenter

and then turns away. The jeepney again detours and looks for a better route but, because of the

weather and the heavy traffic, eventually decides to stop at some road near the main street. All

the passengers alight from the jeepney. The carpenter follows Miss Mijares and apologizes for

giving her the impression that he lied to her about his marital status. Miss Mijares acknowledges

and suddenly finds that they are already alone in that place. Miss Mijares’ dream about love

comes true as he finally comes closer and touches her. She, then, turns to face him.

Analysis

The text is told from a third person point of view and is centered on the character of the

lead female character, Miss Mijares (see Appendix A, p. 162, for the actual text). It particularly

revolves around her predicament and highlights a turning point in her life with regard to her

problem. The narrator is not seen to penetrate the mind of the other characters and can only

45

speculate together with Miss Mijares on their motives, especially that of the carpenter to whom

she is attracted (see Appendix G, p. 231, for detailed answers on Gender and Reading).

Analysis at Word Level

Several lexical items are used in the story to describe women and men in the story (see

Appendix L, p. 353, for a table of terms describing women and men in the stories). For one, man

is described in terms of facts about him such as his physical appearance, his occupation and

educational attainment, his civil and social status, his family background, and his personality.

The carpenter is described in the following excerpts:

A1.1: HE WENT to where Miss Mijares sat, a tall big man, walking with an economy

of movement, graceful and light, a man who knew his body and used it well.

A14.1: He was a highschool graduate.

A14.2: He was also a carpenter.

A15.1: He was not starved, like the rest.

A15.2: His clothes, though old, were pressed and she could see the cuffs of his shirt

buttoned and wrapped about bug, strong wrists.

A17.2: But for a jobseeker, Miss Mijares thought, he talked too much and without call.

A17.3: He was bursting all over with an obtruding insolence that at once disarmed and

annoyed her.

A26.1: “Yes, but you spoke for me,” he said, his big body heaving before her.

A43.1: “I am not married to his mother,” he said, grinning stupidly, and for the first time

she noticed his two front teeth were set widely apart.

A43.2: A flush had climbed to his face, suffusing it, and two large throbbing veins

crawled along his temples.

It is important to note that the story begins with a description of the carpenter. In the

excerpts cited above, the narrator seems to put emphasis and attention on the object of affection

of Miss Mijares. The narrator’s first description of the carpenter is his physical appearance and

how he carries himself, as seen in A1 (“tall,” “big man,” “economy of movement,” “graceful,”

and “light”). His attire is also praised in A15.2 (“pressed”) and his wrists are described as “bug”

and “strong.” His educational status and occupation are also revealed in A14.-A14.2

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(“highschool graduate” and “carpenter”). In A43.1, the male character is also shown to have

some physical imperfections, particularly his “two front teeth.” It is also worth noting that this

imperfection is only revealed to Miss Mijares later on in the story when she already finds herself

being attracted to him. His body is also described in different instances (“big body,” “face,”

“veins,” and “temples”). Also, the carpenter is described as a man who “talked too much”

(A17.2). Talking too much is presumably not a typical and acceptable trait of a man but the

character of the carpenter seems to defy this. However, this trait can also be viewed as a

manifestation of the carpenter’s air of confidence and aggressiveness in asserting his job. This

turns out to be what actually attracts, and, as the description says, “disarmed” (A17.3) Miss

Mijares.

The woman’s description is much more detailed in terms of physical appearance than that

of the male. This seems to emphasize that all of these descriptions manifest her current age and

how she deals with it. There are several descriptions regarding her built, body parts, how she

dresses, as well as those concerning her likes and the way she speaks. These descriptions also

point towards the fact that Miss Mijares is not that physically attractive. While Miss Mijares’

background is not expounded the way that the carpenter’s background is, pieces of information

about her past experiences are occasionally revealed in the text. Miss Mijares is described in the

following ways:

A2.3: She spoke now peremptorily, with an abruptness she knew annoyed the people

about her.

A4.1: Where she sat alone at one of the cafeteria tables, Miss Mijares did not look 34.

A4.2: She was light, almost bony, but she had learned early how to dress herself to

achieve an illusion of hips and bosom.

A4.3: She liked poufs and shirrings and little girlish pastel colors.

A4.2: …but she had learned early how to dress herself to achieve an illusion of hips and

bosom.

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A4.4: On her bodice, astride or lengthwise, there sat an inevitable row of thick

camouflaging ruffles that made her look almost as though she had a bosom, if she

bent her shoulder slightly and inconspicuously drew her neckline open to puff

some air into her bodice.

A5.1: Her brow was smooth and clear but she was no beauty.

A25.1: …it seemed the sun put forth cruel fingers to search out the signs of age on her

thin, pinched face.

A25.2: The crow’s feet showed unmistakably beneath her eyes and smiled widely to

cover them up and squinting a little, said, “Only a half-peso—Ato would have

given it to you eventually.”

A27.2: “I’d do it for anyone,” she said and turned away, angry and also ashamed, as

though he had found out suddenly that the ruffles on her dress rested on a flat

chest.

The narrator mentions that “Miss Mijares did not look 34” (A4.1) since she is “light”,

“bony”, and “liked girlish pastel colors” (A4.3). There is an assumption that a usual thirty-four

year old woman is supposed to look heavy, be bigger in size, and does not suit pastel colored

clothes. Pastel colors are typically thought to suit only young females. Pastel colors are also

associated with the adjective “girlish” (A4.3) to suggest that these colors connote youth.

Aside from these, there is a particular instance in the text where Miss Mijares is described

to have “unbruised lips” (A6.4), which means she has never been kissed by a man. It is

interesting to note that the adjective “unbruised” is used to indicate this. Its root word “bruise”

usually has a negative connotation. However, in this description, it appears as if Miss Mijares’s

lips need to be “bruised” by a male.

In terms of naming of the characters, "Miss Mijares" is addressed as such 15 times in the

story (see Appendix H, p. 240, for a detailed analysis) to emphasize professional distance

between her and the workers she has recruited. The carpenter to whom she is attracted is not

named in the text and there is no instance showing that she calls him by a specific name. This

may give an impression that it is not necessary to name the carpenter to give more regard and

attention to the character of Miss Mijares. The foreman of the carpenter is simply referred to by

48

his nickname, "Ato" (A21.1), also to indicate that he is subordinate to Miss Mijares. However,

the foreman still shows authority over Miss Mijares when it comes to his control over the pay of

his carpenters and Miss Mijares has to appeal to the foreman to raise the carpenter’s pay from

three to four pesos.

In terms of metaphors or figurative language used in the text, there are some descriptions

of certain objects that are used indirectly to be likened to the main characters themselves. For

one, the carpenter carries and fixes a broken paperweight which belongs to Miss Mijares. The

description is as follows:

A11.1: In his hands, he held her paperweight, an old gift from long ago, a heavy, wooden

block on which stood, as though poised for flight, an undistinguished, badly done

bird.

A12.2: He had turned in and with a penknife tightened the screws and dusted it. In this

man’s hands, cupped like that, it looked suddenly like a dove.

At the end of the story, the reader is compelled to think that the wooden bird here also

referred to Miss Mijares because, similar to the bird, she herself looks and feels old and worn

out. The carpenter’s gesture of repairing this object mirrors how he also takes the role of

rehabilitating the life of Miss Mijares and finally saving her from her loneliness and isolation.

This seems to show that the woman draws happiness from the man and that she does not feel

complete without a male partner in life.

Analysis at Phrase/Sentence Level

Many phrases and sentences in the story appear to have interesting characteristics (see

Appendix I, p. 255, for a detailed analysis of the stories at phrase/sentence level). For one, these

constructions expose the thought, emotions, and struggles of Miss Mijares. The narration visibly

49

works solely in the interests of the lead woman character and not of the male character, as can be

seen in the following:

A2.1: As she walked to the cafeteria, Miss Mijares thought how she could easily have

said, Please wait for me, or Will you wait for me?

A6.1: And yet Miss Mijares did think of love.

A6.2: Secret, short-lived thoughts flitted through her mind—in the jeepneys she

took to work when a man pressed down beside her and through her dress she felt

the curve of his thigh; when she held a baby in her arms, a married friend’s baby

or relative’s, holding in her hands a tiny, pulsing body, what thoughts she did not

think, her eyes straying against her will to the bedroom door and then to her

friend’s laughing, talking face, to think; how did it look now, spread upon a

pillow, unmasked of the little wayward coquetries, how went the lines about the

mouth and beneath the eyes (did they close, did they open?) in the one final, fatal

coquetry of all?

A8.4: In the end, she had died—her toothless, thin-haired, flabby-fleshed mother—and

Miss Mijares had pushed against the bed in grief and also in gratitude.

A8.6: In the room of her unburied undead, she had held up hands to the light, noting the

thick, durable fingers, thinking in a mixture of shame and bitterness and guilt

that they had never touched a man.

A11.6 “What happened? What happened?” they had asked her, beginning to laugh, and

she had said, caught between amusement and sharp despair, “Someone shot it!”

and she had laughed and laughed till faces turned and eyebrows rose and she

told herself, whoa, get a hold, a hold, a hold!

A17.2: But for a jobseeker, Miss Mijares thought, he talked too much and without call.

A27.1: She looked at him sharply, feeling the malice in his voice.

A30.2: Through it all, she sat tightly, feeling oddly that she had dreamed of this, that

some night not very long ago, she had taken a ride in her sleep and lost her way.

A59.1: In her secret heart, Miss Mijares’ young dreams fluttered faintly to life,

seeming monstrous in the rain, near this man—seeming monstrous but sweet and

overwhelming.

A59.2: I must get away, she thought wildly, but he had moved and brushed against her,

and where his touch had fallen, her flesh leaped, and she recalled how his hands

had looked that first day, lain tenderly on the edge of her desk and about the

wooden bird (that had looked like a moving, shining dove) and she turned to him;

with her ruffles wet and wilted, in the dark she turned to him.

Since these phrases and sentences expose the thoughts and emotions of Miss Mijares,

they create an emotive tone or quality of the narrative. This leads to an observation that the style

of the text appears to lean towards feminine writing (see Appendix G for answers to Sara Mills’

questions on feminine writing).

50

Similarly, there appear several instances of spontaneous descriptions of scenes that are

accretive. Accretive here is used to describe constructions that are filled with many embedments

or intervening clauses that make the narration digress from the main construction and delve into

further details. This seems to display that the narrator’s thoughts are flowing freely and without

restraint. The presence of these lengthy constructions all throughout the text leads to an

observation that the style of the text is feminine. Here are those instances (those in bold letters

are the main constructions):

A1.5: “I shall be coming back quickly,” she said, speaking distinctly in a dialect (you

were never sure about these people on their first visit, if they could speak English,

or even write at all, the poor were always proud and to use the dialect with them

was an act of charity), “you will wait for me.”

A3.1: When she talked with the jobless across her desk, asking them the damning

questions that completed their humiliation, watching pale tongues run over dry

lips, dirt-crusted handkerchiefs flutter in trembling hands, she was filled with an

impatience she could not understand.

A3.2: Sign here, she had said a thousand times, pushing the familiar form across, her

finger held to a line, feeling the impatience grow at sight of the man or woman

tracing a wavering “x” or laying the impress of a thumb.

A5.2: She teetered precariously on the borderline to which belonged countless others

whom you found, if they were not working at some job, in the kitchen of some

unmarried sister’s house, shushing a brood of devilish little nephews.

A11.6: “What happened? What happened?” they had asked her, beginning to laugh,

and she had said, caught between amusement and sharp despair, “Someone shot

it!” and she had laughed and laughed till faces turned and eyebrows rose and she

told herself, whoa, get a hold, a hold, a hold!

A29.1: Miss Mijares was quite sure she had boarded the right jeepney but the driver,

hoping to beat traffic, had detoured down a side alley, and then seeing he was low

in gas, he took still another shortcut to a filling station.

A32.2: The driver stopped at a corner that looked like a little known part of the

boulevard she passed each day and she alighted and stood on a street island, the

passing headlights playing on her, a tired, shaken woman, the ruffles on her shirt

crumpled, the hemline of her skirt awry.

A59.2: I must get away, she thought wildly, but he had moved and brushed against her,

and where his touch had fallen, her flesh leaped, and she recalled how his hands

had looked that first day, lain tenderly on the edge of her desk and about the

wooden bird (that had looked like a moving, shining dove) and she turned to him;

with her ruffles wet and wilted, in the dark she turned to him.

51

Occasionally, these spontaneous and loose constructions also happen to be very poetic-

sounding. They can be seen in the following passages:

A6.2: Secret, short-lived thoughts flitted through her mind—in the jeepneys she

took to work when a man pressed down beside her and through her dress she felt

the curve of his thigh; when she held a baby in her arms, a married friend’s baby

or relative’s, holding in her hands a tiny, pulsing body, what thoughts she did not

think, her eyes straying against her will to the bedroom door and then to her

friend’s laughing, talking face, to think; how did it look now, spread upon a

pillow, unmasked of the little wayward coquetries, how went the lines about the

mouth and beneath the eyes (did they close, did they open?) in the one final, fatal

coquetry of all?

A6.4: And in the movies, ah the movies, to sink into a seat as into an embrace, in the

darkness with a hundred shadowy figures about her and high on the screen, a man

kissing a woman’s mouth while her own fingers stole unconsciously to her

unbruised lips.

A8.1: She had gone through all these with singular patience, for it had seemed to her

that Love stood behind her, biding her time, a quiet hand upon her shoulder (I

wait. Do not despair)so that if she wished she had but to turn from her mother’s

bed to see the man and all her timid, pure dreams would burst into glory.

Notice that the description in A6.4 does not seem to contain a main construction but only

shows a free-flowing display of thoughts that reveal the fantasies and frustrations of Miss

Mijares on love. Again, this description has a poetic tone to it.

Given these lengthy passages, the text appears to be written without strictly following

prescriptive grammar. Some constructions begin with the connectives or transitional devices,

“But” and “And”, which can be found in the following (see Appendix K, p. 348, for detailed

answers to Sara Mills’ questions on connectives and clauses):

A2.2: But years of working for the placement section had dulled the edges of her instinct

for courtesy.

A8.5: But neither Love nor glory stood behind her, only the empty shadows, and nine

years gone, nine years.

A17.2: But for a jobseeker, Miss Mijares thought, he talked too much and without call.

A32.1: But that evening, she was lost only for a while.

A6.1: And yet Miss Mijares did think of love.

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A6.4: And in the movies, ah the movies, to sink into a seat as into an embrace, in the

darkness with a hundred shadowy figures about her and high on the screen, a man

kissing a woman’s mouth while her own fingers stole unconsciously to her

unbruised lips.

A22.2: And she looked across several shirted backs to where he stooped, planing what

was to become the side of a bookcase.

Another important observation concerning phrases and sentences has to do with the

transitivity processes operating in the text. As observed, Miss Mijares is the character who acts

more frequently in the text and the carpenter only appears to respond or react to her actions most

of the time, except when he voluntarily fixes the broken paperweight on her desk. Since the

narrator is more concerned about the point of view of Miss Mijares, she is the one who is

followed in the story. This can be seen in Table 2 containing a frequency count of transitivity

processes as performed by women and men (see Appendix M, p. 355, for a complete list of

transitivity processes):

Table 2

Frequency count of Transitivity Processes in “The Virgin”

In almost all of the processes, the woman is more active and has higher frequency of

performance. Women perform more material intention (43) than males do (25). This may be due

PROCESSES MALE ACTOR FEMALE ACTOR TOTAL

material intention 25 43 68

material supervention 1 4 5

mental 19 36 55

relational 7 9 16

material event -- -- --

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to the observation that the narration centers on the actions of Miss Mijares than on the other

characters of the story. There is always reference to how the woman character performs actions

in different situations, resulting in many material action processes. Also, there are more material

supervention (4), mental (36), and relational (9) processes performed by women than by men,

showing how the woman is really the focus of the text. Most importantly, there is an abundance

of mental processes which can be seen in those constructions whose actor is a woman. This leads

to an interesting finding that the text indeed highlights the thoughts, emotions, and experiences

of Miss Mijares. There is only one mental process found in those whose actors are males. This

finding verifies the previous study by Lacandola (2003) that Kerima Polotan-Tuvera’s women

characters “successfully illustrated that women are ‘thinking people’ and that articulation of

thoughts is not an enormous difficulty for them” (p. 63).

Analysis at Discourse Level

In terms of characterization, there are several observations in the way that women and

men are described differently in the text. The characters of the story—Miss Mijares, Ato, the job

applicants, and the unnamed carpenter to whom she is attracted, reflect the types of people who

are commonly seen in Filipino society. The text appears to contain stereotypical gender

information about males and females (see Appendix J, p. 281, for answers to Sara Mills’

questionnaire on characterization under Gender and Discourse).

The description of the carpenter represents a male who is in control of himself, as shown

in the following:

A1.1: HE WENT to where Miss Mijares sat, a tall big man, walking with an economy

of movement, graceful and light, a man who knew his body and used it well.

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A confident, tall, big and physically fit man is stereotyped as someone who would easily

attract a woman (also see Appendix F, p. 201, for observations on stereotypes). It is usually

assumed that a man who is tall and big is stronger and more appealing than a man who is short

and small. The nature of his job as a carpenter is also stereotypically masculine since this blue-

collared, ‘dirty’ kind of work would usually be associated with men and not with women.

Moreover, his character is also seen to be flirtatious with Miss Mijares to a certain degree, as can

be seen in the following excerpt:

A24.1: “Ato says I have you to thank,” he said, stopping Miss Mijares along a

pathway in the compound.

A26.1: “Yes, but you spoke for me,” he said, his big body heaving before her.

A26.2: “Thank you, though I don’t need it as badly as the rest, for to look at me, you

would know I have no wife—yet.”

In the passages shown above, the carpenter seems to treat Miss Mijares with a degree of

malice and perhaps this also brings the reader to a suspicion that he might have deliberately

enticed Miss Mijares in a subtle way not only so he can have the job but also so he can be

involved with her even though she is not that physically attractive and young enough for him.

This seems to show how the man is stereotyped to be very sexual and “weak” when it comes to

women under any circumstance.

The male figure in the story reminds the reader of a certain type of a Filipino man who

belongs to the working class. In the story, the carpenter used to have a son by a woman he did

not marry. This mirrors real situations in the Philippine setting as they do happen to men who

belong to the working class and have blue-collar jobs.

Aside from the carpenter, the narrator also briefly describes the personality of the jeepney

driver in the story. Here, the driver, who is typically a male, is portrayed as someone who is

amiable and talkative when not confronted with difficulties in driving. Again, the male, through

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the jeepney driver, is shown to be talkative but friendly like the carpenter. This is shown in the

following excerpt:

A30.1: The houses were low and dark, the people shadowy, and even the driver, who

earlier had been an amiable, talkative fellow, now loomed like a sinister

stranger over the wheel.

While the character of Miss Mijares is responsible for the spontaneous descriptions which

shows her thoughts and emotions and gave the narrations an emotive quality, the carpenter, on

the other hand, is not seen to be emotional even as he reports that his son has just died. This can

be considered a stereotypically masculine trait that inhibits males to show their emotions in any

situation. There is no passage revealing the emotions of the carpenter on the death of his own

son. This mirrors the stereotype that males are supposed to be more rational than emotional

because they are supposed to have full control over their emotions. This can be related also to the

popular stereotype, “boys don’t cry.”

Another stereotype shown is the male’s confident personality. In the story, the carpenter

is seen to be composed, cool, and confident. This is shown from when Miss Mijares first

encounters him as an applicant to the subsequent instances when they engage in long

conversations. The following shows that the carpenter has a stereotypically masculine

personality because of his confidence and coolness.

A16.2: Seated, he towered over her.

A16.3: “I’m not starving yet,” he said with a quick smile.

A16.4: “I still got some money from the last job, but my team broke up after that and

you don’t get too many jobs if you’re working alone.

A16.5: You know carpentering,” he continued, “you can’t finish a job quickly enough

if you got to do the planning and sawing and nailing all by your lone self.

You got to be on a team.”

A17.2: But for a jobseeker, Miss Mijares thought, he talked too much and without

call.

A17.3: He was bursting all over with an obtruding insolence that at once disarmed

and annoyed her.

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A24.1: “Ato says I have you to thank,” he said, stopping Miss Mijares along a

pathway in the compound.

A26.1: “Yes, but you spoke for me,” he said, his big body heaving before her.

A26.2: “Thank you, though I don’t need it as badly as the rest, for to look at me, you

would know I have no wife—yet.”

The character of the carpenter is also shown to be gentle, kind, and respectful to Miss

Mijares. This solicitious attitude of the carpenter implies that the woman is helpless. Here are the

following passages indicating that the carpenter possesses such characteristics:

A11.1: In his hands, he held her paperweight, an old gift from long ago, a heavy,

wooden block on which stood, as though poised for flight, an undistinguished,

badly done bird.

A12.1: He had turned in and with a penknife tightened the screws and dusted it.

A24.1: “Ato says I have you to thank,” he said, stopping Miss Mijares along a pathway

in the compound.

A34.1: “I went to the province, ma’am,” he said, on his return.

A36.1: “It was an emergency, ma’am,” he said.

A39.1: “No, ma’am,” he said, gesturing.

A41.1: “No, ma’am.”

A56.3: “Ma’am,” the man’s voice sounded at her shoulders, “I’m sorry if you thought

I lied.”

The carpenter voluntarily fixes the paperweight which stands on the table of Miss Mijares

(A12.1), thanks her when she manages to raise his pay through his foreman (A23.6), calls her

“Ma’am” several times (A34.1, A36.1, A39.1, A41.1), and says sorry because he did not inform

her earlier on that he had a son (A56.3).

Miss Mijares’ character represents a certain kind of Filipino female stereotype. She

happens to be unmarried despite her ripe age, carries the responsibility of taking care of her sick

mother as well as providing for her niece’s educational needs. Also, during such time when

women were still confined to certain jobs unlike in the present age, there was a general

stereotype that women were more interested in office work than in field work or in physically

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tedious or “dirty” jobs. Given this particular impression, it would then be unusual for the

character of Miss Mijares to have the job of, for instance, a carpenter.

As has been discussed in the analysis on phrases and sentences, the character of Miss

Mijares appears to be emotional, particularly impatient and angry, as can be seen in the

following instances:

A2.2: But years of working for the placement section had dulled the edges of her

instinct for courtesy.

A2.3: She spoke now peremptorily, with an abruptness she knew annoyed the people

about her.

A3.1: When she talked with the jobless across her desk, asking them the damning

questions that completed their humiliation, watching pale tongues run over dry

lips, dirt-crusted handkerchiefs flutter in trembling hands, she was filled with an

impatience she could not understand.

A3.2: Sign here, she had said a thousand times, pushing the familiar form across, her

finger held to a line, feeling the impatience grow at sight of the man or woman

tracing a wavering “x” or laying the impress of a thumb.

A38.1: A slow bitter anger began to form inside her.

A45.1: “You should have told us everything,” she said and she put forth hands to

restrain her anger but it slipped away and she stood shaking despite herself.

A3.1: When she talked with the jobless across her desk, asking them the damning

questions that completed their humiliation, watching pale tongues run over dry

lips, dirt-crusted handkerchiefs flutter in trembling hands, she was filled with an

impatience she could not understand.

A27.2: “I’d do it for anyone,” she said and turned away, angry and also ashamed, as

though he had found out suddenly that the ruffles on her dress rested on a flat

chest.

This growing impatience in Miss Mijares seems to be highly circumstantial, as if she is

merely a victim of her own destiny. More than that, she is also easily prone to this since, at her

ripe age, she lacks a partner in life who can provide inspiration and a sense of balance in her life.

As a result, Miss Mijares’ impatience grows from a feeling of emptiness, which is later on

revealed in the story. She is hungry for love and romance because her familial responsibilities

have deprived her of these. In addition, as Miss Mijares is enduring the monotony of her office

work, she has easily grown impatient with the people around her.

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When Miss Mijares meets the carpenter to whom she is eventually attracted, she suddenly

finds herself distracted, emotionally weak, more vulnerable. She goes out of her way to do things

for him. Here, the woman is seen as someone vulnerable to the man and it seems that Miss

Mijares draws some degree of fulfillment from the carpenter. Miss Mijares shows her personal

concern for and attraction towards the carpenter as she helps him get a raise by pleading to the

foreman, although the decision to give a raise is supposed to be the foreman’s discretion.

Paragraph A23 shows this instance:

How much was he going to get? Miss Mijares asked Ato on Wednesday. “Three,” the old

man said, chewing away on a cud. She looked at the list in her hands, quickly running a

pencil down. “But he’s filing a four-peso vacancy,” she said. “Come now,” surprised

that she should wheedle so, “give him the extra peso.” “Only a half,” the stubborn

foreman shook his head, “three-fifty.”

Miss Mijares’ desire for the man is further revealed when, instead of sympathizing with

the carpenter because of his son’s sudden death, she becomes angry with the fact that he has a

son. Upon learning this, she immediately assumes that he is already married and that he has lied

to her about it. The following shows how intensely Miss Mijares reacts to the carpenter’s week-

long absence:

A38.1: A slow bitter anger began to form inside her.

A38.2: “But you said you were not married!”

A45.1: “You should have told us everything,” she said and she put forth hands to

restrain her anger but it slipped away and she stood shaking despite herself.

A47.1: “Your lives are our business here,” she shouted.

There is also the general assumption within the text that a thirty four year-old woman is

ideally a married one and with children already. The following passages show this stereotypical

notion a woman’s ideal marrying age and Miss Mijares’ seemingly “pathetic” status as a single

woman:

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A6.1-A6.4: And yet Miss Mijares did think of love. Secret, short-lived thoughts

flitted through her mind—in the jeepneys she took to work when a man

pressed down beside her and through her dress she felt the curve of his

thigh; when she held a baby in her arms, a married friend’s baby or

relative’s, holding in her hands a tiny, pulsing body, what thoughts she did

not think, her eyes straying against her will to the bedroom door and then to

her friend’s laughing, talking face, to think; how did it look now, spread upon

a pillow, unmasked of the little wayward coquetries, how went the lines

about the mouth and beneath the eyes (did they close, did they open?) in the

one final, fatal coquetry of all? To finally, miserably bury her face in the

baby’s hair. And in the movies, ah the movies, to sink into a seat as into an

embrace, in the darkness with a hundred shadowy figures about her and high

on the screen, a man kissing a woman’s mouth while her own fingers stole

unconsciously to her unbruised lips.

A8.6: In the room of her unburied undead, she had held up hands to the light, noting the

thick, durable fingers, thinking in a mixture of shame and bitterness and guilt

that they had never touched a man.

Overall, there are contrasts found in the characterization of woman and men in the story

which draw on gender stereotypes. For one, the man in the story turns out to be more direct and

up front with the woman. Despite Miss Mijares’ authority over the carpenter, he is still seen to be

more aggressive towards Miss Mijares, than she is to him. Also, the carpenter is shown to be

calm and not emotional, even as he reports that his son had just died. Miss Mijares, on the other

hand, is found being impatient with the applicants, as well as emotional when she flares up in her

conversation with the carpenter after his week-long absence. Another observation is that the

carpenter is described to be physically appealing because of his body built, the way he carries

himself, and his confidence. Miss Mijares’ descriptions show that she is not physically attractive,

but is, nonetheless, pursued in the end by the carpenter.

The kind of relationship represented in the text is that of a recruiter-job applicant, which

is civil and supposedly distant. The female character represented is a thirty-four year old

unmarried woman who has been working in a placement office for many years already. There are

also power hierarchies evident in the text. As a placement officer, Miss Mijares naturally has the

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highest authority among the characters. Office work is typically viewed as superior to carpentry,

which is a blue-collar and contractual job. These power hierarchies may be related to class since

the carpenter and Miss Mijares belong to different social statuses and line of work. However,

although they maintain a professional relationship as recruiter and worker, there are personal

undertones within their conversations since they are also attracted towards each other. This can

be seen in the following passages:

A16.3: “I’m not starving yet,” he said with a quick smile.

A24.1: “Ato says I have you to thank,” he said, stopping Miss Mijares along a pathway

in the compound.

A26.2: “Thank you, though I don’t need it as badly as the rest, for to look at me, you

would know I have no wife—yet.”

A38.2: “But you said you were not married!”

A56.3: “Ma’am,” the man’s voice sounded at her shoulders, “I’m sorry if you thought I

lied.”

In A16.3, the carpenter candidly tells Miss Mijares that he does not need a high pay that

badly. In A24.1, Miss Mijares again feels awkward and is caught off guard at the carpenter’s

bold remark regarding what she has done to have his pay raised, even without his request.

Similarly, the carpenter tries to flirt with Miss Mijares when he tries to let her know in A26.2

that he is still single and does not badly need to be paid much like the other recruits. Miss

Mijares keeps this in mind while, at the same time, she becomes more and more attracted to him.

Later on, she violently reacts to the carpenter’s revelation that he had a son because it made her

assume that he has a wife and he has lied to her about it (A38.2). In the last part of the story, the

carpenter appears to show more personal concern for her by apologizing for confusing her about

his marital status (A56.3).

It is important to note that the text assumes that the reader already knows that the English

language in the Philippines is used as a formal language in the workplace and that it holds a

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certain level of prestige and authority. The following is an instance where Miss Mijares speaks in

English to the carpenter to create formal and professional distance upon noticing that he “talked

too much” (A17.2):

A18.2: “Since you are not starving yet,” she said, speaking in English now, wanting to

put him in his place, “you will not mind working in our woodcraft section, three

times a week at two-fifty to four a day, depending on your skill and the

foreman’s discretion, for two or three months, after which there might be a call

from outside we may hold for you.”

In terms of fragmentation, both the bodies of male and female characters are described as

individual parts and as a whole. In the following, the body of Miss Mijares is described as a

whole in terms of her weight and size:

A4.2: She was light, almost bony…

She is also described in fragmented parts in the following:

A4.2: …but she had learned early how to dress herself to achieve an illusion of hips

and bosom.

A4.4: On her bodice, astride or lengthwise, there sat an inevitable row of thick

camouflaging ruffles that made her look almost as though she had a bosom, if she

bent her shoulder slightly and inconspicuously drew her neckline open to puff

some air into her bodice.

A5.1: Her brow was smooth and clear but she was no beauty.

The carpenter is described as a whole in the following:

A1.1: HE WENT to where Miss Mijares sat, a tall big man, walking with an economy

of movement, graceful and light, a man who knew his body and used it well.

A26.1: “Yes, but you spoke for me,” he said, his big body heaving before her.

On the other hand, he was also described in terms of body parts:

A43.1: …she noticed his two front teeth were set widely apart.

A43.2: A flush had climbed to his face, suffusing it, and two large throbbing veins

crawled along his temples.

These descriptions bring an observation that the bodies of both Miss Mijares and the

carpenter are described as a whole in terms of size (big body: light, almost bony). Their bodies

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are also fragmented although the description of Miss Mijares’ body parts seems to carry sexual

connotations since they are described according to how attractive or appealing they would be to

the opposite sex (hips, bosom, neckline, brow). On the other hand, several descriptions of the

body parts (big body, throbbing veins, temples, tall) of the carpenter may also be considered

typically attractive and appealing to a woman.

Text 2: “The Trap”

The Story

At the age of fourteen, Elisa moves to Cabuyao from Tayug with her family. She prefers

that they reach Cabuyao while there is still daylight so that someone may see them arrive. As

they leave Tayug, she finds it difficult to leave and say goodbye to Salud, her best friend. Elisa,

then, flashes back to the past year where she confided to Salud her strange feelings and anxieties

as she was struggling through adolescence. The eighteen-year old Salud laughed at Elisa’s

paranoia over her breasts becoming bigger. Salud, however, assured her that it is perfectly

normal and that she herself went through this stage. Elisa also recalls now how she had

witnessed Salud blossoming into a young woman. One morning, Elisa follows Salud and asks for

help and comfort from her. Elisa recalls that past September when she came home from school

one Monday with her dress stained with blood. She expresses that she felt it was as though she

was helplessly standing on the brink of something, and in fact, dreamed of herself falling from a

cliff.

From their new residence, Elisa writes to Salud and describes their new house. She

especially mentions her favorite part of the house, a bamboo bridge connecting their outhouse

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toilet to their kitchen. She tells her that there is a beautiful view of the moon from the bridge.

Salud writes back and says she believes Elisa. Salud also teases her not to jump off the bridge.

During her first day at her new school, Elisa’s father accompanies her to the principal and

Elisa finds the principal too uptight and indifferent. Miss Ramos is surprised to know Elisa’s age,

as though it does not suit her physical appearance. Elisa feels uncomfortable about her body and

as if she is getting uglier each day. Miss Ramos grabs her by the hand rather unsympathetically

and takes her to her new teacher, Mr. Gabriel. Elisa writes to Salud about her serious dislike for

Miss Ramos and about an unpleasant smell she gives off. Salud cautions Elisa to stop nurturing

her prejudices against people or else she herself will also “smell.” Elisa replies that she

particularly likes Mr. Gabriel and that she finds him a good man.

Elisa describes that Mr. Gabriel is a small, thin and stooped man but has laughing eyes

and a personality which exudes tenderness and coolness, even while dealing with the demands of

the principal. One day, while weeding the grounds, Elisa accidentally hits her leg with a scythe.

Miss Ramos sees the incident but does nothing to assist her. Mr. Gabriel comes to her rescue,

takes her to the clinic and carefully treats her wound. By the time they leave the clinic, the yard

is already empty. As he hurries outside, his shoes become wet in the soil and he looks rather

ghastly in his brown suit. Elisa follows him as he walks home. They part ways upon reaching the

fork of the road, and Mr. Gabriel raises his hand, signalling a goodbye.

In class, Mr. Gabriel reads aloud one of Elisa’s writing themes and Elisa becomes

attracted to his voice, even secretly wishing she could speak to him alone. After reading Elisa’s

work, she silently confirms that she has fallen for him. Elisa does not let Salud know about her

admiration for Mr. Gabriel, knowing Salud would disapprove. Elisa becomes more conscious of

Mr. Gabriel in class as he stands beside her during another theme-writing activity and she asks to

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be excused. She spends time alone beneath the school building and goes to the teachers’ room

after class and feels the need to stay there to wait for Mr. Gabriel. During one instance, Mr.

Gabriel finds Elisa beneath the building while looking for his other students. He calls out to her

and she emerges near the hedges where he is standing. Elisa fails to answer him after he asks if

she is trying to hide. They then proceed to the yard to do the usual gardening assignments.

One day, Elisa falls sick and stays in bed for the next several days. She receives a note

from her schoolmate, Leonor, expressing concern for her and telling her to go back to school

with them soon. Leonor also asks Elisa what is wrong. Elisa foolishly answers this question by

writing that she loves Mr. Gabriel. Leonor quickly spreads this news in school, even catching the

attention of Miss Ramos. Upon Elisa’s return, the principal summons her and declares her

suspension. She warns Elisa that this revelation may affect Mr. Gabriel’s job. Elisa then finds a

scribbling on the blackboard which says “Elisa Gabriel.” Out of humiliation, she picks up her

things and leaves. She takes a long walk back home but as soon as she enters the porch of their

house, she suddenly decides to run back to school to find Mr. Gabriel. She surprises him in his

room while he is correcting papers. Elisa accidentally falls on her knees and, at that instant, tells

Mr. Gabriel she loves him. Mr. Gabriel is shocked and becomes motionless until Elisa stands up

and bursts into tears. He then takes her to the door and tells her to run home.

Analysis

“The Trap” is a text which gives more importance to the woman’s voice. It reveals the

inner conflicts of the lead character, Elisa, who is also the narrator of the story (see Appendix B,

p. 167, for the actual text). Since the narration is done from the first person point of view, it

highlights the thoughts of young Elisa when she was still awkwardly transitioning from a child

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into an adolescent ten years earlier. However, the narrator herself is only describing her past and

does not necessarily agree with opinions she had as a young adolescent. Elisa recalls how

emotionally unstable she was during this crucial period of her young life when she was separated

from her best friend when her family transferred to another province. This characteristic of the

text presents itself to be working in the interests of the female.

Analysis at Word Level

For the men, there is little physical description given in the text. Although the men in the

story include Elisa’s father, Mr. Gabriel, and the schoolmates of Elisa, the only man observed

and described in more detail is Elisa’s object of affection. Mr. Gabriel is described as follows:

B12.3: He is a good man.

B13.1: Mr. Gabriel was small and thin and stooped, with a way about him that made

him seem even smaller.

B13.2: His eyes laughed even when his mouth did not, and when that happened, the

tenderness spilled down the cheeks to his quiet lips.

B13.3: When Miss Ramos blazed into his room, demanding forms and reports and C-

156’s, Mr. Gabriel met the storm with soothing coolness, as though he dealt with

just another wayward student.

B15.6: It was a brown suit he wore.

B15.17: Perhaps, it was Mr. Gabriel’s voice: it was soft and low, like a woman’s, and I

kept thinking: I wish I could talk to him alone.

B25.1: I never found out if he went to my father about this, or even told Miss Ramos, but

I can see myself in the dusk of that room years ago, in that absurd posture, alone

with the strange, gentle man to whom I had lost my young heart.

As for the main woman character, Elisa does not describe her physical characteristics in

detail since she is the narrator. However, we can only gather a few glimpses of her physical

characteristics in the words used to describe her. Instances where she is described physically are

the following:

B4.4: She had laughed and looked pointedly at my breasts and said, “They’re growing,

like mine, Elisa.”

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B9.7: I had scrubbed myself that day and put on my best dress but at Miss Ramos’

remark, I felt my knees grow rough and dark, my breasts start to swell.

B9.9: My days were full of bodily pain and a mysterious sense of growing.

Elisa is described in terms of her growing breasts (which are mentioned twice), her knees

and her growing body. This is a typical description of a woman who is always described as

having a certain degree of sexual attractiveness and availability.

The character of Leonor, a classmate of Elisa, is also given a feminine characteristic. She

is said to possess a “girlish prescience” (B22.1) that Elisa indeed has romantic feelings for Mr.

Gabriel. The adjective “girlish” is chosen to describe the prediction of Leonor about Elisa’s

problem. This description seems to imply that girls (or women) have an inherent characteristic or

instinct of sensing emotions from people around them, especially among girls themselves,

precisely because Leonor is right about Elisa’s problem.

The text also partly defines womanhood or seems to show what it means to be a woman.

In B9.9, the state of being a woman is equated with the qualities of "grace" and "a manner of

self":

My days were full of bodily pain and a mysterious sense of growing; I move about

carefully, waiting for some bit of womanly knowledge to dawn on me, a grace, a

manner of self, but I fumbled as before and dropped things and was miserable before

people.

Here, it is shown that Elisa feels uneasy and unstable about the physical changes in her

body because as much as she is beginning to look like a young woman, she still behaves like a

child. She does not possess grace and does not have a manner of self. These traits qualify her as a

woman.

There is figurative language used in the story through certain terms in the text. One

metaphor used is in the form of a dream that repeatedly haunts Elisa. Here, the dream describes

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how Elisa is feeling as she notices the changes taking place in her body as well as in her own

emotions:

B5.3: I had dreams about this too, unhappy, frightened nights when my dreams took me

to an unknown precipice and I watched helplessly as my body dropped over the

edge.

Another metaphor reveals Elisa’s feeling of instability and her sense of imbalance since

she is now transitioning into a young lady. The “unknown precipice” is analogous to her newness

and familiarity to the state of womanhood. She herself is surprised with her own physical

changes and her growing affections towards the opposite sex. She “helplessly” faces the situation

feeling as if she is falling from a cliff.

Lastly, the voice of Mr. Gabriel is likened by Elisa to a woman’s voice, as in the

following instance:

B15.17: Perhaps, it was Mr. Gabriel’s voice: it was soft and low, like a woman’s, and I

kept thinking: I wish I could talk to him alone.

This metaphor implies that the voice of Mr. Gabriel is very soothing to Elisa since it is

most likely and is usual that a woman’s voice is “soft” and “low.” The irony is that the there is a

degree of contrast between a woman’s and a man’s voice since it is also not typical for a man to

be soft-spoken. This is one of the characteristics of Mr. Gabriel that attracts Elisa.

Analysis at Phrase/Sentence Level

The author presents the narration with a female persona’s honest confession of her

innermost thoughts towards a reading audience, however embarrassing they seem to be. This

emotive quality of Elisa can be seen in the following passages (those in block letters are what are

referred to by the explanations):

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B2.1: That was important to me.

B3.3: I wanted the pain of missing Salud to start quickly.

B10.1: Miss Ramos is a witch, I wrote Salud.

B16.2: But he smiled faintly and looked away, and then as gently as that, between one

heartbeat and another, I fell in love with him.

B20.10: I felt that if I began to explain I would say more than I should, I would in an

onrush of hope tell him everything…

The above passages show that the text focuses on the emotions of the woman character.

There are no particular instances revealing the true feelings of the men in the story and the

narrator has to rely on her own perceptions of the other characters. Even Elisa’s object of

affection, Mr. Gabriel, avoids Elisa’s confession in the following:

B24.8: Mr. Gabriel. Sir, I love you.

Mr. Gabriel gives a very indirect response:

B25.5: Run home, Elisa…

Aside from this observation, there are also several features at the level of

phrases/sentences revealing that the text is feminine. There appears to be a frequent occurrence

of spontaneous and accretive constructions in the narrative. In sentences where the narrator

describes a place, an event, or when she expresses a thought or feeling, there appears a quality of

looseness. At times, the narrative takes the form of a spontaneous succession of descriptions of a

scene as seen in the following:

B1.4: We knew no one, of course—“We’ll make friends”, my father had said—and

expected no welcome, but having left Tayug with reluctance, I had urged my

father during the trip to drive faster so that we might arrive in Cabuyao early

enough for someone to see us drive in.

B4.8: I dogged her along the way along Calle Santa, round the corner to Del Pilar,

and catching up with her a few coconut trees from their steps, I said something that

made her pull up and look at me gravely.

B9.11: Miss Ramos stood up, took me by the hand, not companionably, not with palm

about my wrist, but with index finger and thumb, with clear distaste, and led me

thus, a sullen specimen, through the corridors of the school, and without bothering

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to knock, pushed me ahead, through a door marked Mr. Gabriel, and said, “Mr.

Gabriel, this is Elisa.”

B19.2: Outside, I crawled beneath the school building, where it was damp and I could

be alone, but as soon as class was over, I lingered by the door of the teachers’

room, compelled to stay by a new, frightening necessity.

B20.10: I felt that if I began to explain I would say more than I should, I would in an

onrush of hope tell him everything—Salud and my dreams and the sense of sin

that possessed me because I had begun, despite myself, to span with aching

arms the emptiness of my youthful bed at night.

B24.8: We frightened each other, I think, because his jaw dropped, and at the sight of

him, I missed a step and fell to my knees, and there on the floor, in that

grotesque, unintended curtsey, the words were wrung from me, “Mr. Gabriel.

Sir, I love you.”

B25.1: I never found out if he went to my father about this, or even told Miss Ramos,

but I can see myself in the dusk of that room years ago, in that absurd posture,

alone with the strange, gentle man to whom I had lost my young heart.

Occasionally, these constructions do not only sound spontaneous but also poetic. What

appears to be a straightforward narrative suddenly shifts into a poetic-sounding description. It is

as if the narrator is carried away by his or her own spontaneity of thought that she even changes

her tone of narration. This observation can be found in the following instances:

B9.9: My days were full of bodily pain and a mysterious sense of growing; I move

about carefully, waiting for some bit of womanly knowledge to dawn on me, a

grace, a manner of self, but I fumbled as before and dropped things and was

miserable before people.

B22.4: I had met the forlorn stranger in my dreams, face to face, no longer would she

go wandering tremulously on mountaintops, dying her lonely deaths, she was

where I sat in my sick clothes, writing the fateful words that accepted the

knowledge of womanhood.

Although these accretive constructions do not have the most frequent occurrence in the

text, the mere presence of these leads to an observation that the text is characteristic of female

writing style.

In addition, some constructions begin with “But,” and this observation shows that the

author chooses to use this word as a connective or a transitional device, as can be seen in the

following instances:

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B15.16: But it was no use, something was gone.

B16.2: But he smiled faintly and looked away, and then as gently as that, between one

heartbeat and another, I fell in love with him.

B24.4: But on the porch of our home, I had no sooner put my books down than I turned

around and ran back to school, taking the narrow dike this time.

The text also reveals that men perform acts differently from women. The difference is

seen in the transitivity choices found in the text. Table 3 shows a frequency count of transitivity

processes found in the text such as material intention, material supervention, mental, relational,

and material event (see Appendix M for a list of transitivity processes):

Table 3

Frequency count of Transitivity Processes in “The Trap”

The table above shows that in almost all transitivity processes, the women outnumber the

men. For material action intention, there are 68 instances for women actors while there are only

26 instances for men. The women characters, especially Elisa and Miss Ramos, appear to be

more materially active in the story than the men. There are also more material supervention

processes among women characters (14), whose actions seem to be done unintentionally. The

PROCESSES MALE ACTOR FEMALE ACTOR TOTAL

material intention 26 68 94

material supervention 0 14 14

mental 12 45 57

relational 5 6 11

material event -- -- --

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male characters do not perform material supervention processes (0). This shows that they only

perform actions when they have a clear will to do so.

Another interesting finding is that there is an abundance of mental processes whose

actors are women (45), while only the men exhibit such mental processes less with only 12. This

may reflect that the women characters are shown to be more introspective, expressing their

thoughts, feeling emotions, and conversational. This finding appears to confirm once again the

observation made by Lacandola (2003) in her transitivity thesis that Kerima Polotan-Tuvera’s

female characters “successfully illustrated that women are ‘thinking people’ and that articulation

of thoughts is not an enormous difficulty for them” (p. 63). Similarly, there are many instances

wherein Elisa appears to act in a manner which reveals her thoughts and actions as prompted by

her attraction towards Mr. Gabriel, as shown by the following:

I fell in love with him I fell to my knees I wondered

I found him I trotted after him I kept thinking

I followed him I sat still I stood

I wish I betrayed myself I stumbled

I lingered I had lost my young heart [my heart] beat

I missed a step my heart rose I burst into tears

I trembled

Another observation is that a metaphor in the form of a statement is used by Elisa to

describe her school principal. She ruthlessly utters this out of her disgust for the principal. This is

shown in the following:

B10.1: Miss Ramos is a witch, I wrote to Salud.

Elisa likens the principal to a witch not because the principal possesses magical powers

but because Elisa finds her harsh, scary, and uptight. Even Miss Ramos’ physical appearance,

particularly her false teeth, “clicked noisily when she spoke” (B9.4), and this also appears to

appal Elisa.

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Another metaphor is used to indirectly describe what Elisa is going through. It seems that

Elisa’s attraction towards her male teacher is an inescapable trap that is caused by her own

emerging transformation into female adulthood. The following passage shows this:

B25.4: The wind had picked up a mournful sound, like the far-off despairing wail of an

animal caught in some trap, and now it reached us both where we stood in the

deserted corridor of the school.

Analysis at Discourse Level

In terms of characterization, there is a difference in the way that women and men are

represented in the story. There is stereotypical gender information which can be gleaned from the

text within the context of a traditional Filipino patriarchal society. The male figures represented

in the story are the characters of Elisa’s father, the boys at her school, and her teacher, Mr.

Gabriel. The women characters are: Elisa, Salud, Elisa’s mother, Miss Ramos, and Leonor.

Mr. Gabriel, who is Elisa’s teacher and object of affection, is described as follows:

B12.3: He is a good man.

B13.1: Mr. Gabriel was small and thin and stooped, with a way about him that made

him seem even smaller.

B13.2: His eyes laughed even when his mouth did not, and when that happened, the

tenderness spilled down the cheeks to his quiet lips.

B13.3: When Miss Ramos blazed into his room, demanding forms and reports and C-

156’s, Mr. Gabriel met the storm with soothing coolness, as though he dealt with

just another wayward student.

B15.6: It was a brown suit he wore.

B15.8: It was loose and it had fitted him badly.

B15.17: Perhaps, it was Mr. Gabriel’s voice: it was soft and low, like a woman’s, and I

kept thinking: I wish I could talk to him alone.

B25.1: I never found out if he went to my father about this, or even told Miss Ramos, but

I can see myself in the dusk of that room years ago, in that absurd posture, alone

with the strange, gentle man to whom I had lost my young heart.

It can be said that the portrayal of the man as a love interest in the story depends on and

reflects the desires of the female narrator. The love interest of Elisa is not someone physically

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attractive (B13.1) but one who seems to be a tender and gentle person (B13.2, B15.17, B25.1). In

B12.3, Mr. Gabriel is evaluated on whether he is good or bad and Elisa finds him to be a good

man. The woman depicted here is clearly one who does not look for physical strengths or good

looks in a man but someone who is emotionally satisfying. This is the period in Elisa’s life

wherein she is in an unstable state and is only beginning to acquire an adult’s experience. Mr.

Gabriel is the immediate and accessible male to whom she begins feeling attracted. As a

neophyte teenager, she is fragile and vulnerable to the opposite sex, even if it is inappropriate

and even if her object of affection might not necessarily be physically appealing. Thus, Mr.

Gabriel is clearly not a stereotypically attractive male figure in terms of his physical appearance.

His physical attributes are not considered ideal since he is described to be small, thin, and

stooped (B13.1).

Mr. Gabriel’s masculinity is shown when he is described by Elisa as someone who does

not expressively show his emotions but only notices that:

B13.2: …his eyes laughed even when his mouth did not…

…the tenderness spilled down the cheeks to his quiet lips.

B15.3: …frown passed over his face…

His masculinity also shows when he engages in a chivalrous act of rescuing Elisa when

she meets an accident at school. It is worth noting that Mr. Gabriel is still capable of doing this in

spite of his smallness and thinness. He takes her to the clinic and attends to her wound, as shown

in the following:

B14.5: Mr. Gabriel took me to the clinic.

B14.12: Mr. Gabriel washed and bound it.

Also, he is described to be a very controlled and calm person in the following instance:

B13.3: Mr. Gabriel met the storm with soothing coolness, as though he dealt with just

another wayward student.

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On the other hand, Elisa’s father’s character fits very well into the stereotypical

description of a Filipino father who should be decisive, logical, and practical. The father is seen

as being firm in his decision to transfer to Tayug. Upon noticing that Elisa is beginning to be

emotional about her leaving her best friend, her father immediately interrupts and indirectly

reminds her that they should already go:

B6.5: I held her arms tightly, wanting to see her tears, but my father said, “All right,

all right,” and I let her go.

Here, Elisa’s father is in command and in control of the situation. Control over one’s

emotion can be seen here to be a strength of the man and may be considered a masculine trait.

Hence, Elisa’s father is depicted as the decision-maker and the head of the family, Even though

the reason for their migration into a new residence is not explained in the story, it still indicates

that the father is thinking logically for this decision to be made. It is highly reflective of the

typical patriarchal family in which the male has the upper hand.

Aside from Mr. Gabriel and Elisa’s father, the boys at Elisa’s school also appear to depict

a certain male stereotype in the following passage:

B20.2: He had gone to look for the boys who had disappeared as soon as the

gardening assignments were posted on the board.

The boys at Elisa’s school have shown a particular trait very typical of young male

students in school, at least in a Filipino society. As can be seen in B20.2, the boys are clearly

trying to escape from their gardening tasks, showing the stereotypical young male in school who

is naughty and sly, and is often the concern of elementary school teachers. It is typically assumed

that girls are more responsible and more behaved in school than boys are.

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Another important observation is that Elisa’s character, in the end, is self-deprecating.

She helplessly blames herself for falling in love with the wrong person at the wrong place and

time, as in the following:

B18.1: I betrayed myself in a hundred ways.

On the other hand, there are more women characters presented in the story, namely, Elisa,

her mother, Salud, Leonor, and Miss Ramos. Elisa’s character presents the female gender as

highly emotional and vulnerable especially since she is undergoing transition into becoming an

adolescent. Elisa’s way of narrating her story is rather intimate, as if she is addressing a

confidant other than her best friend, Salud, since she shows that Salud does not agree with

everything she says. Elisa shows her highly emotional character in the way she perceives and

feels about other characters in the story, such as, Salud, Mr. Gabriel, and Miss Ramos. The

following are instances revealing how she is taken over by her emotions in terms of her

relationships with these other characters:

Towards Salud

B3.3: I wanted the pain of missing Salud to start quickly.

B6.2: Some books I had given her, and tears, and a girlish promise I would

write faithfully.

Towards Miss Ramos

B10.1: Miss Ramos is a witch, I wrote Salud.

B10.2: When she’s around, she gives off a smell that makes me sick.

Towards Mr. Gabriel

B12.2: I like Mr. Gabriel. A12.3 He is a good man.

B16.2: But he smiled faintly and looked away, and then as gently as that, between

one heartbeat and another, I fell in love with him.

B19.1: When Mr. Gabriel stood beside me in a class, watching while I wrote a

theme, his presence would undo me so completely that my mind would

go blank and I would ask to be excused.

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B24.8: We frightened each other, I think, because his jaw dropped, and at the

sight of him, I missed a step and fell to my knees, and there on the floor, in

that grotesque, unintended curtsey, the words were wrung from me, “Mr.

Gabriel. Sir, I love you.”

It is worth noting that among Salud, Miss Ramos and Mr. Gabriel, it is with Mr. Gabriel

that Elisa displays much of her emotions since he is her current object of affection. This shows

that the female figure in the character of Elisa is vulnerable to the man as early as during

adolescence.

The narrative pathways describing how Elisa is undergoing the difficult transition as a

young woman show that an addition to her womanhood is not only something that has to do with

her new physical traits, but also her emerging attraction towards the opposite sex. This is

something that she feels most uncomfortable with and makes her very emotionally unstable.

These narrative pathways only prove to highlight this unstable psychological make-up of Elisa’s

character as she struggles with puberty and adolescence. The narration begins with Elisa’s first

experience of menstruation, as can be seen in the following passage:

B5.1: That past September I had come home one Monday from school, my dress with a

stain.

As the story progresses, Elisa becomes more and more uncomfortable, as can be seen in

the following:

B9.7: I had scrubbed myself that day and put on my best dress but at Miss Ramos’

remark, I felt my knees grow rough and dark, my breasts start to swell.

Later on in the story, it seems that her emotional instability is already affecting her

physical health, to the point of her getting ill one day and carelessly revealing her romantic

feelings for Mr. Gabriel, to one of her friends at school. Here is the excerpt:

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B21.1: IN FEBRUARY that year, I fell ill.

B21.2: On the fifth day of my illness, a friend passed by the house and left a note.

B21.3: How do you do, Elisa? It read.

B21.4: Are you better?

B21.5: Hurry up and come back to us, we miss you.

B21.6: Sincerely, Leonor.

B21.7: Then, What is wrong?

B22.1: It was the postscript that completed my betrayal—Leonor’s girlish prescience.

B22.2: In my own handwriting, I replied to that question, I wrote: I love Mr. Gabriel. I

trembled as I wrote the words.

Finally, the last part of the story shows Elisa completely losing control of her emotions,

even to the point of revealing her feelings towards Mr. Gabriel:

B24.8: We frightened each other, I think, because his jaw dropped, and at the sight of

him, I missed a step and fell to my knees, and there on the floor, in that

grotesque, unintended curtsey, the words were wrung from me, “Mr. Gabriel.

Sir, I love you.

Aside from Elisa, other women characters around her, such as her mother and Salud, also

show some semblance of emotion in the story by being the ones showing her affection and

comfort. Elisa’s mother is naturally concerned about the emotional condition of her daughter.

This is seen in B3.1 where she asks Elisa, “Why, Elisa?”, to find out what Elisa is feeling at that

moment. Also, the mother frowns in the scene where they are leaving their hometown Cabuyao

because she knows that Elisa is sad to leave her best friend behind:

B3.5: When Mother frowned, I hated Salud for betraying me.

This reflects that the mother is stereotypically more emotional and more affectionate

than the father. Salud, Elisa’s best friend in the story, is presented as someone who has already

experienced what Elisa is experiencing and is constantly advising Elisa on how to adjust to

growing up. Apparently, Salud, who is four years older than Elisa, has already adjusted to these

changes and has already embraced her womanhood. Although Salud neutralizes Elisa’s extreme

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emotions, the mere fact that Salud is vigilant of Elisa’s predicament and takes care of her as a

friend, shows Salud’s character as being an affectionate friend towards Elisa.

Another stereotype of a woman that is portrayed in the story is the character of Leonor,

Elisa’s schoolmate, who learns that Elisa is in love with their teacher. After Leonor finds out

about Elisa’s secret crush on Mr. Gabriel, it is immediately spread throughout the whole school

and Elisa has to suffer the consequences of her confession to Leonor.

It is said that Leonor has a “girlish prescience” (B22.1) that Elisa does feel something for

their teacher. This shows another feminine stereotype of a woman being the one with more

tendency to gossip around. This is very typical in the Filipino society, and as a matter of fact,

men are rarely seen to be interested in gossips since they are presumably preoccupied with work,

business matters or their own interests.

Overall, an examination on the characterization of men and women in the story shows a

contrast between the two in certain aspects of their personalities. The characters of Elisa’s father

and Mr. Gabriel represent the male stereotype that is logical, calm, controlled, and decisive. The

character of Elisa, on the other hand, is shown to be very emotional, a person who expresses

deep feelings for her best friend, Salud, and for Mr. Gabriel. Elisa is also shown to be vulnerable

towards the male, in the person Mr. Gabriel. Furthermore, the story shows that what attracts a

woman to a man is the latter’s tenderness and gentleness, more than his physical appearance, as

exemplified by the character of Elisa ignoring Mr. Gabriel’s physical flaws. Also, the young man

and young woman represented in the story show certain flaws which can be considered

stereotypically masculine and feminine. The boys are naughty enough to escape from their

school responsibilities, whereas the girls, particularly Elisa’s friend, Leonor, is shown to be a

gossip as she spreads Elisa’s confession of her love for Mr. Gabriel.

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The kinds of relationships presented in the story are: father-daughter relationship,

mother-daughter relationship, friend-friend relationship, principal-teacher relationship, and

student-teacher relationship. There are also power hierarchies seen between the male and female

characters. For one, Miss Ramos has the highest authority as the principal at her school, superior

to Mr. Gabriel who is a teacher, and who, in turn, has authority over his students, including Elisa.

Here, the female holds the highest position. This is a typical situation in the Filipino society

where there are more female principals in the Filipino educational community than male ones.

To indicate professional authority and distance, the teacher of Elisa was called “Mr. Gabriel”

(B9.11, B12.2, B13.1, B13.3, B14.3, B23.2, B25.1) and their principal, "Miss Ramos" (B9.7,

B9.11, B10.1, B13.3, B14.5, B14.8, B14.12, B15.15, B15.17, B16.1, B19.1, B20.5, B22.2,

B23.5, B24.7, B24.8, B25.2).

Another hierarchy shown in the text is Elisa’s father’s decisiveness as the head of the

family. He shows a kind of authority that is not seen in Elisa’s mother. He appears to have the

upper hand in deciding for his family, particularly their moving into another town. The following

passages imply that Elisa’s father is authoritative and decisive about his plan for them to transfer

to Tayug:

B1.4: We knew no one, of course—“We’ll make friends”, my father had said—and

expected no welcome, but having left Tayug with reluctance, I had urged my

father during the trip to drive faster so that we might arrive in Cabuyao early

enough for someone to see us drive in.

B6.5: I held her arms tightly, wanting to see her tears, but my father said,” All right,

all right,” and I let her go.

Elisa’s mother, on the other hand, plays the role of sympathizing with her as she struggles

with having to leave her best friend, Salud. Elisa’s mother is also very sensitive about her

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daughter’s sadness. Here are the passages showing her mother’s concern for her emotional

status:

B3.1: “Why, Elisa?” my mother asked, and I could not tell her why, except that I had

left behind in Tayug one friend very dear to me.

B3.4: She said goodbye to me that morning by the plaza, asking, “Are you taking

everything, Elisa? You’re sure?”

B3.5: When Mother frowned, I hated Salud for betraying me.

Another relationship shown is Elisa’s friendship with Salud. In the text, Elisa is shown to

be dependent on her best friend when it comes to advice and keeping Elisa calm and level-

headed as she deals with new situations. There is some kind of authority shown in Salud over

Elisa. Salud is four years older and appears to be wiser and more experienced than Elisa. The

following shows how Salud expresses her opinions and gives advice to Elisa in order to make her

realize things whenever she begins complaining and misjudging herself and people around her:

B4.4: She had laughed and looked pointedly at my breasts and said, “They’re growing,

like mine, Elisa.”

B8.1: I believe you, Elisa, Salud wrote back. But don’t jump off.

B11.1: Everyone smells, Salud replied, but you will smell most of all, Elisa, if you

don’t stop hating people.

B17.2: I was certain her answer would come, underlined with mock worry: Yes, but is he

in love with you, and if he is, is he a married man, and if he isn’t, will he marry

you?

Lastly, the relationship between Elisa and Mr. Gabriel is a complicated one because of

the way Elisa interprets her teacher’s actions towards her. As a teacher, Mr. Gabriel consistently

shows his kindness to Elisa as well as observes professional distance to his students as a teacher.

Although Elisa’s feelings for him become more and more obvious as the story progresses, Mr.

Gabriel acts cold and apparently tries to diffect and ignore Elisa’s confession of love for him.

This can be seen in the following passages:

B15.12: When we reached the fork, he raised his hand quickly and disappeared in the

twilight.

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B22.2: In my own handwriting, I replied to that question, I wrote: I love Mr. Gabriel.

B24.7: It was dark when I stumbled into Mr. Gabriel’s room and found him, not

bleeding and helpless and dying, but seated at his desk, correcting papers.

B24.8: …the words were wrung from me, “Mr. Gabriel. Sir, I love you.”

B25.2: For what seemed forever, Mr. Gabriel did not move until I stood up and, in my

shame, burst into tears.

B25.3: Then he approached me and led me to the door.

B25.5: “Run home, Elisa,” he said. “Run home.”

There is little description given to the bodies of male and female characters in the story.

These physical descriptions were given as fragmented parts, although there is also a description

of the male in terms of his whole body. Mr. Gabriel’s overall size is described in the following:

B13.1: Mr. Gabriel was small and thin and stooped, with a way about him that made

him seem even smaller.

On the other hand, Mr. Gabriel is described by Elisa by mentioning his facial features, as

can be seen in the following passage:

B13.2: His eyes laughed even when his mouth did not, and when that happened, the

tenderness spilled down the cheeks to his quiet lips.

For the female character, Elisa describes some of her body parts because of her bodily

changes. These changes are exposed in the text and represented not only through her growing

feelings for Mr. Gabriel, but also through her growing breasts. This is shown in the following

passages:

B4.4: She had laughed and looked pointedly at my breasts and said, “They’re growing,

like mine, Elisa.”

B9.7: I had scrubbed myself that day and put on my best dress but at Miss Ramos’

remark, I felt my knees grow rough and dark, my breasts start to swell.

Elisa’s occasional mention of her intimate body parts tells something about the her own

characterization in the story. The description of her “breasts” (B4.4) as “growing” exposes these

sensitive parts of the female body to the reader. This implies that the author recognizes the

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ideology that pervades in the society which objectifies women and subjects them into the

consumption of men.

In terms of clothing, there is a mention of Elisa wearing her “best dress” (B9.7), but there

is no elaboration of this dress. Mr. Gabriel is seen wearing a “brown suit” (B15.6), which Elisa

further describes to be “loose and fitted him badly” (B15.8).

Text 3: “The Tourists”

The Story

Paz Nuqui receives a call from Ernesto Bello, asking her if she is free that particular day.

Having been married to their spouses for a long time, they occasionally meet and talk about what

is new in their separate lives. By this time, Ernesto is already holding a top position as a public

relations officer at Quality Products. Paz sees the difference between his present confidence and

his rough, awkward ways fourteen years ago. She recalls that he used to have a habit of

smoothing his cowlick, touching his nose, and stuttering when speaking formally. Although he is

now beginning to lose some hair, Paz notices that there are still traces of these past habits she

was so familiar with.

Back in college, in 1945, Paz first sees Ernesto wearing his army brogans. During their

first day of class, Emma opens the conversation by giving Ernesto an idea about their subject,

which is prose and poetry in the Teutonic Countries. Ernesto arrives late that day from Isabela

since his mother died and he had to wait for their tobacco collections before he could afford to go

to school. Ernesto shares this story as well as his other adventures on his way to Manila. Just as

he begins to tell Paz about his brogans, she suddenly leaves and rushes to her dormitory to make

sure she receives a share of rice and sardines. Paz is only nineteen and it is during this time when

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the Americans have just granted independence to the country. In her younger years, she herself

had witnessed the violence of the soldiers during war time.

In college, there are forty-two of them in class and Ernesto Bello is the queer student who

actively proclaims and fights for his noble ideals for the world. With boldness, he violently

reacts in class as a professor confidently predicts that the country is yet to see more wars in their

lifetime. Ernesto can be seen stuttering out of tension, and then suddenly breaking into tears. He

and Paz become good friends and Ernesto begins pouring his heart out to Paz about his dreams

for the humankind.

One day, Paz receives a letter from her father who is a fisher, relaying news of how

difficult it has been for him to find anything to catch in the sea. He also writes that the relief

clothes and milk are not being given to those who need them the most. Paz is bothered by the

fact that she cannot do anything to help her father. This continues to upset her even as she is

listening to and applauding Ernesto’s eloquent outpourings and reiteration of a certain incident

with their professor in class.

As December approaches, Paz decides to work as a clerk for a woman’s club to help

support herself in school. Ernesto is pleased to see that she has earned enough to stop worrying if

she will still receive her monthly allowance from the province. She begins buying new clothes

from a shop which makes use of discarded parachutes as material. The shop is where she

occasionally bumps into some bar girls who eventually fascinate her with their friendliness and

selfless devotion to their work, no matter how undignified their job appears to be. One morning,

in front of the dress shop, one young bar girl reveals to Paz that she already gave up her own

education to save up money in order to buy her brother a pair of new wooden, if not aluminum,

pair of legs. The girl’s brother is revealed to be a victim of the war.

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Later on, Ernesto questions Paz’s job at the woman’s club, which he thinks involves

people who only concern themselves with trivial matters and meaningless social events. As Paz

tells Ernesto that these women also have civic contributions which even government officials

recognize, Ernesto insists that she should instead work for a group with a worthier cause,

particularly his group which he has called Peace Lovers.

Although Paz already cares for Ernesto, she refuses to join him and thinks more about

helping out her own father overcome poverty in the long run. However, Paz remains patient with

Ernesto that she endures him whenever he becomes emotional and even helps him financially.

She also assists him in having his army brogans repaired since the heels are already damaged.

Ernesto uses up his own monthly allowance for his activist group. One day, Ernesto receives his

brogans at the shoe shop and Paz fearlessly tells him to throw his shoes away. For Paz, this also

means giving up his ideals and his group. This infuriates Ernesto and he refuses immediately.

Paz then leaves him, compelling him to drop out of Paz Nuqui’s class later on. After this

incident, they avoid each other and Ernesto carries on with his activist activities. Paz shares this

with her father in her letters but only receives a brief reply saying he does not want to worry

about Paz again. This reaction puzzles Paz as she does not know what exactly her father means

by those words.

On one fateful instance, Paz bumps into Ernesto, which forces the two to finally confront

each other. Ernesto says that someone has told his father about his activities in school and this

has made him stop sending Ernesto his monthly allowance. In the following weeks, Paz escapes

from her office to help Ernesto search for a job. After several declined applications which are

due to Ernesto’s lack of confidence, he finds a job as a researcher for a brief-writer named Mr.

Cinco. Impressed by his hard work and efficiency, Mr. Cinco decides to raise his pay. This time

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he can already afford to make himself look more presentable. He now uses pomade on his hair,

has cleaner clothes, and eats regularly, except that he still wears his army brogans. It is during

this time, too, that Paz’s father dies.

Paz is given a month-long leave from work to attend to her father’s funeral and other

family concerns. As soon as she arrives in the province, the fishermen tell her the story about

how her father died. Paz comes up with the conclusion that her father killed himself. They say

that her father insisted to sail on a dangerous, windy night. He decided to sail to Guimaras and

somewhere along the way, the fishermen lost sight of him. Four days later, his body was found

washed ashore to Ponteverde. Paz is not able to go back to Manila until more than a month later.

On her return, Ernesto is nowhere in sight. After several weeks of not hearing from him, Paz

decides to phone Mr. Cinco, only to find out that Ernesto has already quit the job.

The next time they meet is out in the rain where Ernesto suddenly blocks her way one

night. While shivering in the cold, Ernesto finally tells Paz that he loves her. This surprises Paz

and she asks him to say it once more, which he does. Ernesto then decides to work again for Mr.

Cinco and begins courting Paz like a traditional suitor. He is now calmer, unlike how he used to

be when he was still passionate about his group. One day, while having a meal, Ernesto mentions

that he already wants to leave Mr. Cinco. Paz ignores this and suggests that they go on an out-of-

town trip together.

While travelling, Ernesto encourages Paz that they should be able to trust each other or

else they would regret the trip. They go to a town in Tarlac called Victoria. Paz considers this

trip a means to finally settle her father’s death and move on with Ernesto. By the time they arrive

at the Hong Ning Lodging house in the room given to them, Ernesto asks Paz if she still has any

doubts or regrets about their trip. Paz confesses that she is already feeling hesitant but Ernesto

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expresses that he is committed to marrying her. Once again he tells her that he loves her. Paz

asserts that they should not be making any promises yet. Later on in the night while they are still

awake, Paz tells him for the first time that she also loves him. Towards dawn, Ernesto proposes

to Paz that they get married that very day. Paz argues and demands that he should not quit his job

with Mr. Cinco. It turns out that Ernesto still has not given up on his ideals and for Paz, that

means a lack of security and stability should they get married. Ernesto ignores her demand and

this provokes Paz to end their relationship and leave him. Ernesto leaves school after that and

two years later, Paz marries Tomas. By this time, the only news she hears about Ernesto is that

he has already given up his principles by becoming a corrupt man, earning large sums of money

every month.

At present, Ernesto Bello is highly accomplished, wealthy, and is taking pleasure in his

luxurious car and house with his wife, Marietta. One day, Tomas brings home a newspaper

carrying a picture of Ernesto which Tomas himself has taken. Tomas has also written an article

about this. In the picture, Ernesto is braving the picket line with his head protruding from the

window of his car. The picture also shows him running over one of the strikers that day. Tomas

himself was there to witness the violence. Through this incident, Ernesto inevitably catches Paz’s

attention. Ernesto finds out about what Tomas has done to him and immediately calls him up to

challenge him to a duel. This takes place on a deserted street and at the end of their fight, Tomas

reveals to Ernesto that Paz is his wife. Out of curiosity and some degree of wistfulness, Paz

decides to visit Ernesto in his office one day.

Paz notices the changes in Ernesto’s ways and physical appearance as they finally meet

face to face inside his office. Paz realizes that he has now grown taller and is no longer wearing

his miserable combat shoes. His impressive record as a top public relations officer has created a

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stir even in newspaper columns. He is also now guilty of all the things he used to despise---

deception, corruption and womanizing. Somewhere in their conversation, Paz reminds him that

he used to fight for goodness. Ernesto defensively warns her not to believe everything she hears

and also that her husband should not talk too much. Paz humiliates him by saying Tomas may

not have much but at least he does not stutter.

One day, Ernesto invites Paz and her husband to his home in Fairview Valley for a

private dinner. That evening, Ernesto begins broaching the issue about the strike which Tomas

has made popular in the news. Tomas confronts Ernesto with information that Ernesto had

previously spied on the strikers by attending their meetings and pretending to be one with them,

even helping out with the planning. Tomas also claims that Ernesto allegedly said that the Public

Relations Department would be sure to support them but later on squealed the planned strike to

their big boss. Ernesto denies all of these allegations and asserts that the man whom he had run

over during the strike only got in the way so it is not his fault. Tomas further reveals that this

victim is a breadwinner and is supposed to get married. Ernesto argues that everyone can be

bought, including the leader of the strike, Testa. Ernesto then confesses that Testa is his rival

who wants to steal his position and is also a favorite of their big boss. He talks about the need for

survival and the pleasure of power which he is now enjoying. Ernesto seems to hint no sign of

regret for his “change of heart.” At that moment, Paz sees that her old love, the Ernesto she used

to know, has now turned into a completely different person.

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Analysis

The text is told from a first person point of view and emanates from the mind of the main

character in the story, Paz Nuqui. The narration revolves on the character of Paz Nuqui’s former

young love, Ernesto Bello, rather than on herself. She reveals her observations of Ernesto from

the time he was with her during college up to her most recent encounters with him. Her narration

is not omniscient and is based only on her own personal encounters with the other characters in

the story. The style of the text is close to an intimate confessional autobiography (see Appendix

C, p. 171, for the actual text).

Analysis at Word Level

The story reveals that the narrator’s descriptions of women characters differed from her

descriptions of the men. When it comes to the woman’s physique, the narrator gives more

detailed and creative descriptions of them. This kind of description is not given to the men in the

story. The following shows how physical features of women are magnified in the story:

C153.1: Marietta Bello wore expensive baubles on her ears; her lovely, perfect neck

rose proudly above her dress; the candlelight threw softening lines on her

beauty; she was all in all a woman with believable charm but I wondered how

she has looked in the walk-up on Requesens.

C56.9: The one called Dora was exceptionally voluptuous.

C56.10: She had only to shift slightly in her seat and a sensual ripple would start at her

shoulders and end somewhere in her toes.

C56.6: Astern, five women stretched their lovely legs.

C56.12: Her flesh had bloomed beneath the touch of strangers in some dimly lighted

room above a raucous phonograph, but one knew it was a beauty that carried its

own corruption, and on the third or fourth trip home, Dora would only be a

tired, arthritic woman, wanting rest, needing kindness.

C111.4: The girl at the desk wore, besides her affected a’s, a pair of arching eyebrows

that twitched delicately together with the fine edges of her nostrils.

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In several instances in the text, the female narrator mentions and describes other women

characters by way of specifying their body parts. For example, five women were shown to have

"stretched their lovely legs" (C56.6). A gendered reading of this description suggests that this is

a gender-inflected statement since there is a certain level of inappropriacy in emphasizing this

particular act of stretching a woman's legs. Furthermore, the women’s legs are even described

here to be "lovely." Women, in this case, are described in relation to their sexual attractiveness to

men.

Also, women characters can be found to use cosmetics and accessories (C23.10 and

C153.1) in order for them to look pleasant, as can be seen in the following passages:

C23.10: If one stuck a notebook in the crook of their elbows you could not tell that at

night they stepped out, perfumed and powdered, to earn an exciting but

precarious living amidst spilled beer and cigarette smoke.

C153.1: Marietta Bello wore expensive baubles on her ears; her lovely, perfect neck

rose proudly above her dress; the candlelight threw softening lines on her

beauty; she was all in all a woman with believable charm but I wondered how

she has looked in the walk-up on Requesens.

Two women in the story are characterized as wives. Marietta Bello is referred to as

Ernesto’s “adored wife” (C125.5) and Paz Nuqui is shown to be a faithful “wife” (C108.1) to

Tomas. For women characters other than wives, they are seen to have jobs which can also be

considered stereotypically feminine. For one, the story shows the young Paz Nuqui “clerking for

a woman’s club” (C22.1). The text also includes several other characters, such as, a “dormitory

laundry woman” (C23.4), “the bar girls of Lipa” (C23.6), “waitresses” (C28.2), “manicure girls”

(C28.2), and the “secretary” (C106.4) of Ernesto Bello.

Furthermore, the room in the lodging house which Paz and Ernesto rented is given a

feminine description. The room is likened to a nun's cell, because it is “simple” (C76.2) and

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“clean” (C76.2). There is an obvious stereotypical assumption that a nun is at least usually very

orderly, organized and has a clean room.

On the other hand, the men are not described as much as the women are. Only Ernesto

Bello is given a physical characterization . He is described as "not tall" (C15.1) and having a

"bullish neck" (C15.1). There is also mention that later on in his life, he becomes “bald" (C3.3).

During his younger days, his eyes are said to be "poet's eyes, full of dreams" (C15.3). In terms of

clothing, Ernesto Bello wears "army brogans" (C4.1 and C13.3) during his college years. Other

male characters are described to be wearing “utilitarian khaki" (C32.10).

Ernesto Bello, is described to be "hardworking" (C53.1), "a man who has conquered his

dreams (C12.3), and “a man pleased with himself and his good fortune” (C12.4). These

descriptions also lead to an observation that the text presents the reader with both positive and

negative qualities which Ernesto Bello, the focus of the narration, possessed or gained as the

years progressed.

Lastly, several men in the story are addressed by their surnames. This reflects the real

situation that among men in an organization or company, they have the option to address each

other only by their surnames. This would be ungraceful and even rude for women to address

other women or be called by their surnames. Men seem to be enjoying calling each other by

surnames and this is shown very frequently throughout the text. The following reveals the

frequency of instances where the men address each other by their surnames (see Appendix H for

a detailed analysis):

-"Bello" (17x) -"Ganzon" (1x)

-"Testa" (14x) -"Pacis" (1x)

-"Reyes" (1x) -"Santos" (1x)

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Figurative language which draws upon stereotypical assumptions is also used in the text.

For one, a description of the character of Ernesto Bello includes his acquaintance with "a

shapely girl" (C2.4) who is "ripe for his picking" (C2.4). Here, the girl is described to have a

pleasant or attractive body figure, which attracts Ernesto. The girl is also likened to a fruit since

she is said to be already "ripe" for Ernesto's picking. There is metaphorical reference to a flower,

which reflects the social convention that a female is always likened to a flower and it is

considered to be feminine. Similarly, the female character of Dora's flesh is described to have

"bloomed beneath the touch of strangers" (C56.12). Here, she is also associated with a flower. In

reality, a woman is compared to a flower very often, and this metaphor is even commonly used

by men to flatter their objects of affection. It is a cliché, for instance, to say, “She is a

wildflower.” However, in the context of a bar girl, the cause of Dora’s blooming is said to be the

males which engage in a sexual relationship with her.

Another gender-inflected statement can be seen in Ernesto's act of standing and boasting

which is described as "brazen" (C3.1). This connotes that Ernesto’s act is something that can be

likened to the strong qualities of brass, which may be associated with the trait of boldness. This

quality can be considered masculine and is unlikely to be used to describe the actions of a

woman.

There is also a metaphorical description of the way that the soldiers in the story cry. The

soldiers are seen with their "animal cries" (C10.4). This description associates the behavior of

males with the behavior of animals, which could be loud, or rough, or wild. Ernesto Bello is also

described as a "young wizard armed with only glib" (C119.3). He is likened to a wizard because

of the way that he succeeds in his career in public relations. Since a wizard is equated to a

magician or a sorcerer, Ernesto, in his own way, makes magic with only glib as his weapon.

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The text does not particularly associate women with certain elements but men's behaviors

are frequently associated with animal behavior. Testa is called a "louse" (C187.1) by Ernesto

Bello. A louse has contemptible and parasitic traits. This metaphor appears to be a fitting

description since Ernesto Bello thinks of Testa as a rival and an obstacle in Ernesto's career

advancement in the company where they are both employed. The male employees in the same

company are also said to "bleat" (C172.1) like a group of young choir boys. Their cries are

associated with the cries of a herd of sheep or goat, perhaps to connote weakness, since they are

mere subordinates to Ernesto. Lastly, Ernesto Bello is called a "queer fish" (C117.8) who swims

with the rest of the men who have given in to the ways of the world, however corrupt or immoral

they are, just to achieve their ambitions.

Analysis at Phrase/Sentence Level

The narrator, who is also a character in the text, freely unleashes her thoughts and

emotions while describing events transpiring at a certain period of her life and that of Ernesto

Bello. This emotive quality of the narrative fits the perspective of a female reader. It often

reveals the thoughts and inner sentiments of Paz Nuqui, as can be seen in the following

phrases/sentences:

C5.5: I felt very superior.

C7.5: I was anxious to get there before they were all out of rice and sardines.

C10.4: I was eager to forget that, including the times I had sprinted for the safety of the

ravines nearby whenever soldiers came rattling their sabers and rocking our

bamboo fence with their animal cries.

C12.1: Perhaps, I am not succeeding at all?

C20.3: One sea away, my own father waited for some comfort and I could give

nothing. C21.14: Once more I thought of the letter that awaited me and wondered how I should

word my reply.

C25.2: The women were tiresome, the routine was deadening.

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C30.7: I did not love the world but I loved my father and I was beginning to care

about Ernesto Bello.

C31.3: I often wondered how he felt about me.

C32.2: Since I was his only friend, I felt that this gave me the right to be honest.

C33.11: I was angry with myself but angrier with him for making me feel guilty.

C43.3: I could never fathom my father.

C44.3: I felt foolish.

C70.1: I wanted to settle the death of my father forever in my mind.

C74.5: I was determined to let nothing appall me.

C115.1: Ernesto Bello did not come bounding into the anteroom as I had secretly hoped

he would but the buzzer on the girl’s desk sounded.

C125.1: Did I say that I went to see him from wistfulness, from a desire to tell him

that I remembered some memories?

C188.4: I had a horrible feeling that he was in mortal pain.

In the above excerpts, the narrator mainly pours out her observations and feelings

towards other men who are important to her life. As shown above, she occasionally sheds

emotions whenever she thinks about her father (C20.3, C21.14, C30.7, C43.3, and C70.1). Paz

also exposes her own feelings towards Ernesto in C30.7, C31.3, C32.2, C33.11, C115.1, C125.1,

and C188.4. Paz Nuqui appears to be extra-vigilant on the character of Ernesto Bello since she

seems to be more affected with him than with any other character in the story. Given these

observations, the text appears to work in the interests of Paz Nuqui since it reveals her own

subjective evaluation of herself, of Ernesto Bello, and of the other characters with whom she has

interacted.

The style of narration can be considered feminine due to several features found in the

text. One feature is the presence of spontaneous descriptions of scenes which appear to be loose

and filled with many embedments. These embedments cause the main construction to branch out

into many other details which the narrator seems to want to fit in one sentence. Consequently, the

constructions become accretive, as though there are smaller narratives within the main narratives.

The following passages show this:

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C6.5: The man had said grumpily that he would be going no farther than Cabiao,

but a few miles from that town, Ernesto had hummed the first bars of Old Black

Joe, presumably melting the sergeant’s heart who then drove him all the way to La

Paz where he boarded a train for Tutuban.

C15.6: He lost them all in time, however; shed each one like an outer skin, to emerge

urbane and persuasive; speaking in clichés and bombast, with a charm smelling

unmistakably of Yardley and public-speaking classes.

C19.8: Paz, my daughter—I could see him in that old house, the windows open upon the

night made dark by coconut fronds, cicadas singing in the eaves, and my father

overcome by despair—there is talk that the relief clothes and milk are going to

those who do not need them…

C37.2: Earlier in the week, Tomas had met him at the scene of the strike and the

shambles of its aftermath: torn placards, overturned barrels, spilled oil

discolouring the earth where lay moaning the figure of the man Ernesto Bello

had run over with his Opel, and ranged in sullen hating lines around him and his

car, the strikers.

C41.6: Whatever aroused him, it was always trivial, except for the “principle,” and

one could forget that too if one finally accepted the fact that the world was run

by people ill-prepared for the task: right did not always triumph, evil often

prevailed, the wicked prospered.

C56.12: Her flesh had bloomed beneath the touch of strangers in some dimly lighted

room above a raucous phonograph, but one knew it was a beauty that carried

its own corruption, and on the third or fourth trip home, Dora would only be a

tired, arthritic woman, wanting rest, needing kindness.

C118.2: I waited a long while, till the bugs disappeared, till the lizards crawled back into

their crevices, and nothing was abroad in the neighbourhood except a dog who

crouched on the walk outside our fence and stared impassively as I swung back

and forth in the old rocking chair.

C119.4: His forte—public relations, an occupation that covered many things, from

lighting cigarettes to tucking people in bed, and there were pictures of Bello

boarding planes and alighting, always with the inevitable, self-important

portfolio, a dazzling smile on his face.

C120.3: Fraud, mountebank, charlatan—his terrifying transition reached me in

dribbles from talk that Tomas occasionally dropped—“the boys” going wild at

the Eel Club, a cool thousand bucks wild, the liquor bubbled, the girls gurgled

and Bello picked up the bill without turning a hair and announced it was going

on his expense account.

C126.1: Fourteen years ago, that ride in a rig through a sleeping town: two on a

holiday, touring the regions of youth, memories turn shabby, the act of love stops

short of the act of consecration for who has courage for that kind of death?

C146.3: They had carved a subdivision on this countryside, gouging out the greenery,

the lush trees, the carpet of earth-hugging bushes, and in their stead, a weirder

jungle of split-level homes and TV poles had sprung.

C153.1: Marietta Bello wore expensive baubles on her ears; her lovely, perfect neck

rose proudly above her dress; the candlelight threw softening lines on her

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beauty; she was all in all a woman with believable charm but I wondered how

she has looked in the walk-up on Requesens.

Sometimes, some of these spontaneous and accretive constructions are also poetic-

sounding, as seen in the following passages:

C3.3: Perhaps his hand would steal up and smooth the cowlick that was no longer

there (he was, as a matter of fact, beginning to bald); or he would touch his nose in

a movement releasing a thousand other memories; often a vowel would slip out,

mutilated, and I smiled secretly, realizing that his Dale Carnegie training had not

been so thorough as he thought.

C64.2: I close my eyes and his face rises in my mind—there it is before me, a cold,

tasteless meal away, and all it can do is press its lips, willing some of the misery

to disappear, and the trembling mouth fights to compose itself while it says, “I

cannot go on, Paz.”

C70.3: If I proved myself right, if I could woo him away from The World to a world,

away from Life to life, away from Mankind to me, I might, across the abyss

between the living and the dead, bridge the silence and tell my father that I had

discovered what had eluded him in an entire lifetime and the secret was: one

forever.

The above passages show that that the text is very freely written by the author, without

keeping in mind the standard grammatical rules of constructing sentences. This style of narration

and writing can be identifiable with a woman author due to this spontaneous style of writing.

The author also chooses to use “But” and “And” as transitional devices in the narrative.

Constructions beginning with “But” can be found in the following passages:

C3.2: But a familiar gesture would give him away.

C16.1: But in the rainy months of the year of liberation, he was as full of naivete as we.

C25.3: But it paid a steady enough tiny sum that kept me in neat clerk’s blouses and

skirts.

C52.1: But despite himself, he was hardworking.

C53.6: But for his shoes, he was getting to be what a young girl might safely fall in love

with.

C58.5: But after several weeks, when he did not call or drop in, I picked up the phone

and dialled Mr. Cinco’s office.

C65.9: But we did not trust ourselves to speak.

C76.4: But inside the room, with its clean smell, I wasn’t certain.

C122.8: But the girl was smarter than they thought.

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Sentences starting with ‘And’ can be found in the following excerpts:

C19.7: And when, on a luckless day, a blade descends at last, your soul has gone soaring

even before the saber touches your neck.

C29.5: And at night, as I pulled the mosquito net over me, I wondered if I would learn

enough, in time to brighten the last hours of an old man in Ponteverde.

Also, the direct conversations and correspondences between characters are sometimes not

quoted. The unquoted dialogues can be seen in the following:

C64.5: There were many ways to play this game, I said, and that was when I found

myself suggesting, “Let’s go away on Friday, Ernesto.”

C41.1: I wrote all that to an old man in Ponteverde and his reply was prompt but brief.

Paz, I need never worry over you again.

C27.1: Darling, Socorro Valdez cooed one morning, don’t you know it was I who lent

the silver set for yesterday’s tea party, not Ermina Castro?

C27.2: Could you make a release about that?

C28.1: They don’t deserve it, declared Lourdes Adriano, in charge of the orientation

courses for G.I. brides.

C19.8: Paz, my daughter—I could see him in that old house, the windows open upon the

night made dark by coconut fronds, cicadas singing in the eaves, and my father

overcome by despair—there is talk that the relief clothes and milk are going to

those who do not need them…

C26.1: My name! Screamed Mrs. Rodas, shoving the society page in my face.

C17.7: Uh, uh, uh, he said, his mouth twisting horribly.

Phrases and sentences are also investigated through the transitivity processes in the text.

A frequency count on the transitivity choices performed by women and men has been made in

this analysis to find out who acts more in the text and which processes are prevalent. The results

are also helpful in reflecting and observing gender differences present in the text. Table 4

contains a frequency count of transitivity processes such as material intention, material

supervention, mental, relational, and material event (see Appendix M for a complete list of

transitivity processes):

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Table 4

Frequency count of Transitivity Processes in “The Tourists”

As shown in the table above, the transitivity processes found in the text are mostly

material action intention and the dominant actors are men (Ernesto Bello, Tomas, and other

minor male characters in the story). The men are represented as those who are more active and

possess a more varied range of activities and capabilities, as opposed to the women who are

shown to have limited activities, such as work-related, and are seen to be carrying out on only

minor tasks. However, they are also shown to be active when it comes to being reflective and

emotional. Since the narrator is a woman, a significant amount of mental processes can be found

which are mostly reflecting the thoughts, feelings, and expressions of Paz Nuqui. Based on the

transitivity choices found and analyzed in the text, the male still performs more mental

processes. However, the woman performs more mental-internalized processes which relate to

thinking and feeling, whereas, the male performs mental-externalized processes that have to do

with speaking and saying. The woman appears to be represented as someone who is

introspective, sentimental, and even more conscientious, especially when it comes to her

experiences and attachment with her male object of affection.

PROCESSES MALE ACTOR FEMALE ACTOR TOTAL

material intention 357 200 557

material supervention 20 14 34

mental 189 161 350

relational 84 49 133

material event -- -- 17

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Analysis at Discourse Level

There are many gendered assumptions which the text demands from the reader. Drawing

on stereotypical gender information in a traditional Filipino patriarchal setting, the text shows

that there is a difference in the characterization of women and men. The men in the story are:

Ernesto Bello, Ernesto’s father, Paz’s father, Tomas, Mr. Cinco, an aging Ph.D professor, a

policeman, a sergeant, a shoemaker, soldiers, a man run over by Ernesto, a Chinese proprietor,

Testa, and Ernesto’s colleagues. The women characters are: Paz Nuqui, bar girls, Dora, Marietta

Bello, a laundry woman, Mrs. Rodas, Socorro Valdez, Ermina Castro, Lourdes Adriano,

Ernesto’s secretary, and Ernesto’s mistress.

The narrative pathways of the story expose the behavior and performance of women and

men. The men appear to be the ones who show aggressiveness and boldness when it comes to

decision-making. Although the narrator shows the changes in Ernesto Bello in terms of his

beliefs and values years after Paz leaves him, there is a consistency in Ernesto's daring

characteristic. The text shows him making bold decisions despite criticisms thrown at him.

Similarly, the character of Tomas shows fearlessness as he exposes the wrongdoings of Ernesto

in his work as a journalist. The following shows how the characters of Ernesto and Tomas

display their boldness in the story:

C3.1: I was with some effort that I would try to reconcile the man who stood boasting

brazenly in front of me with a boy I had known back at the University. (Ernesto)

C30.5: “We’re going to save the world,” he said, a fervor appearing in his eyes.

(Ernesto)

C37.10: “Let me talk to the louse who wrote me up famous,” he said. (Ernesto)

C48.3: “He wants me to buckle down. Well, I am buckling down, Paz—does no one see

that? I’m hard at work. I’m doing for him what he couldn’t do for me. Rid the

world of evil.” (Ernesto)

C105.1: “I want to do good,” he said with an intensity that seared the air around us.

(Ernesto)

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C117.8: “That queer fish has decided to swim along with the rest of us,” pursued the

story teller, “and he’s doing better than anyone here. (Ernesto)

C38.1: Despite my tears and my pleas, Tomas went. (Tomas)

C38.2: He was not a brave man but he was no coward. (Tomas)

C37.11: “‘Guns or knives or fists,’ he said, and named a sidestreet in Caloocan, deserted

after sunset, ‘This louse will be there,’ I said.” (Tomas)

C149.1: “You helped to organize the union,” Tomas accused. (Tomas)

Also, another interesting observation is that the character of Paz is occasionally seen to

compare the new Ernesto from the young Ernesto she had known before, which leads her to

show flashbacks of her old memories with him. The following excerpts show how Paz

consistently contrasted the present Ernesto from the Ernesto she had known in college:

C2.2: The oversight on his part, while not intentional, was a symptom of his new

confidence, a quality he exuded whenever we met downtown.

C3.1: I was with some effort that I would try to reconcile the man who stood boasting

brazenly in front of me with a boy I had known back at the University.

C15.6: He lost them all in time, however; shed each one like an outer skin, to emerge

urbane and persuasive; speaking in clichés and bombast, with a charm smelling

unmistakably of Yardley and public-speaking classes.

C36.7: His shoes sank, into the floor rug and they were not the brogans I knew.

C116.2: No longer the combat footgear of the days when he had ached to do good, the

handsome, shiny leather encased his feet where he posed expansively before his

desk, tugging at his cuffs.

C120.2: I was not sure, but it was an unnerving change from the boy who had wanted

only to die for the world.

C188.5: When his eyes met mine, above his open, roaring mouth, I knew that someone,

something was dying: the ghost of an old love, the shadow of a young boy,

an echo, fading into mist.

The story is similar to the three other stories since it leads to Paz Nuqui's eventual feeling

of defeat. She becomes even more disappointed and frustrated with Ernesto Bello, even after

each of them has already moved on with their lives separately. She also reveals that she feels

bitter and envious that she is not with Ernesto Bello to enjoy his financial success, knowing that

financial stability was what she had demanded from him when they were still together. This

bitterness can be seen in the following passage:

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C118.5: Ernesto Bello had achieved fabulous success and I was not there to share it.

Paz is also guilt-stricken that Ernesto has now become a materialistic man. She feels she

is the reason why he was encouraged, in the first place, to give up his noble dreams for the sake

of financial security. The following shows how guilty Paz Nuqui feels to see Ernesto turn into

someone very different:

C119.8: I did not know what I was going to say, something foolish and indiscreet and

regrettable, but I could not help feeling that I was responsible for what he

had become.

Paz realizes that in the first place, it was she who wanted Ernesto to let go of his ideals

and be practical in his approach in life. The story ends with Paz Nuqui rendered powerless by the

situation, having lost her influence on Ernesto and with nothing she can do to revive his honor

and integrity. The final paragraph shows this:

C188: The evening hung uncertainly for a moment, but when Ernesto Bello’s laughter

came, it was a trained, practiced laugh. It hinted at no resentment, the

Carnegie classes had taken care of that. He threw his head back and let the sound

roll out of his mouth until the flesh about his lips tightened and paled. I had a

horrible feeling that he was in mortal pain. When his eyes met mine, above his

open, roaring mouth, I knew that someone, something was dying: the ghost of

an old love, the shadow of a young boy, an echo, fading into mist.

The men in the story, especially that of Ernesto Bello, reflect the stereotypical

assumptions made about Filipino men. The observation on the man is focused on the character of

Ernesto Bello, since he is the only male character with the most descriptions in the story. Ernesto

Bello used to possess certain traits which changed from his college years up to the time when he

was already established as a public relations officer. As a young college student, he was

irrational, impractical, idealistic, and passionate about his principles and dreams for humankind.

The following passages show who Ernesto was as a college boy:

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C30.5: “We’re going to save the world,” he said, a fervor appearing in his eyes.

C41.5: Sometimes, I would hear his voice in an impassioned harangue against,

probably the incessant hedge-trimming that went on or the lone elevator they

kept exclusively for professors.

C41.6: Whatever aroused him, it was always trivial, except for the “principle,” and

one could forget that too if one finally accepted the fact that the world was run

by people ill-prepared for the task: right did not always triumph, evil often

prevailed, the wicked prospered.

C48.3: “He wants me to buckle down. Well, I am buckling down, Paz—does no one see

that? I’m hard at work. I’m doing for him what he couldn’t do for me. Rid

the world of evil.”

C129: “You [Ernesto] never wanted much,” I said. “Only goodness.”

The following excerpts further show what kind of a man Ernesto Bello has now become

after gaining money, power and position:

C2.4: He would then tell me about a new deal, or a bon mot he had just thought of

and was eager to unleash, or a shapely girl of recent acquaintance who—he

assured me—was ripe for his picking.

C120.3: Fraud, mountebank, charlatan—his terrifying transition reached me in

dribbles from talk that Tomas occasionally dropped—“the boys” going wild at

the Eel Club, a cool thousand bucks wild, the liquor bubbled, the girls gurgled

and Bello picked up the bill without turning a hair and announced it was

going on his expense account.

There is also a description of Ernesto Bello being a married man and a provider of his

family, as in the following instance:

C125.5: He talked of his home in Fairview Valley, of his adored wife…

Even while in college, Ernesto can be seen to be aware that he is supposed to be the head

and the provider of his future family. As a young college student in love with Paz, he dares to

promise her “a good life” (C103.1). Ernesto Bello is also seen to be “wearing army brogans”

(C4.1) even if he is only a college student and not an active member of the army. This also

indicates masculinity because during this time, it was very unlikely for women to be members of

the army, contrary to the present situation where they are already allowed to join the army. There

is also mention that these army brogans serve as "a mark of his impatient manhood" (C13.3).

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This reflects another stereotypical notion that anything related to the military or the army only

concerns males.

In the workplace, most of the men in the story are seen to be involved with many kinds of

jobs which may be considered stereotypically masculine. Males in the story are involved with

“army jobs” (C32.10), public relations (Ernesto Bello), a “research job” (C52.1). There is also a

shoemaker in the story who is revealed later on to be a male (C33.12-C33.13):

The shoemaker rapped the counter and called our attention to Ernesto’s finished brogans.

“They’re ready,” the man said, and turned away with what looked like disgust.

Men are also stereotypically fond of cars, and this is also manifested in the story through

the following passages:

C12.4: He owns an Opel…

C125.5: He talked of his home in Fairview Valley, of his adored wife, of the sauce at

Café Luxaire, of the staying power of his car, and I realized this was how he

wanted to remember himself.

The character of Tomas is described to have experienced being a boxer for a youth club

during his younger days. This shows that boxing is a stereotypically masculine type of sport.

Here is the passage mentioning his past experience in boxing:

C107.5: As a boy, he had boxed for a youth club.

There is also a description of a minor woman character that reveals that a man is

"bringing her to Fort McKinley" (C24.3) for a romantic date. Apparently, the man is the one

shown to be in control of the situation, taking the female to their dating place. It would be

traditionally unusual, for instance, for a woman to take the man to their dating place. The reader

instantly knows that it is customary that the man be in control and be the pursuer. This stereotype

is also reflected in instances in the text where Ernesto is shown to be "an ardent suitor" (C63.1)

who "called often" (C63.2), asked Paz out, and "stood patiently in theatre lobbies" (C63.2).

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Ernesto Bello can also be seen in the story to be aggressive as he challenges Tomas, Paz's

husband, into a fight. He talks to Tomas in the following passages:

C38.10: “Let me talk to the louse who wrote me up famous,’ he said.

C38.11: ‘Guns or knives or fists,’ he said, and named a sidestreet in Caloocan,

deserted after sunset, “This louse will be there,’ I said.”

The character of Tomas is also someone who does not withdraw from a challenge,

especially by another man. He accepts the challenge of Ernesto to engage in a fight with him.

The following instances prove that Tomas possesses this typically masculine trait:

C39.1: Despite my tears and my pleas, Tomas went.

C39.2: He was not a brave man but he was no coward.

These depictions of Ernesto and Tomas reflect a prevailing stereotype among men in a

society which imposes that they should be brave and not be cowardly especially in instances

where they are dared to fight another man. Declining a dare for a fight would mean that they are

cowardly and that they do not have, as society puts it, “the balls” or guts to face their challenges.

In other terms, they should be “man enough” to confront this kind of situation.

The men represented are also those prone to vices. For one, men are shown to have a

tendency to commit corruption in their respective careers. This is proven by the following

passages in the text:

C120.3: Fraud, mountebank, charlatan—his terrifying transition reached me in

dribbles from talk that Tomas occasionally dropped—“the boys” going wild at

the Eel Club, a cool thousand bucks wild, the liquor bubbled, the girls gurgled

and Bello picked up the bill without turning a hair and announced it was going

on his expense account.

C120.5: No time for tenderness, only a deadly, desperate performance, passion forced

out of his pores like tomorrow’s copy and next week’s jingle.

C186.2: “It’s not a moral question anymore. What’s immoral about wanting to

survive? Every Adam’s son wants to survive and I especially want to do so in

soft, rubber foam, all-paid-for comfort. Testa was dangerous. So. So I kicked

the chair from under him.”

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Men are also shown to be engaged in other vices such as drinking, smoking, and

womanizing. Females are not seen in the story to be taking alcoholic substances and smoking.

The following shows how men are addicted to such vices:

Drinking:

C21.12: I thought of the woman leading her drunken escort up the narrow steps

of the lodging house—another dream perishing on a dirty bed.

C120.3: Fraud, mountebank, charlatan—his terrifying transition reached me in

dribbles from talk that Tomas occasionally dropped—“the boys” going

wild at the Eel Club, a cool thousand bucks wild, the liquor bubbled, the girls gurgled and Bello picked up the bill without turning a hair and

announced it was going on his expense account.

C123.1: Drunk as he was, the girl had them soon piling into a rented panel and

driving to Morong where a sleepy justice of the peace awaited them.

Smoking:

C48.5: He panted a bit after his declaration and then leaned back against the

ledge, a puny, hungry Messiah, with the smell of tobacco in his hands.

C66.8: A new sophistication I had not imagined him capable of now possessed

him and he ground his cigarette butts with the air of one who had gone

off on clandestine weekends before.

C16.3: It was an idle remark, made lazily between puffs at the man’s first post-

war cigarette held loosely between fore and middle fingers.

Womanizing:

C122.6: The boys did him a huge favor once when the mestiza that Ernesto

Bello had picked up in the course of his career and installed in an

apartment on Requesens showed up unexpectedly at the Eel club,

prepared to give him trouble.

C120.5: No time for tenderness, only a deadly, desperate performance,

passion forced out of his pores like tomorrow’s copy and next

week’s jingle.

The male figure is also portrayed in the story to be temperamental. This unmanageable

temperament is not seen as a trait of any of the women characters in the story. The following

shows how the main characters, Ernesto and Tomas, easily get angry:

C7.1: “I paid the fare, too,” he said, getting indignant all over again because no space

could be found for him on the two regular coaches.

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C16.2: Once, he stood weeping with impotent anger because a teacher had said we

would yet see a dozen more wars in our lifetime.

C31.1: Like a child, he was consumed by a violent anger over many things.

C41.6: Whatever aroused him, it was always trivial, except for the “principle,” and

one could forget that too if one finally accepted the fact that the world was run

by people ill-prepared for the task: right did not always triumph, evil often

prevailed, the wicked prospered.

C37.9: “The bastard called up, challenging me to a duel,” Tomas said.

C37.11: ‘Guns or knives or fists,’ he said, and named a sidestreet in Caloocan, deserted

after sunset, “This louse will be there,’ I said.”

Men are stereotypically more impatient, more aggressive, more easily prone to giving

into different kinds of temptations and more ambitious when it comes to their careers. The men

represented in the story appear to be more accomplished, in control of their lives, their

surrounding situations and their families. Since they are accomplished and ambitious, they

naturally acquire more chances of becoming sophisticated. This sophistication can be found in

the following passages:

C15.6: He lost them all in time, however; shed each one like an outer skin, to emerge

urbane and persuasive; speaking in clichés and bombast, with a charm

smelling unmistakably of Yardley and public-speaking classes.

C54.6: But for his shoes, he was getting to be what a young girl might safely fall in

love with.

C66.8: A new sophistication I had not imagined him capable of now possessed him

and he ground his cigarette butts with the air of one who had gone off on

clandestine weekends before.

The women characters are characterized differently from men in the sense that their

descriptions seem to be in contrast with those of the men. For instance, by looking at the cited

passages in the earlier part of this analysis, it is clear that Paz is very reflective when it comes to

her relationship with her father and her relationship with Ernesto Bello. On the other hand,

Ernesto Bello is not so concerned with his father. Also, even if Paz is already married to Tomas,

she still reminisces on her memories with Ernesto Bello and still appears to be concerned with

him after all those years.

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It is worth noting that occupations given to women characters in the story are classified

as ones which have no serious career paths and are considered minor, as compared to the jobs of

the men, such as, Ernesto Bello and Tomas. There appears to be no woman character in the story

who gains a professional and high position, whether in her own business or in a company. This

shows stereotypes of women who work with secretarial/clerical jobs, or risky jobs that sacrifice

their purity, self-respect, and dignity. The roles of G.I. brides, bar girls and dancing girls are

those which necessarily involve males. These jobs which women typically enter are dependent

on and only possible by engaging in sexual activities with men. The inclusion of these kinds of

jobs in the story leads to an observation that women are also seen as objects of consumption by

men. This kind of female characterization is evident in the following passages:

C2.4: He would then tell me about a new deal, or a bon mot he had just thought of and

was eager to unleash, or a shapely girl of recent acquaintance who—he assured

me—was ripe for his picking.

C122.6: The boys did him a huge favor once when the mestiza that Ernesto Bello had

picked up in the course of his career and installed in an apartment on

Requesens showed up unexpectedly at the Eel club, prepared to give him

trouble.

C120.3: Fraud, mountebank, charlatan—his terrifying transition reached me in dribbles

from talk that Tomas occasionally dropped—“the boys” going wild at the Eel

Club, a cool thousand bucks wild, the liquor bubbled, the girls gurgled and

Bello picked up the bill without turning a hair and announced it was going on

his expense account.

C120.4: I thought of him in a back room, making love in his stockinged feet, his cuffs

on a chair, his shoes neatly set beneath the bed.

C56.12: Her flesh had bloomed beneath the touch of strangers in some dimly lighted

room above a raucous phonograph, but one knew it was a beauty that carried its

own corruption, and on the third or fourth trip home, Dora would only be a

tired, arthritic woman, wanting rest, needing kindness.

One women character is seen in the story to have irrational or trivial anger, and a nagging

attitude. Mrs. Rodas, one member of the women’s club where young Paz works as a clerk,

throws a tantrum when a “careless proofreader had dropped a consonant” (C26.1) in a

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newspaper. This woman seems to be seriously angry with this trivial matter. In contrast, male

characters, such as, Ernesto Bello, pour out their anger on issues that concern their career, their

pride, and even humankind.

Another woman character, particularly Ernesto Bello’s mistress, shows how smart she is

as she manages to find Ernesto and his men in a club, womanizing. However, much to the

dismay of Ernesto’s boys who have tried to soothe her and divert her attention, the mistress turns

out to be smarter than all of them. This is because she is able to bring the drunken boys,

including Ernesto, to the authorities, as can be seen in the following passages:

C122.8: But the girl was smarter than they thought.

C123.1: Drunk as he was, the girl had them soon piling into a rented panel and

driving to Morong where a sleepy justice of the peace awaited them.

Given these observations, the men, in general, possess more negative qualities than

women, and that several of these qualities are destructive and exploitative to women. Women, on

the other hand, possess qualities which are always subject to the consumption and criticism of

males. They are also shown to be more dependent on men in terms of their physical appearances

(what is pleasing to the males), roles, and occupations. Men are the only ones who are concerned

about serious issues concerning the world, politics, career advancement, and women are more

concerned with matters such as love, family, faithfulness, and security. These observations lead

to a conclusion that “The Tourists” displays a negative image of the male figure.

Relationships shown in the story are those between colleagues, between husband and

wife, and between parent and child. There are also power hierarchies that are evident in the story.

For one, Paz Nuqui feels envious of Ernesto Bello's current financial status since she herself has

ended up marrying a man who is not as wealthy as Ernesto. This shows that she considers

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Ernesto’s present financial status as better than her status. Paz Nuqui shows her bitterness as she

says:

C118.5: Ernesto Bello had achieved fabulous success and I was not there to share it.

There are also other class hierarchies shown in the story. Some women characters are

rich, such as, Marietta Bell and the elite women in the woman’s club for which Paz Nuqui has

worked as a clerk. On the contrary, other women characters in the story are seen struggling and

sacrificing even their purity in order to help their families overcome poverty. These are the bar

girls of Lipa, and the character of Dora who is also a bar girl. This contrast in class status among

women reflects differences in experiences even among women.

Material and monetary wealth is considered to be a form of power to both men and

women in the story. Aside from Paz Nuqui’s bitterness with Ernesto Bello’s financial success,

Ernesto Bello appears to be already accustomed to paying or bribing other people in order to get

what he wants. He seems to apply this to any aspect of his life, whether it be work-related or

personal. In fact, he himself makes a statement in the story which says, “Everyone…can be

bought” (C170.1).

Power struggle can also be seen among the male characters in terms of their career. This

is manifested in how Ernesto is shown to fight and protect his position even at the expense of

other people, such as, his rival, Testa, and the poor man run over by his car. Ernesto Bello’s

abusive power and corrupt state of mind can be found in the following passages:

C182.1: “Well, damn it, I’ve grown up. That’s all. I was always passing resolutions as a

kid, ask Paz here, and getting laughed at and pushed around. But now, I pick up

a phone and give my name and I can make a dozen, two dozen men squirm.

It’s a good feeling. The best.”

C172.1: “Even Testa, that self-baptized Christos—give him a fast car of a large check

or a chance at a good lay and he’d see the light—I told him that, when the

chips were down at Quality, shortly before the pickets. The old man girded

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himself for war and heads began rolling. You should have seen the way your

high-principled union men sold their baby out. They couldn’t wait to tell what

they knew. Reyes, Santos, Pacis, Ganzon. The whole lot of them, creeping into

the old man’s office to bleat there like a group of badly trained choir boys.”

C178.2: “The old man offered him everything, even the top seat in PR—‘Son,’ the old

man said. Son! He’s never called me that and I’ve stopped at nothing to please

him.

C186.2: “It’s not a moral question anymore. What’s immoral about wanting to

survive? Every Adam’s son wants to survive and I especially want to do so

in soft, rubber foam, all-paid-for comfort. Testa was dangerous. So. So I

kicked the chair from under him.”

Also, text appears to have given emphasis on the authority of the father to his child. The

story shows the relationship between Paz and her father, as well as between Ernesto and his

father. It is worth noting that only their relationships with their fathers are presented in the story

and not their relationships with their mothers. In the following passages, Ernesto’s father is

mentioned:

C6.3: Finally, his father had loosened a money belt, handed him three hundred

pesos, and given his blessing.

C31.7: The money his father sent him went for paper and typewriter ribbons

necessary for the resolutions he delivered weekly to the offices of the various

deans in school.

C48.1-D48.3: His father would send him no more. Someone had told him of his fool

of a son, dissipating time and energy, delivering incoherent speeches. “He wants me to buckle down. Well, I am buckling down, Paz—does no

one see that? I’m hard at work. I’m doing for him what he couldn’t do for

me. Rid the world of evil.”

These excerpts imply that Ernesto’s father works hard on their tobacco business to be

able to send him to school. As soon as news reaches the father that Ernesto is only wasting away

his allowance for things other than school needs, he decidedly stops sending him his monthly

allowance. Paz, on the other hand, shows more affection and love for her father, who is a

fisherman, since she longs to someday be able to help alleviate their financial sitation. Paz is also

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shown to regularly keep in touch with her father through letters. The quality of Paz’s relationship

with her father can be seen in the following excerpts:

C19.1: My father had written me from Ponteverde that the seas were still barren.

C19.8: Paz, my daughter—I could see him in that old house, the windows open upon the

night made dark by coconut fronds, cicadas singing in the eaves, and my father

overcome by despair—there is talk that the relief clothes and milk are going to

those who do not need them…

C20.3: One sea away, my own father waited for some comfort and I could give

nothing.

C30.7: I did not love the world but I loved my father and I was beginning to care about

Ernesto Bello.

C42.1: I wrote all that to an old man in Ponteverde and his reply was prompt but brief.

Paz, I need never worry over you again.

C43.1: After a while, I wondered what Father meant.

C43.2: Was he disappointed because I had learned compromise, did he think that I

had failed him?

C43.3: I could never fathom my father.

C43.5: He and Ernesto were alike, but father’s anger was an old, futile one.

C57.1: My father had not died the quiet, peaceful death he deserved.

C70.1: I wanted to settle the death of my father forever in my mind.

C70.3: If I proved myself right, if I could woo him away from The World to a world,

away from Life to life, away from Mankind to me, I might, across the abyss

between the living and the dead, bridge the silence and tell my father that I had

discovered what had eluded him in an entire lifetime and the secret was: one

forever.

C89.4: As I drifted farther and farther away, I met my father, bobbing gently in the

waters, and I began to weep.

Finally, it is important to note that the socialites in the woman’s club where Paz Nuqui

works as a college student seem to be discriminating towards women who are considered low

class in society. They reflect high society women who instantly look down on GI brides,

laundrywomen, waitresses and manicure girls. This kind of discrimination can be seen in the

following excerpts:

C28.1: They don’t deserve it, declared Lourdes Adriano, in charge of the orientation

courses for G.I. brides.

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C28.2: These laundrywomen and waitresses and manicure girls going to that

wonderful country!

The characterization of women and men in this story reveals many power hierarchies

which reflect Filipino patriarchy. The men are seen to be the ones dominating many aspects of

life, whether it is in the military domain, in the family (e.g., the husband as head and provider of

the family), in the workplace (e.g., Ernesto as a top executive), and in their sexual affairs with

women (e.g., the bar girls of Lipa and the mistress of Ernesto). Women, on the other hand, are

portrayed as submissive (e.g., Paz on Ernesto, Marietta on Ernesto, the bar girls on male

customers) to males. More importantly, females in the story are shown to be more patient than

males. The story reveals through its characters that women are more emotionally stable than men

because of the many instances showing men losing their temper or showing their impatience.

The characterization of the women and men in the story also provides the reader with different

perspectives since it presents men and women from different social classes, with different and

changing personalities, beliefs, and priorities.

In terms of fragmentation, there is a significant difference in the way that the bodies of

women and men are described in the story. Evidently, more detailed descriptions are given to

women than to men. The only man whose physical appearance is described is the main character,

Ernesto Bello.

Five women were shown to have "stretched their lovely legs" (C56.6). A gendered

reading of this description suggests that this is a gender-inflected statement since there is a

certain level of inappropriacy in emphasizing this particular act of stretching a woman's legs.

Furthermore, the women’s legs are even described here to be "lovely." Women, in this case, are

described in relation to their sexual attractiveness to men.

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The character of Dora is also described in terms of the qualities of her body parts, such as

the following: "lush-bodied" ( C55.10) and "a sensual ripple would start at her shoulders and end

somewhere in her toes" (C55.10). Marietta Bello is also described by the narrator by

enumerating some features of her body, as follows: "expensive baubles on her ears, her lovely,

perfect neck rose proudly above her dress…" (C153.1). Ernesto Bello's secretary is also

described according to her facial features, such as: "a pair of arching eyebrows that twitched

delicately together with the fine edges of her nostrils" (C111.4). Apparently, these descriptions

convey to the reader the gendered assumption that women are usually noticed with regard to

their fragmented body parts and not to their overall body characteristics that catch the interest the

reader, and that in reality, they easily attract men. There is also mention of a room being free

from pictures of "voluptuous nudes" (C76.5). The “nudes” described here are most likely

assumed by the Filipino reader as referring to women.

To summarize the descriptions given to bodies of the women characters, the shape of

their bodies or certain parts of her bodies, particularly the legs, shoulders, toes, flesh, eyebrows,

nostrils, and neck, may be enumerated as follows:

-lovely legs (C56.9)

-exceptionally voluptuous (C56.6)

-a sensual ripple would start at her shoulders and end somewhere in her toes (C56.10)

-lush-bodied (C56.11)

-her flesh had bloomed beneath the touch of strangers (C56.12)

- a pair of arching eyebrows that twitched delicately together (C111.4)

-fine edges of her nostrils (C111.4)

-woman bathing by a river bank (C145.6)

-lovely, perfect neck (C153.1)

Here, it is very apparent that the physical descriptions given to women are more

complicated and rather sensationalized than those given to men. This shows that women

represented in this manner are described according to their sensuality and sexual attractiveness.

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This is reinforced by the observation that men are also portrayed as always possessing sexual

appetite for women, as in the following passage:

C120.5: No time for tenderness, only a deadly, desperate performance, passion forced

out of his pores like tomorrow’s copy and next week’s jingle.

Men, on the other hand, are not described with terms that carry sexual connotations.

Ernesto Bello is described as "not tall" (C15.1) and having a "bullish neck" (C15.1). There is

also mention that later on in his life, he becomes “bald with aging" (C3.3). The description given

to the male is not so pleasant and physically attractive. The only description given which may be

regarded as physically appealing to a woman is on Ernesto's eyes, which are said to be "poet's

eyes, full of dreams" (C15.3).

This observation on the fragmentation of women and men reveals that there are more

descriptions of the bodies of women than those of men. Physical description of women include

their bodies as a whole, and, more abundantly, in fragmented parts. Although not unclothed, they

are described in a way that can compel the reader to imagine them as if they are unclothed. The

following descriptions show this observation:

-exceptionally voluptuous (C56.6)

-lush-bodied (C56.11)

-woman bathing by a river bank (C145.6)

Text 4: “The Sounds of Sunday”

The Story

After numerous fights and disagreements, Emma Gorrez decides to leave her husband,

Domingo Gorrez, and the city, to return to Tayug with their two sons. Upon reaching Tayug,

Emma Gorrez visits the kiosk in Tayug where she had met him several years ago. At the kiosk,

Emma remembers how she first bumped into him there, and at the same time, how badly they

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have fought two weeks before she decides to move out with their sons. She imagines that despite

their differences, she would still accept him if he followed her to Tayug. However, Domingo

does not return. That same day, Emma runs into several people she had known before. She meets

Mrs. Pintoy and spends time talking to her. She also meets Rene Rividad, the man who once

courted her, and requests if she can teach again at his high school. Rene immediately accepts her

return. She also sees his wife, Norma Rividad, waiting for a bus going to Dagupan. Afterwards,

Emma Gorrez observes the place and notices changes and improvements in Tayug, such as deers

that can now be seen in the plaza, bigger structures that have been built, and two new movie

houses near the railway station.

The story then slips back in time to the period when Emma is still with Domingo. Earlier

in their marriage, they experience financial instability. Their business attempt with the Cosio

family convince them to leave Tayug, only to find the press business failing as well as the good

friendship between the families dwindling. After the collapse of the business, Domingo does not

lose faith and is determined to recover from their loss. This also marks the beginning of Emma

and Domingo’s marital problems since Emma thinks it best and safe to return to Tayug while

Domingo believes otherwise. Domingo decides that his family stay in the city and Emma

succumbs. He finds a high-paying job at the Public Relations department of Quality Products. By

this time, Emma is already pregnant.

Emma and Domingo argue and fight constantly about their new situation. Emma asserts

that life in Tayug is better, more peaceful, and more meaningful, while in the city, they are

morally challenged by the trends of corruption. Domingo firmly objects and insists that they

need money and it is important for their family. Emma worries that the nature of Domingo’s job

involves lying and deceiving, which means he is sacrificing his own honor and integrity. One

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instance revealing this is when Domingo bribes Mr. Navarro to silence him on the case of his

harassed daughter who works in the company and is victimized by one of the executives.

Eventually, Mr. Navarro’s guilt compels him to end his own life. A week after his death,

Domingo receives a mail with the torn check he offered Mr. Navarro. Emma abhors Domingo

upon learning this.

Somehow, Emma feels herself engaging in corruption when she eventually accepts the

money Domingo repeatedly offers her and buys expensive things. Emma reminds Doming that

he used to be a good man. Doming is not affected and convinced by her opinions. After many

irresolvable arguments, Emma Gorrez decides to leave Domingo and return to Tayug with their

two sons. While separated, they write letters to each other asking how they are doing.

Eventually, Domingo stops writing to her.

Back in Tayug, people are silently expecting that Domingo will soon follow Emma and

the children. Meanwhile, Emma already begins teaching at the school of Rene Rividad and is

enjoying her simple life with her two sons. One afternoon, Rene Rividad meets with her and

talks about how his parents died in the plaza forty years ago. He recalls that they led and

organized an insurrection and Rene himself saw how they died, fighting for their lives. He feels

guilty for not bravely telling the officers that he was their son. His current situation with his wife,

Norma, also brings him some guilt since he can not seem to make her happy enough to prevent

her from engaging in extramarital affairs. Rene says that the Rizal statue at the plaza is a witness

to everything significant that has happened in his life. Emma suddenly remembers that moment

years ago when, in that same place, Rene professed his love for her, two weeks before she

married Domingo.

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Before Emma and Domingo separate, Domingo often delights in divulging the inside

happenings in the company. Since Domingo, together with Ernesto Bello, is a favorite and an

accomplice of the “Big Man,” he knows well about the sexual adventures of the boss with some

of the female employees. In return for doing him sexual favors, these girls receive luxurious gifts

such as jewelry and enough money to build houses for themselves. Even the accounting clerk,

Mina, is enjoying money tremendously and girls wish to be included in her list of recipients.

Domingo also takes Emma to one of their festive company parties where Emma witnesses the

already terminated employee, Testa, who comes storming at the party, grabbing his wife who

had previously arrived and begged for her husband’s job back. Testa is the leader of the strike

that upset the company and Domingo, with his colleagues, were the ones who spied and revealed

Testa’s plan. Emma Gorrez blames Domingo for not being fair when he received the manifesto

and did not suggest to the big boss to consider Testa’s appeal for a raise. She tries to insult him

and asks if pimping is the only thing he does for his boss. Upon hearing this, Domingo slaps her

on the cheek.

One afternoon in Tayug, Rene Rividad chances upon Emma Gorrez in a restaurant near

the bus station. Emma thinks it is not unusual for him to be there since it is customary for him to

wait for Norma’s arrival from some other town and to take her home. There in a restaurant at the

bus station, Emma and Rene enjoy talking and being together. In their conversation, Rene asks

Emma when Doming will finally arrive in Tayug. Emma reveals to Rene that she does not know

when Doming will come back and that they are now separated because of some irreconcilable

differences. Two Saturdays later, Emma sees Rene again in the restaurant and this time, she is

not sure if he comes because of Norma or because of her. Emma notices that she becomes more

expectant with Rene and feels happy when she is with him. In their conversation, Emma shares

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her life in the city with Domingo and the many news which Domingo brought home to her. Later

on in their conversation, Rene confesses that he intends to pursue her and that he is not there to

wait for Norma anymore. They regularly meet in the restaurant during the next weekends and

Emma is already tempted to give in to her growing affection for Rene, despite the fact that she is

still married to Domingo. She struggles with her conscience, trying to control herself from seeing

Rene, but she ends up going to their meetings. One Saturday, Emma spends a long time

contemplating on her dilemma with Rene, which causes her to be late for their rendezvous. That

day, she thinks she will not be able to catch him, but upon arriving, she finds him still waiting for

her, with a worried look on his face. Rene expresses to her that he is willing to wait for her no

matter what it takes. Emma tries to discourage Rene and says it is a catastrophe to be in that kind

of relationship. Rene says he will give her strength so she can conquer her fears. In the end, she

realizes that she already loves him, and then, helplessly surrenders.

Analysis

The story is narrated in a way that prioritizes the views of the lead woman character (see

Appendix D, p. 188, for the actual text). The text appears to be emanating mainly from the point

of view of Emma Gorrez, although the one speaking in the story is an external focalizer. The

narrator most often reveals and reaffirms the interests and experiences of Emma Gorrez and not

so much of Domingo Gorrez. This omniscient narration of the main woman character results in a

more comprehensive exposition of her character, which makes the style of this text feminine.

The narrator seems to be extra-vigilant on the character of Emma Gorrez than on any other

character in the story. The narrator is also seen to be agreeing with Emma’s opinions on matters

which she and Doming constantly argue about. The text shows that the narrator can understand

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the situation of Emma Gorrez, almost as if the narrator is as emotional or speaking for Emma

Gorrez herself. This makes the text have a tendency to endorse Emma Gorrez’s opinions as the

ones which are right and true, as opposed to those of Domingo Gorrez. This can be seen in the

following excerpts:

D21.3: It was not a life worth living and she tried to reach him.

D71.1: But Doming could have swung it for Testa, had he been so minded.

D72: Doming had picked up the demands. He could have helped the boss to see how

things really were. Quality stocks were up a hundred percent, provincial outlets

were never better, public relations was going great guns, a few raises would not

have hurt.

Analysis at Word Level

There is not much physical description given in the text towards the characters of the

story. For the women characters, there are only a few descriptions in terms of their hair, make-

up, clothes, body shape, and attractiveness. For instance, the main woman character, Emma

Gorrez, is described in D106.2, with her “hair pulled back, face clean of powder and lipstick,”

and wearing “the simplest clothes” for her meetings with Rene. Here, the woman represented is

simple, albeit the use of beauty supplements to improve and make herself look neater and more

presentable. This description must also be interpreted in the context of the growing emotional

connection between Emma and Rene. Since Emma and Rene are seeing each other often, Emma

is beginning to become more conscious of how she looks. Norma Rividad is also described

physically, with reference particularly to “her potent hips” (D13.1). The context within which

this description is made must also be considered. In the story, Norma is a promiscuous wife who

engages in extra-marital or sexual affairs with different men, which may have led to a description

of her hips as “potent.”

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Nora Glockner’s hand is also described in D17.6, as “slim” and “well-tended.” These

adjectives refer to the typical ideal hand that is expected of a presentable lady. A “slim” hand

that is well-maintained, meaning it is clean, soft and smooth, is attractive to a male observer. On

the other hand, Rene Rividad’s aging mother’s hand is described in the text to be “rough”

(D52.2). This connotes that Rene Rividad’s mother has experienced physical hardships which are

reflected in her “rough hands.”

Emma Gorrez’s simplicity can be shown by her “hair pulled back, face clean of powder

and lipstick” (D106.1). Moreover, Emma’s face is also described in terms of her emotions. In

D45.4, her face is described as “grief-washed” in the scene where she leaves her husband,

Doming.

The women characters in the story are also characterized according to their relation to the

male characters, specifically as wives. The following presents women characters as wives:

D32.2: A little talk about your problem? Supper, and the sight of my children, and my

wife, a fine woman, and my guarantee that nothing I might propose to you will

mean disgrace. Yes, Grandfather?”

D53.4: And then he had lived with another kind of guilt, he was living with it still, in

fact—his wife, Norma Rividad, sick with a greed he could not satisfy, meeting

strange men in strange rooms in strange towns.

D62.5: At that party celebrating the defeat of the strikers against Quality, the boss

danced with all the wives, including Emma Gorrez.

In D32.2, Doming refers to Emma Gorrez as his wife while speaking to Mr. Navarro. The

wives of the men in the company, including Emma Gorrez, are also addressed as such in D62.5.

Also, Norma Rividad is also presented as the wife of Rene Rividad in D53.4.

One controversial term is used to refer to the young employees who engage in indecent

affairs with the executives in the company. These young women are referred to as “playmate”, as

can be seen in the following passage:

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D59.1: Before their estrangement, Doming gleefully brought Emma the latest news of

Big Man’s current playmate.

Lastly, women are also portrayed in the story as talkative. For one, the character of Mrs.

Pintoy is shown to be talkative as her “torrent of words came” (D4.4) in her conversation with

Emma Gorrez one day.

Men are described in terms of their clothing or outfit and the accessories they use. These

signify their status, occupation and level of sophistication. For one, Domingo’s usual office attire

is described twice in the text. He can be seen wearing “the inevitable shirt and sleeves and thin

tie” (D20.3), and his “shoes” (D59.2). Rene Rividad is also described to be wearing a “watch”

(D95.1). Domingo’s colleagues are also named in the text as “the necktied bunch” (D62.11). In

contrast to the males who wear shirts with sleeves and tie, shoes, and watches, Testa, who has

lost his job, is given a different description. He is seen in the text “in a sweat-stained polo shirt”

(D62.10) with a “three days’ beard on his chin” (D62.10). The old father of the young female

employee who died, Mr. Navarro, wears a pair of “threadbare, baggy pants” (D30.1). This

reflects the ways in which the males in the story are categorized according to their occupational

statuses.

Men are also described in terms of their fragmented parts, with references to the “chin”

(D62.10), “hand” (D62.9), “fingers” (D88.2-D88.3), “fist” (D1.7), “arms” (D50.2) and “limbs”

(D59.5). The narrator describes the character of Testa with a “three days’ beard on his chin”

(D62.10). Emma Gorrez notices the “long, nicotine-stained, square-tipped fingers” (D88.3) of

Rene Rividad. Domingo Gorrez can also be seen in the text to be swinging “his fist against the

bedroom wall” (D1.7) while he and Emma are arguing. The statue of Jose Rizal is described in

terms of his “unwearied arms” (D50.2). Big Man, or the big boss of Doming Gorrez, sat in the

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adjoining office with “his limbs trembling with ague and desire” (D59.5). Finally, a “man’s

angry hand” (D62.9) is also seen in one of the scenes in the text. Most of the descriptions of

men’s body parts can be related to what is stereotypically masculine. For instance, a beard on a

man’s chin appears to be highly masculine; arms are also frequently noticed by females in males;

and “a man’s angry hand,” “fist” and “limbs” also connote physical strength and power among

men.

The following instances present Domingo Gorrez to be a charming man:

D31.1: "…bringing the inimitable charm of his father's son to bear upon the old

man…"

D18.3: This man whose dark moods she could not completely grasp, charmed them out

of the frightful mess her foolish rage had plunged them into, the Cosios had been

amenable to letting them go since they were themselves not too eager for a

scandal.

The male charm showed in the story, when used for impure motives, contrasts with the

females’ conscientious characters, which will be shown later. This way, men are depicted as

lacking in moral strength. In relation to this trait, men in the story are seen deceiving other

people and engaging in illicit affairs. The following passages further expose men’s lack of moral

integrity in the story:

D27.1: “You can’t go on plotting and tricking forever, buying respectability for Big

Man in Quality.”

D30.10: Stocks plummeting, faces lost, an entire business built upon the goodwill of a

people (who had been led to believe that Quality employed only God-

fearing men) going up in smoke because this chit of a girl disdained payment.

D58.1 When Ernesto Bello, chief plotter, was out of town, Gorrez called the shots: it

was his voice, coming over the intercom set, that sent them all skittering over the

well-sanded floor of the PR suite.

D59.5 Whoever it was Big Man fancied slipped each noon into Domingo Gorrez’s

room “to nap”—while in the office adjoining, the boss sat, licking his chops,

his limbs trembling with ague and desire.

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At the level of word, some metaphors are used to describe the experiences and

characteristics of certain characters in the stories. For one, at the part where Emma Gorrez is

finally giving in to her romantic relationship with Rene Rividad, she describes her feeling of

vulnerability and fragility in the following passage:

D123.3: This man asked me would I have wanted him to go and I said No, and it was like

a dam breaking, like a wall giving way, and here I bob in the flotsam, not

wanting to save myself.

Emma Gorrez thoughts are revealed in this excerpt as she feels helplessly attracted to

Rene Rividad, but at the same time, she struggles with the dilemma that she cannot be involved

with another man because she is still married. She likens her principles to “a dam breaking…a

wall giving way” for she knows that entering a relationship with Rene Rividad means that she

has to give up her commitment to her husband, Domingo. In D123.4, Emma Gorrez is already

exposing her choice by saying “I do not wish to go ashore,” which means she finally gives in to

Rene.

Finally, the Big Man’s gaze is described as “steely” (D72.5). The element of steel, as it is

used in an adjective form, is associated with the male character. Steel typically connotes

firmness, heaviness, and strength. Similarly, because the Big Man gives Domingo a “steely

gaze,” Domingo recognizes the firmness in the message the boss tries to convey him. In this

situation, the Big Boss wants Domingo to terminate Testa and his allies because of their

opposition to the Big Boss. Domingo allows himself to be manipulated by his boss and obeys

him at once. Also, Big Man is the only character in the story who is likened to an animal,

specifically an “old goat” (D72.4). Goat here is associated with the male and not the female.

Another figurative language used that has to do with sexual affairs is the verb “to nap” in

D59.5, which does not literally mean a short light sleep but is only disguised for a sexual

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activity. The young female employees at Quality Products do ‘naps’ when they enter the Big

Boss’ office and engage in sexual activities with the executive.

Analysis at Phrase/Sentence Level

Certain phrases and sentences in the text reveal the consciousness and mood of the

female characters in the story, especially the lead character, Emma Gorrez. Here are the

following instances where the thoughts and emotions of Emma Gorrez are foregrounded in the

text:

D1.10: This was how married people fought, she had thought—like complete strangers,

with anger pulsing between them.

D2.1: That day in the Kiosk, wondering where he was and what he did while she stood

300 kilometers away, she thought then that if he returned, if she should see him

suddenly looming in the doorway, if he strode in, scowling or not, loving her or

not, she would run to him, and it would not matter that they had hurt each other

terribly.

D13.3: That hadn’t changed, Emma thought, passing her by.

D34.6: The memory of that trembling old man did not hurt her anymore, and she said to

herself, flagging a cab, this was corruption.

D48.1: He can get along without me, she thought bitterly.

D59.4: They were all the same to Emma Gorrez—hungry, eager young girls, fresh

from college, their foolish little heads filled with slick magazine stuff.

D80.1: She did not ask but she knew, instinctively, what he was there for.

D96.2: Like that earlier Saturday, Rividad walked in and Emma’s heart lifted at sight of

him.

D106.6: Sometimes, she fought the wish to see him.

D109.3: She felt her defences go: such a brief word yet it stripped her completely.

D123: I wish I could cross over to the safer side of today, she thought. I wish I could go

back to the plaza, to half an hour ago, beneath the trees, in the thickening dark,

where I mused, lonely, and afraid, but not this afraid. This man asked me would

I have wanted him to go and I said No, and it was like a dam breaking, like a

wall giving way, and here I bob in the flotsam, not wanting to save myself. I am

being swept awash, the shoe is near, one step, and I am safe on the ground, but I

do not wish to go ashore.

Another observation of the text which brings to a deduction that it is feminine is the

occasional appearance of free-flowing, spontaneous constructions that are filled with many

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embeddings. In this case, the main constructions have the tendency to branch out into further

details within one sentence. This spontaneity makes the constructions accretive, which can be

found in the following excerpts (where those in bold letters are emphasized to be the main

constructions):

D2.1: That day in the Kiosk, wondering where he was and what he did while she stood

300 kilometers away, she thought then that if he returned, if she should see him

suddenly looming in the doorway, if he strode in, scowling or not, loving her or

not, she would run to him, and it would not matter that they had hurt each other

terribly.

D17.5: The business blowing up in their faces like that—they had left Tayug, lured by

the Cosios’ promise of friendship, and set up the press, and gone through the

harrowing months when both the business and the friendship wavered, and finally

the nearly fatal end.

D22.6: But when she was insistent, when she talked with yearning of returning to

Tayug, to all that she felt was meaningful to both of them, then he replied, in

monosyllables at first, hoping to discourage her, but finally in long, passionate

statements full of his desire to conquer this city which had humiliated him twice.

D30.2: His daughter had worked at Quality, a silly girl, of whom perhaps it was true

what they had all said later, that she deserved what she had got in the suffocating

office elevator, tragically stalling between floors one twilight.

D33.2: When Doming was through with him, you could not see the wounds, they

were where you could not see them: in the heart that must have bled quickly to

death because, fed and warmed and made much of, Navarro had allowed himself

to leave the Gorrez house with a check.

D52.2: His own mother, three months pregnant, had died at the foot of the statue, one

bullet through her heart, her rough hands grasping the folds of a flag she had

fashioned in the ravines of the Mangatarem mountains where they had gone to

organize.

D53.4: And then he had lived with another kind of guilt, he was living with it still, in

fact—his wife, Norma Rividad, sick with a greed he could not satisfy, meeting

strange men in strange rooms in strange towns.

D59.5: Whoever it was Big Man fancied slipped each noon into Domingo Gorrez’s

room “to nap”—while in the office adjoining, the boss sat, licking his chops, his

limbs trembling with ague and desire.

D60.4: Mina, the knowing minx, had demanded to be sent to Hong Kong several

times, from where she had returned loaded to the ears with luxury goods which

she peddled at tremendous profit to the other girls in the lunchroom—bags,

cashmere sweaters, and silks.

D130.3: She had loved Domingo Gorrez with everything that she had been but they

had been careless, and one paid for carelessness like this—sipping coffee in

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exile, vulnerable and tremulous because, in this wayward inn, someone had said

a warm and tender thing.

Although these accretive constructions do not comprise the majority of the text, the mere

occasional occurrences of these in the text accounts for the writing style of the author. Kerima

Polotan-Tuvera seems to occasionally drop these spontaneous constructions all throughout the

text. Also, there are several constructions which begin with “But” being used as a transitional

device. Passages the use of “But” to begin a construction can be seen below:

D2.2: But only the rain fell outside the Kiosk entrance.

D4.1: But on this day, she ran into them all.

D14.1: But many other things in Tayug had.

D17.7: But someone, Isabelo or Paco or Domingo himself—she never afterwards asked

who—kicked the plug away and slapped Emma and Nora down.

D21.1: But in the city, she watched him drive away to a world that repelled her.

D22.6: But when she was insistent, when she talked with yearning of returning to Tayug,

to all that she felt was meaningful to both of them, then he replied, in

monosyllables at first, hoping to discourage her, but finally in long, passionate

statements full of his desire to conquer this city which had humiliated him twice.

D45.2: But the children were scrambling up the vehicle and they waited for their mother

who turned swiftly on her heels and climbed up.

D58.3: But both knew better than to court disaster.

D70.2: But Bello had not marched with them into Big Man’s office.

D71.1: But Doming could have swung it for Testa, had he been so minded.

D72.5: But Big Man’s steely gaze did not once leave Doming Gorrez’s face, which

blanched and burned by turns.

D93.5: But they had stopped.

D106.4: But as soon as the sun was gone, her feet took her to De Luxe.

Some constructions starting with ‘And’ can also be seen in D35.5 and D53.4, as follows:

D35.5: And at the end of it all, what? a gentle discernment, a manner of soft speech and

belief, belief.

D53.4: And then he had lived with another kind of guilt, he was living with it still, in

fact—his wife, Norma Rividad, sick with a greed he could not satisfy, meeting

strange men in strange rooms in strange towns.

A frequency count on the transitivity choices performed by women and men is also done

to determine differences in the dominant processes which they perform. Consequently, this may

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also be observed to reflect gender differences. The following table summarizes the occurrences

of transitivity processes such as material intention, material supervention, mental, relational, and

material event (see Appendix M for a complete list of transitivity processes):

Table 5

Frequency count of Transitivity Processes in “The Sounds of Sunday”

PROCESSES MALE ACTOR FEMALE ACTOR TOTAL

material intention 132 101 233

material supervention 2 8 10

mental 97 119 216

relational 22 12 34

material event -- -- 17

Table 5 shows that men actually perform more material intention processes (132) than

women do (101), which may reflect that men are the ones who are more active in the story. The

women, on the other hand, serve as the affected recipients of men’s actions, and are very

reflective and introspective of their experiences since most of the time they do not have the upper

hand in many situations. This results in more material supervention processes found in women

(8). Another observation made is that there is high frequency of mental processes in female

actors (119) while relatively few can be found in the male actors (97). This reaffirms that the

women characters are more often seen in the text to be reflective, showing and nurturing their

thoughts and emotions. This finding is similar to the observation made in the undergraduate

thesis of Lacandola (2003) in which transitivity processes are examined in selected short stories

of Kerima Polotan-Tuvera. Similarly, her analysis shows that there is an abundance of mental

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processes, especially the internalized type, whose actors are women. This also leads her to

conclude that women are “‘thinking people’ and that articulation of thoughts is not an enormous

difficulty for them” (p. 63).

In terms of figurative language, some phrases and statements which draw upon gendered

assumptions are seen in the narration. For one, Doming tries to manifest himself as a person who

is full courage and aggressiveness, by “thumping himself on the chest” (D37.1) and saying “I am

all here!” (D37.1). This description draws on a gendered assumption that part of masculinity is

having guts or courage.

Figurative language is also used in D53.4, where Norma is described to be “meeting

strange men in strange rooms in strange towns.” Apparently, this is not a literal description. This

only means that Norma Rividad is addicted to being promiscuous and is having sexual relations

with different men.

Finally, another observation is made on a statement Doming’s as he is arguing with

Emma. He asserts this strong statement: “money lasts” (D24.1). This further reveals a contrast

between his and Emma’s view on money. Also, this proves that Emma is a complete opposite of

the young female employees at Quality Products who accept indecent proposals from their

bosses for their want for money.

Analysis at Discourse Level

In terms of characterization, there are a number of observations on the way that women

and men are represented and described in the story. The text draws on stereotypical gender

information in the context of Filipino men and women and in a traditionally patriarchal society.

The men in the story are: Domingo Gorrez (the main character), Rene Rividad, Rene’s father,

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other men at Domingo’s company such as the Big Man, Ernesto Bello, Testa, Paez and Reyes,

Isabelo and Paco Cosio, Mr. Navarro, Lopez, Father Thomas, Apo Laureano, and the sons of

Doming and Emma. The women represented are: Emma Gorrez (the main character), Norma

Rividad, the female employees also working at Quality Products, the wives of Domingo’s

colleagues, the girl tending the bookstore at Tayug, Mrs. Pintoy, Nora Cosio, Mr. Navarro’s

daughter, Rene’s mother, Ruby Trias, Fely Barba, Mercedes Sulit, Mina the minx, Mrs. Testa,

and Mrs. Puray.

The main difference that the story emphasizes is not much on the physical attributes of

women and men but rather on their attitudes, beliefs, values, priorities and preferences in life.

The men portrayed in the story mirror much of the dominant male stereotypes present in a

Filipino patriarchal society. This is not to say, however, that the stereotypes reflected here are

dominantly positive or dominantly negative. In fact, this story shows contrasting differences in

traits among men. Nevertheless, there are still dominant attitudes and personalities which many

of the men have in common.

One trait that most of the men in the story possess is their charm. Domingo Gorrez best

exemplifies this. He uses his own charm in different ways, depending on his motives and

interests. The following instances present Domingo Gorrez to be a charming man:

D31.1: "…bringing the inimitable charm of his father's son to bear upon the old

man…"

D18.3: This man whose dark moods she could not completely grasp, charmed them out

of the frightful mess her foolish rage had plunged them into, the Cosios had been

amenable to letting them go since they were themselves not too eager for a

scandal.

D32.2: A little talk about your problem? Supper, and the sight of my children, and

my wife, a fine woman, and my guarantee that nothing I might propose to

you will mean disgrace. Yes, Grandfather?”

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In D31.1, Domingo Gorrez's charm is described in relation to his father's charm. It is a

trait which he is supposed to have inherited specifically from his father. This description implies

that charm is a male characteristic which is genetically inherited. In D18.3, Domingo makes use

of his charm in order to make peace with the Cosio family after Emma Gorrez plunges into a

physical fight with one of the Cosios out of her anger. Also, D32.2, Domingo uses his charm and

money to persuade Mr. Navarro not to press charges against their boss. This kind of portrayal

gives a negative image of the male character and associates him with corruption.

The male charm showed in the story, when used for impure motives, contrasts with the

females’ conscientious characters, which will be shown later. This way, men are depicted as

lacking in moral strength. In relation to this trait, men in the story are seen deceiving other

people and engaging in illicit affairs. The following passages further expose men’s lack of moral

integrity in the story:

D27.1: “You can’t go on plotting and tricking forever, buying respectability for Big

Man in Quality.”

D30.10: Stocks plummeting, faces lost, an entire business built upon the goodwill of a

people (who had been led to believe that Quality employed only God-

fearing men) going up in smoke because this chit of a girl disdained payment.

D58.1 When Ernesto Bello, chief plotter, was out of town, Gorrez called the shots: it

was his voice, coming over the intercom set, that sent them all skittering over the

well-sanded floor of the PR suite.

D59.5 Whoever it was Big Man fancied slipped each noon into Domingo Gorrez’s

room “to nap”—while in the office adjoining, the boss sat, licking his chops,

his limbs trembling with ague and desire.

On the other hand, the aged man in the story, Mr. Navarro, is a complete opposite of what

most of the middle-aged men are. Mr. Navarro shows moral integrity, courage, and honesty as he

fights for justice for his victimized daughter:

D29.2: “He was seventy. If nothing else. He had earned the right to die with his

illusions: honor, courage, honesty…”

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D30.4: Mr. Navarro had stormed the offices of Quality, demanding a form of redress

that took everyone aback because it did not include the consideration of

money.

D30.6: Nothing that they could say or offer could deter him.

Later on, as he realizes that he has been tricked by the sweet words of Domingo during

their meeting, Mr. Navarro kills himself out of sheer guilt for the mistake he has done to his

daughter. This act seems to show that he would rather die than live with guilt. This description

presents a difference between old and young men in terms of their moral strength. The following

shows that Mr. Navarro ended his own life:

D33.3: He had killed himself later.

Men are also portrayed as the ones who give more regard to their pride and ego than

women do. For men in the story, it seems very important to protect and preserve their pride and

ego more than anything else. They are always seen to be conscious about proving their strength,

courage, their capacities and making a name for themselves. Again, Domingo Gorrez best

exemplifies this as he is described in the following instances:

D19.8: “I’ll get a job. Then we’ll show this place a thing or two,” he said.

D22.6: But when she was insistent, when she talked with yearning of returning to Tayug,

to all that she felt was meaningful to both of them, then he replied, in

monosyllables at first, hoping to discourage her, but finally in long,

passionate statements full of his desire to conquer this city which had

humiliated him twice.

D37.1: “I am all here!” Doming announced, thumping himself on the chest.

Men in the story are also shown to be gentle and tender. For one, the main character of

Domingo Gorrez depicts a male character who is initially shy, gentle and tender to Emma Gorrez

during the early stages of their relationship, particularly before marriage. This can be seen below:

D1.5: That time, he had stood at the rack, thumbing through a book; when their looks

had met, he had bowed slightly.

D26.1: “Em, Em,” he said, in a voice approximating the old tenderness.

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D121.6: In the happier days, discovering each other for the first time, Doming had

spoken as gently as this man: “Em,” he had said once, “your hands within my

hands.”

Rene Rividad also shows tenderness towards Emma as they grow to like each other later

on in the story when Emma left Domingo. The following shows Emma recognizing the warmth

and tenderness of Rene towards her:

D130.3: She had loved Domingo Gorrez with everything that she had been but they had

been careless, and one paid for carelessness like this—sipping coffee in exile,

vulnerable and tremulous because, in this wayward inn, someone had said a

warm and tender thing.

This show of tenderness from the male characters reflects the fact that women often seek

tenderness and emotional comfort from men and that they are easily attracted to men who

possess these traits. In a traditional courting situation, men initially exert their best effort to

attract and win the hearts of women.

The men are also seen to be the ones making the first move in order to pursue women, as

in the case of the executives at Quality Products pursuing the young female employees, Doming

courting Emma, and Rene courting Emma. Both Domingo and Rene are the ones courting and

pursuing Emma, and the executives in the company where Domingo works have to entice young

female employees by way of money or material gifts in order to convince them to engage in

sexual affairs. The following passages show how men pursue and attract women in two different

situations:

D121.2: Five years ago, as earnestly as Rividad leaned now across the table, Domingo

Gorrez had leaned across another table, and pleaded as Rividad pleaded

today. D60.1-D60.5: You could always tell, said Domingo to his wife, who had done pretty well

by herself. Three or four weeks afterwards someone was certain to be

sporting a diamond ring. One girl had built a summer house for a sick

father, in addition to the sparkler on her finger. Mina, the knowing minx,

had demanded to be sent to Hong Kong several times, from where she

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had returned loaded to the ears with luxury goods which she peddled

at tremendous profit to the other girls in the lunchroom—bags,

cashmere sweaters, and silks. Squealing excitedly, the girls fought for

the privilege of being listed in Mina’s ledger, a brown, hardbound book

she carried all over PR twice a month, into whose pages she wrote names

and debts.

Another representation of men in the story is one who has the role and responsibility of

providing for his family. This role demands that a man must be financially equipped raise and

sustain a family. Throughout their married life, Domingo Gorrez is seen struggling with several

jobs before finally getting a stable, high-paying position at Quality Products, as described by the

following:

D17.3: They had loved each other through the various crises of their married life—the

times when he had chucked jobs and walked out of agreements and turned his

back on decisions.

Rene Rividad, who is married to Norma, also strives hard and succeeds in setting up a

high school after studying in the city. This indicates that is a financially capable husband who

can provide for his family. The following shows briefly how Rene planned his life in order to

establish himself in Tayug:

D53.3: He had left town for years, studied in the city, returning to set up the high

school.

Similarly, the men in the text are also characterized as highly ambitious and career-

oriented. The following instances describe how determined Domingo Gorrez, Ernesto Bello, and

Rene Rividad are in achieving his dreams:

D22.6: But when she was insistent, when she talked with yearning of returning to Tayug,

to all that she felt was meaningful to both of them, then he replied, in

monosyllables at first, hoping to discourage her, but finally in long, passionate

statements full of his desire to conquer this city which had humiliated him

twice. (Domingo)

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D58.2: Heads were constantly being chopped off, but Bello and Gorrez held on to

theirs, although grapevine had it that more than once in the past, conflicting

ambitions had nearly precipitated an open break.).

D53.3: He had left town for years, studied in the city, returning to set up the high

school. (Rene)

The men are also seen to be materialistic as well as having the notion that women are

easily attracted to or swayed by money. Domingo always tries to counter the complaints of

Emma by presenting her with money, as seen in the following instances:

D24.1: “The money lasts. You like the money, don’t you?” he asked.

D34.3: Emma would not spend the new sum but Doming brought it all to her, again and

again and again, until she finally took it.

D36.3: He had pulled desk drawers open, searching heatedly for something she did not

guess until he threw it at her—the dark green, compact bankbook filled with

deposits.

Even while Emma is away from him, Domingo continues to show his interest for material

things as he only mentions in one of his letters to her that “he might trade in the car for a two-

tone mauve” (D47.2) since this “was the latest hue of success” (D47.2). This also shows a

stereotypically masculine trait of fondness of cars.

Also, the main male character in the story, Domingo Gorrez, clearly disregards and

ignores the opposing opinions of his wife, Emma. It indicates that the male character represented

here possesses a mentality that he is better, rational, and has the power over his wife. This can be

seen in the following passages where Emma’s opinions and pleas are ignored by Doming:

D1.7: He would hear no more from her and he had cut short their argument with

one vicious swing of his fist against the bedroom wall.

D19.3: Doming would not hear of it.

D19.4: To her pleas that they would feel safer in the old town, Doming snorted.

D22.6: But when she was insistent, when she talked with yearning of returning to

Tayug, to all that she felt was meaningful to both of them, then he replied, in

monosyllables at first, hoping to discourage her, but finally in long,

passionate statements full of his desire to conquer this city which had humiliated

him twice.

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Another dominant characteristic of men which the story shows is their physical strength

over women. This masculine strength is displayed in several situations in the story. In one of

their arguments, Doming tries to intimidate Emma with a “vicious swing of his fist” (D17.1)

Here, Doming shows his machismo possibly with the intention of ending his wife’s assertions by

frightening her. Male physical strength is also used to end a fight between two furious women,

Emma Gorrez and Nora Cosio, who engage in a violent fight. Somebody among the characters of

Isabello, Paco, and Domingo, is described to have “kicked the plug away and slapped Emma and

Nora down” (D17.7). Finally, Doming showed his physical strength again to his wife as a sign

that he lost his temper. Emma receives “Doming’s blow” (D77.1) on her cheek.

Some men look at themselves in the story as tough, gutsy, and courageous. Domingo is

seen “thumping himself on his chest” (D37.1 and D37.2), which is a way for him to express his

toughness and guts. He also expresses his interest in pitting himself “against a real foe” (D28.3).

Domingo’s big boss is also described in terms of his “steely gaze” (D72.5). One of the

manifestations of how men look at themselves as tough, gutsy and courageous, is also reflected

in the other ways they express themselves. For instance, Doming dares to curse Testa in front of

Emma by saying “goddamn son of a b----ing bastard” (D64.2).

Another characterization of men in the story is their apparent involvement with alcohol

and smoking, as can be seen in the following:

D68.1: Yah, Gorrez said drunkenly, stepping on the grass, swinging the car around a

curve. Moritori te salutamus.

D70.3: When Testa and the rest of the men had walked in, Bello was already there,

behind the boss’ bar, mixing himself a drink.

D88.3: They were long, nicotine-stained, square-tipped fingers.

D105.2: The last bus from Dagupan would drive in; still Rene Rividad sat glued to his

chair, smoking interminably, waiting for Emma to be done with her stories, or

telling some of his own.

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Apparently, men are shown to be engaging in different vices, such as speaking bad

words, drinking alcohol, and smoking, whereas women are not. There is no instance in the text

where the women characters also engage in drinking and smoking as the men do.

Finally, the story presents men who are sexually exploitative towards women, as in the

case of the executives at Quality Products who victimize young female employees by offering

them monetary and material gifts. Whether or not the female employees give in to these offers

willingly, they are still depicted as prey to the sexual desires of men. The following passages

expose these instances:

D30.3: Stumbling, panic-stricken, out of the cold, steel box, babbling hysterically of

an attack perpetrated by Number 2, the executive who loved pastel-colored

shirts and who gobbled fruit pies greedily at the office canteen.

D60.3-D60.5: One girl had built a summer house for a sick father, in addition to the

sparkler on her finger. Mina, the knowing minx, had demanded to be

sent to Hong Kong several times, from where she had returned loaded

to the ears with luxury goods which she peddled at tremendous profit

to the other girls in the lunchroom—bags, cashmere sweaters, and

silks. Squealing excitedly, the girls fought for the privilege of being

listed in Mina’s ledger, a brown, hardbound book she carried all over

PR twice a month, into whose pages she wrote names and debts.

Based on all of these observations, men may be said to share a common representation of

a certain male stereotype. This male stereotype is an ambitious man who is usually the head and

provider of the family, career-oriented, concerned with financial security, very rational, logical

and practical, even at the expense of moral integrity.

Female characterization in the story reflects the way that women behave, move and are

treated within traditionally Filipino patriarchal society. It seems that in any situation in the story,

the woman is always inevitably possessed, or at least drawn towards the man (e.g. Emma to

Doming, Emma to Rene, some female employees to the Big Boss, and Norma to different men).

This major feature will be explained further later on. Moreover, women are also represented in

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the story in contrasting ways, which shows that women cannot be classified as a homogeneous

group which uniform personalities. It is important to note that since Emma Gorrez is the main

woman character of the story, she represents the woman in more ways than the other women

characters do.

Characterization of women in the story is presented in several ways. For instance, Emma

Gorrez represents a woman who is highly reflective, evaluative and sentimental. In the story,

Emma is always seen thinking and reflecting. The following instances display this characteristic

of the main woman character:

D2.1: That day in the Kiosk, wondering where he was and what he did while she

stood 300 kilometers away, she thought then that if he returned, if she should

see him suddenly looming in the doorway, if he strode in, scowling or not, loving

her or not, she would run to him, and it would not matter that they had hurt

each other terribly.

D12.2: She would not do her remembering this way, outside in the street, beneath the

hot sun, before the searching eyes of this thin, greying man who had once said he

loved her.

D36.1-D36.2: “We’re all in fragments….And I want us both whole. Complete.”

D38.3: “You were a good man,” she said simply.

It is important to note that the great dilemma that Emma Gorrez faces in the story has to

do with her role as the wife of Doming as well as being a responsible mother to her children. As

shown in D16.6:

Emma would gather the children in the room farthest from the noise, reading stories from

books salvaged from the wreck of the Gorrez marriage.

While living together with Doming, Emma devotes all her time as a housewife and a

mother. As soon as she distances herself from Doming and returns to Tayug, she ceases to be a

wife and this is typically an unacceptable situation since a married couple are expected to be

together and hold on their marital vows. Emma appears to break this vow by leaving Domingo.

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In addition to this, Emma Gorrez also defies the stereotype of women being full-time housewives

and begins working for her children as a means of survival and as a proof also that she can be a

strong, independent mother, no matter how regular her allowances from Domingo arrive.

In terms of values and lifestyle preferences, there are contrasting representations of

women characters in the story. Emma Gorrez, who is the main woman character in the story, is a

very simple woman who prefers to live modestly in the countryside than in the city. She is

always seen to express to Doming that she prefers to live in Tayug than stay in the city. There are

many textual clues showing that amidst the financial abundance she is experiencing because of

Domingo’s success in his career, she is always found seeking the simple life that they once had

in the countryside. The following passages show the consistency of Emma’s lifestyle preference:

D19.2: Emma wanted to return to Tayug.

D22.6: But when she was insistent, when she talked with yearning of returning to

Tayug, to all that she felt was meaningful to both of them, then he replied, in

monosyllables at first, hoping to discourage her, but finally in long, passionate

statements full of his desire to conquer this city which had humiliated him twice.

D40.1: “We could live in Tayug quietly and modestly,” she said.

D49.4: It was the quiet and modest life that she had wanted. Each day, she walked the

boys to the primary school building atop Manresa Knoll and then turned downhill

again towards the high school.

The story also portrays women characters as having weaknesses and these have to do

with their attraction to money and their vulnerability towards men. Emma Gorrez, who is a

principled woman bravely separates from her husband, is still seen with weaknesses. The

following passages show how women can be weak at times:

D34.3: Emma would not spend the new sum but Doming brought it all to her, again and

again and again, until she finally took it.

D106.6: Sometimes, she fought the wish to see him.

D109.3: She felt her defences go: such a brief word yet it stripped her completely.

D53.4: And then he had lived with another kind of guilt, he was living with it still, in

fact—his wife, Norma Rividad, sick with a greed he could not satisfy, meeting

strange men in strange rooms in strange towns.

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D59.4: They were all the same to Emma Gorrez—hungry, eager young girls, fresh

from college, their foolish little heads filled with slick magazine stuff.

In D34.3, Emma eventually accepts the money which Doming hands over to her again

and again, and then spends the money on expensive things. Emma also considers it a struggle to

begin falling in love with Rene, as seen in D106.6. Finally, she gives in to her feelings for Rene

and accepts him in D109.3. Other women characters also show their weaknesses towards men. In

D53.4, Norma Rividad is characterized as an adulterous wife. Also, young female employees in

the company where Doming works also showed their sexual weaknesses (D59.4) since they are

easily swayed to accept indecent proposals offered by their bosses.

Women are also portrayed in the story as talkative. For one, the character of Mrs. Pintoy

is shown to be talkative as her “torrent of words came” (D4.4) in her conversation with Emma

Gorrez one day. As for Emma Gorrez, all of the instances showing her arguments with Doming

also prove that with her assertiveness also comes her talkativeness. This characteristic can be

found in the following:

D1.7: He would hear no more from her and he had cut short their argument with

one vicious swing of his fist against the bedroom wall.

D19.4: To her pleas that they would feel safer in the old town, Doming snorted.

D22.1: In the high, airless room of the Sampaloc apartment house, she spoke from the

depths of her blanket at night.

D22.6: But when she was insistent, when she talked with yearning of returning to

Tayug, to all that she felt was meaningful to both of them, then he replied, in

monosyllables at first, hoping to discourage her, but finally in long, passionate

statements full of his desire to conquer this city which had humiliated him twice.

D35.1: In their room, she spelled the word for him and Doming Gorrez laughed.

D38.2-D38.3: “No, you’re not—you were easier to love before. Do you remember

yourself then, Doming?” she asked. “You were a good man,” she said

simply.

D40.1-D40.2: “We could live in Tayug quietly and modestly,” she said. “You would

not have to arrange people’s lives for them.”

D75.1-D75.2: “Everything led to that one moment, Doming,” she said. “You could

have redeemed yourself. You could have done the right thing. But a

shrug is a smart reflex, it comes with a half a dozen others in a handy

kit they distribute among today’s bright boys…”

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Despite the woman’s weaknesses which the story appears to show to the reader, the

character of Emma Gorrez stands out. Overall, she represents a woman who is strong and firm in

her decisions. As a wife, there is an instance in the story where she “would not allow Doming to

touch her” (D34.1). Apparently, in this case, she is firm enough that Doming can not do anything

to change her mind. The best proof of Emma’s conviction is shown in D36.4, where she decides

to leave Doming to return to the countryside:

It was as if he had said something obscene and she knew then that she would have to

leave him.

Since Doming does not listen anymore to her and does not fulfill her wishes, she gains

enough courage to separate herself from him. Doming does not do anything to stop her from

leaving as Doming also remains equally firm about his decisions regarding his work and

ambitions.

One main observation about the discourse of the story is that even without knowing that

the author of the story is a woman, the detailed description of and familiarity with the

psychological make-up of a woman character in the narration is already identifiable with a

female author. The woman, particularly Emma Gorrez, is positioned in such a way that the

reader, especially a woman reader, will sympathize with her, no matter what choice she makes in

the end. Her husband, Domingo Gorrez, is put in a very a “bad light” so to speak because he is

portrayed as someone who lacks moral strength. The fact that Emma is constantly questioning

her husband for his growing hunger for worldly security gives more emphasis that Emma Gorrez

has greater moral strength than Domingo has. As can be observed, Emma Gorrez never stops

arguing with Domingo about the nature of his career and the importance of doing what is right.

This can be seen in the numerous instances:

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D21.1: But in the city, she watched him drive away to a world that repelled her.

D21.3: It was not a life worth living and she tried to reach him.

D22.6: But when she was insistent, when she talked with yearning of returning to

Tayug, to all that she felt was meaningful to both of them, then he replied, in

monosyllables at first, hoping to discourage her, but finally in long, passionate

statements full of his desire to conquer this city which had humiliated him twice.

D23.1: “We want things that will last,” she said.

D27.1: “You can’t go on plotting and tricking forever, buying respectability for Big

Man in Quality.” (Emma)

D29.2: “He was seventy. If nothing else. He had earned the right to die with his

illusions: honor, courage, honesty…” (Emma)

D38.3: “You were a good man,” she said simply.

D40.2: “You would not have to arrange people’s lives for them.” (Emma)

D46.8: You buy and sell beliefs, you buy and sell sensibilities, and of course, in the

final analysis, you buy and sell people… (Emma)

D75.2: “You could have redeemed yourself. You could have done the right thing.

But a shrug is a smart reflex, it comes with a half a dozen others in a handy kit

they distribute among today’s bright boys…” (Emma)

D76.1: “Are you sure,” she asked aloud, “are you sure pimping is all you do for

him?”

D98.2: “Youth, good looks, courage. Where did that all go?” (Emma)

Towards the end of the story, Emma Gorrez own conscience is tested by being trapped in

another situation where she becomes involved with Rene Rividad in Tayug after her separation

from Domingo. There, she struggles with her conscience and vulnerability to the obvious

affection of Rene Rividad. The story ends with Emma Gorrez finally giving in to Rene Rividad

while her marriage is falling apart. Not only does this present the woman as also prone to giving

into temptations, but this gives the impression that man is always the woman’s weakness. Emma

Gorrez is easily lured by the gentleness of Rene towards her. The following shows how Emma is

emotionally “trapped”:

D129.1: She had run away from violence only to meet it here…

D130.3: She had loved Domingo Gorrez with everything that she had been but

they had been careless, and one paid for carelessness like this—sipping

coffee in exile, vulnerable and tremulous because, in this wayward inn,

someone had said a warm and tender thing.

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The narrative pathways clearly present the woman as someone who always ends up being

caught in a trap because of her vulnerability to man. Aside from Emma Gorrez, another woman

character is seen to be vulnerable when it comes to men. The following shows the character of

Norma Rividad being described to be always sleeping with different men in different towns:

D53.4: And then he had lived with another kind of guilt, he was living with it still, in

fact—his wife, Norma Rividad, sick with a greed he could not satisfy, meeting

strange men in strange rooms in strange towns.

To sum up the observations made on the characters, what is really shown in the story as

far as gender is concerned is the contrast of how the majority of women and men are represented

compared to the very few cases of women and men who stand out in terms of their beliefs and

views in life. The character of Emma Gorrez and Mr. Navarro, for instance, is different from the

other characters since they are consistently and exceptionally conscientious. The story presents a

prevailing trend in the moral reputation of characters who are described as corrupt and whose

values are shown to be deteriorating. More importantly, in various situations in the story, the

women characters turn out to be victims of the men with whom they interact. This coincides with

the observation that women are vulnerable to men and can be easily abused by them. This is the

case in the story no matter how much the female tries to fight for her dignity, rights, and beliefs.

There is also a gender difference in terms of what women and men prioritize and value in

their relationships. For instance, it seems acceptable that the wife prioritizes her family above all

else while the husband prioritizes financial success, his career and ambitions, even sometimes at

the expense of his family’s emotional health and well-being. This is the main source of conflict

between Emma and Doming that causes them to clash and distance themselves from each other.

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In addition, most actions by the men in the story frequently relate to their goal of achieving their

ambitions and their personal interests. They are also seen to be more logical than women.

Relationships represented in the story are: husband-wife, mother-child, and boss-

subordinate, and friend-friend. It is clear that there are power hierarchies present in the text. For

instance, the Big Boss in the company where Domingo Gorrez works naturally has authority

over his subordinates. All throughout the text, there is a clear domination by the “Big Boss”, who

always has the power and final say in the company, no matter what kind of decisions he makes.

This can be seen in the following passages:

D30.3: Stumbling, panic-stricken, out of the cold, steel box, babbling hysterically of an

attack perpetrated by Number 2, the executive who loved pastel-colored

shirts and who gobbled fruit pies greedily at the office canteen.

D58.1: When Ernesto Bello, chief plotter, was out of town, Gorrez called the shots: it

was his voice, coming over the intercom set, that sent them all skittering over the

well-sanded floor of the PR suite.

D59.1: Before their estrangement, Doming gleefully brought Emma the latest news of

Big Man’s current playmate.

Furthermore, the passages above also show that there is an evident abuse of power from

the top executives within the company. The scandal with the young female employees, as in

D30.3, shows that the executives take advantage of their power and their money to engage in

sexual affairs with these girls. The boss influences and manipulates Doming and the rest of his

colleagues by making them accomplices in his sexual activities with the female employees in the

company. Also, the boss cleverly manages to ignore the pleas of the employees whom he finds to

be opposing his objectives and corrupt motives for the company, as in the case of the striker,

Testa, who is seen pleading for a salary increase. Doming is also shown to be obedient to his

boss in matters concerning the termination of those employees who appear to oppose the boss,

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particularly the group of Mr. Testa. The following shows how Testa has been controlled and

defeated by the Big Boss, Gorrez and other accomplices:

D62.11: He had led the strike and lost, and here, gathered for a victorious evening,

were the enemy, Bello, Gorrez, Reyes, Paez, the necktied bunch, who had

pledged support, and then sold him out.

In the case of Domingo and Emma’s relationship as husband and wife, there also appears

to be a power hierarchy. For most of their married life, Emma submits to the decisions made by

her husband, as can be seen in D19.7-D19.8:

“We’re staying, Em,” he said. “I’ll get a job. Then we’ll show this place a thing or two,”

he said.

There is also an indication that Domingo tends to dismiss the ideas presented to him by

Emma. The passage in D22.6 shows this:

But when she was insistent, when she talked with yearning of returning to Tayug, to all

that she felt was meaningful to both of them, then he replied, in monosyllables at first,

hoping to discourage her, but finally in long, passionate statements full of his desire

to conquer this city which had humiliated him twice.

However, in certain situations in the story, Emma Gorrez and Norma Rividad also gain

the upper hand to do what they choose to do even if it is against the will of their husbands. The

story shows that Domingo Gorrez fails to stop Emma Gorrez as she decides to leave him alone

and go back to the countryside with her two sons. Similarly, Norma Rividad seems to be free to

see other men while her husband does not stop her from doing so.

Lastly, there is also a power hierarchy in terms of class. In the scene where Mr. Navarro

avenges his daughter, there is not much that he can do to obtain justice since he does not have the

power and financial means needed to deal with the guilty executive who victimized her daughter.

In terms of fragmentation, the bodies or body parts of both women and men in the story

are rarely mentioned and when mentioned, they are done so only in passing. Also, their bodies

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are always presented as fragmented parts. The examples of which can be found in the discussion

under Analysis at Word Level since much of the descriptions of the characters are in fragmented

form.

Many forms of figurative language are also seen in the story. One can be found in

D123.3, Emma Gorrez thoughts are revealed as she feels helplessly attracted to Rene Rividad,

but at the same time, she struggles with the dilemma that she cannot be involved with another

man because she is still married. She likens her principles to “a dam breaking…a wall giving

way” for she knows that entering a relationship with Rene Rividad means that she has to give up

her commitment to her husband, Domingo. In D123.4, Emma Gorrez is already exposing her

choice by saying “I do not wish to go ashore,” which means she finally gives in to Rene.

In one particular scene, the narrator cites an excerpt of a particular poem which Domingo

Gorrez used when he was still courting Emma Gorrez long ago. This particular excerpt of a

poem strongly shows certain gendered assumptions. The excerpt of the poem is as follows:

D121.7: “Your hands within my hands are deeds; my tongue upon your throat; singing

arms close; eyes wide, undoubtful, dark, drink the dawn—a forest shudders in

your hair!”

Here, the voice of the persona seems to be a man addressing a woman. The woman

addressed here is the one whose hands are within [the male’s] hands. Also [the male’s] tongue is

imagined to be upon the female’s throat. This positions the woman as the passive recipient and

prey to the male persona.

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CHAPTER SIX

Conclusions and Recommendations

This study has shown that the feminist stylistic framework of Sara Mills has been useful

in examining representations of characters at the word, phrase/sentence, and discourse levels. By

identifying dominant and recurring features of characterization and by foregrounding these

recurring patterns, the study has shown the significant differences between the women and men

in the four selected stories of Kerima Polotan-Tuvera. This study has also uncovered the writing

style/practice of the said author that has to do with gender.

The study arrives at conclusive answers to the related questions initially posed. These

observations lead to the: (1) Identification of representation of female and male characters

through recurring patterns in the texts, and (2) Kerima Polotan-Tuvera’s writing style/practice in

terms of gender representation.

Recurring Patterns

Women characters differ from the men in that there are more descriptions given to them

which pertain to their thoughts, emotions, experiences, vulnerability towards men, and their

physical characteristics. Men, on the other hand, are described according to their physical

strength, personalities, attitudes, which dominate women.

Word Level

All stories contain descriptions of women and men focusing on their physique, some of

which displaying sensual appeal, for example: “big [body]” (for a man), “breasts” (for a young

146

girl), “shapely” (for a girl), “ripe” (for a woman), “sensual [ripple]” (for a woman), “potent

[hips]” (for a woman), and “lush-bodied” (for a woman). What can be seen is the dominance of

descriptions that distinctly set apart images of women and men in the stories.

The stories also dominantly feature the use of metaphors or figurative language which

draws on gendered assumptions. The women characters are associated with suggestive

metaphors and euphemisms as shown by the following:

an animal wailing,

being caught in a trap (Elisa),

a wooden bird that was broken but fixed by the carpenter (Miss Mijares),

“nap” (what some of the young female employees at Quality Products do;

referring to engaging in illicit affairs with executives),

a dam breaking, like a wall giving way (vulnerability and fragility of Emma

Gorrez),

“ripe for picking” (an unnamed woman), and

“flesh bloomed beneath the touch of strangers” (Dora).

Another evidence of this feature is shown in the description of men in terms of their

height (Domingo Gorrez), size (Mr. Gabriel), length or shortness of their body parts (e.g., “long

[nicotined fingers]” of Mr. Rividad). Furthermore, all the lead male characters in the stories are

also consistently described according to their occupations and the clothes they wear. This can be

seen in the following table:

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Table 6

Descriptions of Men according to occupation and clothing

Category The Virgin The Trap The Tourists The Sounds of

Sunday

Occupation the carpenter Mr. Gabriel:

teacher

Ernesto Bello:

PR Executive

Tomas:

Journalist

Domingo

Gorrez: Public

Relations

Officer

Rene Rividad:

Head and owner

of school

Clothing His clothes,

though old, were

pressed and she

could see the

cuffs of his shirt

buttoned and

wrapped about

bug, strong

wrists. (B15.2)

It was a brown

suit he wore.

(A15.6)

Men still

dressed in

utilitarian

khaki and on

this particular

twilight of ’46,

they hurried

home from jobs

at army depots

or Afwespac

clerking pools,

food bags in

their hands and

worry on their

minds. (D32.10)

He wore them

[brogans] like a

mark of his

impatient

manhood.

(D13.3)

But for his

shoes, he was

getting to be

what a young

girl might safely

fall in love with.

(D54.6)

He slid into it

smoothly,

effortlessly,

wearing the

inevitable shirt

and sleeves and

thin tie. (C20.3)

Mr. Navarro

had come

knocking at

their door, one

evening, an old

man in

threadbare,

baggy pants.

(C30.1)

Each night, as

soon as he had

loosened his tie

and kicked off

his

shoes…(C59.2)

There was

Testa, in a

sweat-stained

polo shirt,

three days’

beard on his

chin. (C62.10)

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Phrase/Sentence Level

At the phrase/sentence level, what is notable is the emergence of a writing style that

defines Polotan-Tuvera as a woman writer.

The individual analyses highlight the long spontaneous descriptions of scenes which

branch out to further details, digressing from the main construction. Polotan-Tuvera’s writing

style surfaces as recurring features once again can be observed in the following passages:

Table 7

Representative passages showing accretive constructions

The Virgin Secret, short-lived thoughts flitted through her mind—in the

jeepneys she took to work when a man pressed down beside her and

through her dress she felt the curve of his thigh; when she held a baby

in her arms, a married friend’s baby or relative’s, holding in her hands a

tiny, pulsing body, what thoughts she did not think, her eyes straying

against her will to the bedroom door and then to her friend’s laughing,

talking face, to think; how did it look now, spread upon a pillow,

unmasked of the little wayward coquetries, how went the lines about

the mouth and beneath the eyes (did they close, did they open?) in the

one final, fatal coquetry of all? (A6.2)

The Trap We knew no one, of course—“We’ll make friends”, my father had

said—and expected no welcome, but having left Tayug with reluctance,

I had urged my father during the trip to drive faster so that we might

arrive in Cabuyao early enough for someone to see us drive in. (B1.4)

The Tourists Whatever aroused him, it was always trivial, except for the

“principle,” and one could forget that too if one finally accepted the

fact that the world was run by people ill-prepared for the task: right did

not always triumph, evil often prevailed, the wicked prospered. (C41.6)

The Sounds of Sunday When Doming was through with him, you could not see the

wounds, they were where you could not see them: in the heart that

must have bled quickly to death because, fed and warmed and made

much of, Navarro had allowed himself to leave the Gorrez house with a

check. (D33.2)

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Another recurring feature in the writing style of Kerima Polotan-Tuvera is her use of

“But” and “And” as connectives or transitional devices. This is consistently present in the four

stories. The following are examples gleaned from the four texts:

A2.2: But years of working for the placement section had dulled the edges of her

instinct for courtesy.

B24.4: But on the porch of our home, I had no sooner put my books down than I turned

around and ran back to school, taking the narrow dike this time.

C3.2: But a familiar gesture would give him away.

D71.1: But Doming could have swung it for Testa, had he been so minded.

A6.1: And yet Miss Mijares did think of love.

C19.7: And when, on a luckless day, a blade descends at last, your soul has gone soaring

even before the saber touches your neck.

D35.5: And at the end of it all, what? a gentle discernment, a manner of soft speech and

belief, belief.

Discourse Level

One prominent difference between the men and women characters is that women are

always portrayed as emotional and reflective beings while men are always logical, restrained,

and somewhat detached. Individual analyses prove that the texts emphasize the views of the

women rather than those of the men.

Elisa in “The Trap” pours out her thoughts and feelings about her own experiences going

through adolescence. Miss Mijares in “The Virgin” is described in a way that exposes much of

her sentiments, fears, and struggles in life as an unmarried woman. In the narration of “The

Sounds of Sunday,” the focus of the text is not only on the relationship between Emma and

Domingo Gorrez but also on what she believes to be essential but in conflict with Domingo

Gorrez’s principles. Here, it is also emphasized that Emma Gorrez’s values are stronger than

those of Domingo. The story also shows her own internal struggles even after she is separated

from her husband. In “The Tourists,” Paz Nuqui narrates her experiences particularly with a man

that she meets in college and loves dearly. Here, her heartaches and inner battles are also shown

150

while Ernesto Bello’s initially idealistic image wanes into one that is materialistic and power-

hungry. Another observation is that in the narration of the stories, women characters perform

more frequently through their thoughts and emotions as reflected in the frequency of mental

processes mentioned. Table 8 shows some representative passages showing this contrast between

women and men in the stories:

Table 8

Emotional vs Logical/Restrained/Detached contrast between women and men

Story Woman Man

The Virgin In the room of her unburied

undead, she had held up hands

to the light, noting the thick,

durable fingers, thinking in a

mixture of shame and

bitterness and guilt that they

had never touched a man.

(A8.6)

“It was an emergency,

ma’am,” he said. “My son

died.” (A36.1-A36.2)

The Trap Some books I had given her,

and tears, and a girlish

promise I would write

faithfully. (B6.2)

I held her arms tightly,

wanting to see her tears, but

my father said,” All right, all

right,” and I let her go. (B6.5)

The Tourists I was angry with myself but

angrier with him for

making me feel guilty.

(C33.11)

“Everyone,” declared Bello,

“can be bought.” (C170.1)

The Sounds of Sunday That day in the Kiosk,

wondering where he was and

what he did while she stood

300 kilometers away, she

thought then that if he

returned, if she should see

him suddenly looming in the

doorway, if he strode in,

scowling or not, loving her or

not, she would run to him,

and it would not matter that

they had hurt each other

terribly. (D2.1)

“The money lasts. You like

the money, don’t you?” he

asked. (D24.1)

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The table above shows that women are consistently portrayed as emotional and reflective.

Women are shown feeling emotions of “shame,” “bitterness,” “guilt,” “anger,” wonderment, and

emotional attachment. This is also revealed in the transitivity analysis where there is a frequency

of mental processes in the stories whose actors are females. On the other hand, the men are

shown to be very logical and practical, as can be seen in the examples above. In “The Tourists”

and “The Sounds of Sunday,” the men are shown to be very practical and as having a high regard

for money. In “The Trap” and “The Virgin,” there is no description of their emotions, but the

male characters give the impression that they restrain their emotions or simply show that it is not

in their nature to be emotional.

Another gender difference that is pronounced in all the stories is the man’s domineering

or controlling behavior against the woman’s submissive attitude towards man. The stories show

that men are always the ones in command while the women are compliant even if there is an

attempt to voice out their thoughts and opinions. The following table shows this contrast:

Table 9

Representative passages showing Controlling Men vs Submissive Women

Story Woman Man

The Virgin I must get away, she thought wildly,

but he had moved and brushed

against her, and where his touch had

fallen, her flesh leaped, and she

recalled how his hands had looked

that first day, lain tenderly on the edge

of her desk and about the wooden bird

(that had looked like a moving,

shining dove) and she turned to him;

with her ruffles wet and wilted, in the

dark she turned to him. (A59.2)

“Come now,” surprised that

she should wheedle so, “give

him the extra peso.” “Only a

half,” the stubborn foreman

shook his head, “three-fifty.” (A23.6-A23.7)

152

The Trap “Run home, Elisa,” he said. “Run

home.” (B25.5)

I held her arms tightly,

wanting to see her tears, but

my father said,” All right, all

right,” and I let her go.

(B6.5)

The Tourists “You were ashamed of me, Paz, were

you not?” Ernesto said. I shook my

head but he did not see me. “Paz?”

he asked again, more anxiously. I

sighed. “No,” I said aloud. “No.” (C21.6-C21.11)

Despite my tears and my

pleas, Tomas went. (C39.1)

The Sounds of Sunday “Would you have wanted me to go?”

“No,” she said. It was a bold thing

to say; it was a perilous thing to say.

She felt her defences go: such a

brief word yet it stripped her

completely. (D108.1-D109.3)

Emma would not spend the

new sum but Doming

brought it all to her, again

and again and again, until

she finally took it. (D34.3)

As can be seen in “The Virgin,” Miss Mijares cannot help resisting the advances of the

carpenter as soon as they are alone. Also, the character of Ato, the foreman, is firm in his

decision to give only a half-a-peso raise for the carpenter. In “The Trap,” Elisa professes to Mr.

Gabriel that she loves him, but Mr. Gabriel answers her with only a command to “Run home.” In

“The Tourists,” as Ernesto Bello vents out his frustrations to Paz, he does not stop until he

receives an affirmation from Elisa that his opinions are right and that Paz is not ashamed of him.

Paz only gives him the answer he wants to hear. In “The Sounds of Sunday,” Emma Gorrez

begins to succumb to the proposal of Rene as he asks her if she wants him to go. Helplessly, she

says “No.” Again, the male character becomes domineering as Domingo Gorrez persistently

presents money to his wife Emma repeatedly, until Emma appears to have no choice but to take

it.

153

In relation to this particular gender difference, the narrative pathways of the stories also

reveal that the dilemma presented is the woman’s vulnerability towards a man. Female characters

are always seen as having problems involving their relationship with their male objects of

affection. Also, these problems result in the females’ submission or passivity towards the males

by the end of the story. “The Trap” shows that Elisa is helplessly in love with her teacher but

ends up complying with her teacher’s command for her to “run home.” The character of Miss

Mijares in “The Virgin” is seen submitting herself to the carpenter at the end of the story. In

“The Sounds of Sunday,” Emma Gorrez escapes her difficult married life in the city only to find

herself giving in to Rene Rividad. “The Tourists” shows that circumstances caused Paz Nuqui to

be powerless to bring back the old idealist Ernesto Bello, now deeply contaminated by the

society’s corrupt system. All these show that in the end, the woman is rendered powerless by the

male.

The description of the women characters in the story is significantly different from the

men in that the narrations give the former more descriptions of their bodies, and such

descriptions are more fragmented. Men are described in terms of what is considered masculine in

their: body (A1.1), hand (D17.6), hair and face (D106.1, D45.4), teeth (A43.1), chin (D62.10),

fingers (D88.2, D88.3), arms (D62.2), limbs (D59.), fist (D1.7, C37.11), temples (A43.2), beard

(D62.10), and neck (C15.1, C116.5). The women, on the other hand, are described in terms of

the following: breasts (B4.4), knees (B4.4, B9.7), hips and bosom (A4.2, A4.4, A5.1), hips

(D13.1), shoulders (C56.10), toes (C56.10), eyebrows (C111.4), ears and neck (C153.1), as well

as their bodies as a whole (C56.6, C56.11, C145.6). Overall, the physical descriptions of women

characters are more detailed and with a tendency to be superfluous. These reflect gendered

stereotypical assumptions about men’s and women’s appearances and attractiveness.

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Kerima Polotan-Tuvera’s writing style/practice

The recurring features found in the texts at the word, phrase/sentence, and discourse

levels sum up the characteristics of feminine writing as exemplified by the writer Kerima

Polotan-Tuvera. The study reveals that by focusing on the consciousness of a woman character

and using long, spontaneous descriptions to describe scenes, Kerima Polotan-Tuvera exhibits a

female writing style. In terms of the effect of her writings on the readers, several observations are

made. The texts do not directly address the reader as a specific type of audience, although the

texts would obviously appeal to a Filipino audience who would be more familiar with the

experiences, characters, and situations that reflect Filipino life in a post-colonial era. One

example of this familiarity that the stories oblige is the manner in which Miss Mijares uses

English to establish her authority as a recruiter. This particular observation shows that the

English language in the Philippines is used as a formal language in the workplace and that it

holds a certain element of prestige or authority. Another observation is that those likely to

sympathize with the stories should be women since the gender views presented in the texts do

not easily and usually favor a male reader. The stories consistently revolve around the thoughts

and feelings of the women characters, which expose the sentiments and psychological make-up

of women much more than those of the men. The texts also require the reader to have some

background knowledge with regard to certain elements that the texts subtly describe in the

stories. For instance, there is an indirect reference to the female reproductive process of

menstruation in B5.1, wherein Elisa mentions that she had come home one day with a stain in

her dress. Elisa is also described to have gained some “womanly knowledge” (B9.9), which,

means acquiring an attraction towards the opposite sex. In D58.1, the character of Ernesto Bello

is described to be “the chief plotter,” which means someone who is the mastermind of subversive

155

or anomalous activities. Many characterizations in the texts are drawn from background

knowledge based on gender stereotypes in Filipino society.

After a thorough analysis of the four short stories based on the feminist-stylistic theory of

Sara Mills, the researcher is led to the general conclusion that Kerima Polotan-Tuvera indeed

foregrounds different experiences of women in her female characters. She particularly

emphasizes the sentiments and struggles which her female characters face in the stories,

immersing them into varying situations and circumstances, which are always in connection to

their relationships with the male characters. As a result, this constant focus on the female

character signals female writing.

Recommendations

This present study brings to the fore the need to do further analysis of Kerima Polotan-

Tuvera’s fiction. Since the research confines itself to only the first prize stories of the author,

there is, therefore, the possibility of exploring the other works of the writer to reinforce the

present findings. Within this paradigm, the other short stories may be examined stylistically,

thematically, or systematically. The same criteria of analysis at the word, phrase/sentence, and

discourse levels, may be applied in investigating these other works.

Future researchers may also want to examine the stories from a chronological perspective

to determine changes in characterization in terms of attitudes and behavior, this time, using a

thematic approach centering on social context. The present study found that moral values are

foregrounded in the stories “The Tourists” (1959) and “The Sounds of Sunday” (1960). The

earlier stories, on the other hand – “The Virgin” (1952) and “The Trap” (1956) – do not show

much emphasis on moral standards. Moreover, the last two stories depict more women characters

156

in varied roles. Thus, the women’s roles have become more diverse, and the context in which

these characters are found is more complex.

As writer, Kerima Polotan-Tuvera did not limit herself to the short fiction genre. She also

wrote a novel, Hand of the Enemy, and several essays. A detailed analysis of her writing

style/practice may be done by future researchers which can lead to a more definitive description

of the author’s unique way of handling her craft.

As a person, Kerima Polotan-Tuvera invited some degree of controversy particularly

where she wrote the official biography of the former first lady, Imelda Marcos. A study can be

done on Polotan-Tuvera’s personal views about writing. Why does one write? What should one

write about? These and other questions can lead to an interesting study about this author and her

principles as a writer.

The fiction of Kerima Polotan-Tuvera, a female writer, is the subject of this present

study. Several other Filipino writers in English were publishing their works within the same

milieu that Polotan-Tuvera belonged to. An exciting topic to look into is a comparison between

female and male writers of that milieu. How were these writers different from one another? To

what extent does gender, and one’s consciousness of it, influence a writer’s way of representing

male and female characters in fiction? There is no limit to the topics that future researchers can

probe into. These are but some of them and this present research is but a small step towards

greater knowledge about feminist stylistics.

157

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Polotan-Tuvera, Kerima. Ed. (1976). An Anthology of Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards

Winners. Quezon City: Bustamante.

Polotan-Tuvera, Kerima. (1998). Author’s choice: selected writing of Kerima Polotan-Tuvera.

3rd ed. Quezon City: University of the Philippines.

Polotan-Tuvera, Kerima. (1998). Stories. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press and

U.P. Creative Writing Center.

Quindoza-Santiago, Lilia. The Filipina as a Metaphor for Crisis, pp. 118-130. In Kintanar,

Thelma B. Ed. (1972). Women reading: feminist perspectives on Philippine literary texts.

Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press and University Center for Women’s

Studies.

161

Torres, Patricia S. (Kerima Polotan). (1952). Philippines Free Press, pp. 48-19.

Yabes, Leopoldo. Ed. (1994). Philippine short stories, 1941-1955. Quezon City: University of

the Philippines.

Periodicals featuring the selected stories

The Virgin:

Polotan-Tuvera, Kerima. (1952). The Virgin. Philippines Free Press. vol. 43, pp. 12-15.

The Trap:

Polotan-Tuvera, Kerima. (1955). The Trap. Philippines Free Press. vol. 47, pp. 8-11.

The Tourists:

Polotan-Tuvera, Kerima. (1960). The Tourists. Sunday Times Magazine. vol. 15, pp. 34-38.

The Sounds of Sunday

Polotan-Tuvera, Kerima. (1961). The Sounds of Sunday. Sunday Times Magazine. vol. 16, pp.

30-34.

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APPENDIX A

The Virgin

A1.1 HE WENT to where Miss Mijares sat, a tall big man, walking with an economy of

movement, graceful and light, a man who knew his body and used it well. A1.2 He sat in the low

chair worn decrepit by countless other interviewees and laid all ten fingerprints carefully on the

edge of her desk. A1.3 She pushed a sheet towards him, rolling a pencil along with it. A1.4

While he read the questions and wrote down his answers, he glanced at her watch and saw that it

was ten. A1.5 “I shall be coming back quickly,” she said, speaking distinctly in a dialect (you

were never sure about these people on their first visit, if they could speak English, or even write

at all, the poor were always proud and to use the dialect with them was an act of charity), “you

will wait for me.”

A2.1 As she walked to the cafeteria, Miss Mijares thought how she could easily have said,

Please wait for me, or Will you wait for me? A2.2 But years of working for the placement section

had dulled the edges of her instinct for courtesy. A2.3 She spoke now peremptorily, with an

abruptness she knew annoyed the people about her.

A3.1 When she talked with the jobless across her desk, asking them the damning questions that

completed their humiliation, watching pale tongues run over dry lips, dirt-crusted handkerchiefs

flutter in trembling hands, she was filled with an impatience she could not understand. A3.2 Sign

here, she had said a thousand times, pushing the familiar form across, her finger held to a line,

feeling the impatience grow at sight of the man or woman tracing a wavering “x” or laying the

impress of a thumb. A3.3 Invariably, Miss Mijares would turn away to touch the delicate edge of

the handkerchief she wore on her breast.

A4.1 Where she sat alone at one of the cafeteria tables, Miss Mijares did not look 34. A4.2 She

was light, almost bony, but she had learned early how to dress herself to achieve an illusion of

hips and bosom. A4.3 She liked poufs and shirrings and little girlish pastel colors. A4.4 On her

bodice, astride or lengthwise, there sat an inevitable row of thick camouflaging ruffles that made

her look almost as though she had a bosom, if she bent her shoulder slightly and inconspicuously

drew her neckline open to puff some air into her bodice.

A5.1 Her brow was smooth and clear but she was no beauty. A5.2 She teetered precariously on

the borderline to which belonged countless others whom you found, if they were not working at

some job, in the kitchen of some unmarried sister’s house, shushing a brood of devilish little

nephews.

A6.1 And yet Miss Mijares did think of love. A6.2 Secret, short-lived thoughts flitted through

her mind—in the jeepneys she took to work when a man pressed down beside her and through

her dress she felt the curve of his thigh; when she held a baby in her arms, a married friend’s

baby or relative’s, holding in her hands a tiny, pulsing body, what thoughts she did not think, her

eyes straying against her will to the bedroom door and then to her friend’s laughing, talking face,

to think; how did it look now, spread upon a pillow, unmasked of the little wayward coquetries,

how went the lines about the mouth and beneath the eyes (did they close, did they open?) in the

one final, fatal coquetry of all? A6.3 To finally, miserably bury her face in the baby’s hair. A6.4

And in the movies, ah the movies, to sink into a seat as into an embrace, in the darkness with a

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hundred shadowy figures about her and high on the screen, a man kissing a woman’s mouth

while her own fingers stole unconsciously to her unbruised lips.

A7.1 When she was younger, there had been other things to do—college to finish, a niece to put

through school, a mother to care for.

A8.1 She had gone through all these with singular patience, for it had seemed to her that Love

stood behind her, biding her time, a quiet hand upon her shoulder (I wait. Do not despair)so that

if she wished she had but to turn from her mother’s bed to see the man and all her timid, pure

dreams would burst into glory. A8.2 But it had taken her parent many years to die. A8.3 Towards

the end, it had become a thankless chore, kneading in her mother’s loose flesh, hour after hour,

struggling to awaken the cold, sluggish blood in her dying body. A8.4 In the end, she had died—

her toothless, thin-haired, flabby-fleshed mother—and Miss Mijares had pushed against the bed

in grief and also in gratitude. A8.5 But neither Love nor glory stood behind her, only the empty

shadows, and nine years gone, nine years. A8.6 In the room of her unburied undead, she had held

up hands to the light, noting the thick, durable fingers, thinking in a mixture of shame and

bitterness and guilt that they had never touched a man.

A9.1 When she returned to the bleak placement office, the man stood by the window, his back to

her, half-bending over something he held in his hands. A9.2 “Here,” she said, approaching,

“have you signed this?”

A10.1 “Yes,” he replied, facing her.

A11.1 In his hands, he held her paperweight, an old gift from long ago, a heavy, wooden block

on which stood, as though poised for flight, an undistinguished, badly done bird. A11.2 It had

come apart recently. A11.3 The screws beneath the block had loosened so that lately it had stood

upon her desk with one wing tilted unevenly, a miniature eagle or swallow? A11.4 Felled by

time before it could spread its wings. A11.5 She had laughed that day it had fallen on her desk,

plop? A11.6 “What happened? What happened?” they had asked her, beginning to laugh, and she

had said, caught between amusement and sharp despair, “Someone shot it!” and she had laughed

and laughed till faces turned and eyebrows rose and she told herself, whoa, get a hold, a hold, a

hold!

A12.1 He had turned in and with a penknife tightened the screws and dusted it. A12.2 In this

man’s hands, cupped like that, it looked suddenly like a dove.

A13.1 She took it away from him and put it down on her table. A13.2 Then she picked up his

paper and read it.

A14.1 He was a highschool graduate. A14.2 He was also a carpenter.

A15.1 He was not starved, like the rest. A15.2 His clothes, though old, were pressed and she

could see the cuffs of his shirt buttoned and wrapped about bug, strong wrists.

A16.1 “I heard about this place,” he said, “from a friend you got a job for at the pier.” A16.2

Seated, he towered over her. A16.3 “I’m not starving yet,” he said with a quick smile. A16.4 “I

still got some money from the last job, but my team broke up after that and you don’t get too

many jobs if you’re working alone. A16.5 You know carpentering,” he continued, “you can’t

finish a job quickly enough if you got to do the planning and sawing and nailing all by your lone

self. You got to be on a team.”

A17.1 Perhaps, he was not meaning to be impolite? A17.2 But for a jobseeker, Miss Mijares

thought, he talked too much and without call. A17.3 He was bursting all over with an obtruding

insolence that at once disarmed and annoyed her.

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A18.1 So, then she drew a slip and wrote his name on it. A18.2 “Since you are not starving yet,”

she said, speaking in English now, wanting to put him in his place, “you will not mind working

in our woodcraft section, three times a week at two-fifty to four a day, depending on your skill

and the foreman’s discretion, for two or three months, after which there might be a call from

outside we may hold for you.”

A19.1 “Thank you,” he said.

A20.1 He came on the odd days, Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday.

A21.1 She was often down at the shanty that housed their bureau’s woodcraft, talking with Ato,

his foreman, going over with him the list of old hands due for release. A21.2 They hired their

men on a rotation basis and three months was the longest one could stay.

A22.1 “The new one there, hey,” Ato said once, “we’re breaking him in proper.” A22.2 And she

looked across several shirted backs to where he stooped, planing what was to become the side of

a bookcase.

A23.1 How much was he going to get? A23.2 Miss Mijares asked Ato on Wednesday. A23.3

“Three,” the old man said, chewing away on a cud. A23.4 She looked at the list in her hands,

quickly running a pencil down. A23.5 “But he’s filing a four-peso vacancy,” she said. A23.6

“Come now,” surprised that she should wheedle so, “give him the extra peso.” A23.7 “Only a

half,” the stubborn foreman shook his head, “three-fifty.”

A24.1 “Ato says I have you to thank,” he said, stopping Miss Mijares along a pathway in the

compound.

A25.1 It was noon, that unhappy hour of the day when she was oldest, tiredest—when it seemed

the sun put forth cruel fingers to search out the signs of age on her thin, pinched face. A25.2 The

crow’s feet showed unmistakably beneath her eyes and smiled widely to cover them up and

squinting a little, said, “Only a half-peso—Ato would have given it to you eventually.”

A26.1 “Yes, but you spoke for me,” he said, his big body heaving before her. A26.2 “Thank you,

though I don’t need it as badly as the rest, for to look at me, you would know I have no wife—

yet.”

A27.1 She looked at him sharply, feeling the malice in his voice. A27.2 “I’d do it for anyone,”

she said and turned away, angry and also ashamed, as though he had found out suddenly that the

ruffles on her dress rested on a flat chest.

A28.1 The following week, something happened to her: she lost her way home.

A29.1 Miss Mijares was quite sure she had boarded the right jeepney but the driver, hoping to

beat traffic, had detoured down a side alley, and then seeing he was low in gas, he took still

another shortcut to a filling station. A29.2 After that, he rode through the alien country.

A30.1 The houses were low and dark, the people shadowy, and even the driver, who earlier had

been an amiable, talkative fellow, now loomed like a sinister stranger over the wheel. A30.2

Through it all, she sat tightly, feeling oddly that she had dreamed of this, that some night not

very long ago, she had taken a ride in her sleep and lost her way.

A31.1 Again and again, in that dream, she had changed direction, losing her way each time, for

something huge and bewildering stood blocking the old, familiar road home.

A32.1 But that evening, she was lost only for a while. A32.2 The driver stopped at a corner that

looked like a little known part of the boulevard she passed each day and she alighted and stood

on a street island, the passing headlights playing on her, a tired, shaken woman, the ruffles on her

shirt crumpled, the hemline of her skirt awry.

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A33.1 The new hand was absent for a week. A33.2 Miss Mijares waited on that Tuesday he first

failed to report for some word from him, sent to Ato and then to her. A33.3 That was regulation.

A33.4 Briefly though they were held, the bureau jobs were not ones to take chances with. A33.5

When a man was absent and he sent no word, it upset the system. A33.6 In the absence of a

definite notice, someone else who needed a job badly was kept away from it.

A34.1 “I went to the province, ma’am,” he said, on his return.

A35.1 "You could have sent someone to tell us,” she said.

A36.1 “It was an emergency, ma’am,” he said. A36.2 “My son died.”

A37.1 “How so?”

A38.1 A slow bitter anger began to form inside her. A38.2 “But you said you were not married!”

A39.1 “No, ma’am,” he said, gesturing.

A40.1 “Are you married?” she asked loudly.

A41.1 “No, ma’am.”

A42.1 “But you have—you had a son!” she said.

A43.1 “I am not married to his mother,” he said, grinning stupidly, and for the first time she

noticed his two front teeth were set widely apart. A43.2 A flush had climbed to his face,

suffusing it, and two large throbbing veins crawled along his temples.

A44.1 She looked away, sick all at once.

A45.1 “You should have told us everything,” she said and she put forth hands to restrain her

anger but it slipped away and she stood shaking despite herself.

A46.1 “I did not think,” he said.

A47.1 “Your lives are our business here,” she shouted.

A48.1 It rained that afternoon in one of the city’s fierce, unexpected thunderstorms. A49.1

Without warning, it ceased to shine outside and the skies were overcast. A49.2 The rain gave the

world outside Miss Mijares’ window a gray, unhappy look.

A50.1 It was past six when Miss Mijares ventured outside the office. A50.2 Night had come

swiftly and from the dark sky, the thick, black, rainy curtain continued to fall. A50.3 She stood

on the curb, telling herself she must not lose her way tonight. A50.4 When she flagged a jeepney

and got in, somebody jumped in after her. A50.5 She looked up into the carpenter’s faintly

smiling eyes. A50.6 She nodded her head once in recognition and then turned away.

A51.1 The cold, tight fear of the old dream was upon her. A51.2 Before she had time to think,

the driver had swerved his vehicle and swung into a side street. A51.3 Perhaps it was a different

alley this time, but it wound itself in the same tortuous manner as before, now by the banks of

overflowing esteros, again behind faintly familiar buildings. A51.4 She bent her tiny, distraught

face, conjuring in her heart the lonely safety of the street island she had stood on for an hour that

night of her confusion.

A52.1 “Only this far, folks,” the driver spoke, stopping his vehicle. A52.2 “Main street’s a block,

straight ahead.”

A53.1 “But it’s raining,” someone protested.

A54.1 “Sorry. But if I get into that traffic, I won’t come out of it in a year. Sorry.”

A55.1 One by one the passengers got off, walking swiftly, disappearing in the night.

A56.1 Miss Mijares stepped down to a sidewalk in front of a boarded store. A56.2 The wind had

begun again and she could hear it whipping in the eaves above her head. A56.3 “Ma’am,” the

man’s voice sounded at her shoulders, “I’m sorry if you thought I lied.”

A57.1 She gestured, bestowing pardon.

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A58.1 Up and down the empty, rain-beaten street she looked. A58.2 It was as though all at once

everyone else had died and they two were all alone in the world, in the dark.

A59.1 In her secret heart, Miss Mijares’ young dreams fluttered faintly to life, seeming

monstrous in the rain, near this man—seeming monstrous but sweet and overwhelming. A59.2 I

must get away, she thought wildly, but he had moved and brushed against her, and where his

touch had fallen, her flesh leaped, and she recalled how his hands had looked that first day, lain

tenderly on the edge of her desk and about the wooden bird (that had looked like a moving,

shining dove) and she turned to him; with her ruffles wet and wilted, in the dark she turned to

him.

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APPENDIX B

The Trap

B1.1 I WAS FOURTEEN when we moved to Cabuyao. B1.2 We reached the town at night and

though it was not quite seven, the streets were empty. B1.3 I had hoped we would get to it before

dark, while there was light enough for people to see us come. B1.4 We knew no one, of course—

“We’ll make friends”, my father had said—and expected no welcome, but having left Tayug

with reluctance, I had urged my father during the trip to drive faster so that we might arrive in

Cabuyao early enough for someone to see us drive in.

B2.1 That was important to me.

B3.1 “Why, Elisa?” my mother asked, and I could not tell her why, except that I had left behind

in Tayug one friend very dear to me. B3.2 When the day came for us to go, we could not leave

soon enough. B3.3 I wanted the pain of missing Salud to start quickly. B3.4 She said goodbye to

me that morning by the plaza, asking, “Are you taking everything, Elisa? You’re sure?” B3.5

When Mother frowned, I hated Salud for betraying me.

B4.1 Several times that past year I had told Salud I felt that something was happening to me.

B4.2 I felt I was growing to be another person entirely. B4.3 “Something’s wrong, Salud,” I said

one day—“I’m going crazy.” B4.4 She had laughed and looked pointedly at my breasts and said,

“They’re growing, like mine, Elisa.” B4.5 She had a way of saying things like that, that angered

and also disarmed me; she was 18 and the four years between us yawned like an abyss. B4.6

During all that time I had watched her turn into a lovely, graceful girl, unfazed by adolescence,

leaving me far behind, eaten with envy and yearning. B4.7 When she laughed at me that

morning, I refused to be shaken off. B4.8 I dogged her along the way along Calle Santa, round

the corner to Del Pilar, and catching up with her a few coconut trees from their steps, I said

something that made her pull up and look at me gravely. B4.9 “Help me, Salud,” I said.

B5.1 That past September I had come home one Monday from school, my dress with a stain.

B5.2 Since then I had lived with the terrible feeling that I stood on the brink of something. B5.3 I

had dreams about this too, unhappy, frightened nights when my dreams took me to an unknown

precipice and I watched helplessly as my body dropped over the edge.

B6.1 It was of this that Salud spoke when she asked, that morning we got ready to drive away, if

I was leaving something behind with her. B6.2 Some books I had given her, and tears, and a

girlish promise I would write faithfully. B6.3 She stood beside the car, saying “Good-bye” over

and over; she would not cry before me. B6.4 Her eyes, though bright, were dry. B6.5 I held her

arms tightly, wanting to see her tears, but my father said,” All right, all right,” and I let her go.

B6.6 She blew her fingers at me and we drove away.

B7.1 We live near the church, I wrote Salud, in a house that is all sawali, except for one roof

which is nipa, and the floor which is bamboo. B7.2 The toilet is at the back, outside the house.

B7.3 It is an outhouse set on posts and connected to the kitchen by a bamboo bridge. B7.4 You

will not believe me but the bridge is the part I like best—it swings when I walk on it. B7.5 There

are sugar cane stalks on both sides of the bridge and I never hurry to the outhouse. B7.6 It is

beautiful when there is moon up.

B8.1 I believe you, Elisa, Salud wrote back. But don’t jump off.

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B9.1 The first day I resumed schooling, my father came with me. B9.2 We saw the principal

together. B9.3 She was an elderly spinster who wore the tight rimless glasses on her nose. B9.4

She rarely smiled and when she did it, it was to show big false teeth that clicked noisily when she

spoke—“How old are you, Elisa?” she asked. B9.5 “Fourteen,” I replied, respectfully. B9.6

“Only?” she remarked, and it was the wrong thing to say. B9.7 I had scrubbed myself that day

and put on my best dress but at Miss Ramos’ remark, I felt my knees grow rough and dark, my

breasts start to swell. B9.8 I wondered if she knew about my new condition. B9.9 My days were

full of bodily pain and a mysterious sense of growing; I move about carefully, waiting for some

bit of womanly knowledge to dawn on me, a grace, a manner of self, but I fumbled as before and

dropped things and was miserable before people. B9.10 Only the unnerving dreams persisted, the

nightly journeys that took me through the labyrinths of my mind to emerge always on the sharp

rim of some mountainside from which I flung myself even as I called for help. B9.11 Miss

Ramos stood up, took me by the hand, not companionably, not with palm about my wrist, but

with index finger and thumb, with clear distaste, and led me thus, a sullen specimen, through the

corridors of the school, and without bothering to knock, pushed me ahead, through a door

marked Mr. Gabriel, and said, “Mr. Gabriel, this is Elisa.”

B10.1 Miss Ramos is a witch, I wrote Salud. B10.2 When she’s around, she gives off a smell that

makes me sick.

B11.1 Everyone smells, Salud replied, but you will smell most of all, Elisa, if you don’t stop

hating people.

B12.1 Not everyone, I wrote back. B12.2 I like Mr. Gabriel. B12.3 He is a good man.

B13.1 Mr. Gabriel was small and thin and stooped, with a way about him that made him seem

even smaller. B13.2 His eyes laughed even when his mouth did not, and when that happened, the

tenderness spilled down the cheeks to his quiet lips. B13.3 When Miss Ramos blazed into his

room, demanding forms and reports and C-156’s, Mr. Gabriel met the storm with soothing

coolness, as though he dealt with just another wayward student.

B14.1 One day, we were weeding the grounds when I swung my scythe and hit my leg instead.

B14.2 I stood bleeding, watching the red fluid flow down the soil, stain it momentarily, then sink

and disappear, leaving nothing but a wet spot. B14.3 Miss Ramos walked up to me, smiling

thinly. B14.4 She said, “Why, it’s only blood.” B14.5 Mr. Gabriel took me to the clinic. B14.6

He stopped before the door, fumbling through his pockets for the key. B14.7 A dark flush had

spread over his face and neck. B14.8 Inside the clinic, I sat on the stool while Mr. Gabriel

opened a window. B14.9 He took a long time searching for swab and iodine and bandage when

he sat in front of me, the flush had disappeared from his face. B14.10 It was not a deep wound

but it was ugly. B14.11 The tip of the scythe had drawn a gash across my legs, leaving a piece of

flesh dangling by a thread of skin. B14.12 Mr. Gabriel washed and bound it. B14.13 Except for

some throbbing, it had ceased to hurt me. B14.14 I said so as we left the room—“It’s not

painful,” I said wonderingly. B14.15 “It will return later,” he said.

B15.1 I followed him out of the room. B15.2 The yard was empty; the other children had left.

B15.3 A frown passed over his face. B15.4 He hurried down the steps and sloshed through the

mud, his shoes squeezing down on the wet soil. B15.5 Bits of clay clung to the cuffs of his pants.

B15.6 It was a brown suit he wore. B15.7 I had seen it on him several times before. B15.8 It was

loose and it had fitted him badly. B15.9 As he walked, the back of his coat swished about his

thighs. B15.10 In the light of early evening, he was a weird sight, like an earth-bound ghost

hurrying through the countryside. B15.11 I trotted after him. B15.12 When we reached the fork,

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he raised his hand quickly and disappeared in the twilight. B15.13 We had begun to write themes

again and I looked for words like agony and happiness and soul. B15.14 Each time I used such a

word, a bell seemed to ring inside me. B15.15 One morning when Mr. Gabriel read one of my

themes in front of the class, I sat still, trying to recall my feelings as I wrote it. B15.16 But it was

no use, something was gone. B15.17 Perhaps, it was Mr. Gabriel’s voice: it was soft and low,

like a woman’s, and I kept thinking: I wish I could talk to him alone. B15.18 Perhaps, it was the

memory of what I had written about—a white, long-legged bird skimming the rice fields while I

stood on the shoulder of the road watching, the great sky above me.

B16.1 If Mr. Gabriel had seemed amused, I might have hated him. B16.2 But he smiled faintly

and looked away, and then as gently as that, between one heartbeat and another, I fell in love

with him.

B17.1 I did not write to Salud about it. B17.2 I was certain her answer would come, underlined

with mock worry: Yes, but is he in love with you, and if he is, is he a married man, and if he

isn’t, will he marry you?

B18.1 I betrayed myself in a hundred ways.

B19.1 When Mr. Gabriel stood beside me in a class, watching while I wrote a theme, his

presence would undo me so completely that my mind would go blank and I would ask to be

excused. B19.2 Outside, I crawled beneath the school building, where it was damp and I could be

alone, but as soon as class was over, I lingered by the door of the teachers’ room, compelled to

stay by a new, frightening necessity.

B20.1 One day, he surprised me beneath the building. B20.2 He had gone to look for the boys

who had disappeared as soon as the gardening assignments were posted on the board. B20.3 He

looked under the schoolhouse and saw me on the ground, hugging my legs together. B20.4

“Elisa?” he called. B20.5 “Mr. Gabriel,” I replied. B20.6 “Come out,” he said. B20.7 I crawled

to where he waited by the hedges. B20.8 “Were you hiding?” he asked. B20.9 I stood mute.

B20.10 I felt that if I began to explain I would say more than I should, I would in an onrush of

hope tell him everything—Salud and my dreams and the sense of sin that possessed me because I

had begun, despite myself, to span with aching arms the emptiness of my youthful bed at night.

B20.11 For one instant, I could have, but someone came to ask for a hoe, and Mr. Gabriel

handed me a trowel and I headed for my garden plot.

B21.1 IN FEBRUARY that year, I fell ill. B21.2 On the fifth day of my illness, a friend passed

by the house and left a note. B21.3 How do you do, Elisa? It read. B21.4 Are you better? B21.5

Hurry up and come back to us, we miss you. B21.6 Sincerely, Leonor. B21.7 Then, What is

wrong?

B22.1 It was the postscript that completed my betrayal—Leonor’s girlish prescience. B22.2 In

my own handwriting, I replied to that question, I wrote: I love Mr. Gabriel. I trembled as I wrote

the words. B22.3 Dimly, I realized I had identified the precipice at last. B22.4 I had met the

forlorn stranger in my dreams, face to face, no longer would she go wandering tremulously on

mountaintops, dying her lonely deaths, she was where I sat in my sick clothes, writing the fateful

words that accepted the knowledge of womanhood.

B23.1 When I returned to school the next Monday, it was all over the place. B23.2 The damning

had made the rounds and reached Miss Ramos, before whom I now stood, awaiting judgment.

B23.3 The principal smiled that grim smile of hers and said, “A costly mistake. B23.4 A very

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costly one. B23.5 You have involved Mr. Gabriel in gossip that may mean his job.” B23.6 I said

nothing, accepting suspension.

B24.1 When I returned to my room, I saw that on the blackboard someone had written “Elisa

Gabriel.” B24.2 I picked up my things and left. B24.3 I took the long road, the one that led past

the market and the billiard hall, past the empty south lots, around the graveyard, then I cut across

the plaza and headed for home. B24.4 But on the porch of our home, I had no sooner put my

books down than I turned around and ran back to school, taking the narrow dike this time. B24.5

I ran so fast that my heart rose to my throat and beat there, heavy strokes that made breathing

difficult. B24.6 To my right, the river lay, untouched by the panic that led me to the building on

top of the hill. B24.7 It was dark when I stumbled into Mr. Gabriel’s room and found him, not

bleeding and helpless and dying, but seated at his desk, correcting papers. B24.8 We frightened

each other, I think, because his jaw dropped, and at the sight of him, I missed a step and fell to

my knees, and there on the floor, in that grotesque, unintended curtsey, the words were wrung

from me, “Mr. Gabriel. Sir, I love you.”

B25.1 I never found out if he went to my father about this, or even told Miss Ramos, but I can

see myself in the dusk of that room years ago, in that absurd posture, alone with the strange,

gentle man to whom I had lost my young heart. B25.2 For what seemed forever, Mr. Gabriel did

not move until I stood up and, in my shame, burst into tears. B25.3 Then he approached me and

led me to the door. B25.4 The wind had picked up a mournful sound, like the far-off despairing

wail of an animal caught in some trap, and now it reached us both where we stood in the deserted

corridor of the school. B25.5 “Run home, Elisa,” he said. “Run home.”

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APPENDIX C

The Tourists

C1.1 “ARE YOU FREE TODAY?” he asked over the phone.

C2.1 I knew his voice even if he hadn’t identified himself. C2.2 The oversight on his part, while

not intentional, was a symptom of his new confidence, a quality he exuded whenever we met

downtown. C2.3 I would stand talking with him wherever we bumped into each other,

exchanging pleasantries while the policeman at the intersection took his languid time about

pedestrian traffic. C2.4 He would then tell me about a new deal, or a bon mot he had just thought

of and was eager to unleash, or a shapely girl of recent acquaintance who—he assured me—was

ripe for his picking.

C3.1 I was with some effort that I would try to reconcile the man who stood boasting brazenly in

front of me with a boy I had known back at the University. C3.2 But a familiar gesture would

give him away. C3.3 Perhaps his hand would steal up and smooth the cowlick that was no longer

there (he was, as a matter of fact, beginning to bald); or he would touch his nose in a movement

releasing a thousand other memories; often a vowel would slip out, mutilated, and I smiled

secretly, realizing that his Dale Carnegie training had not been so thorough as he thought.

C4.1 He was wearing army brogans the first day I saw him. C4.2 I saw the brogans first, a pair

of heavy, hobnailed shoes, standing at the door a few feet from where I sat. C4.3 I raised my

head and there was Ernesto Bello, his cowlick up, his spirits down—he had spent an hour

walking through the corridors looking for the class in Literature 137.

C5.1 Although he did not ask, I said, “This is 1655 to 1755, Prose and Poetry in the Teutonic

Countries.” C5.2 It sounded very worldly-wise to my ears and I was pleased with myself. C5.3 I

had come out earlier from Ponteverde, as soon as the Americans had allowed the paraos to lift

anchor. C5.4 It was June, 1945, and I had had a summer of college. C5.5 I felt very superior.

C6.1 He was from Isabela, he said afterwards, and he would have come as early as I and forty

others who made up the first class but his mother had died. C6.2 They had had to wait until the

tobacco could be gathered and a buyer found. C6.3 Finally, his father had loosened a money belt,

handed him three hundred pesos, and given his blessing. C6.4 Ernesto Bello had hitched a ride

with a colored driver from the 12th Cavalry. C6.5 The man had said grumpily that he would be

going no farther than Cabiao, but a few miles from that town, Ernesto had hummed the first bars

of Old Black Joe, presumably melting the sergeant’s heart who then drove him all the way to La

Paz where he boarded a train for Tutuban.

C7.1 “I paid the fare, too,” he said, getting indignant all over again because no space could be

found for him on the two regular coaches. C7.2 He had ridden with the chickens and the pigs and

a pair of sickly carabaos meant for the Ilaya slaughterhouse. C7.3 “In those brogans?” I asked

and he laughed. C7.4 He was starting another tale about where he had got them but I left him and

ran off to the dormitory across the street. C7.5 I was anxious to get there before they were all out

of rice and sardines.

C8.1 The dormitory was a great gray building at the corner of Moret and España. C8.2 It showed

no signs of the war just over, except for the sardines that appeared thrice a day on the dining

table. C8.3 In fact, nothing in the immediate vicinity of the University looked as if it had just

survived four terrible years. C8.4 You had to cross the bridge across the river to see how seared

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the city was, remembered in warm, gentle pictures in my mind from the times I had been brought

to Manila as a child, before the war.

C9.1 The dormitory had been given a hasty coat of paint and cut up into tiny cubicles, into each

of which cots had been thrown, one for every girl like me, hungry for school learning.

C10.1 I must tell you how it was, to be 19 and alive after a long nightmare. C10.2 Life was

spread like a feast—death and dying belonged to the past. C10.3 Almost as if they had happened

to someone else were the fear and starvation, in the Visayan town near the sea, where the enemy

had ravished not only the women but also the waters from which we drew our food. C10.4 I was

eager to forget that, including the times I had sprinted for the safety of the ravines nearby

whenever soldiers came rattling their sabers and rocking our bamboo fence with their animal

cries.

C11.1 In my Unrra dress, clogs on my feet, sunlight filtering through the leaves of a hundred

year-old vine outside a classroom window (its fine rays turning blue upon my writing hand), I

could not recall ugliness. C11.2 Cruelty was only a word. C11.3 It seemed far away. C11.4 Did

everyone feel as I did? C11.5 I would press my eyes with the heels of my hands to keep the tears

back. C11.6 In the cool room where the teacher recited poetry, pens scratched and papers were

filled with many beautiful words that we would try to commit to memory.

C12.1 Perhaps, I am not succeeding at all? C12.2 This is being written fourteen years later with

Ernesto’s silky voice in my ears, inviting me and my husband, Tomas, to his home in Fairview

Valley. C12.3 The voice drips with the assurance of a man who has conquered his dreams. C12.4

He owns an Opel and carries a checkbook and eats poulet fricassee at Café Luxaire, a man

pleased with himself and his good fortune. Bello has no worry, even over that strike he was

instrumental at breaking up. C12.5 Maybe he has some trouble sleeping, maybe, I am not sure.

C12.6 Tomas’s paper carried Ernesto’s picture crashing that picket line in his stylish car, his

head stuck out of the window, his mouth shaped in a vile curse.

C13.1 In the University, years ago, you could hear his brogans a mile away, transgressing the

silence of the corridors. C13.2 Though in a short while, they were the butt of jokes, Ernesto was

actually proud of them. C13.3 He wore them like a mark of his impatient manhood. C13.4 As

with all the rest of us, he had wasted four years and now he could not wait to pit himself against

a world his elders had devastated.

C14.1 I put it all too well in words, I guess, a bit too well. C14.2 Fourteen years later, it doesn’t

sound sincere at all. C14.3 If we were nothing else in that class, we were forty-two absurdly

sincere people. C14.4 We meant honestly to do well, to defend good, to right evil, to correct

wrong. C14.5 Ernesto Bello led us all.

C15.1 HE WAS NOT TALL and the bullish neck, a heritage from his Ilocano ancestors, cut his

height even more. C15.2 He looked truly like the farmer’s son that he was except for his eyes.

C15.3 They were a poet’s eyes, full of dreams. C15.4 When he was excited, he tended to

stammer. C15.5 He was a clumsy fellow, with many awkward gestures. C15.6 He lost them all

in time, however; shed each one like an outer skin, to emerge urbane and persuasive; speaking in

clichés and bombast, with a charm smelling unmistakably of Yardley and public-speaking

classes.

C16.1 But in the rainy months of the year of liberation, he was as full of naivete as we. C16.2

Once, he stood weeping with impotent anger because a teacher had said we would yet see a

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dozen more wars in our lifetime. C16.3 It was an idle remark, made lazily between puffs at the

man’s first post-war cigarette held loosely between fore and middle fingers. C16.4 He was an

aging Ph.D. who had managed to keep his paunch by buying and selling cables for the enemy.

C16.5 “A dozen wars,” he said smugly, stating a statistical fact, blowing smoke in the air, not

seeing the dead he had just condemned.

C17.1 “Liar!” shouted someone. C17.2 We turned to see Ernesto up on his feet. C17.3 He held

on to the chair before him but he was all elbows and he succeeded in pushing it instead. C17.4 It

fell with a terrible clatter. C17.5 When he opened his mouth, nothing came out, only agonized

stutters that spread his spittle. C17.6 He struggled to control his tongue but it was beyond him

now. C17.7 Uh, uh, uh, he said, his mouth twisting horribly. C17.8 Then he broke into sobs.

C18.1 That night, he was waiting for me on the front steps of the gray building in Moret. C18.2

“Paz!” he called and begged me to sit down. C18.3 In the street, five steps below, the jeeps and

the six-by-sixes made a mess of the macadam as they roared by. C18.4 Mud splattered in huge

blobs on everything but we could hear, above the screeching wheels, the laughing and the

singing in the bars on Lipa Street. C18.5 “Paz,” he began again but I was not listening.

C19.1 My father had written me from Ponteverde that the seas were still barren. C19.2 No food.

C19.3 It was better before, his letter had read, you knew what to expect. C19.4 Torture. C19.5

Death. C19.6 Soon the mind stops fearing. C19.7 And when, on a luckless day, a blade descends

at last, your soul has gone soaring even before the saber touches your neck. C19.8 Paz, my

daughter—I could see him in that old house, the windows open upon the night made dark by

coconut fronds, cicadas singing in the eaves, and my father overcome by despair—there is talk

that the relief clothes and milk are going to those who do not need them…

C20.1 “I was a fool,” Ernesto said, and waited for me to say something. C20.2 I said nothing.

C20.3 One sea away, my own father waited for some comfort and I could give nothing. C20.4

The books did not teach how to imbue the powerful with a conscience or give an old man’s

dying days, hope.

C21.1 In the porch, Ernesto was eloquent. C21.2 He did not stutter at all. C21.3 It was the

smugness that he hated, he said. C21.4 How did a man get that way? (The saxophone at the

Stardust wailed. We saw a couple stagger by, headed for the lodging house on that next block.)

C21.5 As long as one was capable of some trepidation, he could not possibly do wrong, Ernesto

said. C21.6 “You were ashamed of me, Paz, were you not?” Ernesto said. C21.7 I shook my

head but he did not see me. C21.8 “Paz?” he asked again, more anxiously. C21.9 I sighed.

C21.10 “No,” I said aloud. C21.11 “No.” C21.12 I thought of the woman leading her drunken

escort up the narrow steps of the lodging house—another dream perishing on a dirty bed. C21.13

“I was very proud of you, Ernesto,” I said. C21.14 Once more I thought of the letter that awaited

me and wondered how I should word my reply.

C22.1 In December of that same year, I got my first job, clerking for a woman’s club. C22.2 It

meant fewer hours on the campus. C22.3 Ernesto was glad for me at first, he appeared pleased

that I could afford to stop worrying about my monthly allowance from home. C22.4 He himself

still hung around the University post office every end of the month, scanning the list of

registered letters.

C23.1 I say less and less of him for a while. C23.2 He wore his army brogans—that year’s

tobacco harvest was a long way off. C23.3 I had discarded my clogs and bought a pair of Wac

walking shoes. C23.4 My relief dress had gone to the dormitory laundry woman. C23.5 I

patronized a tiny but busy shop on P. Campa which sewed clothes out of discarded parachutes.

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C23.6 I tried going there during slack hours, when the bar girls of Lipa were at home, catching

up on their rest, but it was inevitable that I should run into a few of them. C23.7 They were

friendly and refused to be put off by a snub. C23.8 After a while, I got tired ignoring them.

C23.9 With their faces scrubbed of the mascara, they looked young and different in the daytime.

C23.10 If one stuck a notebook in the crook of their elbows you could not tell that at night they

stepped out, perfumed and powdered, to earn an exciting but precarious living amidst spilled

beer and cigarette smoke.

C24.1 With a particularly innocent-looking bar girl who spoke wistfully of going back to school

after she had saved enough money for a brother whose legs had been blown off under him, I

stood talking companionably in front of the dress shop one morning. C24.2 She was tired, she

continued. C24.3 She was at the shop to pick up a dress for a date who was bringing her to Fort

McKinley for a movie. C24.4 She had put aside enough to pay for her brother’s left limb but

there was still the right one to save up for. C24.5 They would have to be wooden, she explained,

but after a while she hoped to buy him really good aluminium legs. C24.6 I nodded and waited

politely for a pause so that I might say goodbye. C24.7 When it came, so brief it was like a sob, I

looked up and saw Ernesto beckoning to me across the street. C24.8 He was angry. C24.9 I

ignored him and walked away.

C25.1 My job wasn’t exactly the perfect one. C25.2 The women were tiresome, the routine was

deadening. C25.3 But it paid a steady enough tiny sum that kept me in neat clerk’s blouses and

skirts. C25.4 I fretted under the job but not too openly since I needed the money and the women

were a fierce lot when aroused. C25.5 At board meetings, they snarled at each other.

C26.1 My name! Screamed Mrs. Rodas, shoving the society page in my face. C26.2 A careless

proofreader had dropped a consonant and she was livid with rage.

C27.1 Darling, Socorro Valdez cooed one morning, don’t you know it was I who lent the silver

set for yesterday’s tea party, not Ermina Castro? C27.2 Could you make a release about that?

C28.1 They don’t deserve it, declared Lourdes Adriano, in charge of the orientation courses for

G.I. brides. C28.2 These laundrywomen and waitresses and manicure girls going to that

wonderful country!

C29.1 Doors opened readily for these women and people fought for the privilege of cutting the

ribbons at their various bazaars. C29.2 Government officials spoke at their seminars, doggedly

praising their energy and their civic conscience. C29.3 I scurried after them and witnessed the

browbeating and the cowing. C29.4 Then, in the afternoon, I went to school, and for three hours,

read the poetry of Medieval Europe. C29.5 And at night, as I pulled the mosquito net over me, I

wondered if I would learn enough, in time to brighten the last hours of an old man in Ponteverde.

C30.1 I spoke to Ernesto of these when he asked me why I did not leave my job to work for

worthier people. C30.2 Like him, for instance, he said. C30.3 He had organized a group of

students into something he called Peace Lovers. C30.4 “Join us,” he said and pushed a batch of

resolutions for my signature. C30.5 “We’re going to save the world,” he said, a fervor appearing

in his eyes. C30.6 I returned the papers to him. C30.7 I did not love the world but I loved my

father and I was beginning to care about Ernesto Bello. C30.8 The thought did not leave me

happy.

C31.1 Like a child, he was consumed by a violent anger over many things. C31.2 He loved all of

humankind (he said he did) but it was not easy for him to concern himself with a particular

human being. C31.3 I often wondered how he felt about me. C31.4 He lumped me together with

the rest of mankind he was eager to save but the panic with which he came running to me

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whenever the slightest thing went wrong in his world was often amusing. C31.5 Many times, he

appeared at the door where I worked, hungry and bedraggled, and I would be told that my cousin

from Isabela wanted to see me. C31.6 I took him to an eating place nearby and gave him

breakfast, and some change to get the heels of his brogans repaired for what seemed like the

hundredth time. C31.7 The money his father sent him went for paper and typewriter ribbons

necessary for the resolutions he delivered weekly to the offices of the various deans in school.

C31.8 It also went for the soft drinks with which he bribed the Peace Lovers so that they would

continue to sit at his feet by the acacia tree in the campus and endure his wild talk of reform and

salvation.

C32.1 Once, I attempted to speak frankly with him. C32.2 Since I was his only friend, I felt that

this gave me the right to be honest. C32.3 We were making our way through a crowd, looking

for a shop to get his brogans fixed. C32.4 It was a year after liberation. C32.5 Already, the

hysteria of war’s end had disappeared. C32.6 There were as many bars but the girls were older

and bore the marks of a year’s hard living. C32.7 They lounged idly at the door in tight jersey

dresses. C32.8 Record players blared Sinatra’s I Walk Alone but no one paid attention. C32.9

The Hi-Joe-chewing-gum-Joe camaraderie was over and now the city was uglier than it had ever

been and only life was left to be lived. C32.10 Men still dressed in utilitarian khaki and on this

particular twilight of ’46, they hurried home from jobs at army depots or Afwespac clerking

pools, food bags in their hands and worry on their minds.

C33.1 We found the shop, a hole-in-the-wall on Raon. C33.2 After we were through haggling

over the price, Ernesto took the brogans off and slipped his feet into an old pair of abaca slippers.

C33.3 It was when he smiled ruefully at me that I realized it was a year since he had first left

Isabela. C33.4 Except for the brogans, nothing about him was the same. C33.5 He had skimped

on food to have money for his organization. C33.6 The prolonged undernourishment had sliced

the flesh off his face and neck. C33.7 He was thin and older looking. C33.8 It was hard to

imagine him humming the bars of Old Black Joe into the ears of that adamant colored driver of

one summer ago. C33.9 In his hip pocket as usual, he carried the written declarations of his latest

indignations. C33.10 He was going to read them aloud to me when I realized that I was ashamed

of him. C33.11 I was angry with myself but angrier with him for making me feel guilty. C33.12

The shoemaker rapped the counter and called our attention to Ernesto’s finished brogans. C33.13

“They’re ready,” the man said, and turned away with what looked like disgust.

C34.1 Ernesto picked up his shoes eagerly. C34.2 I suddenly blurted, “Throw them away.”

C34.3 He tossed the slippers aside. C34.4 I said again, “Throw them away, Ernesto.” C34.5 He

looked at me. C34.6 His mouth began to flutter and I knew that in a few moments he would

stutter all over the shop. C34.7 Dimly, through my disgust, I was aware that I was asking him to

throw away more than his absurd brogans but also his reckless courage and his pure,

unadulterated dreams for the future. C34.8 They were all in his hip pocket, lined now with dirt,

and if I could get him to toss them away, I might at last allow myself to love him, unafraid.

C34.9 “No,” Ernesto Bello said. C34.10 I slipped him and walked out into the thinning crowd

outside.

C35.1 HE STEPPED OUT of those shoes but it was long after we had both left school and I had

married and begun my own family.

C36.1 I took the elevator to his office. C36.2 It was on the fifth floor. C36.3 “They literally

throw you up here,” he said. C36.4 He showed me to a chair. C36.5 I looked around at the plush

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room. C36.6 Double-walled, air-conditioned, varnished, curtained—and as Ernesto Bello pulled

the blinds open, I wondered why he walked noiselessly. C36.7 His shoes sank, into the floor rug

and they were not the brogans I knew.

C37.1 I had gone to Ernesto Bello’s office in the nature of a long-delayed visit, out of curiosity

and surely from wistfulness, too. C37.2 Earlier in the week, Tomas had met him at the scene of

the strike and the shambles of its aftermath: torn placards, overturned barrels, spilled oil

discolouring the earth where lay moaning the figure of the man Ernesto Bello had run over with

his Opel, and ranged in sullen hating lines around him and his car, the strikers.

C38.1 “They wavered,” Tomas recounted the story to me that night. C38.2 “If they had rushed

him then, as soon as their companion’s body fell, they might have succeeded in cowing the

company. C38.3 The soldiers had been pulled off that morning and this happened at three in the

afternoon. C38.4 All week long, they had screamed for violence and when violence exploded in

their faces, they were frightened, they did not know what to make of it. C38.5 Bello rammed

through the line with a right good wheel, enjoying himself immensely,” my husband said. C38.6

“The hood of his car must have a dozen notches on it.” C38.7 It was Tomas who had snapped

that damning picture and the News had run it with his name and story below. C38.8 This was

how Ernesto Bello came to know whom I had married. C38.9 “The bastard called up,

challenging me to a duel,” Tomas said. C38.10 “Let me talk to the louse who wrote me up

famous,’ he said. C38.11 ‘Guns or knives or fists,’ he said, and named a sidestreet in Caloocan,

deserted after sunset, “This louse will be there,’ I said.”

C39.1 Despite my tears and my pleas, Tomas went. C39.2 He was not a brave man but he was

no coward. C39.3 I did not know how Ernesto Bello looked after all these years. C39.4 I

wondered about his cowlick, his stutter, his shoes. C39.5 Ten years, and the last time I had seen

him was in a lodging house in Victoria where we had gone off for a weekend, he and I, to resolve

many things between us.

C40.1 “Don’t go,” I begged Tomas and threw my arms around him. C40.2 I had not told him

everything about Ernesto and me, only that we had gone to school together, nothing more. C40.3

I held him tightly as he struggled into another shirt. C40.4 We were acting out a melodrama,

except that I was not sure for whose life I feared—my husband’s or Ernesto’s. C40.5 I would

grieve for whoever stayed behind. C40.6 If it was Tomas, I would weep because of all that we

had shared together. C40.7 For Ernesto Bello, my tears would flow because of a wrong I had

done him in that cheap lodging house in Victoria.

C41.1 AFTER I HAD hit him in the shoe repair shop, I did not see him for a long time. C41.2

He dropped out of my class. C41.3 I kept my eyes straight ahead whenever I walked through the

campus, lest I catch a glimpse of him and his group. C41.4 He was still around, a school joke

everyone laughed at. C41.5 Sometimes, I would hear his voice in an impassioned harangue

against, probably the incessant hedge-trimming that went on or the lone elevator they kept

exclusively for professors. C41.6 Whatever aroused him, it was always trivial, except for the

“principle,” and one could forget that too if one finally accepted the fact that the world was run

by people ill-prepared for the task: right did not always triumph, evil often prevailed, the wicked

prospered.

C42.1 I wrote all that to an old man in Ponteverde and his reply was prompt but brief. Paz, I

need never worry over you again.

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C43.1 After a while, I wondered what Father meant. C43.2 Was he disappointed because I had

learned compromise, did he think that I had failed him? C43.3 I could never fathom my father.

C43.4 Even living together, he had kept his thoughts to himself. C43.5 He and Ernesto were

alike, but father’s anger was an old, futile one. C43.6 It would die with him. C43.7 While

Ernesto’s—as long as he worried about the world, he could not love me, not the way I wished to

be loved.

C44.1 One day, I followed a turn in the school corridor and ran into Ernesto Bello, his back

against a window, his eyes fixed thoughtfully on his shoes. C44.2 For a second, we stood there,

confronting each other. C44.3 I felt foolish.

C45.1 “Where do you want them thrown?” he asked, pointing to his feet.

C46.1 “Do you have money for another pair?”

C47.1 “Well, I must soon have that,” he admitted, “and the hundred other things I suddenly need

when money from home stops coming.”

C48.1 His father would send him no more. C48.2 Someone had told him of his fool of a son,

dissipating time and energy, delivering incoherent speeches. C48.3 “He wants me to buckle

down. Well, I am buckling down, Paz—does no one see that? I’m hard at work. I’m doing for

him what he couldn’t do for me. Rid the world of evil.” C48.4 He did not once stammer. C48.5

He panted a bit after his declaration and then leaned back against the ledge, a puny, hungry

Messiah, with the smell of tobacco in his hands.

C49.1 He was terrifying because he seemed sincere.

C50.1 Several times in the following weeks, I slipped out of my office and met him at the

intersection. C50.2 Together, for a few hours in the morning, we went job-hunting. C50.3 We

walked up and down flights of steps, pushing doors open, talking to impassive-faced

receptionists.

C51.1 Sometimes they let us through and we were both ushered into the presence of the

manager. C51.2 Once or twice, he succeeded in beginning confidently enough but the look of

suppressed annoyance on the other fellow’s face would wreck his poise. C51.3 Ernesto hesitated,

paused. C51.4 When he spoke again, it was to struggle with his words. C51.5 His pity aroused,

the man behind the desk would soften. C51.6 “Take your time,” he would murmur. C51.7 This

often shattered Ernesto so completely that he would flee the room, leaving me to mumble the

apologies. C51.8 Outside, I once found him brooding on the sidewalk, his knuckles bleeding

because he had repeatedly struck them against the wall of the building.

C52.1 He finally got a job, doing research for a brief-writer in T.Pinpin. C52.2 I looked him up

on the first day he went to work, gladly foregoing my lunch in order to pay him a visit. C52.3 He

was behind a scarred desk, buried beneath volumes. C52.4 Only his hand was visible, copying

notes from an open book. C52.5 I could see that there was no use asking him how he felt. C52.6

He was not happy, overtaken at last, caught in a manner he detested, sucked in by the whirlpool

of day to day living.

C53.1 But despite himself, he was hardworking. C53.2 His mind was a natural for the job; it

sifted facts and figures which he put down in a notebook and handed at the end of every week to

his employer who proceeded to string them together, stylizing Ernesto’s work with conjunctions,

and then hurrying to court at the behest of his Chinese clients. C53.3 He soon found Ernesto

indispensable and raised his pay several times until Ernesto felt constrained to speak to him

about it. C53.4 “I don’t need much,’ I told him. C53.5 Please, Mr. Cinco, don’t shove me

further. My wants are simple.”

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C54.1 Now he smoothed his cowlick, weighing it down with dabs of pomade. D54.2 Now, he

dressed in cleaner clothes. C54.3 He ate better, too. C54.4 He still wore his brogans but I hoped

they would soon go. C54.5 He had less and less time for his angers and his resolutions and his

exhortations to the Peace Lovers. C54.6 But for his shoes, he was getting to be what a young girl

might safely fall in love with.

D55.1 Father died soon after that. C55.2 Given a month’s leave, I booked passage on a

reconverted LST.

C56.1 There was no sleep to be had during the two days’ trip home. C56.2 Far into the night, I

was huddled in a corner, obscured from the rest by cheap, varnished trunks and piles of brightly

woven mats. C56.3 I pushed the thought of the dead old man in the back of my mind. C56.4

Time enough to open myself to grief when I got to Ponteverde. C56.5 I listened to the people

around me. C56.6 Astern, five women stretched their lovely legs. C56.7 Each one reminded me

of the Stardust Club girls. C56.8 Was there a brother’s missing leg or a sister’s torn torso in the

stories—did they dance because a bomb had burst on their roofsteps and ripped out innocence

and youth? C56.9 The one called Dora was exceptionally voluptuous. C56.10 She had only to

shift slightly in her seat and a sensual ripple would start at her shoulders and end somewhere in

her toes. C56.11 She was lush-bodied. C56.12 Her flesh had bloomed beneath the touch of

strangers in some dimly lighted room above a raucous phonograph, but one knew it was a beauty

that carried its own corruption, and on the third or fourth trip home, Dora would only be a tired,

arthritic woman, wanting rest, needing kindness. C56.13 I put my hands to my face and tried to

sleep. C56.14 An hour off port, something warm and wet dripped through my fingers, I had wept

in my dreams.

C57.1 My father had not died the quiet, peaceful death he deserved. C57.2 He had killed

himself. C57.3 No one knew except me. C57.4 When they told me the story on the bamboo

wharf of Ponteverde, I knew at once what he had done: taken his own life to rebuke me, for

having come to terms, so easily and so early, with the world. C57.5 “’Stay behind, old man!’ we

told him,” related one fisherman. C57.6 “But he insisted. After all, your father owned the boats,

he paid our wages and he wanted to go on his trip. We set sail. There were no stars to steer by

and a bad wind was coming up from the north. ‘Here,’ your father said, ‘try this spot.’ Again and

again, he showed us where to cast, we threw our nets but caught nothing. There was no fish in

the vast sea. ‘Let’s go to Guimaras,’ he said. A dark night is not the time to sail for Guimaras.

You know these rocks. Halfway to the island, we missed him. Somewhere between Punta and

Guimaras, your father must have fallen into the sea.”

C58.1 Fallen by accident or design, his body was sighted on the fourth day, bobbing like a huge,

dark fish a few hundred yards from Ponteverde. C58.2 The current had brought him back.

C59.1 It was more than a month before I could get back to the city. C59.2 I wired Ernesto but he

was not at the pier to meet me. C59.3 It was days before I went to school. C59.4 His absence did

not worry me at first. C59.5 But after several weeks, when he did not call or drop in, I picked up

the phone and dialled Mr. Cinco’s office. C59.6 To my dismay, I was told he had quit. C59.7

There was consternation in Mr. Cinco’s voice, doubtless because now he would have to do his

own research. C59.8 Over the phone, I imagined his face as he said, “Did I do anything wrong?

What displeased him? What was it? If you see him, please, Miss Nuqui, tell him the job is his

any time he wishes.”

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C60.1 We met in the rain. C60.2 Ernesto Bello stepped out of the trees one night and, despite the

heavy downpour, blocked my path. D60.3 I did not look at him. C60.4 He said nothing but his

hands were eloquent. C60.5 I dodged them.

C61.1 He had betrayed me. C61.2 In the pelting rain, I thought of everything that had proved a

disappointment and Ernesto Bello personified my unhappiness. C61.3 This pretentious crusader

and his vulgar mouthings. C61.4 I pushed him and walked on but he followed me. D61.5 I kept

the umbrella away from him. C61.6 He was shivering in the cold. C61.7 As I stepped out on the

street, the night and the rain wrung the words from him. C61.8 “Paz, I love you.” I heard him

clearly in spite of the thunder overhead. C61.9 As distinct as bells, the words reached me.

C61.10 I replied, “Say it again.” C61.11 He said it once more and this time, the saxophone at the

Stardust Club rode the wind on one long, anguishing note.

C62.1 We made that trip to Victoria because I wanted it.

C63.1 Having gone back to Mr. Cinco, Ernesto Bello now fell into the pattern of an ardent

suitor. C63.2 He called often, he asked me out, he stood patiently in theatre lobbies. C63.3

Captured, tamed, chastised, his ardour for justice gone, he looked—if I closed one eye and

cocked my head—like a thousand other men. C63.4 He was no longer uncommon, but he was

safe, he was familiar, he was reliable. C63.5 In the beginning, he had causes. C63.6 They were

gone and he had only me instead. C63.7 I did not care how I weighed against them. C63.8

Purged of them at last, he was all right to love.

C64.1 One noon, sharing a meal in a restaurant cubicle, he suddenly said, between sips from a

bowl of soup, that he could not go on with Mr. Cinco. C64.2 I close my eyes and his face rises in

my mind—there it is before me, a cold, tasteless meal away, and all it can do is press its lips,

willing some of the misery to disappear, and the trembling mouth fights to compose itself while

it says, “I cannot go on, Paz.”

C65.1 Did he think that was all there was to my loving, did he doubt that I could transport him?

C65.2 I thought of the girls at the Stardust Club and the old man floating to Ponteverde. C65.3 I

looked at Ernesto Bello—having said he loved me, he had died a brief but unwilling death.

C65.4 Was it reward he now awaited? C65.5 There were many ways to play this game, I said,

and that was when I found myself suggesting, “Let’s go away on Friday, Ernesto.”

C66.1 That Friday, he and I shivered on one of the red benches of the Central Luzon

Transportation Company. C66.2 The waiting shed had only a provisional roof but no walls, and

the bus we were waiting for had not come in from the main garage. C66.3 Ernesto was already

there when I arrived and I was grateful for that. C66.4 I had sneaked out of the dormitory with

only a dress and a toothbrush, not daring to bring a bag for fear of arousing suspicion. C66.5 I

stuck my small bundle in Ernesto’s valise. C66.6 Strangely enough, he was the poised one.

C66.7 He acted as if the trip had been his idea, not mine. C66.8 A new sophistication I had not

imagined him capable of now possessed him and he ground his cigarette butts with the air of one

who had gone off on clandestine weekends before. C66.9 But we did not trust ourselves to

speak. C66.10 He would surely have fumbled and I? C66.11 In guilt and contrition, I might have

said something cruel and asked to be taken home instead.

C67.1 When the old bus limped in, he helped me up. C67.2 Any moment, I expected a touch on

my shoulder to wake me up but it was only Ernesto’s hand on my arm, his quiet voice saying,

“Paz?” I looked at him. C67.3 He said, “We must believe each other or regret everything that

happens to us from now on.

C68.1 Victoria was a one-street town in Tarlac.

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C69.1 It was half-past six when we drove in and the stores on either side of the main street were

only just beginning to stir with life. C69.2 The odor of fresh bread reached me when we alighted

from the bus in front of the church and it was like the newness of Ernesto’s tenderness and my

own pressing feelings that had brought me here.

C70.1 I wanted to settle the death of my father forever in my mind. C70.2 It was necessary to

solve it now, through Ernesto and for him, because he suffered the same compulsions and

inflicted them on those who loved him and whom he loved. C70.3 If I proved myself right, if I

could woo him away from The World to a world, away from Life to life, away from Mankind to

me, I might, across the abyss between the living and the dead, bridge the silence and tell my

father that I had discovered what had eluded him in an entire lifetime and the secret was: one

forever. C70.4 To love deeply and faithfully, this was the essence of creation, this was to be

involved more completely and more gratifyingly than if one had been strung up a cross on a hill

C71.1 We took a rig and jogged through the still empty streets.

C72.1 “Why did you pick this town?” I asked. C72.2 It was the wrong question. C72.3 It

reminded us both of why we had come and there was no gracious way of defining desire.

C73.1 “I saw it on my way to Cabiao,” he said. C73.2 He bent forward to take the rig driver into

his confidence. C73.3 A few whispered words and the man touched the animal’s rump with the

tip of his whip. C73.4 We moved ahead at a faster pace.

C74.1 We went past the movie house and the market. C74.2 We turned into a dust road that

ended in front of the cabaret. C74.3 Across the large, unpainted barn that was the town dancing

hall stood the Hong Ning Lodging house. C74.4 While Ernesto paid off the rig driver, I waited

on the sidewalk, trying to maintain a calm that I did not feel. C74.5 I was determined to let

nothing appall me.

C75.1 We walked up the steps into the dingy corridor, straight into the path of the Chinese

proprietor. C75.2 If he thought anything, the owner did not show it. C75.3 He was bland. C75.4

He did not leer. C75.5 In fact, he was slightly annoyed. C75.6 He put a key in Ernesto’s hand

and walked ahead of us, stopping before a door.

C76.1 The door swung open. C76.2 It was a scrubbed room, simple as a nun’s cell and as clean.

C76.3 The sheets were white and starched, glistening in spots where the iron had passed

repeatedly. C76.4 Yet the room was for what it was, the act of love, but there was nothing

suggestive or prurient or greasy. C76.5 No scribbling or voluptuous nudes or mirrors. C76.6 The

walls were bare. C76.7 At the window fronting the cabaret across, a length of sturdy cloth

stretched end to end, shutting out the sun and the view.

C77.1 “Are you sorry?” Ernesto asked. C77.2 “Do you want to go back?” C77.3 Up until the

door, I had been sure of what I wanted. C77.4 But inside the room, with its clean smell, I wasn’t

certain. C77.5 “You’re not talking now,” he pressed. C77.6 “Are you sorry, Paz?”

C78.1 “You know what this means?” I countered.

C79.1 “What?”

C80.1 “We’re conversing in questions,” I said.

C81.1 “We’re here because I want to marry you.”

C82.1 “It means also,” I said, speaking slowly and clearly, “that you are committed.”

C83.1 “I want to marry you, Paz,” he said.

C84.1 “Committed. Are you willing?”

C85.1 “I love you, Paz,” he said again. C85.2 “I want to give you the best I have.”

C 86.1 “Don’t,” I said. C86.2 “No promises. Not yet.”

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C87.1 “No,” he agreed, crossing the room. C87.2 “None for now.”

C88.1 Later on in the night, when the street lights appeared and the dancing started across the

street, I stirred in my sleep to see the glow of his cigarette. C88.2“Are you awake?” he asked.

C89.1 “Yes,” I said, and added the words I had withheld in all the months that we had known

each other. C89.2 “I love you.” C89.3 I drifted off to sleep again, borne on a wave of sweet

sensuality. C89.4 As I drifted farther and farther away, I met my father, bobbing gently in the

waters, and I began to weep. C89.5 Ernesto shook me and felt my tears. C89.6 He said, “Don’t

cry, Paz. We’re not the first to do this.”

C90.1 Towards dawn, the dancing girls called out their noisy goodbyes and boarded rigs bound

for the heart of the town. C90.2 The phonograph died away. C90.3 The cocks of Victoria began

to crow. C90.4 I stood up and found my way to the sink at the end of the corridor. C90.5

Ducking my head beneath the faucet, I gave my face a thorough wetting and returned to the

room. C90.6 Ernesto was up, waiting for me.

C91.1 “Paz,” he said. C91.2 I knew the dream had begun to die. C91.3 I sat down beside him,

drying my hair with the edge of a sheet. C91.4 “Let’s get married today,” he said.

C92.1 “Will you stay with Cinco?” I wanted to know.

C93.1 “Let’s talk about that afterwards.”

C94.1 “Now,” I insisted. C93.2 “Let’s talk about it now.”

C95.1 “I can’t,” he said.

C96.1 “Talk? Or stay with Cinco?”

C97.1 “Cinco,” he said. C97.2 “I want to do something else. I despise him. I despise what he

does.”

C98.1 “All right. And every night I must get down to pray that the rain falls so that the tobacco

grows and your father’s monthly pittance to us comes through.”

C99.1 “It won’t be as bad as that,” Ernesto said.

C100.1 “But it will be bad,” I said, getting angry. C100.2 “You want a neat world, what

resolutions will you have me bring from door to door? Clean gutters, cover your garbage, keep

the fences painted. What else?”

C101.1 “It’s not that ridiculous, Paz,” he said, flushing.

C102.1 “I want you to be constant,” I said, raising my voice,”—constant, to endure, to be

steadfast. Don’t buy people too cheaply.”

C103.1 “I promise you a good life,” he said. C103.2 “I will always be there.”

C104.1 “No.”

C105.1 “I want to do good,” he said with an intensity that seared the air around us. C105.2 He

stood in his bare feet. C105.3 The miserable shoes were in a corner. C105.4 One movement

towards each other and I would accept his terms, bracing myself for the night when he would,

like my unhappy father, slip over the side into the deep.

C106.1 I said goodbye in the corridor. C106.2 He hurried after me to hold me back. C106.3 I

shook him away, giving him a smart shove he did not expect. C106.4 He half-fell against the

wall and it was the last sight of him I had until fourteen years later when his secretary ushered

me into his office and a cold blast from his airconditioner enveloped me.

C107.1 THEY SWAYED BACK and forth in the empty lot. C107.2 It was hard by a bowling

alley and the crash of pins and rolling balls covered the sounds of their struggle. C107.3 Older

and heavier than they both realized, Tomas and Ernesto pummelled each other with a fury more

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ridiculous than frightening. C107.4 Tomas had gone despite me and I could see him raising his

fists and wondering where the fleetness had gone. C107.5 As a boy, he had boxed for a youth

club. C107.6 Ernesto Bello was no better. C107.7 Flabby from too much good living, he

stumbled on his feet like a drunk. C107.8 After half an hour of futile flailing, they rested by

mutual consent. C107.9 Ernesto Bello, chasing his breath, asked, “Where do I send your body?”

C108.1 Tomas, too wily to pass up a chance, told him at last, “To your friend and my wife—to

Paz Nuqui.”

C109.1 The fight ended there. C109.2 “And was that all?” I asked Tomas after he had told me.

C109.3“He said nothing more?”

C110.1 “Should he have?”

C111.1 So I went to the ten-story building in Sta. Cruz and fought my way to the elevator.

C111.2I got out on the ninth floor and counted the doors. C111.3 I stopped before one whose

elegance promised many surprises. C111.4 The girl at the desk wore, besides her affected a’s, a

pair of arching eyebrows that twitched delicately together with the fine edges of her nostrils.

C111.5 She listened impatiently to me. C111.6 “No vacancy, mad-mad,” she said and returned

to her machine.

C112.1 When I spoke again, it was with a diffidence that sickened me. C112.2 “I am sure,” I

insisted, but gently. C112.3 “I am sure if you will tell him my name?”

C113.1 “Mad-dam?”

C114.1 “Mrs. Mallari. Paz Nuqui.”

C115.1 Ernesto Bello did not come bounding into the anteroom as I had secretly hoped he would

but the buzzer on the girl’s desk sounded.

C116.1 Fourteen years later, the first thing I noticed about Ernesto were his shoes. C116.2 No

longer the combat footgear of the days when he had ached to do good, the handsome, shiny

leather encased his feet where he posed expansively before his desk, tugging at his cuffs. D116.3

“Well, Paz—“he said. C116.4 He had grown taller. C116.5 The neck was still there but now you

had to look for it and when you found it, it was incongruous because the face had changed.

C116.6 He sported a small cut above his left eye—memento of the only blow that had landed in

their ludicrous fight. C116.7 He waved his hands to include everything. C116.8 “Fourteen

years,” he said.

C117.1 It was not as simple as he made it seem. C117.2 I who had wanted to be in the vortex of

things had lived in anonymity these last years while he had ridden the crest. C117.3 After

Victoria, he had left school and when next someone brought news of him, he said that he had

bumped into Bello, milling with the rest of the greedy crowd, outside the doors of the Import

License Office. C117.4 It was four years after the Hong Ning, and I had been married for two to

Tomas. C117.5 At one of these well-meant college reunions, someone brought up his name.

C117.6 “That queer fish?” cried another. C117.7 I found myself wincing. C117.8 “That queer

fish has decided to swim along with the rest of us,” pursued the story teller, “and he’s doing

better than anyone here. He was pushing his way out of the sanctum with a fistful of yellow slips,

each one I’d swear worth ten grand. When he saw me, Bello yelled, ‘Man, this is it. I hope it

lasts a hundred years!’”

C118.1 After the reunion, that night at home, my chores over, the kitchen dark, the child asleep,

I turned the porch light on and waited for Tomas to arrive. C118.2 I waited a long while, till the

bugs disappeared, till the lizards crawled back into their crevices, and nothing was abroad in the

neighbourhood except a dog who crouched on the walk outside our fence and stared impassively

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as I swung back and forth in the old rocking chair. C118.3 I spread my hands hopefully in my

lap—I wanted to hold the quiet. C118.4 I tried to fight off the feeling that I had missed

something, that someone had consummated a deal behind me and sold me in the bargain. C118.5

Ernesto Bello had achieved fabulous success and I was not there to share it. C118.6 The latch at

the gate sounded and Tomas walked in. C118.7 He put an arm around me and drew me into the

familiar warmth of our home.

C119.1 When we came face to face in his office that day, I knew what Ernesto Bello had

become. C119.2 From stray bits of news here and there, I knew, I had kept track. C119.3 He was

often in the papers and more than half a dozen times, they spelled his name in gossip columns,

speaking of him in terms of envy and awe: the young, new wizard armed with only glib, sitting at

directors’ meetings. C119.4 His forte—public relations, an occupation that covered many things,

from lighting cigarettes to tucking people in bed, and there were pictures of Bello boarding

planes and alighting, always with the inevitable, self-important portfolio, a dazzling smile on his

face. C119.5 I followed him through the civic drives that he led, his latest plaques, his newest

certificates. C119.6 When he finally got that job at Quality Products, he moved into high gear.

C119.7 I pieced all these together with the stories that Tomas brought home and once or twice, I

was tempted to put in a call. C119.8 I did not know what I was going to say, something foolish

and indiscreet and regrettable, but I could not help feeling that I was responsible for what he had

become.

C120.1 What had he become? C120.2 I was not sure, but it was an unnerving change from the

boy who had wanted only to die for the world. C120.3 Fraud, mountebank, charlatan—his

terrifying transition reached me in dribbles from talk that Tomas occasionally dropped—“the

boys” going wild at the Eel Club, a cool thousand bucks wild, the liquor bubbled, the girls

gurgled and Bello picked up the bill without turning a hair and announced it was going on his

expense account. C120.4 I thought of him in a back room, making love in his stockinged feet, his

cuffs on a chair, his shoes neatly set beneath the bed. C120.5 No time for tenderness, only a

deadly, desperate performance, passion forced out of his pores like tomorrow’s copy and next

week’s jingle.

C121.1 Tomas had tagged along once and come home reeking of stale perfume and human sweat

and speechless with wonderment over Bello’s largesse. C121.2 He hadn’t even known Tomas

from the rest of the pack but he had given him a wad of bills just the same, saying, “Burn it up!”

C121.3 When Bello wanted to collect, it was at four in the morning on the boulevard curb where

all of them, a dozen strong, groggy with wine and whoring, stood waiting for their rides home.

C121.4 Together with taxi fare, Ernesto handed out copies of a story he wanted made more

definitive with one or two exclamation points and large types running the whole width of the

business pages in town. C121.5 When he came to my husband, Tomas said, “I’m on the labor

beat.” C121.6 Ernesto said, “You’ll come in handy some time,” and pushed Tomas into the first

cab that stopped before the drunken group.

C122.1 What with the way he flung money about, Bello quickly became the lodestar for the boys

to wish upon. C122.2 He did not fail them. C122.3 He came across with lavish gifts on

Christmas, and private, cozy arrangements on New Year. C122.4 In between, there were the tips,

the deals, the fixes. C122.5 The traffic was not at all one way, however. C122.6 The boys did

him a huge favor once when the mestiza that Ernesto Bello had picked up in the course of his

career and installed in an apartment on Requesens showed up unexpectedly at the Eel club,

prepared to give him trouble. C122.7 The boys soothed her, plied her with food and drinks until

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Ernesto Bello could disentangle himself from the back room and meet them on the dance floor,

acting for all the world as if he had just walked in. C122.8 But the girl was smarter than they

thought.

C123.1 Drunk as he was, the girl had them soon piling into a rented panel and driving to Morong

where a sleepy justice of the peace awaited them. C123.2 Bello signed the license, he signed,

although he was drunker than anyone that evening. C123.3 Towards the end of the ceremony,

someone told Tomas, as the J.P. slapped his book shut, Bello struggled out of his stupor long

enough to exclaim something that sounded like “My God.”

C124.1 For the first fifteen minutes in his air-conditioned office, “Well, Paz—“ seemed to be

everything he could say. C124.2 I sat, adjusting myself to the luxury, but when he would say

nothing else, I looked at his shoes. C124.3 He followed my gaze, smiled with pleasure, pulled up

the legs of his trousers, stuck out on his feet, and said aloud to me, to the whole room, to

everything he had acquired, “A hundred pesos.”

C125.1 Did I say that I went to see him from wistfulness, from a desire to tell him that I

remembered some memories? C125.2 That feeling quickly disappeared. C125.3 I was the

bungling, impoverished friend from the past, who reminded him of what he had left behind,

against whom he now measured his present affluence and came out vastly pleased with himself.

C125.4 He talked rapidly, unceasingly, without pausing, as if afraid that I would seize upon his

pause to remind him of things he was determined to forget. C125.5 He talked of his home in

Fairview Valley, of his adored wife, of the sauce at Café Luxaire, of the staying power of his car,

and I realized this was how he wanted to remember himself.

C126.1 Fourteen years ago, that ride in a rig through a sleeping town: two on a holiday, touring

the regions of youth, memories turn shabby, the act of love stops short of the act of consecration

for who has courage for that kind of death? C126.2 God does not lightly vouchsafe the power to

look into another man’s heart, one slender door stands between you and the final knowing.

C126.3 No one, no one may speak of the other: I know him.

C127.1 “You are a success,” I conceded.

C128.1 “A moderate one,” he replied.

C129.1 “You never wanted much,” I said. C129.2 “Only goodness.”

C130.1 His face clouded a little but he was quick to say, “That!”

C131.1 “People kill for these,” I said, pointing around. C131.2 “Did you?”

C132.1 “Don’t believe everything you hear,” he said.

C133.1 “No,” I agreed. C133.2 “I never have. Even at the University, even as you wept over the

wronged dead—“

C134.1 “Paz,” he said, “we were kids then.”

C135.1 “Life does not mold people—it reveals them,” I said.

C136.1 I listened carefully to our conversation. C136.2 He had wanted to leave Cinco fourteen

years ago; now he was saying my lines. C136.3 Something in the world had tilted, righting itself,

and I had not realized it.

C137.1 “You must fight a lot to keep what you’ve got,” I said.

C138.1 “A bit more than the next guy,” he said.

C139.1 “One day,” he said, “you must account. The strike. Testa. Ten or so families in want

because of you.”

C140.1 “Your husband talks too much,” he said.

C141.1 “He knows much.”

185

C142.1 “Does he have much?”

C143.1 “No,” I said. C143.2 “He doesn’t have a stutter. Uh-uh-uh,” I mimicked his old

handicap. C143.3 I knew it was cruel but I could not stop myself. C143.4 “Where did it go?”

C143.5 Momentarily robbed of his weighty pose, he groped for reply. C143.6 I dismembered

him and threw the pieces into a pit I had in my mind.

C144.1 We said goodbye formally.

C145.1 THE SUPPER he invited Tomas and me to was as intimate as he had promised. C145.2

There were no other guests except us. C145.3 We peered at each other in the unsteady light of

the Bello candlesticks, one hour exactly after we had rung the bell on the green, iron-spiked,

concrete wall. C145.4 The fence was built low so that passersby might take in the elegance of

the living room at 257 Melody Road, Fairview Valley: Great ribbons of pink paint ran vertically

on the walls; an umbrella-shaped lamp hung from the ceiling; a large TV set nestled

conspicuously in a corner that you could not miss from the street. C145.5 The piano faced the

window, the window faced the door, and while we stood waiting to be asked in, I faced the

painting above the piano. C145.6 It was a rustic scene—woman bathing by a river bank—in gay,

candy colors. C145.7 Music and art and wealth—the brogan-wearing, resolution-carrying youth

had bought himself a formidable set of traditions.

C146.1 In the cool, clear night, Fairview was less valley and more hill. C146.2 It commanded a

view of the bay nearby and the dwindling, doomed forests of the town of Rosario. C146.3 They

had carved a subdivision on this countryside, gouging out the greenery, the lush trees, the carpet

of earth-hugging bushes, and in their stead, a weirder jungle of split-level homes and TV poles

had sprung. C146.4 It was amazing how people had defaced the panorama to build their homes

and yet kept trying to bring it back in the lanais and the fish pools and the rock gardens.

C147.1 The Bello home was such a one, full of confused taste and sudden money. C147.2 The

heavy, upholstered chairs, grouped in awkward grace in the living room. C147.3 The prints on

the wall leading to the bedroom—a bit of China. C147.4 The sliding doors—a bit of Japan.

C147.5 The carpet tucked above—a bit of Araby. C147.6 The life-sized carabao on the corner,

on its ponderous back a straight-legged wooden heron in painted captivity—a quaint bit of the

native country.

C148.1 It was at supper that we found why Ernesto Bello had asked us over. C148.2 With hardly

any preliminaries, with the insolence that being our host lent him, he launched into his version of

the strike that Tomas had written about.

C149.1 “You helped to organize the union,” Tomas accused.

C150.1 “That’s a damn lie!” he said heatedly.

C151.1 “They have your signature on a circular to prove it.”

C152.1 “Okay,” he admitted. C152.2 “I signed something. Over at Quality they’re always

passing those letters. Someone’s getting married, pass a letter. Someone’s dead, pass a letter.

Someone’s had a baby, pass a letter.”

C153.1 Marietta Bello wore expensive baubles on her ears; her lovely, perfect neck rose proudly

above her dress; the candlelight threw softening lines on her beauty; she was all in all a woman

with believable charm but I wondered how she has looked in the walk-up on Requesens.

C154.1 “You attended the organizational meeting,” Tomas went on.

C155.1 “Look, if I did,” replied Ernesto, shaking a rice spoon in Tomas’ face, “it was for the

kicks. That didn’t bind me to anything. No.”

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C156.1 “Not if you did not speak up at the planning. Which you did. Testa said you told them—

and this is verbatim—‘Public Relations will back you up, boys.’”

C157.1 “That’s another damn lie.”

C158.1 “Testa said—“

C159.1 “Testa’s a bastard. The fellow’s been after my spot at PR, like everybody else. My God,

man, I’m the most vulnerable guy in the company, why should I antagonize management?”

C160.1 “Why should you indeed? Except that Testa said—“

C161.1 “To hell with Testa!” said Ernesto Bello, pushing his plate away. C161.2 “All right. Did

he say I helped organize the union?”

C162.1 “You drew the chart: officers, powers, duties—and gripes.”

C163.1 “That’s a damn lie! I may have thrown in a few suggestions here and there, but to say I

was the brains behind the group, to say I went so far as to pick up a pencil and DRAW! I draw

only my name, and only on checks, and the boys on the business beat know that drawing of mine

as well, I’ll say like hell they do—“

C164.1 “Don’t get carried away,” Tomas said, “I cover labor, I’ve told you that. Testa said,” my

husband continued, “that after drawing up that chart, you walked into the old man’s office and

spilled everything.”

C165.1 “That’s a damn lie!”

C166.1 “Testa said you did. Played the Judas to your pal’s Christ and Gethsemane was the old

man’s mahogany bar with whisky and ice cubes and a bit of soda.”

C167.1 Ernesto Bello said nothing.

C168.1 Tomas brought up the striker he had run over. C168.2 “He got in the way,” Bello said, as

if it settled the subject.

C169.1 “Both legs crushed,” Tomas murmured, “sole support of aged parents, your victim lived

in Pandacan, even had a girl he was going to marry until you injured his legs for him and you

know a man needs his legs on a honeymoon, you’re lucky he settled out of court.”

C170.1 “Everyone,” declared Bello, “can be bought.”

C171.1 “Yeah,” Tomas said. C171.2 “But you’ve got to wait till the price tags are out.”

C172.1 “Even Testa, that self-baptized Christos—give him a fast car of a large check or a chance

at a good lay and he’d see the light—I told him that, when the chips were down at Quality,

shortly before the pickets. The old man girded himself for war and heads began rolling. You

should have seen the way your high-principled union men sold their baby out. They couldn’t

wait to tell what they knew. Reyes, Santos, Pacis, Ganzon. The whole lot of them, creeping into

the old man’s office to bleat there like a group of badly trained choir boys.”

C173.1 “Except Testa,” Tomas said. C173.2 “You didn’t get him.”

C174.1 “All right. But where is he now?”

C175.1 “He sleeps nights, at least—“

C176.1 “I can sleep, too,” proclaimed Ernesto Bello.

C177.1 Tomas grinned, “I imagine you must run up a high bill in barbiturates.”

C178.1 “Testa!” Bello spat. C178.2 “The old man offered him everything, even the top seat in

PR—‘Son,’ the old man said. Son! He’s never called me that and I’ve stopped at nothing to

please him. ‘Son,’ the old man said, ‘will you take some advice? Good men like you are a dime a

dozen, I’m hiring and firing principled men all the time. It’s the men like me who gets things

done. The books are written about you, that’s true, and nothing generous is ever said about my

kind unless we hire hacks to do so, but we’re the ones who keep the world twirling on its old

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orbit. Now. What do you want? Whose job? Bello’s? I’ll throw in his neck, too, if you wish.’ If

Testa had said no, or used bad words or walked-out in so-called dignified silence, the old man

would have forgiven him. But he sat there, comfy as you please, smiling, as if we’d run into a

trap and he’d discovered something we didn’t know.”

C179.1 “Perhaps he had,” I said at last.

C180.1 “What? Principles? I had them too when I was young—“

C181.1 “You outgrew them, like all properly brought up people do,” Tomas said.

C182.1 “Well, damn it, I’ve grown up. That’s all. I was always passing resolutions as a kid, ask

Paz here, and getting laughed at and pushed around. But now, I pick up a phone and give my

name and I can make a dozen, two dozen men squirm. It’s a good feeling. The best.”

C183.1 “Should you or should you not,” my husband intoned.

C184.1 “What?”

C185.1 “Cut another fellow’s throat—“

C186.1 “As many times as needed, I will,” Ernesto swore. C186.2 “It’s not a moral question

anymore. What’s immoral about wanting to survive? Every Adam’s son wants to survive and I

especially want to do so in soft, rubber foam, all-paid-for comfort. Testa was dangerous. So. So I

kicked the chair from under him.”

C187.1 “I’ll say this, Bello: you’re the most candid louse I ever met,” Tomas said.

C188.1 The evening hung uncertainly for a moment, but when Ernesto Bello’s laughter came, it

was a trained, practiced laugh. C188.2 It hinted at no resentment, the Carnegie classes had taken

care of that. C188.3 He threw his head back and let the sound roll out of his mouth until the flesh

about his lips tightened and paled. C188.4 I had a horrible feeling that he was in mortal pain.

C188.5 When his eyes met mine, above his open, roaring mouth, I knew that someone,

something was dying: the ghost of an old love, the shadow of a young boy, an echo, fading into

mist.

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APPENDIX D

The Sounds of Sunday

D1.1 IT WAS HER DAY for meeting old friends. D1.2 Emma Gorrez had ventured out twice

before this, to school and to Martinez Kiosk, but she had met no one she knew. D1.3 Even the

woman behind the books at the Kiosk did not remember her. D1.4 Emma had lingered longer

than she should have, five, ten minutes longer, although there had been nothing of interest to

hold her to this spot where she had bumped into Doming several years ago. D1.5 That time, he

had stood at the rack, thumbing through a book; when their looks had met, he had bowed

slightly. D1.6 He had bowed too in their room two weeks ago, one night after a wearying fight.

D1.7 He would hear no more from her and he had cut short their argument with one vicious

swing of his fist against the bedroom wall. D1.8 No tears, none, except the audible panting of

their selves, like two runners come to the end of a race. D1.9 He had bowed, holding his head.

D1.10 This was how married people fought, she had thought—like complete strangers, with

anger pulsing between them.

D2.1 That day in the Kiosk, wondering where he was and what he did while she stood 300

kilometers away, she thought then that if he returned, if she should see him suddenly looming in

the doorway, if he strode in, scowling or not, loving her or not, she would run to him, and it

would not matter that they had hurt each other terribly. D2.2 But only the rain fell outside the

Kiosk entrance. D2.3 Doming had not appeared; no one she knew had appeared, and the girl

tending the bookstore tapped her fingers impatiently. D2.4 Emma threw the book down and

hurried home.

D3.1 She had also gone to Mr. Rividad to see about her old job. D3.2 She had written to say she

was coming but the first thing she saw when she pushed the familiar batwing doors was her letter

resting casually above his glass top, unopened. D3.3 It had seemed like a rebuff. D3.4 Even the

information that he was out of town did not help.

D4.1 But on this day, she ran into them all. D4.2 She had not taken the first turn on Tañedo

Street when Mrs. Pintoy sprang from behind the corner. D4.3 She made an expansive gesture,

opening and closing her mouth, unable to speak, until Emma dragged her to the table in De Luxe.

D4.4 Then Mrs. Pintoy’s torrent of words came and Emma stopped her ears, pretending to be

displeased but actually happier than she had been since she had left Domingo Gorrez in

Sampaloc.

D5.1 She met Rene Rividad outside Plaridel High School.

D6.1 “Three years,” he said, taking her hand.

D7.1 “Will you take me back?” she asked.

D8.1 He stood, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, veiling his thoughts.

D9.1 “In all ways,” he smiled.

D10.1 “You have learned how to make beautiful speeches,” she said.

D11.1 “And you—what did the city teach you?”

D12.1 Emma Gorrez ignored the question. D12.2 She would not do her remembering this way,

outside in the street, beneath the hot sun, before the searching eyes of this thin, greying man who

had once said he loved her. D12.3 He did not ask her about Doming and she volunteered no news

except that he was well.

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D13.1 She met Norma Rividad, too, swinging her potent hips up the street. D13.2 Mr. Rividad’s

wife made her way, unseeing, to the bus stop, there to wait for the next Pantranco bus to

Dagupan. D13.3 That hadn’t changed, Emma thought, passing her by.

D14.1 But many other things in Tayug had. D14.2 The snakes in the plaza were dead and their

wired cage had been taken over by a pair of deer, captured in the hills nearby. D14.3 They

limped about, dragging themselves around the enclosure, looking up with accusing eyes when

Emma approached to throw them bits of grass.

D15.1 The shanties on Tañedo had been torn down to give way to sturdier buildings and now

they lifted their falsely modern facades to the sun. D15.2 Towards the railroad station, two movie

houses had been erected and their faculty sound systems pierced the air at noon. D15.3 Together

with the 12 o’clock whistle, sonorous declarations of love and anger straddled the town.

D16.1 “I love you! I hate you!” came the screams and the echoes would carry to the periphery of

the town. D16.2 It lasted for hours. D16.3 Emma Gorrez, the first day she heard it, shut the

windows of the old house. D16.4 It did not keep the voices away. D16.5 Some of the stridency

did not reach her, with the windows shut and her ears plugged with cotton, but the echoes

persisted. D16.6 Emma would gather the children in the room farthest from the noise, reading

stories from books salvaged from the wreck of the Gorrez marriage.

D17.1 Emma Gorrez had been strong for both of them, and yet the marriage had come apart.

D17.2 It was difficult to understand. D17.3 They had loved each other through the various crises

of their married life—the times when he had chucked jobs and walked out of agreements and

turned his back on decisions. D17.4 Even that terrible time with the Cosios had drawn them

together. D17.5 The business blowing up in their faces like that—they had left Tayug, lured by

the Cosios’ promise of friendship, and set up the press, and gone through the harrowing months

when both the business and the friendship wavered, and finally the nearly fatal end. D17.6 Emma

had wrecked the Glockner and turned upon Nora, holding Nora’s slim, well-tended hand beneath

the blade of the huge cutter. D17.7 But someone, Isabelo or Paco or Domingo himself—she

never afterwards asked who—kicked the plug away and slapped Emma and Nora down. D17.8

That was all.

D18.1 Emma did not go back to the press again. D18.2 She left Domingo Gorrez to pick up the

pieces, and this he did admirably. D18.3 This man whose dark moods she could not completely

grasp, charmed them out of the frightful mess her foolish rage had plunged them into, the Cosios

had been amenable to letting them go since they were themselves not too eager for a scandal.

D19.1 Perhaps, it was from the moment the marriage began to go. D19.2 Emma Gorrez wanted

to return to Tayug. D19.3 Doming would not hear of it. D19.4 To her pleas that they would feel

safer in the old town, Doming snorted. D19.5 No one was safe anywhere, Doming said. D19.6

Life waited for a man’s unguarded moments, and there were plenty, he said. D19.7 “We’re

staying, Em,” he said. D19.8 “I’ll get a job. Then we’ll show this place a thing or two,” he said.

D20.1 After that, Doming had simply walked into Quality Products, bluffing his way to the desk

in the Public Relations department. D20.2 It meant doing all the things Emma despised. D20.3

He slid into it smoothly, effortlessly, wearing the inevitable shirt and sleeves and thin tie. D20.4

When he left the house, Emma would watch him go—it was not like those mornings in Tayug

when she had stepped back while he drove the jalopy out of the yard. D20.5 Then, there had

been the assurance of things familiar; the hills looked down benignly upon them and

benevolence enwrapped them all surely, Doming, Emma, and the life in her womb.

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D21.1 But in the city, she watched him drive away to a world that repelled her. D21.2 He

returned each night speaking the jargon of the trade and donning the jesting attitudes fashionable

among his friends. D21.3 It was not a life worth living and she tried to reach him.

D22.1 In the high, airless room of the Sampaloc apartment house, she spoke from the depths of

her blanket at night. D22.2 “This is not what we want,” she said. D22.3 The passing cars cast

strange, grotesque shadows on the wall, lighting up with crisscrossing forms the peeling blue

paint of the bedroom. D22.4 He replied with a groan. D22.5 He did not like arguing over an

unrealized peril. D22.6 But when she was insistent, when she talked with yearning of returning

to Tayug, to all that she felt was meaningful to both of them, then he replied, in monosyllables at

first, hoping to discourage her, but finally in long, passionate statements full of his desire to

conquer this city which had humiliated him twice.

D23.1 “We want things that will last,” she said.

D24.1 “The money lasts. You like the money, don’t you?” he asked.

D25.1 “I don’t deserve that,” she said.

D26.1 “Em, Em,” he said, in a voice approximating the old tenderness. D26.2 “You are the child,

not I. You see ghosts where there are none.”

D27.1 “You can’t go on plotting and tricking forever, buying respectability for Big Man in

Quality.”

D28.1 He knew what she was talking of. D28.2 “It was a test of skill,” he recalled. D28.3 “I like

pitting myself against a real foe,” he laughed.

D29.1 “That old man,” she flung at him. D29.2 “He was seventy. If nothing else. He had earned

the right to die with his illusions: honor, courage, honesty…”

D30.1 Mr. Navarro had come knocking at their door, one evening, an old man in threadbare,

baggy pants. D30.2 His daughter had worked at Quality, a silly girl, of whom perhaps it was true

what they had all said later, that she deserved what she had got in the suffocating office elevator,

tragically stalling between floors one twilight. D30.3 Stumbling, panic-stricken, out of the cold,

steel box, babbling hysterically of an attack perpetrated by Number 2, the executive who loved

pastel-colored shirts and who gobbled fruit pies greedily at the office canteen. D30.4 Mr.

Navarro had stormed the offices of Quality, demanding a form of redress that took everyone

aback because it did not include the consideration of money. D30.5 He wanted to send Number 2

to jail. D30.6 Nothing that they could say or offer could deter him. D30.7 It was a most

fundamental sort of satisfaction: the sight of Lopez behind bars. D30.8 The legal force would not

touch it. D30.9 There were all kinds of predictions, oh, the various fateful ramifications of that

single, senseless act. D30.10 Stocks plummeting, faces lost, an entire business built upon the

goodwill of a people (who had been led to believe that Quality employed only God-fearing men)

going up in smoke because this chit of a girl disdained payment.

D31.1 Until Doming had stepped into the fray, bringing the inimitable charm of his father’s son

to bear upon the old man. D31.2 Gorrez had invited Navarro to the house where, willingly and

gladly, Navarro went because Gorrez spoke his dialect and used its native diphthongs well.

D32.1 “Yes, Grandfather?” Gorrez had cajoled. D32.2 “A little talk about your problem? Supper,

and the sight of my children, and my wife, a fine woman, and my guarantee that nothing I might

propose to you will mean disgrace. Yes, Grandfather?”

D33.1 Navarro had wobbled from the bus stop to the house of the Gorrezes, trapped by his own

bewilderment and shame. D33.2 When Doming was through with him, you could not see the

wounds, they were where you could not see them: in the heart that must have bled quickly to

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death because, fed and warmed and made much of, Navarro had allowed himself to leave the

Gorrez house with a check. D33.3 He had killed himself later. D33.4 A week after the funeral,

the check came back by mail, torn into filmy, tiny bits.

D34.1 For a long time afterwards, Emma Gorrez would not allow Doming to touch her. D34.2

Quality had given him a good bonus, a raise, a larger desk, and his own name in black, glossy

letters upon the opaque door. D34.3 Emma would not spend the new sum but Doming brought it

all to her, again and again and again, until she finally took it. D34.4 She went to the most

expensive store in town and spent it on things that in her sober moments she would not have

dreamt of buying. D34.5 When she stepped out of the door onto the sidewalk, a pile of packages

beside her, she looked up at the sun, but the sun was not there, only a vague diffused terror,

peculiar because it frightened her no longer. D34.6 The memory of that trembling old man did

not hurt her anymore, and she said to herself, flagging a cab, this was corruption.

D35.1 In their room, she spelled the word for him and Doming Gorrez laughed. D35.2 Emma lay

back in bed, watching the headlights momentarily illuminating the dark wall. D35.3 The feelings

that God vouchsafed a man—pain and joy, love and lust—they were like lights upon the wall.

D35.4 You knew an instant of pain or joy or love or desire and you were never the same again

because the darkness inside you had known so much illumination. D35.5 And at the end of it all,

what? a gentle discernment, a manner of soft speech and belief, belief.

D36.1 “We’re all in fragments,” she said to Doming another time. D36.2 “And I want us both

whole. Complete.” D36.3 He had pulled desk drawers open, searching heatedly for something

she did not guess until he threw it at her—the dark green, compact bankbook filled with deposits.

D36.4 It was as if he had said something obscene and she knew then that she would have to leave

him.

D37.1 “I am all here!” Doming announced, thumping himself on the chest. D37.2 “All here!”

D38.1 She took her head. D38.2 “No, you’re not—you were easier to love before. Do you

remember yourself then, Doming?” she asked. D38.3 “You were a good man,” she said simply.

D39.1 The money, the ease, the new status, had come to them and they had ceased being

themselves. D39.2 That was the core of their dilemma: to go through the streets of the city and

not lose their innocence, not to be warped and twisted into the ugly form of city folk.

D40.1 “We could live in Tayug quietly and modestly,” she said. D40.2 “You would not have to

arrange people’s lives for them.”

D41.1 “You and your airs!” he snarled. D41.2 “Everyone’s doing it but you’re better than

everyone. There’s never any doubt in your mind about yourself, is there, Emma? You say a thing

is so, because Emma says it so. How can you bear to live with someone like me, Em? I don’t

want to go to heaven…”

D42.1At the bus station where they had gone three mornings afterwards, they stood

uncomfortably until the familiar 812 pulled in and began to load up.

D43.1 “Will you write?” he asked.

D44.1 She nodded.

D45.1 “You don’t have to go, Em. None of this has to happen,” he said. D45.2 But the children

were scrambling up the vehicle and they waited for their mother who turned swiftly on her heels

and climbed up. D45.3 She had touched Doming quickly on the cheek and said something that

the bus, starting all at once, had drowned. D45.4 When they pulled away, she held her grief-

washed face above her sons’ heads.

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D46.1 DOMING, she wrote from Tayug, what does a man work for? D46.2 Is it not for a corner

and moment to be tender in? D46.3 Outside the door, beyond the gate, there, it is always a rush

to get to where there is finally nothing. D46.4 We spin like tops, straining for what will maim

and sear us. D46.5 We think we know what we want and we chase it, but when its hood falls off,

it is the macabre face of death…I have left you because I cannot live without you. D46.6 That is

a statement that should do your department at Quality proud. D46.7 You turn out platitudes like

that at assembly-line speed but do you honor them? D46.8 You buy and sell beliefs, you buy and

sell sensibilities, and of course, in the final analysis, you buy and sell people…

D47.1 His answer was full of newsy bits: the neighbours had asked for her but were not overly

curious. D47.2 He might trade in the car for a two-tone mauve, mauve was the latest hue of

success. D47.3 They were panelling the conference room at last. D47.4 There was a sale of pin-

striped Van Heusens at his favourite store.

D48.1 He can get along without me, she thought bitterly.

D49.1 Nobody asked why she had returned to Tayug. D49.2 Everyone presumed that Doming

Gorrez would follow in a short while. D49.3 Even after she had begun to teach again at Plaridel

High, she heard nothing to indicate that people were wondering why she and her two sons lived

by themselves. D49.4 It was the quiet and modest life that she had wanted. Each day, she walked

the boys to the primary school building atop Manresa Knoll and then turned downhill again

towards the high school. D49.5 At a certain point, she could see the depot where Doming had

worked before. D49.6 The derricks were still there, stark against the sky.

D50.1 On her way home in the afternoon, she looked in on the deer. D50.2 The Rizal statue near

the patio, religiously whitewashed by town officials, lifted unwearied arms still burdened with

ageless overcoat and books.

D51.1 “You would think,” Mr. Rividad said, catching up with her one afternoon, “that he had

seen nothing at all.”

D52.1 Forty years before, Rividad’s father had led an abortive insurrection—two hundred people

had perished, strewn all over the plaza. D52.2 His own mother, three months pregnant, had died

at the foot of the statue, one bullet through her heart, her rough hands grasping the folds of a flag

she had fashioned in the ravines of the Mangatarem mountains where they had gone to organize.

D52.3 “They had sent me away before that,” Mr. Rividad had told Emma the story that first year

she had come out of his town. D52.4 “And when I saw them again, it was here, among the

hedges.” D52.5 They were dead, and he, the 15-year-old son of Amang, was not. D52.6 At the

sound of gunfire earlier that day, he had run to the plaza where the people had said the Colorum

were and found his parents sprawled like that. D52.7 They would not let him bury them. D52.8

The officer who had shot his mother had approached and said, “Go home, kid.”

D53.1 I am their son, he wished to answer, but no one had paid him any attention. D53.2 He had

lived with that guilt. D53.3 He had left town for years, studied in the city, returning to set up the

high school. D53.4 And then he had lived with another kind of guilt, he was living with it still, in

fact—his wife, Norma Rividad, sick with a greed he could not satisfy, meeting strange men in

strange rooms in strange towns.

D54.1 “He has seen everything,” Mr. Rividad went on, falling in step with Emma.

D55.1 The wind from the hills was sweeping out to sea. D55.2 “Everything,” Rividad repeated.

D55.3 They looked at each other. D55.4 Her own sons would be at home, waiting for her, but

she lingered, glancing at this old friend’s face. D55.5 Did he mean everything? D55.6 That

twilight they had both stood in the plaza five years ago, watching the school girls playing on the

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grass, two weeks before her impulsive marriage to Domingo Gorrez. D55.7 Mr. Rividad had

blurted out a few words that had brought down upon both of them a delicate, enveloping silence.

D56.1 “…only the brief timid pleasure,” he had said, speaking slowly… “letting you

know…what harm can it do now?...you’re marrying Gorrez. I cannot stop that…and soon

another complete, self-contained bubble on the face of the earth…the sounds of Sunday joy:

baby in the crib, pot upon the stove, rain on the roof, and large warm bed beckoning in the

corner…”

D57.1 THE PUBLIC RELATIONS department of Quality Products, Incorporated, occupied a

whole suite on the seventh floor of the Zenith Building in Plaza Tanduay. D57.2 The Zenith was

a modern, sparse design, seemingly fragile, rising on stilts. D57.3 Row on row of cobweb-

windows dazzled the passerby. D57.4 Three cobweb windows belonged to Doming Gorrez who

now drew a monthly pay in four digits, not including allowances.

D58.1 When Ernesto Bello, chief plotter, was out of town, Gorrez called the shots: it was his

voice, coming over the intercom set, that sent them all skittering over the well-sanded floor of

the PR suite. D58.2 Heads were constantly being chopped off, but Bello and Gorrez held on to

theirs, although grapevine had it that more than once in the past, conflicting ambitions had nearly

precipitated an open break. D58.3 But both knew better than to court disaster. D58.4 They were

favorites of Big Man who played the game so dexterously that neither knew who was favoured

more. D58.5 It was one way of ensuring loyalty. D58.6 They were loyal to the boss, to-the-death

loyal, Gorrez particularly.

D59.1 Before their estrangement, Doming gleefully brought Emma the latest news of Big Man’s

current playmate. D59.2 Each night, as soon as he had loosened his tie and kicked off his shoes,

Doming would give her the latest communiqué: “Emma, it’s Ruby Trias of Accounting this

time.” D59.3 Or Fely Barba of Files. Or Mercedes Sulit of Copy. D59.4 They were all the same

to Emma Gorrez—hungry, eager young girls, fresh from college, their foolish little heads filled

with slick magazine stuff. D59.5 Whoever it was Big Man fancied slipped each noon into

Domingo Gorrez’s room “to nap”—while in the office adjoining, the boss sat, licking his chops,

his limbs trembling with ague and desire. D59.6 Fifteen minutes later, after a sufficiently

refreshing nap, the connecting door between Gorrez’s and the boss’ rooms would be open. D59.7

It was a door everyone well knew was there but no one mentioned. D59.8 At Café Luxaire,

Gorrez asked for a second cup of coffee, sometimes a third, stood to make a phone call to his

desk, noted the busy signal, smiled, took his time.

D60.1 You could always tell, said Domingo to his wife, who had done pretty well by herself.

D60.2 Three or four weeks afterwards someone was certain to be sporting a diamond ring. D60.3

One girl had built a summer house for a sick father, in addition to the sparkler on her finger.

D60.4 Mina, the knowing minx, had demanded to be sent to Hong Kong several times, from

where she had returned loaded to the ears with luxury goods which she peddled at tremendous

profit to the other girls in the lunchroom—bags, cashmere sweaters, and silks. D60.5 Squealing

excitedly, the girls fought for the privilege of being listed in Mina’s ledger, a brown, hardbound

book she carried all over PR twice a month, into whose pages she wrote names and debts.

D61.1 There were the office parties.

D62.1 Big Man honoured all office parties with his presence. D62.2 Executives one to ten came,

bourbon under their arms. D62.3 Skull caps were passed around. D62.4 Music was loud, laughter

was raucous. D62.5 At that party celebrating the defeat of the strikers against Quality, the boss

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danced with all the wives, including Emma Gorrez. D62.6 Including Mrs. Testa, whose husband

had led the strike. D62.7 Mrs. Testa had not been invited to the party on the Zenith roof garden

but she had come just the same to plead for her husband’s job back. D62.8 Big Man had not

known who she was. D62.9 He was whirling her around in a fast rhumba and was probably

toying with the idea of asking her to nap in Gorrez’s room when a man’s angry hand cut his

pleasure short. D62.10 There was Testa, in a sweat-stained polo shirt, three days’ beard on his

chin. D62.11 He had led the strike and lost, and here, gathered for a victorious evening, were the

enemy, Bello, Gorrez, Reyes, Paez, the necktied bunch, who had pledged support, and then sold

him out. D62.12 Testa took his wife by the elbow, smiling crazily, and walked to his friends and

shook their hands, solemnly, ceremoniously, saying something that froze the joy in their faces.

D63.1 “What did he say?” Emma asked Doming on their way home that night. “Doming?”

D64.1 The bastard, Doming had muttered under his breath. D64.2 The goddamn son of a b----ing

bastard, Doming had cursed, shifting gears.

D65.1 “What did he say?”

D66.1 “Something Latin,” replied Gorrez.

D67.1 “Latin?”

D68.1 Yah, Gorrez said drunkenly, stepping on the grass, swinging the car around a curve.

Moritori te salutamus.

D69.1 Gorrez’s role in the ill-starred strike had not been as villainous as Bello’s but it had been

wicked enough.

D70.1 Bello had done the dirty job, worming his way into the striker’s confidence, listing a few

personal grievances himself, lending his name to the manifesto. D70.2 But Bello had not

marched with them into Big Man’s office. D70.3 When Testa and the rest of the men had walked

in, Bello was already there, behind the boss’ bar, mixing himself a drink.

D71.1 But Doming could have swung it for Testa, had he been so minded. D71.2 “Well,

Gorrez?” Big Man had asked. D71.3 “What do you think?”

D72.1 Doming had picked up the demands. D72.2 He could have helped the boss to see how

things really were. D72.3 Quality stocks were up a hundred percent, provincial outlets were

never better, public relations was going great guns, a few raises would not have hurt. D72.4

Why, the old goat spent more for those brief contraband moments in Gorrez’s office. D72.5 But

Big Man’s steely gaze did not once leave Doming Gorrez’s face, which blanched and burned by

turns. D72.6 Hell, Gorrez had thought, life was rough all around.

D73.1 “I shrugged my shoulders,” he told Emma later.

D74.1 Emma pushed him away.

D75.1 “Everything led to that one moment, Doming,” she said. D75.2 “You could have

redeemed yourself. You could have done the right thing. But a shrug is a smart reflex, it comes

with a half a dozen others in a handy kit they distribute among today’s bright boys…”

D76.1 “Are you sure,” she asked aloud, “are you sure pimping is all you do for him?”

D77.1 Emma felt Doming’s blow even before it landed on her cheek.

D78.1 She felt it again, sitting with Rene Rividad one Saturday at a table in De Luxe.

D79.1 IN TAYUG, on Saturdays, there was nothing to do but walk around town. D79.2 After

you had seen the deer and the patio, you invariably dropped in at the restaurant and took one of

its battered tables and ordered coffee. D79.3 The beverage came, strong and steaming, in a thick

white cup, and when she remembered food, she asked for a roll and speared it with a fork. D79.4

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She was doing just that one afternoon when Rene Rividad walked in and took the chair across

her.

D80.1 She did not ask but she knew, instinctively, what he was there for. D80.2 The last bus

from Dagupan came at seven past. D80.3 He would wait for that and go through the farce of

welcoming Norma Rividad from one of her trips. D80.4 He would then take her home—it was

act of kindness.

D81.1 Emma and Mr. Rividad were comfortable together, making small talk.

D82.1 He asked her how she found the students these days?

D83.1 She asked him if he went often to Mrs. Pintoy?

D84.1 He told her that Plaridel was beginning to attract people from Balungao, they had 20

students from that town this year.’

D85.1 She told him that the Gorrez tenants from Anonas had descended on her one morning,

bringing chickens, asking about Apo Laureano’s son, Doming. D85.2 They wanted to know

when he was arriving. D85.3 With the drought, it was not easy to fatten a pig.

D86.1 “What did you tell them?” Mr. Rividad asked her. D86.2 He spooned some sugar into his

coffee and held the milk can over it until the liquid turned white.

D87.1 “Didn’t you get enough milk as a baby?” she teased.

D88.1 He laughed with her. D88.2 She noticed his fingers. D88.3 They were long, nicotine-

stained, square-tipped fingers. D88.4 They shook perceptively. D88.5 “A nervous illness,” he

explained, spreading his hands over the table. D88.6 “Happiness just barely misses my grasp,

you know.”

D89.1 Emma Gorrez said, “Who has taught you to make pretty speeches?”

D90.1 “And who has taught you to ignore questions?”

D91.1 “What question?”

D92.1 “When is Doming coming home?”

D93.1 “I don’t know,” she said frankly. D93.2 Doming had stopped writing. D93.3 The money

came regularly, twice a month. D93.4 In the beginning there had been notes, three or four times,

saying hello and asking if the kids were well. D93.5 But they had stopped. D93.6 The money

orders were reaching her now with nothing more than a clerk’s letter, typed neatly and sparingly:

Dear Ms. Gorrez, Please acknowledge enclosed sum.

D94.1 “We’re living apart, Rene,” she said. D94.2 “For a little while, I hope. We had some—

differences,” she ended lamely. D94.3 She looked at Mr. Rividad’s hands once more and

remembered Doming’s palm against her face.

D95.1 Mr. Rividad glanced at his watch and said, “Norma will be here soon.” They stood up and

together waited on the sidewalk outside of De Luxe. D95.2 There was the red Pantran, easing

itself into the parking lot across the street. D95.3 “She always comes home,” he said.

D96.1 It was two Saturdays later when they met again and Emma could not tell if it was by

design or not. D96.2 Like that earlier Saturday, Rividad walked in and Emma’s heart lifted at

sight of him. D96.3 They saw each other in school but there was no time to talk and there were

always too many people. D96.4 At De Luxe it was different. D96.5 A public eating place, in the

heart of town, five minutes away from the church pulpit where Father Thomas weekly exhorted

them to shy at sin.

D97.1 There was nothing wrong in sitting and talking, several tables away from Mrs. Puray’s

cash box. D97.2 Lean one’s head against the hard wood of Mrs. Puray’s grimy restaurant wall,

and talk. D97.3 Bring the coffee to one’s mouth, sip and swallow, and talk. D97.4 Tell of the

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business that went ph-f-f-f-t. D97.5 Tell of city lights and city loneliness. D97.6 Tell of Big Man,

Bello, Mina the minx. D97.7 Tell of the strike, tell of Testa, tell of the boss’s “naps.” Tell of

Navarro, beyond whom no treachery more terrible was possible—so that when time came to tell

of her parting from Doming, Emma spoke reminiscently, as if she was telling the story, not of

herself, but of some old friends she had wished well a long time ago.

D98.1 “They had everything when they started, Rene. D98.2 Youth, good looks, courage. Where

did that all go?”

D99.1 Mr. Rividad smoked quietly.

D99.2 “You remember saying once, ‘The sounds of Sunday joy’…?”

D100.1 He nodded, smiling suddenly. D100.2 “Yes, but there are other days in the week. And

other sounds.”

D101.1 “Oh, no!” she said in mock pleasure. D101.2 “You are not wooing me, are you?” she

asked lightly.

D102.1 “And if I am?” he asked, matching her mood.’

D103.1 “Norma will be here soon,” she said.

D104.1 “I am not waiting for Norma this time,” Mr. Rividad said quietly.

D105.1 It was not Norma he waited for on all the subsequent days that he and Emma Gorrez met

in the restaurant.D105.2 The last bus from Dagupan would drive in; still Rene Rividad sat glued

to his chair, smoking interminably, waiting for Emma to be done with her stories, or telling some

of his own. D105.3 Did she hope to escape unscathed? D105.4 Back of her mind, a knell

sounded, foreshadowing anguish. D105.5 Some affection was bound to spill over, sitting with

Rividad like that, talking intimately with him, but Emma was summoned to that table every

Saturday at sunset by a voice stronger than her wisdom.

D106.1 Her sons would be in the park, playing, when she passed them. D106.2 Hair pulled back,

face clean of powder and lipstick, she wore the simplest clothes to those meetings. D106.3 She

took a long circuitous route, looking in on every store in Tañedo, crossing over to Luna Street for

a leisurely-paced walk beneath the trees. D106.4 But as soon as the sun was gone, her feet took

her to De Luxe. D106.5 With a will all their own, they bore her, despite herself, to where Mr.

Rividad was waiting. D106.6 Sometimes, she fought the wish to see him. D106.7 Deliberately,

she sat on a bench in the plaza, telling herself it was not important if he was there or not.

D107.1 One day, she sat longer than she had intended. D107.2 When she stood up, it was

evening. D107.3 A desire to weep had possessed her. D107.4 He had probably not waited, and it

was an eternity to the next Saturday. D107.5 She began to hurry. D107.6 At the second corner,

she ran, forgetting everything else. D107.7 When she reached the lighted door of the restaurant,

she saw him at the table, a sad, hurt, puzzled look on his face. D107.8 She stepped in quickly and

said, “You are here.”

D108.1 “Would you have wanted me to go?”

D109.1 “No,” she said. D109.2 It was a bold thing to say; it was a perilous thing to say. D109.3

She felt her defences go: such a brief word yet it stripped her completely.

D110.1 He looked at her. D110.2 “May I wait for you here on Saturday?”

D111.1 She did not meet his gaze.

D112.1 “Dear Emma,” he said suddenly.

D113.1 “Don’t.”

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D114.1 “Em--,” he had never called her that before. D114.2 “I would like to wait for you,” he

continued softly, “here, and in all the places you could possibly think of, for all the hours life

will allow me.”

D115.1 “Don’t do this to me, Rene,” she begged.

D116.1“Are you afraid?”

D117.1 “This is catastrophe,” she said.

D118.1 “Are you afraid?” he insisted.

D119.1 She nodded dumbly.

D120.1 “Let me give you strength,” he said.

D121.1 She looked at him now. D121.2 Five years ago, as earnestly as Rividad leaned now

across the table, Domingo Gorrez had leaned across another table, and pleaded as Rividad

pleaded today. D121.3 What had happened to that earlier love? D121.4 She had wanted that

more than anything else; she had wanted that to last but it had gone because—she had tried too

hard, and Doming, too little? D121.5 Could you kill love with a surfeit of loving? D121.6 In the

happier days, discovering each other for the first time, Doming had spoken as gently as this man:

“Em,” he had said once, “your hands within my hands.” D121.7 Some poetry he had learned in

college: Your hands within my hands are deeds; my tongue upon your throat; singing arms

close; eyes wide, undoubtful, dark, drink the dawn—a forest shudders in your hair!

D122.1 Emma Gorrez let her head fall back against the wall. D122.2 She closed her eyes.

D122.3 A tremor shook her.

D123.1 I wish I could cross over to the safer side of today, she thought. D123.2 I wish I could go

back to the plaza, to half an hour ago, beneath the trees, in the thickening dark, where I mused,

lonely, and afraid, but not this afraid. D123.3 This man asked me would I have wanted him to go

and I said No, and it was like a dam breaking, like a wall giving way, and here I bob in the

flotsam, not wanting to save myself. D123.4 I am being swept awash, the shoe is near, one step,

and I am safe on the ground, but I do not wish to go ashore.

D124.1 “And Norma?” she said aloud. D124.2 “Am I to be like Norma after all?” she asked

unhappily.

D125.1 “You are not Norma,” he said. D125.2 “There is a difference.”

D126.1 “Difference?” she asked.

D127.1 “A big difference,” he said. D127.2 “You are Emma. And I love you.”

D128.1 They sat in silence, the cups between them. D128.2 Perhaps, I could love him, she

thought. D128.3 The jukebox in the corner began to sing softly. D128.4 Perhaps, I love him

already, she thought. D128.5 Over the edge, ah! D128.6 Down the precipice, and sweet disaster.

D129.1 She had run away from violence only to meet it here in this quiet, empty restaurant, with

the electric fan whirring overhead, and Mrs. Puray dozing near her cash box.

D130.1 The joys of Sunday seemed far away now. D130.2 The licit sounds of happiness had slid

past her. D130.3 She had loved Domingo Gorrez with everything that she had been but they had

been careless, and one paid for carelessness like this—sipping coffee in exile, vulnerable and

tremulous because, in this wayward inn, someone had said a warm and tender thing.

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APPENDIX E

Sara Mills’ Questionnaire for Feminist Stylistic Analysis

Context and Theoretical Model

1. What sort of text is it?

1.1 What genre does it belong to? (novel, advertising, newspaper, song)

1.2 Is it a text which has status? (canonical, literary, popular)

1.3 Is there a tendency for women or men to be associated with this type of text? (as readers,

as writers, as representational objects)

1.4 How is it produced? (Is it authored or produced anonymously?)

1.5 What is the history of the text? How did you come to read it? (Is it on a reading list; did

you buy it, were you given it?)

1.6 Why are you analysing it? (within an educational institution, for assessment, for pleasure)

1.7 What general expectations do you have in relation to the text and gender representation?

(Consider what expectations the genre and context of the text set up; how stereotypical do

you expect the text to be?)

Gender and Writing

2 Is the style of this genre considered to be feminine or masculine?

2.1 Are the sentences short or long? Are they composed of subordinate clauses or co-ordinate

clauses? How are they linked? By conjunctions such as ‘however’ or ‘nevertheless”, or

by ‘but’ and ‘and’?

2.2 Are the verbs used concerned with action, with doing, or with reporting feelings, emotion

and what is said?

2.3 Is the narration first person or third person, and is that narration from the point of view of

a character within the text or is it narrated by a voice external to the text?

2.4 What style does the text most approach, scientific reports, colour supplement journalism,

intimate confessional autobiography?

2.5 What makes you assume that the voice of the author is female or male? Is it intuition (and

thus probably drawing on stereotype) or is there some evidence for your assumption?

2.6 What purpose does knowing that the author is male or female serve for you?

Gender and Reading

3 Does the text address you as male or female? What sort of male or female? White or

black? Straight or gay? Married or single? Young or old? Middle-class or working class?

What language items convey this information to you?

3.1 Does the text use pronouns such as ‘you’, ‘I’ and ‘we’?

3.2 Do you feel that the position which you are reading from is aligned with one of these

pronoun positions?

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3.3 Does the text address you directly in other ways, by referring to your assumed profession,

marital status, age, race, interests, ‘life-style’, wishes/desires? Are these linked to your

supposed gender identity?

3.4 Does the text assume that you have certain elements of background knowledge? Make

explicit what the text assumes that you know or agree to.

3.5 Is this background knowledge drawing on stereotypical assumptions about men and

women? Are these stereotypical assumptions about all men and women or only certain

groups of men and women?

3.6 Does the text assume that you will agree with certain of its statements? Are these

statements about gender?

3.7 Do you have to work to make sense of the text? What elements do you have to supply in

order for the text to make sense?

3.8 Does the text address you in a way which does not include you? Does it implicitly or

explicitly address a ‘universal’ audience, which in fact is only a white male heterosexual

audience or a white female heterosexual audience?

3.9 Does the text contain information which could be coded as stereotypically feminine or

masculine? Specify what exactly this information is. (technical, emotional, concerned

with particular spheres of activity: work, home)

Gender and Individual Lexical Items

4 Are the words which are used gender-specific?

4.1 Is the generic pronoun ‘he’ used to refer to males in general?

4.2 Are generic nouns used to refer to males?

4.3 Is the suffix ‘-man’ used to refer to males?

4.4 How are males and females named in the text? (surname, first name, diminutives, title)

4.5 Do any of the terms used to describe males or females have sexual connotations?

4.6 Do any of the terms used to describe males or females have positive or negative

connotations?

4.7 Do any of the terms used to describe males or females have taboos associated with them?

Gender and Clause Level/Sentence Level

5 Are there statements in the text which are gender-inflected?

5.1 Are there ready-made phrases which refer to gender difference?

5.2 Does the text assume you hold certain gendered assumptions? Make explicit what this

information consists of.

5.3 In order to make sense of certain statements do you have to make a bridging assumption

drawing on stereotypical gender information?

5.4 Are metaphors or figurative language used which draw upon gendered assumptions? Are

males and females compared with different elements?

5.5 Is the text humorous? What propositions do you have to agree to in order to find the text

funny? Why is the text using humour? Is it a difficult area? Is the text addressing you as a

male? What type of male?

5.6 Does the text use double entendres? Why does it use them?

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5.7 Analyse the transitivity choices. Are they predominantly material action intention,

supervention, material event, mental, or relational? Are they different for males and

females represented in the text?

5.8 Who acts in the text? Examine the use of passive voice. Are females acted upon more

than males or vice versa?

Gender and Discourse Level

6 Are there larger structures in the text which seem to be gendered?

6.1 Analyse the male and female characters. Are they described in the same way? Are certain

words used which are gender-specific? What sort of female or male characters are

represented? Are they predominantly white or black? Are they predominantly young or

old? What sort of relationships are they represented as having? Are there power

hierarchies in the test? Do these relate to gender, race, class, or sexual orientation?

6.2 Are there narrative pathways which seem to be gender-specific? Do males perform in

different ways form females? Are these pathways ones that you have encountered in

other texts? Is the text resolved in certain ways which seem to have implications for

gender?

6.3 Are the bodies of males and females represented as whole as fragmented parts? As

clothed or unclothed?

6.4 Whose point of view does the text emanate from? Who is speaking? Who is telling you

this? Who does the text focus on? Does the focalization shift at any point in the text?

Whose interests does the text seem to be working in? Whose information does the text

seem to be endorsing as true?

6.5 What elements are associated with males and females in the text?

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QUESTIONS THE VIRGIN THE TRAP THE SOUNDS OF

SUNDAY

THE TOURISTS

3 Does the text

address you as male or

female? What sort of

male or female? White or

black? Straight or gay?

Married or single?

Young or old? Middle-

class or working class?

What language items

convey this information

to you?

The text seems to address

the reader as a female.

Similar to THE TRAP,

this story focuses on the

experiences of the female

character who is, again,

the main character in the

story. The female

character’s predicament is,

again, related to her sexual

attraction towards the

male character. The

female being addressed is

someone who is of age

enough to be able to

recognize or grasp the

kinds of experiences that

the female character has

experienced in her life and

is currently experiencing

in the story. Miss Mijares

is 34 years old and

happens to be unmarried

and still dedicated to her

work because of what

seem to be sacrifices she

The text is addressing the

reader more likely as a

female than a male

because of several

textual cues found in the

text. First, Elisa, the

main character, also

happens to be the

narrator in the story who

expressed her painful

predicament in B3.3 as a

young lady who was

separated from her very

dear friend. She was not

hesitant to pour out her

emotions as can be seen

in the text. This signals

that the writer is not

hesitant to show a

female's inner thoughts

and feelings towards a

reading audience. This

may not easily appeal to

a male reader or the male

reader may not be

interested in reading this

The text leans towards a

female perspective in

reading the story. As has

been said, the text or the

narrator always

sympathizes with the

female character and

displays a negative

image of the lead male

character in the story.

The female being

addressed here is more of

a mature, experienced,

adult, middle-aged,

middle-class, Filipino

woman who is definitely

straight and knows how

it is (or is at least

familiar with) being a

wife and being in a

family.

In general, the story is

narrated in a way that

prioritizes the views of

the lead female

The text addresses the

reader as a Filipino

because of the familiarity

and relatability with the

context and situations

which the text demands

from the reader in order

for him/her to understand

the experiences of the

characters. The text also

seems to fit the

perspective of a female

reader. It always centers

around and sympathizes

with the inner sentiments

of the female character,

as in C5.5, C7.5, C10.4,

C12.1, C19.8, among

numerous other instances

in the text.

As in the other stories

analyzed, this one

displays a negative

image of the lead male

character who has grown

202

had to offer for her once

ailing mother and her

niece whom she had to

provide for, neglecting

hero own personal wish of

having a male partner.

This problem is something

that can be understood by

someone of a certain age

and level of maturity. It

would be unlikely for a

small female child or an

adolescent to be able to

relate to this story.

The reader is addressed

also as a Filipino who is

immersed in a local setting

where people may come

from different provinces

and speak different

dialects (A1.5). Also, the

names used here are ‘Miss

Mijares’ (A1.1) and ‘Ato’

(A21.1), which are

typically Filipino names.

The text talks of a sexual

attraction between a man

and a woman, thus,

type of short story. In

paragraphs B4 and B5

(and also occasionally in

the whole text), Elisa

was bold enough to

describe and discuss the

way she was feeling and

her physical changes as

she was growing up to be

a young lady. This would

be difficult for a male

reader to understand,

much less relate to.

Another clue is that

Elisa’s mood quickly

changes each time she

mentions the principal of

her new school. This

may be a reflection of a

female's temperamental

behaviour brought about

by the changes in her

surroundings as well as

the changes within

herself. This can easily

be understood by a

female reader.

character. The story

starts with “IT WAS

HER DAY for meeting

new friends” (D1.1) and

then continues telling

about Emma Gorrez's

previous experiences as

well as the things she

was about to do in the

story. She is always the

active person in the

story, always the one

moving about doing,

thinking and feeling one

thing or another (such as

D1.2, D1.4, D3.1, D4.1,

D5.1, D12.1, D13.1,

D17.1, D18.1, D31.2,

D34.2, D46.1, D50.1,

D63.1, D74.1, D107.1,

D77.1, D121.1, D122.1,

D129.1, D130.3). The

narrator seems to be

extra vigilant of the

character of Emma.

Also, given that the story

is within a Philippine

setting, it would

through the years to be

corrupt and greedy with

money and power

(C117.8 and C120.3).

The female being

addressed here is also

most likely to be

someone who is mature

enough to understand the

experiences and

problems in the story.

She is more likely to be

an adult, not really

excluding a teenager, not

necessarily married, at

least middle-class, and a

Filipino woman who is

straight or a heterosexual

since the text does not

contain any textual clues

or situations that relate to

homosexuality.

The text is centered

around the views of the

female character since,

first of all, the narrator is

also the lead female

character in the story.

203

making the text address a

heterosexual reader.

The text does not provide

information that makes it

exclusively for the married

or the single reader. The

reader may also be

addressed as a working

class given that the jobs of

the characters in the story

are also that of a working

class.

Furthermore, Elisa

experienced the dilemma

of falling in love with her

teacher, who was not

even that physically

attractive, but whose

kindness attracted her.

The story is being

narrated by Elisa in a

rather close or intimate

manner, the tone of

which is almost as if she

is confiding to someone

who can listen and

perhaps understand her.

This confidant should be

a female who is at least

her age, or someone

older than her, regardless

of civil status.

The text also addresses a

Filipino and not a foreign

reader since the text

implies that the reader

understands the

Philippine context and

setting within which the

text was produced. For

naturally address a

Filipino character who

can relate to the third-

world experiences of

Emma Gorrez and how a

family would struggle for

the sake of money and

financial stability

(D24.1). There is

mention of many familiar

places, such as, Tanedo

Street (D4.2), Sampaloc

(D4.4), Dagupan

(D13.2), Tayug (D19.2),

and Luna Street

(D106.3).

Furthermore, the text

addresses a straight

reader and it has no

textual cues or situations

that are related to gay

sexuality. D1.10, and

D17.1 up to D17.7 reveal

Emma and Doming’s

married life situation and

the crises that came with

it. These revelations can

only be understood by

She mainly pours out

observations and feelings

towards a male person

who has been a very big

and important part of her

life. Occasionally, she

also becomes emotional

about her father (C42.3),

and tells about the

relationship between

Ernesto and his own

father (C6.3).

Also, given that the story

is within a Philippine

setting, it would

naturally address a

Filipino reader who

knows or can relate to

third-world experiences

and how a common

Filipino would struggle

for the sake of money or

financial stability. There

is also mention of

"Manila" (C8.4) without

introduction of the place

to the reader.

204

instance, there is mention

of places without

introduction to the

reader, such as, Cabuyao

(B1.1), the new

place/province where

Elisa and her family

moved to, and the streets

of Calle Santa and Del

Pilar (B4.8) that Elisa

had been accustomed to

before leaving Tayug

(B1.4). The text also

addresses a reader who is

straight and single as

there are no textual cues

that would express

approval or promotion of

homosexuality. Given

the setting of the story,

Elisa clearly comes from

a family which is

middle-class. Her

description of her new

home tells the reader that

she is neither rich nor

poor.

readers who are adults

and mature enough to

understand the

challenges of married

life.

3.1 Does the text use Yes, the text uses Yes, the text uses these Yes, the text uses the Yes, the text uses the

205

pronouns such as ‘you’,

‘I’ and ‘we’?

pronouns ‘you’, ‘I’, and

‘we’ all throughout the

text. Almost all these

pronouns are used within

dialogues between

characters directly

addressing each other. In

one instance, the pronoun

‘you’ was used by the

narrator as if it was

referring to the reader

(A1.5), and it was also

used not really to address

a certain person but only

showed the thoughts of

Miss Mijares, as in A2.1

(“…Miss Mijares thought

how she could easily have

said, Please wait for me,

or Will you wait for

me?”).

pronouns. ‘I’ is used

quite frequently because

Elisa was always sharing

her own thoughts,

feelings and experiences.

‘We’ also addresses her

and her family, or her

and Mr. Gabriel. These

are used frequently since

Elisa is the one narrating

her story. ‘You’ can only

be seen within quoted

dialogues or

correspondence between

the characters and it is

not used to address the

reader of the text. See

pronoun chart for

reference.

pronouns ‘you’, ‘I’, and

‘we.’ The pronoun ‘I’

was used many times

although the pronoun

‘you’ was used most

frequently in the text.

The pronoun ‘we’ was

the least frequently used.

These pronouns were

used mainly within direct

conversations between

the characters,

sometimes used within

written correspondences,

at times used within a

personal reflection or a

thought of a character,

and finally, when the text

tries to address the reader

directly.

pronouns you, I, and we

frequently. However, the

most used pronoun is “I”,

as compared to “we” and

“you” (see pronoun chart

for reference). "I"

indicated that the

narrator was always

referring to her

experiences, her point of

view, her thoughts and

feelings, and her actions,

since she is also the main

character in the story.

3.2 Do you feel that the

position which you are

reading from is aligned

with one of these

pronoun positions?

The pronouns were mainly

used to address the

characters themselves and

not the reader. There were

two instances (A1.5 and

A5.2) where ‘you’ was

used without a clear

No. The pronoun ‘I’

clearly referred to Elisa

only, ‘we’ also referred

to her and other

characters in the story,

and ‘you’ appeared

within dialogues or

Yes, there are times

when the author uses

‘you’ to address the

reader directly. These

instances are the

following:

Yes, the narrator used the

pronoun “you” as if

directly addressing the

reader in her story-

telling. These instances

are the following:

206

reference, and these are:

A1.5: “I shall be coming

back quickly,” she said,

speaking distinctly in a

dialect (you were never

sure about these people on

their first visit, if they

could speak English, or

even write at all, the poor

were always proud and to

use the dialect with them

was an act of charity),

“you will wait for me.”

A5.2: She teetered

precariously on the

borderline to which

belonged countless others

whom you found, if they

were not working at some

job, in the kitchen of some

unmarried sister’s house,

shushing a brood of

devilish little nephews.

The pronoun 'you', in these

instances, could be

replaced with 'one', since

correspondences in the

text.

D33.2: When

Doming was

through with him,

you could not see

the wounds, they

were where you

could not see them:

in the heart that

must have bled

quickly to death

because, fed and

warmed and made

much of, Navarro

had allowed

himself to leave the

Gorrez house with

a check.

D35.4: You knew

an instant of pain or

joy or love or

desire and you

were never the

same again because

the darkness inside

you had known so

much illumination.

D79.2: After you

had seen the deer

and the patio, you

C8.4: You had to

cross the bridge

across the river to

see how seared the

city was,

remembered in

warm, gentle

pictures in my

mind from the

times I had been

brought to Manila

as a child, before

the war.

C10.1: I must tell

you how it was, to

be 19 and alive

after a long

nightmare.

C13.1: In the

University, years

ago, you could hear

his brogans a mile

away, transgressing

the silence of the

corridors.

C23.10: If one

207

they do not really refer to

the reader but to the

character.

invariably dropped

in at the restaurant

and took one of its

battered tables and

ordered coffee.

D121.5: Could

you kill love with a

surfeit of loving?

The pronoun 'you',

in these cases,

could be replaced

with 'one', since

they do not really

refer to the reader

but to the character.

stuck a notebook in

the crook of their

elbows you could

not tell that at night

they stepped out,

perfumed and

powdered, to earn

an exciting but

precarious living

amidst spilled beer

and cigarette

smoke.

C116.5: The neck

was still there but

now you had to

look for it and

when you found it,

it was incongruous

because the face

had changed.

C126.2: God does

not lightly

vouchsafe the

power to look into

another man’s

heart, one slender

door stands

208

between you and

the final knowing.

C145.4: The fence

was built low so

that passersby

might take in the

elegance of the

living room at 257

Melody Road,

Fairview Valley:

Great ribbons of

pink paint ran

vertically on the

walls; an umbrella-

shaped lamp hung

from the ceiling; a

large TV set

nestled

conspicuously in a

corner that you

could not miss

from the street.

All the cited

excerpts have a

vague reference of

the pronoun "you"

except the one in

209

C10.1, where the

narrator directly

recognizes and

addresses the

reader.

3.3 Does the text

address you directly in

other ways, by referring

to your assumed

profession, marital

status, age, race,

interests, ‘life-style’,

wishes/desires? Are

these linked to your

supposed gender

identity?

The text does not provide

the reader with specific or

obvious clues that would

address the reader as

someone as an assumed

profession but what is

provided is a range of

possible assumptions

about the addressee: that

the addressee is most

probably a female,

someone who is of age

and maturity to be able to

relate to and grasp the

situation, needs, and

desires of Miss Mijares,

someone who may also be

working, who may either

be single or married, and

someone who has been

immersed in a Filipino

setting.

The text does not really

provide the reader with

any specific clues that

would address the reader

as someone of an

assumed profession but

what is provided is a

range of possible

addressees that includes

a female, someone who

can relate to Elisa,

someone who may be as

young as she is or older

than she is, who may be

single or married. These,

apparently are linked to a

female identity.

There is no instance in

the text where it directly

addresses the reader in

terms of profession, age,

race, interests, ‘life-

style’, and

wishes/desires. There is

only implicit or indirect

reference to the reader

based on the reader’s

capability to be at

familiar with or aware of

the situations presented

in the text. The text

narration seems to

sympathize more with

the experiences and point

of view of the female

character so the text is

prone to offer itself to a

female reader who can

understand female

sentiments.

No, there is no instance

in the text where it

directly addresses the

reader in terms of

profession, age, race,

interests, ‘life-style’, and

wishes/desires. There is

only implicit or indirect

reference to the reader

based on the reader’s

capability to be at

familiar with or aware of

the situations presented

in the text. The text

narration seems to

sympathize more with

the experiences and point

of view of the female

character so the text is

prone to offer itself to a

female reader who can

understand female

sentiments.

210

3.4 Does the text

assume that you have

certain elements of

background knowledge?

Make explicit what the

text assumes that you

know or agree to.

The text assumes that the

reader has certain

elements of background

knowledge. For one, the

text assumes that the

reader is familiar with the

working lifestyles of

Miss Mijares, Ato, and the

male character to whom

she is attracted. Also, the

text assumes that the

reader knows that the

contractual jobs of

carpenters in the

Philippines only provide

low pays. The text also

assumes that the reader is

familiar with the kind of

character of Miss Mijares

and knows that this kind

of character may exist in

reality. Also, there is an

instance in the text where

Miss Mijares spoke in

English to the male

character to create a

formal distance when the

The text assumes that the

reader has certain

elements of background

knowledge. For one, the

text assumes that the

reader know that places

such as Cabuyao and

Tayug are found in a

Filipino setting.

Similarly, she also

mentions ‘sawali’ (B7.1)

and ‘nipa’ (B7.1) as she

described their new

house, as if the reader is

familiar with them.

Another example is when

she mentioned in B5.1

that she came home one

day from school with a

stain in her dress. She

did not really determine

what the stain was and

assumed that the reader

would know what it was

(the female can easily

know what it is), and

also assumes that the

The text assumes that the

reader has certain

elements of background

knowledge. For one, the

text assumes that the

reader knows that certain

places such as Tañedo

Street (D4.2 and Tayug

(D14.1) are in the

Philippines since she

does not orient the reader

about the location of the

places mentioned.

Similarly, the inclusion

of the Rizal statue

(D50.2) in the text

reminds the reader of the

Filipino setting of the

story since a statue of the

national hero is common

in the Philippines. Also,

in D15.1 and D15.2, the

reader is assumed to

have been aware of the

process of urbanization

even in provinces, as the

text describes new

The text assumes that the

reader has certain

elements of background

knowledge. For one, the

text assumes that the

reader knows in general

the Philippine culture

and situation during a

particular period of time

in which the story was

taking place. The text

also assumes that the

reader will also

sympathize with Paz

Nuqui and will agree

with her beliefs based on

universal moral

principles that despise

sinful actions such as

corruption, greed,

deception and inhumane

actions. In the story, Paz

Nuqui, who is also the

one narrating, expresses

her views towards men,

most importantly

towards Ernesto Bello,

211

male applicant was

already talking too much

to her. Here, the text

assumes that the reader

already knows that the

English language in the

Philippines is used as a

formal language in the

workplace and that it has

holds a certain level of

prestige and authority.

reader knows that there

are some things about

female experience that

cannot be directly

expressed and is

considered very personal

and rather confidential.

In B6.5, the father was

also seen to be very

typical of what a man

should be, avoiding

being emotional and

thinking logically, since

he wanted the family to

leave before Elisa and

Salud would get more

emotional. In B9.9, Elisa

mentioned about waiting

for her “womanly

knowledge.” This is

something that she did

not reveal explicitly but

very implicitly as she

went on with the

narration, it was never

explained that her female

predicament involved

directly that of her

falling in love with Mr.

buildings and movie

houses being erected in

the once simple town of

Tayug. In D21.3, the

narrator directly

expresses that “It was not

a life worth living and

she tried to reach him,”

as if the reader would

agree to it. This implies

that the reader also

believes that life in the

city with much

preoccupation to work

and business is worthless

if there is deception and

corruption involved. This

is reinforced by a

statement in the text by

Domingo, saying “The

money lasts” (D24.1).

This implies that the

reader knows that there

are really people who

prioritize money over

other important things in

life such as “honor,

courage and honesty”

(D29.2). Furthermore,

who changed his own

principles and values

through the years.

There are several

instances in the text

where the text assumes

that the reader knows

certain things which the

text mentions. For

example, in C2.4, the

text assumes that the

male necessarily has to

possess a female (“…or a

shapely girl of recent

acquaintance who—he

assured me—was ripe for

his picking.”). In C3.3,

the text does not orient

the reader that a Dale

Carnegie training is a

training for etiquette,

effective communication

and leadership, except

for the context clue that

the text provides through

its mentioning of

Ernesto’s bad habits and

mannerisms. The text

212

Gabriel and at the same

time at such a very

young age. Also, the text

assumes that the reader

agrees with Salud’s

opinion about Elisa’s

feelings towards Mr.

Gabriel since it seems

awkward and stupid for a

young student to fall in

love with her teacher. In

the Filipino society, it is

something that may be

possibly happening to

certain students but is

never really approved of.

Domingo’s colleague in

the company he was

working for, Ernesto

Bello, was described by

the narrator as “the chief

plotter,” which means

someone who secretly

plans something

subversive. Based on

stereotypes about men,

the male character in the

story is typically the one

who works for the family

and focuses much on

work and his ambition.

The male is still depicted

as highly practical, albeit

already engaging in

corruption. In D53.4,

there is a different

portrayal of a female

character in the person of

Norma Rividad, who is

described to be “meeting

strange men in strange

rooms in strange places.”

This description

necessarily demands that

the reader will take this

also assumes that the

reader is familiar with

the setting of the story

which is during the

American settlement and

wartime in the

Philippines (C5.3). In

C6.2, the tobacco

farming business of

Ernesto Bello’s family

was described as if the

reader knows how this

business works (“…they

had had to wait until the

tobacco could be

gathered and a buyer

found.”). Other places in

the Philippines are

mentioned in passing

without introducing them

to the reader: Tutuban

(C6.5), Ilaya (C7.2),

Ponteverde (C19.1), Lipa

(C23.6), Raon (C33.1),

T. Pinpin (C51.1), and

Cabiao (C72.1). An

Unrra dress is also

mentioned (C11.1) and

the reader is assumed to

213

as that of Norma

Rividad’s sexual

intimacies with other

men despite being

married to Rene. Finally,

Emma Gorrez despises

some female employees

in the company where

Domingo works (D59.7).

These girls are said to be

“young girls, fresh from

college, their foolish

heads filled with slick

magazine stuff.” Here,

the reader draws on

certain background

knowledge in reality

about young women who

are still vulnerable, naïve

and not yet that wise

enough and are still

hungry for material and

worldly things.

In general, the text

assumes that the reader

knows about the

difference of life in the

province from life in the

city, and about how the

know that it is a relief

dress from UNRRA

(United Nations Relief

and Rehabilitation

Administration), which is

an organization

dedicated to assisting

war victims. The text

mentions Opel (C12.4)

and assumes that the

reader knows that it is a

car. In C53.6, Ernesto

Bello was described to

be more conscious about

his appearance and,

particularly, what shoes

he was wearing, with the

assumption that the

reader would agree to the

fact that a young girl will

easily fall in love with a

man who is presentable

and who wears good-

looking shoes. The text

in C74.2-C74.4 also

requires background

knowledge from the

reader with regard to

rooms which are rented

214

Filipino struggles and is

eaten up by corruption

and ambitions. The text

also assumes that the

reader will also

sympathize with Emma

Gorrez and will agree

with her beliefs based on

universal moral

principles that despise

sinful actions such as

corruption, greed,

deception and inhumane

actions.

often for the purpose of

having sexual

intercourse. This

assumes that the reader

knows what the Chinese

proprietor could have

thought about Paz and

Ernesto entering one of

his rooms, which is the

high possibility that they

might engage in an

intimate sexual

relationship there. In

C10.14, the narrator did

not mention explicitly

that she had already

engaged in a sexual

relationship with Ernesto

already, but it is implied

in C88.6, where Ernesto

says, “We’re not the first

to do this.” Also, in

C117.6, the story-teller

during a reunion at the

college where Ernesto

studied, emphasized that

Ernesto “had decided to

swim along the rest of

us.” This assumes that

215

the reader knows that

Ernesto is one of the

people who have become

greedy for money and

power, and already

lacking in moral

uprightness and genuine

love for mankind. This is

very much the opposite

of what Ernesto used to

be. Similarly, Ernesto

Bello expressed that he

has a different concept of

what is moral in C186.2,

which a morally upright

reader will not agree to.

3.5 Is this background

knowledge drawing on

stereotypical

assumptions about men

and women? Are these

stereotypical

assumptions about all

men and women or only

certain groups of men

and women?

These assumptions are

based on stereotypes about

certain Filipino men and

women. These stereotypes

concern only men and

women who belong to the

working class. Miss

Mijares reminds the

Filipino reader of a typical

middle aged, unmarried

woman who is usually the

one who carries her

This background

knowledge that the text

assumes the reader to

have is based on gender

stereotypes that are

present in the Filipino

society. For one, Elisa’s

father’s character is very

descriptive of the typical

father who should be

more logical than

emotional. On the

This background

knowledge that the text

assumes the reader to

have is based on gender

stereotypes present in the

Filipino society. For one,

the characters of

Domingo Gorrez, as well

as Ernesto Bello and the

Big Man, are all

representatives of a

certain male stereotype:

This background

knowledge that the text

assumes the reader to

have is based on gender

stereotypes present in the

Filipino society. First of

all, the male characters in

the story, especially that

of Ernesto Bello, reflects

the stereotypical

assumption that men are

the more ambitious,

216

family’s responsibilities

for their aging parents.

Since the woman’s

siblings (if any) are most

likely to be already

married are also parents,

she is the one who has the

time to take good care of

her sick parent. Also, this

type of an unmarried

woman invests her money

on her niece since she

does not have a child of

her own. As for the male

character, the Filipino

reader is reminded of a

certain type of a working

class, Filipino man. In the

story, the male character

has a son from a woman

he did not marry. This also

happens in real Filipino

situations and happen

often in men who belong

to the working class.

Another reality that this

presents is that ironically,

in the Filipino society,

those who are financially

contrary, Elisa’s

character also reflects the

female to be typically

emotional, especially

during the stage of

growing up to be a

woman, and in fact, this

growing emotional state

is indicative of a budding

young lady. This

stereotype is true in a

patriarchal Filipino

society. Elisa’s

experience is a common

one that is highly

possible for a young

woman to go through.

an ambitious man who is

usually the head and

provider of the family,

very logical and

practical, and is rather

obsessed and

preoccupied with work.

In this sense, this

stereotypical assumption

concerns most men. The

character of Emma

Gorrez, on the other

hand, represents the

woman who is not really

a materialistic person,

someone who is highly

conscientious and

perhaps even religious,

who is also emotional,

who loves simplicity,

and someone who likes

gentle and benelovent

people and things. This

representation, however,

does not apply to all

women since there are

also those that are

ambitious like men and

materialistic, like the

career-oriented gender

species and that they are

most likely to attain

superior positions. This

also draws on the

stereotype that a man is

more concerned with

what is practical and

logical. However, these

traits sometimes goes to

the extent of losing

conscientiousness or

morality only to get

ahead in life in terms of

career and power. It

reflects men in society

who are corrupt, since

many men do have high-

paying jobs and they

provide for their

families, and women are

stereotypically busy only

with taking care of the

children and with

household chores. This

represents those married

women who remain

housewives and do not

work as men do. The text

217

incapable are the ones who

are more prone to having

many children, than those

who are rich or those who

at least have stable and

white-collar jobs.

female employees in the

story.

also shows stereotypes of

women who work in a

young age but only take

either secretarial/clerical

jobs, or those easy jobs

that risk their self-respect

and dignity. There is no

female character in the

story who gained a

professional and high

position.

The text also draws on

another stereotypical

assumption on men,

which is, that they need

to have women in their

lives, either through a

loyal commitment, or

through adulterous or

promiscuous

engagements.

3.6 Does the text

assume that you will

agree with certain of its

statements? Are these

There is a statement in the

text with which it assumes

the reader agrees.

Although in this text, the

There are several

statements found in the

text which seem to

assume that the reader

There are certain

statements which the text

assumes the reader will

agree to. As has been

There are parts of the

narration which, again,

included underlying

statements on the topic

218

statements about gender? narrator always finds a

way to explain why

something is said or done

in the story, a certain

statement in A8.6 proves

this:

A8.6: In the room of her

unburied undead, she had

held up hands to the light,

noting the thick, durable

fingers, thinking in a

mixture of shame and

bitterness and guilt that

they had never touched a

man.

Here, Miss Mijares feels

"shame," "bitterness," and

guilt because at her age,

which is even past the

marrying age, has "never

touched a man" or has

never had any intimate

relationship with a man.

This part of the text shows

that the reader agrees with

the notion that a woman,

such as the character of

agrees with , such as the

following:

B9.9: ...I move about

carefully, waiting for

some womanly

knowledge to dawn on

me, a grace, a manner of

self, but I fumbled as

before and dropped

things and was miserable

before people.

B17.2: I was certain her

answer would come,

underlined with mock

worry: Yes, but is he in

love with you, and if he

is, is he a married man,

and if he isn't, will he

marry you?

B22.4: …she was where

I sat in my sick clothes,

writing the fateful words

that accepted the

knowledge of

womanhood.

mentioned in 3.4, there

are certain statements

that the author and

narrator have made in the

text, which have

implications with regard

to what the reader knows

and believes. This is

shown in the following

excerpts:

D21.3: It was not a life

worth living and she

tried to reach him.

(D22.2: "This is not what

we want," she said.)

D27.1: "You can't go on

plotting and tricking

forever, buying

respectability for Big

Man in Quality."

D28.1: He knew what

she was talking of.

D28.2: "It was a test of

skill," he recalled.

D28.3: "I like pitting

myself against a real

of morality, as shown in

the following:

C33.9: In his hip pocket

as usual, he carried the

written declarations of

his latest indignations.

C33.10: He was going to

read them aloud to me

when I realized that I

was ashamed of him.

C33.11: I was angry with

myself but angrier with

him for making me feel

guilty.

C41.6: Whatever aroused

him, it was always

trivial, except for the

"principle," and one

could forget that too if

one finally accepted the

fact that the world was

run by people ill-

prepared for the task:

right did not always

triumph, evil often

prevailed, the wicked

prospered.

219

Miss Mijares, should

already have had a

relationship with a man,

and it is assumed to be

what is normal. This,

again, highlights an issue

about gender.

The statements found in

the text are all related to

gender. In B9.9, the state

of being a woman is

equated with the qualities

of "grace" and "a manner

of self." Also, in B17.2,

there is an assumption

that the reader will agree

to Salud's opinion that a

young woman like Elisa

is not supposed to fall in

love with a married man

or a man who is not

willing to commit

himself to her to the

extent of marriage.

foe," he laughed.

D30.2: His daughter had

worked at Quality, a silly

girl, of whom perhaps it

was true what they had

all said later, that she

deserved what she had

got in the suffocating

office elevator, tragically

stalling between floors

one twilight.

D39.1: The money, the

ease, the new status, had

come to them and they

had ceased being

themselves.

D39.2: That was the core

of their dilemma: to go

through the streets of the

city and not lose their

innocence, not to be

warped and twisted into

the ugly form of city

folk.

Paragraph D46:

These excerpts assume

that the reader agrees

with Paz Nuqui's

viewpoint. In paragraph

C33, Paz Nuqui feels

guilty because of Ernesto

Bello's principles and his

honest and sincere love

of mankind and for what

is right, during their

college years.

There is not statement

made in the text which

are about gender.

220

DOMING, she wrote

from Tayug, what does a

man work for? Is it not

for a corner and moment

to be tender in? Outside

the door, beyond the

gate, there, it is always a

rush to get to where there

is finally nothing. We

spin like tops, straining

for what will maim and

sear us. We think we

know what we want and

we chase it, but when its

hood falls off, it is the

macabre face of death…

…

D69.1: Gorrez's role in

the ill-starred strike had

not been as villainous as

Bello's but it had been

wicked enough.

All of the cited excerpts,

except D30.2, all contain

underlying statements

which condone

221

corruption, or green for

money and power. The

character of Emma

Gorrez consistently

asserts her opinions on

the way her husband

works at the company

and his lack of

conscience. However, in

D30.2, this moral issue is

also tied with a gender

issue, which is shown in

the case of the young

female employee being

harrassed by one of the

executives in the

company where

Domingo Gorrez

worked.

3.7 Do you have to

work to make sense of

the text? What elements

do you have to supply in

order for the text to make

sense?

Some parts of the text

require the reader to be

familiar with poetic

descriptions and certain

metaphors, have

knowledge on figurative

language. The author or

the narrator sometimes

The text requires the

reader to have some

background knowledge

on the typical middle-

class Filipino setting of

the story as well as some

sort of understanding of

the young female’s

The text requires the

reader to have some

background knowledge

on the typical middle-

class Filipino setting of

the story as well as a

certain degree of

understanding of married

The text requires the

reader to have some

background knowledge

on the typical middle-

class Filipino setting of

the story as well as a

certain degree of

understanding of Filipino

222

becomes very poetic when

describing the story or the

thoughts of the characters.

Some abstract elements in

the text are personified,

such as, Love (A8.5),

glory (A8.5), and dreams

(A59.1). The text also

requires the reader to have

certain knowledge on what

it is like to be and to work

as a Filipino, and on

Filipino stereotypes on

men and women.

experiences and

predicaments. The text

also requires the reader

to have certain

knowledge on what it is

like to be and to work as

a Filipino, and on

Filipino stereotypes on

men and women.

Filipino life. The text

also requires the reader

to have certain

knowledge on what it is

like to be and to work as

a Filipino, and on

Filipino stereotypes on

men and women.

life. The text also

requires the reader to

have certain knowledge

on what it is like to be

and to work as a Filipino,

and on Filipino

stereotypes on men and

women.

3.8 Does the text

address you in a way

which does not include

you? Does it implicitly

or explicitly address a

‘universal’ audience,

which in fact is only a

white male heterosexual

audience or a white

female heterosexual

audience?

While reading the text, it

feels that the reader is a

direct addressee of the

narrator of the text. The

text implicitly addresses

specifically a Filipino

audience because of the

Filipino setting, characters

and experiences in the

story whose descriptions

assume that the reader is

familiar with. Given the

topic and the source of

conflict of the story, the

While reading the text, it

feels as if the reader is a

direct addressee of a

young lady narrating and

sharing her story to a

certain audience. It feels

like Elisa wanted to have

a confidant, who would

listen to her, aside from

Salud, since apparently

she knew that Salud

would not agree with all

of her opinions. The text

implicitly addresses

While reading the text, it

feels as if the reader is a

direct addressee of the

narrator. There is not an

instance where the text

excludes the reader since

it is a narrative. It almost

explicitly addresses a

universal audience in its

occasional use of ‘you’

to address the reader

(D33.2, D35.4, D79.2,

and D121.5). It may

address both the male

There is no instance in

the narration wherein the

reader feels as though

she is excluded or not

recognized. It does not

explicitly address a

universal audience but a

Filipino audience which

can understand and relate

to the issues and

concerns which the text

presents. These issues

and concerns are only

necessarily relevant and

223

audience who can really

relate emotionally would

most likely be a Filipino

female heterosexual

audience. There is no

signal at all that the text is

addressing a homosexual

audience.

specifically a Filipino

audience because of the

Filipino setting in her

story which descriptions

that assume that the

reader already knows as

a Filipino, as well as

characters such as Ms.

Ramos, who is very

typical and can even be

compared to the Filipino

stereotype “Ms. Tapia.”

It also implicitly and

generally addresses a

female heterosexual

audience since there are

no homosexual

experiences and

characters in the story.

Elisa even despises a

woman like Ms. Ramos

because of her unlikable

and unfriendly character,

which, as the text may

imply, may be brought

about by her being a

spinster.

and female Filipino

heterosexual audience

and there are no

homosexual experiences

and characters in the

story. It may address the

male audience in a way

that reminds them to be

careful about being

“twisted and warped into

the ugly form of city

folk” (D39.2). It also

address women in a way

that they can highly

relate to and sympathize

with because the story

revolves around the

struggles of Emma

Gorrez.

reflective of the Filipino

setting and society within

which the text was

written. It requires the

reader to be familiar with

typical Filipino

characters and roles,

such as Ernesto Bello

and the parents of both

Ernesto and Paz who

have struggled in their

respective provinces, the

G.I. Brides who have

married American

soldiers from the war,

and the bar girls who

entertained and even sold

their bodies for a living.

Given the topic and the

source of conflict of the

story, the audience who

can really relate

emotionally would most

likely be a Filipino

female heterosexual

audience, especially

since the male character

of Ernesto Bello is

224

shown in the story to

have a negative

reputation. There is no

signal at all that the text

is addressing a

homosexual audience.

3.9 Does the text

contain information

which could be coded as

stereotypically feminine

or masculine? Specify

what exactly this

information is.

(technical, emotional,

concerned with particular

spheres of activity: work,

home)

The characters of the

story—Miss Mijares, Ato,

the male character to

whom she is attracted, the

job applicants—are the

types of people who do

exist in a real Filipino

setting. Examining each

character in the story to

decipher any gender

stereotype embedded in

them, the reader has come

up with some information.

For one, Miss Mijares’

character represents a type

of a Filipino female

stereotype. She happens to

be unmarried despite her

ripe age and carries the

responsibility of taking

care of her once sick

mother as well as

Examining each

character in the story to

decipher any gender

stereotype, the reader has

come up with some

information. For one,

Elisa’s father is depicted

in the story as the head

of the family and is

shown to have made the

decision for them to

transfer their residence

from Tayug to Cabuyao.

Even though the reason

for this is not explained

in the story, it still

appears that the father

was thinking logically

for this decision to be

made. Also, even as

Elisa was bidding her

best friend farewell, the

There are certain

information in the text

which can be considered

stereotypically feminine

and masculine. The

difference between

Domingo from Emma

Gorrez in terms of

technical, emotional,

occupational and family

related characteristics are

shown. These represent

what is stereotypically

feminine and masculine

(except the part where

the Domingo and his

colleagues are portrayed

as corrupt men). On the

emotional aspect,

Domingo Gorrez and his

office mates are highly

rational and practical,

Drawing on the different

characteristics of the

characters, some

information found could

be coded as

stereotypically masculine

and feminine.

Stereotypically

masculine characteristics

are found in the male

characters. For one, the

character of Ernesto

Bello possessed traits

which changed from his

college years up to the

time when he became

older and more

established. As a young

college student, he was

emotional and passionate

about his noble ideals.

225

providing for her niece’s

educational needs. The

nature of her office job in

the placement section is

also something that a lot

of women in reality are

compelled to take. There

is a general stereotype that

women are more

interested in office work

than field work or

physically tedious or dirty

jobs. Given this particular

impression, it would then

be unusual for her to have

the job of, for instance, a

carpenter. Miss Mijares is

also shown to be hungry

for a romantic kind of love

since she did not have a

chance to devote some

time for it during her

younger days. When she

meets the male character

to whom she is attracted,

she finds herself

distracted, emotionally

weak, more vulnerable,

and making efforts to do

father avoided any

emotional moment

between Elisa and Salud

by cutting short their

goodbyes. This shows

that a lack of emotion or

being rational is a

masculine characteristic.

Mr. Gabriel, Elisa’s

teacher whom she fell in

love with, was described

as someone whose looks

are not exactly what a

girl would easily be

attracted to. But since

Elisa was just starting to

change into being a

woman, she is seen to be

vulnerable to the

opposite sex. Mr.

Gabriel’s masculinity is

shown in M2, where he

is described by Elisa as

someone who was not

showy with emotions

although “his eyes

laughed” and “the

tenderness spilled down

the cheeks to his quiet

they lack conscience,

lack heart for those they

have deceived, lack

moral integrity. Emma

Gorrez, on the other

hand, is highly sensitive,

feels for those victimized

by Domingo’s company,

and is very vocal to him

about her sentiments and

opinions regarding the

situation. She may

represent a woman who

is almost a nagger but

has the right to be one.

In terms of

occupation/work, Emma

Gorrez was once a

teacher, and gave up his

work to be with

Domingo in the city.

Domingo, on the other

hand, is a man who is

compelled to work in the

city because of his high

ambitions and his urge to

gain financial success in

life. He is also highly

When he was older and

obtained financial

stability and power, he

acquired characteristics

which could be

considered typically

masculine. On the

emotional aspect, he was

highly masculine in that

he was seen to be highly

practical, logical, and

enjoying money and

power. He was also seen

to be enjoying pleasure

with females at anytime

he wanted (C2.4).

At home, he was a

husband (C12.2), the

head and the provider of

the family (C103.1), just

like Tomas.

At work, most of the

men in the story were

seen to be in various jobs

which could be

considered

stereotypically

226

things in favor of him.

Here, the woman is seen

as someone vulnerable to

the man and it seems that

Miss Mijares needs a man

to make her happy. Also,

even without having met

the man yet, Miss Mijares

also tries to take care of

how she looks by wearing

something that would give

the illusion that she has

big hips and a big bosom.

This is also very

stereotypically feminine.

As for the character of the

man to whom Miss

Mijares is attracted, the

man is described to be ‘a

tall big man, walking with

an economy of movement,

graceful and light, a man

who knew his body and

used it well’ (A1.1). This

is stereotypically

masculine. A confident,

tall, big and physically fit

man is someone that

would easily physically

lips.” Also, he was

described to be a very

controlled and calm

person as he “met the

storm with soothing

coolness.” Also,

although he shows some

emotion as he frowned

(B15.3) when Elisa met

an accident at school, his

masculinity was shown

when he was the one that

took Elisa to the clinic,

and, in fact, took care of

her wound. This is a

chivalrous characteristic

that is universally

masculine.

As with Elisa’s mother,

she was clearly

concerned with Elisa’s

feelings since, in B3.1,

she asked her “Why,

Elisa?” Also, in B3.5, the

mother was shown to

have frowned as she

knew that Elisa was sad

to be leaving her best

friend behind. This

competitive and

confident.

Family life in the story

shows that Domingo

Gorrez is the head of the

family, the one who

makes decisions which

Emma Gorrez, as the

wife, often submits to

and supports, except

during the latter part of

the story where she left

Domingo.

In general, what is

stereotypically masculine

is someone who is

practical, ambitious,

career-oriented, and

always the head of the

family. Meanwhile, the

female character is

someone who normally

submits to the decision

of her husband, will have

to make more sacrifices

for her family and even

gives up her work in

masculine. Males in the

story were involved with

army jobs (C32.10),

public relations (Ernesto

Bello), a research job

(C52.1), and there was

also a shoemaker who

was revealed to be a

male (C33.12-C33.13).

Ernesto Bello was also

seen to be wearing army

brogans even if he was

only a college student

and not an active

member of the army

(C4.1). This indicates

masculinity since during

this period of time, it is

unlikely for females to

be members of the army,

contrary to the present

situation where they are

already allowed.

Another stereotypically

masculine trait could be

found in C63.1, where

Ernesto Bello became an

227

attract a woman. The

nature of his job as a

carpenter is also

stereotypically masculine

since this blue-collared,

‘dirty’ kind of work would

usually be associated with

men and not with women.

Ato, another male

character in the story is,

similarly, their foreman.

Another stereotypically

masculine of the man is

that he is not seen in the

story to be showing much

emotion when his son

died. Finally, his character

is also seen to be flirting

around with Miss Mijares

and even she noticed it

and tried to avoid it, even

though eventually she had

developed a sexual

attraction towards him.

reflects that a woman

who is feminine, in the

character of Elisa’s

mother, is typically more

emotional and more

affectionate than the

father.

However, Elisa shows

her despise for the

principal in her new

school, who she

described negatively was

an indifferent and

unfriendly spinster.

Although this type of

woman is not an admired

stereotype in society, the

reader is bound

recognize that this type

of character or

personality does exist

and is encountered in

real life. This brings to

mind the image of a

similar fictional

character of “Ms. Tapia”

who is also a teacher,

and is created based on

order to be a good wife

and mother, and is the

more emotional, vocal

and expressive than the

male.

Domingo Gorrez also

possessed a

stereotypically masculine

trait of being fond of

cars, as mentioned in

D47.2.

ardent suitor of Paz

Nuqui during their

college years. Here, the

male is the one pursuing

the female and not the

other way around.

Males are also

stereotypically fond of

cars, and this is also

manifested in the story

(C12.4, C125.5).

The character of Tomas

was described to have

experienced being a

boxer for a youth club

during his younger days

(C107.5). This shows

that boxing is a

stereotypically masculine

type of sport.

On the other hand, the

female characters in the

story possessed several

traits which could also be

regarded as

stereotypically feminine.

228

real Filipino experiences.

Salud, Elisa’s bestfriend

in the story, is also

described as someone

who has already

experienced what Elisa is

experienced and is

constantly advising Elisa

on how to discern things

as they come her way.

Apparently, the character

of Salud, who is four

years older than Elisa,

has already adjusted to

growing up and has

gained some wisdom in

being a young woman.

Although Salud

neutralizes Elisa’s

extreme emotions and

pacifies her, the mere

fact that Salud is vigilant

of Elisa’s predicament

and takes care of her as a

friend, Salud’s character

can also be seen as an

affectionate one.

Another stereotype of a

For one, Paz Nuqui was

seen to be emotional all

throughout the story. She

was very reflective when

it came to her

relationship with her

father and her

relationship with Ernesto

Bello. Even during the

time when she was

already married to

Tomas, she allowed

herself to reminisce her

memories with Ernesto

Bello and still even have

concern for Ernesto

(C40.4).

The wives (C125.5),

Marietta Bello and Paz

Nuqui were not shown

to have jobs outside of

the house. This is a

stereotype of a woman

who stays in the house, is

busy with chores, and

takes care of the family,

when she is at least

229

woman that is portrayed

in the story comes in the

person of Leonor, Elisa’s

schoolmate, who learned

that Elisa was in love

with their teacher. After

Leonor found out about

Elisa’s little secret, it

immediately became

known to their whole

school and Elisa had had

to suffer the

consequences of her

confession. Apparently,

this confirmation made

Leonor spread this news,

and as the story revealed,

she even had a “girlish

prescience” that Elisa did

feel something for their

teacher, as mentioned in

B22.1. This shows

another feminine

stereotype of a female

being the one who has

more tendency to gossip

around. This is very

typical in the Filipino

society, and as a matter

married (C118.1).

For females other than

wives, they were seen to

have jobs which could

also be considered

stereotypically feminine.

C22.1 shows Paz Nuqui

as a clerk for a woman;s

club. The text also

includes several other

characters, such as, a

dormitory laundry

woman (C23.4), the bar

girls of Lipa (C23.6),

waitresses (C28.2)

manicure girls (C28.2),

and the secretary of

Ernesto Bello who was

also a female (C106.4).

The room at the lodging

house where Ernesto and

Paz occupied for a night

was also seen to be

feminine and was likened

to a nun's cell, because of

its simplicity and

cleanliness (C76.2).

230

of fact, men are rarely

seen to be interested in

gossips as they are

supposed to be

preoccupied with work,

business matters or their

own interests. This goes

to show that the text, in

general, displays various

roles, types, and

personalities that a

female person can carry

but at the same time, also

finds a way to show that

despite this variety of

personalities, females

still share some common

traits, as do males.

231

QUESTIONS THE VIRGIN THE TRAP THE TOURISTS THE SOUNDS OF

SUNDAY

2.0 Is the style of this

genre considered to be

feminine or masculine?

The style of this genre is

feminine.

-There is a frequent use

of large clauses (A1.5,

A3.1, A3.2, A4.4, A5.2,

A6.2, A6.3, A8.1, A11.6,

A29.1, A32.2, A59.2)

-The text is also highly

infused with the thoughts

and emotions of the lead

character of Miss Mijares

rather than being factual

(A59.2, A17.2, A6.2,

A2.1, A6.1, A27.1,

A30.2)

-The author also makes

use of fragments and

some sentences start with

“But” (A2.2, A8.5,

A17.2, A32.1), “And”

(A6.1, A6.4, A22.2) and

some other words

(A17.1, A11.4, A6.3).

This shows that the

author does not strictly

use grammatically

The style of this genre is

considered feminine.

-There is a frequent use of

large clauses: (B1.4, B4.5,

B4.6, B4.8, B5.3, B6.5,

B9.4, B9.7, B9.9-B9.11,

B13.3, B14.2, B15.17-

B15.18, B16.2, B17.2,

B19.1-B19.2, B20.10-

B20.11, B22.4, B24.3,

B24.8, B25.1, B25.4)

-use of ‘quite seven’

(B1.2, referring to time)

-unnecessary capitalization

of some words (Mother-

B3.5, Monday-B5.1,

Good-bye-B6.3) while the

word father has never been

capitalized

-although there are factual

narrations, the text is still

infused with emotive

quality, see B7.4-B7.6)

Based on the framework

of Sara Mills, the style of

this genre is considered

feminine.

-Many of the sentences in

the text are lengthy, with

many modifiers (C2.4,

C3.3, C6.5, C8.4, C10.3,

C11.1, C15.6, C19.8,

C23.10, C24.1, C36.2,

C40.6, C52.2, C55.12,

C56.4, C63.2, C69.3,

C118.2, C119.3, C119.4,

C120.3, C126.1, C145.4,

C146.3, and C153.1)

-The fragments and

ungrammatical

constructions can be found

in many parts of the text

(C3.2, C4.2, C7.4, C12.4,

C12.6, C13.2, C16.1,

C17.5, C19.2-C19.5,

C19.7-C19.8, C22.3,

C25.2-C25.3, C28.2,

C29.5, C32.10, C33.1,

C35.6, C38.4-C38.5,

C40.4, C40.6, C42.2,

Based on the framework

of Sara Mills, the style of

this genre is considered

feminine.

-The constructions are

lengthy, with many large

clauses within sentences

(D2.1, D17.5, D18.3,

D22.6, D30.2, D30.10,

D32.2, D33.2, D34.5,

D52.2, D53.4, D58.2,

D59.5, D60.4, D60.5,

D62.11, D62.12, D97.7,

D105.5, and D130.3)

-There are 13 sentences

which begin with ‘But’

and several fragments are

also shown in D1.8,

D17.5, D30.3, D30.10,

D31.1, D59.3, D62.6,

D105.4, D121.7, D128.5

and D128.6. There were

also 2 sentences starting

with ‘And’ (D35.5 and

D53.4) and another with

‘Then’ (D4.4)

232

correct sentences and lets

the narrator speak either

informally, casually or

poetically

-There is one instance of

an unusual use of a

coma, in A18.1 (So, then

she drew a slip and wrote

his name on it.).

-There is also some

instances where the

question mark was used

unusually (A11.3 and

A17.1).

-use of modal auxiliaries

(can: A16.5 /

could: A1.5, A2.1, A3.1,

A11.4, A15.2, A35.1,

A56.2 / may: A18.2 /

might: A18.2 / should:

A23.6, A45.1 / would:

A3.3,A8.1, A25.2,

A26.2, A27.2 / shall:

A1.5 / will: A1.5, A2.1,

A18.2 / must: A50.3,

A59.2)

-occurrence of

parenthetical statements

-fragments starting with

‘But’, as in B15.16, B16.2,

and B24.4

-careless uses of the coma

(without connectors in a

sentence, see B9.7, B14.9,

B22.4)

-use of modal auxiliaries

(would: B1.3, B6.3,

B17.2, B19.1, B20.10,

B22.4 / might: B1.4,

B16.1 / could: B3.1, B3.2,

B15.17, B19.2, B20.11 /

should: B20.10 / may:

B23.5 / can: B25.1 )

C42.7, C43.1, C47.5,

C50.3, C50.5, C52.1,

C53.6, C55.4, C55.14,

C58.5, C60.3, C62.2,

C62.4, C64.1, C65.9-

C65.10, C66.2, C69.4,

C75.5, C76.4, C104.4,

C118.1, C119.4, C119.8,

C120.3, C120.5, C122.4,

C122.8, C123.2-C123.3,

C125.1, C126.1-C126.2,

C145.7, and C147.2-

C147.6)

-Some sentences are too

lengthy, that, for instance,

in C62.2, the construction

could already have been

divided into three separate

sentences.

-There are also

constructions which begin

with ‘But’, as in C3.2,

C16.1, C25.3, C52.1,

C53.6, C58.5, C65.9,

C76.4, and C122.8.

Sentences starting with

‘And’ can be seen in

C19.7 and C29.5.

-There are also many

-As much as the story

was narrated in a factual

way, there have also

been many revelations

about what was going on

inside the minds of the

characters, most

frequently, that of Emma

Gorrez. Whether these

are thought out or

written, they are shown

in D48.1, D72.6, D93.6,

D123.1-D123.4, D128.2.

-use of modal auxiliaries

51 times all throughout

the text (can: D27.1,

D48.1, D56.1 / could:

D18.3, D30.6, D33.2,

D40.1, D49.5, D53.4,

D60.1, D71.1, D72.2,

D75.2, D96.1, D114.2,

D121.5, D123.1, D123.2,

D128.2 / might: D32.2 /

should: D1.4 / would:

D1.7, D2.1, D12.2,

D16.1, D16.6, D19.3,

D19.4, D20.4, D30.8,

D34.1, D34.3, D34.4,

D36.4, D40.2, D49.2,

D51.1, D52.7, D55.4,

D59.2, D59.6, D72.3,

233

(A1.5, A6.2, A8.1,

A59.2)

expressions in question

form, since the narrator is

the lead female character,

herself. These can be

found in C126.1, C125.1,

C120.1, C65.10, C64.1,

C42.2, C21.4, and C11.4.

This may reflect that the

female narrator and

character is often thinking,

wondering, has many

uncertainties and

clarifications she would

like to make in her mind.

-Most of the time, the

direct conversations and

correspondences between

characters are quoted,

while occasionally they

are not. The unquoted

dialogues can be seen in

C64.5, C41.1, C27.1,

C27.2, C28.1, C19.8,

C26.1, and C17.7.

-Another observation is

that the modal auxiliaries

appeared and were used

many times all throughout

the text:

D80.3, D80.4, D106.1,

D108.1, D114.2, D123.3

/ will: D19.8, D23.1,

D32.2, D46.4, D95.1,

D103.1, D114.2)

-occurrence of a

parenthetical statement

(D30.10)

234

-would (C2.3, C2.4, C3.3,

C6.1, C6.5, C11.5, C11.6,

C16.2, C24.5, C29.5,

C31.5, C31.8, C34.6,

C40.5, C40.6, C40.7,

C41.5, C43.6, C48.1,

C51.6, C51.7, C54.4,

C56.10, C56.12, C59.7,

C105.4, C115.1, C124.2,

C125.4, C178.2)

-could (C6.2, C7.1, C11.1,

C13.1, C13.,4, C19.8,

C21.5, C22.3, C23.10,

C27.2, C34.8, C41.6,

C43.3, C43.7, C48.3,

C52.5, C59.1, C65.1,

C70.3, C107.4, C119.8,

C122.7, C124.1, C143.3,

C162.1)

-should (C21.14, C23.6,

C110.1, C159.1, C160.1,

C162.1, C183.1)

-might (C34.8, C38.2,

C54.6, C65.11, C70.3)

-must (C47.1, C57.6,

C98.1)

-had to (C116.5)

-may (C126.3)

-will (C178.2)

-occurrence of

parenthetical statements

235

(C3.3, C11.1, C21.4,

C31.2)

2.1 Are the sentences

short or long? Are they

composed of subordinate

clauses or co-ordinate

clauses? How are they

linked? By conjunctions

such as ‘however’ or

‘nevertheless”, or by

‘but’ and ‘and’?

As mentioned in 2.0,

there are a number of

lengthy sentences

consisting of large

clauses, both subordinate

and coordinate clauses,

with the subordinate

clauses occurring more

frequently (see clause

appendix). The

coordinating clauses

were linked only by the

conjunctions "but" and

"and," while the

subordinating clauses

were linked using

different conjunctions,

such as, "after", "as",

"before", "even", "if",

"for", "that", "since", "so

that", "though", "when",

"where", "while",

"which", "who", and

"whom." There was no

use of ‘however’, and

‘nevertheless.’

In instances where the

author wants to show the

actual dialog between two

of the characters in the

story, the sentences, are

short. However, in

sentences wherein the

persona describes a place,

or an event, or a thought or

feeling that she has, there

are large clauses and many

modifiers, which make

several of her sentences

too lengthy (refer to

answer in 2.0). More

clauses are subordinating

than coordinating and

these were linked using

different words (see clause

appendix). The

conjunctions "but" and

"and" were used to link

coordinating clauses,

while the subordinating

clauses were linked by

"as", "because", "before",

"even", "though", "if",

"that", "when", "since",

"so that", "than", "though",

Most of the sentences are

moderate in length

although there are

occasional occurrences of

sentences which are too

lengthy (for the lengthy

and accretive sentences,

refer to the answer

question 2.0). They are

composed both of

subordinate and coordinate

clauses although there are

more coordinate than

subordinate clauses. The

subordinate clauses are

linked using "after",

“when”, “that”, “until”,

“as”, “if”, “who”, “even”,

“while”, “so that”,

“although/though”,

“where”, "for", “what”,

“because”, “than”,

“whom”, “before”,

“which”, “whatever”,

“whenever”, “whoever”,

"wherever", “whose”,

“whom”, “why”, “since”,

and “even if” The

coordinate clauses were

Most of the sentences in

the text are moderate in

length and the rest are

either too short or

lengthy. The lengthy

sentences (D2.1, D17.5,

D18.3, D22.6, D30.2,

D30.10, D32.2, D33.2,

D34.5, D52.2, D53.4,

D58.2, D59.5, D60.4-

D60.5, D62.11-D62.12,

D97.7, D105.5, and

D130.3) were

constructed without

much regard to

prescriptive grammar.

Some of the sentences

are also too lengthy that

one sentence could have

been already divided into

several complete

sentences (e.g. D18.3).

The text is equally

composed of both

coordinate and

subordinate clauses. The

subordinate clauses were

linked using "after",

"although”, "because",

236

"until", "where", "while",

"which", and "who." The

author did not use

conjunctions such as

‘however’ and

‘nevertheless.’

linked using “and”, “but”

and “or.” There was no

used of the conjunctions

"however" and

"nevertheless."

"before", "even", "if",

"that", “while”, “until”,

“since”, “because”,

"why", "which", "who",

"whom", "whose",

"than", “when”, “where”,

and “so that.” The

coordinate clauses are

seen with the

conjunctions “and” and

“but.”. There was no use

of “however” or

“nevertheless.”

2.2 Are the verbs used

concerned with action,

with doing, or with

reporting feelings,

emotion and what is

said?

Different kinds of verbs

were used in the text.

Verbs concerning action

and doing were found to

be the most dominant

and frequently used in

the text. These action

verbs are done both by

the female and male

characters in the story.

Many verbs were also

used to show thoughts

and emotions, mostly of

Miss Mijares.' In

instances where there

were dialogues, verbs

reporting what is said

were naturally used. The

Verbs used are concerned

with action, doing,

reporting feelings,

emotion, and what is said.

However, the dominant

kinds of verbs used are

those concerning action

and doing something.

Second to these which are

frequently used are the

verbs which are about

reporting feelings,

thoughts. Naturally, since

it is a narrated short story,

dialogues are also

presented and these fall

under the verbs that

express what is said.

Yes, the verbs are

concerned with all of

these. However, the

majority of the verbs used

are more concerned both

with doing and action

since the text is a short

story which necessitates

description of situations

including events and the

actions of the characters.

Also, next to action and

doing, the text also uses

verbs concerning what is

said. The least used are

those that report feelings

and emotions.

Yes, the verbs are

concerned with all of

these. However, the

majority of the verbs

used are more concerned

both with doing and

action since the text is a

short story which

necessitates description

of situations including

events and the actions of

the characters. Also, next

to action and doing, the

text also uses verbs

concerning what is said.

The least used are those

that report feelings and

emotions.

237

verb ‘said’, for instance,

was used 24 times.

Refer to the Verb

Appendix.

Refer to the Verb

Appendix.

Refer to the Verb

Appendix.

Refer to the Verb

Appendix.

2.3 Is the narration first

person or third person,

and is that narration from

the point of view of a

character within the text

or is it narrated by a

voice external to the

text?

The narration is third

person and is narrated by

a voice external to the

text.

The narration is first

person and it is from the

point of view of the lead

character in the text, Elisa.

The narration is first

person and is from the

point of view of the main

female character, Paz

Nuqui.

The narration is third

person point of view but

sympathizes more with

the female character,

Emma Gorrez than her

husband. The narrator is

able to permeate the

mind of Emma Gorrez

and reveals more about

her thoughts and her

emotions than that of her

husband, thus, making

this narration from the

point of view of Emma

Gorrez.

2.4 What style does the

text most approach,

scientific reports, colour

supplement journalism,

intimate confessional

autobiography?

The text is more of a

revealed confessional

biography of the main

character of the text,

Miss Mijares, as

expressed by the narrator

who has access to the

mind of Miss Mijares.

The style of the short story

is more of an intimate

confessional

autobiography.

The style of the text is

close to an intimate

confessional

autobiography. The

narrator which is also a

character in the text

reveals all her thoughts

and emotions while

describing also the events

The style of the text does

not approach any of the

abovementioned writing

styles. It is a narration of

a story, particularly a

significant part of a

female's life, and reveals

her intimacies and

confessions with regard

238

which transpired in a

certain period of her life

and that of Ernesto Bello.

to her husband, her

beliefs, and her desires.

2.5 What makes you

assume that the voice of

the author is female or

male? Is it intuition (and

thus probably drawing on

stereotype) or is there

some evidence for your

assumption?

The reader assumes that

the voice of the author is

a female, drawing both

on intuition and an

evidence in the text. The

text shows that the voice

of the narrator is highly

sympathetic with and can

understand the situation

of Miss Mijares. In fact,

the narrator reveals the

thoughts of Miss

Mijares. The way that the

narrator describes Miss

Mijares sacrifices for her

mother and niece shows

some compassion of the

narrator for Miss

Mijares. Also, there is

one instance where the

narrator describes how

Miss Mijares dresses up,

as though the narrator is

also a woman who is

familiar with some

strategies women use to

have an illusion of a

bigger bosom, as shown

The author makes the

female voice evident at

once. The name of the

narrator is introduced in

the second paragraph of

the text and Elisa also

describes her female

experiences early on in the

story.

The author makes the

female voice evident at

once since the narrator is

the main female character

herself, Paz Nuqui.

The reader assumes that

the voice of the author is

a female, drawing both

on intuition and some

evidence in the text. The

text shows that the voice

of the narrator is highly

sympathetic with and can

understand the situation

of Emma Gorrez, almost

as if the narrator is as

emotional as Emma

Gorrez herself (D21.3).

In the story, the narrator

seems to agree more with

the opinions and beliefs

of the female character

than those of her

husband. Aside from the

fact that the husband is

questioned for his lack of

moral integrity and

hunger for worldly

security and stability, the

narrator gives more

emphasis to the moral

integrity of Emma

Gorrez. Also, towards

239

in the following excerpt:

On her bodice,

astride or

lengthwise, there

sat an inevitable

row of thick

camouflaging

ruffles that made

her look almost as

though she had a

bosom, if she bent

her shoulder

slightly and

inconspicuously

drew her neckline

open to puff some

air into her bodice.

(A4.4)

the end of the story,

Emma Gorrez is trapped

in another situation

where she becomes

involved with another

man when she returned

to the province in Tayug.

There, she struggles with

her conscience, her

weakness and her

helplessness. Based on

these observations, the

author’s voice becomes

clearly a female voice.

2.6 What purpose does

knowing that the author

is male or female serve

for you?

The text/story reveals the

ideological perceptions

of the author as a female

writer and simply as a

female. To know that the

author is a female serves

as a basis for describing

representations of the

female in the female

characters and how they

are stereotyped not only

in the text but in society

in general.

The text/story reveals the

ideological perceptions of

the author as a female

writer and simply as a

female. To know that the

author is a female serves

as a basis for describing

representations of the

female in the female

characters and how they

are stereotyped not only in

the text but in society in

general.

The text/story reveals the

ideological perceptions of

the author as a female

writer and simply as a

female. To know that the

author is a female serves

as a basis for describing

representations of the

female in the female

characters and how they

are stereotyped not only in

the text but in society in

general.

The text/story reveals the

ideological perceptions

of the author as a female

writer and simply as a

female. To know that the

author is a female serves

as a basis for describing

representations of the

female in the female

characters and how they

are stereotyped not only

in the text but in society

in general.

240

240

Questions THE VIRGIN THE TRAP THE TOURISTS THE SOUNDS OF

SUNDAY

4.0 Are the words

which are used gender-

specific?

The following words in

the text are gender-

specific:

Female:

-"mother" (A7.1, A8.1,

A8.3, A8.4, A43.1)

-"woman" (A6.4,

A32.2)

-"girlish" (A4.3)

-"sister" (A5.2)

-"niece" (A7.1)

-"dress" (A4.2, A6.2)

-"skirt" (A32.2).

-"ma’am" (A34.1,

A36.1, A39.1)

-"Miss Mijares" (A1.1,

A2.1, A3.3, A4.1, A6.1,

A8.4, A17.2, A23.2,

A24.1, A29.1, A33.2,

A49.2, A50.1, A56.1,

A59.1)

Male:

-"man" (A1.1, A3.2,

A6.2, A6.4, A8.1, A8.6,

A9.1, A12.1, A23.3,

A33.5, A56.3, A59.1),

Some words in the text

were gender-specific and

these are:

Female:

-“mother” (B3.1 and

B3.5)

-“womanhood” (B22.4)

-“womanly” (B9.9)

-“girl” (B4.6)

-“girlish” (B6.2, B22.1)

-“dress” (B5.1)

-“spinster” (B9.3)

-“witch” (B10.1),

-“Miss Ramos” (B9.7,

B9.11, B10.1, B13.3,

B14.5, B14.8, B14.12,

B15.15, B15.17, B16.1,

B19.1, B20.5, B22.2,

B23.5, B24.7, B24.8,

B25.2)

Male:

-“man” (B12.3, B25.1)

-“father” (B1.4, B6.5,

B9.1, B25.1)

-“boys” (B20.2)

-“Mr. Gabriel” (B9.11,

There are many words

used which are gender-

specific, such as:

Female:

-"mother" (C6.1)

-"woman" (C21.12,

C22.1, C23.4, C56.12,

C145.6, C153.1)

-"women" (C10.3, C25.2,

C25.4, C29.11, C56.6)

-"laundrywomen"

(C28.2)

-"girl" (C2.4, C9.1,

C54.6, C111.4, C115.1,

C122.8, C123.1, C169.1) -

referring to young college

females

-"girls" (C65.2, C56.7) -

at Stardust Club

-"bar girl/s" (C23.6,

C24.1)

-"manicure girls"

(C28.2)

-"wife" (C108.1, C125.5)

-"daughter" (C19.8)

-"sister" (C56.8)

-"brides" (C28.1)

There are certain words

in the text which are

gender-specific, such as:

Female:

-“mother” (D45.2,

D52.2, D52.8)

-“woman” (D1.2,

D32.2)

-“girl” (D2.3, D30.2,

D30.10, D60.3)

-“girls” (D55.6, D59.4,

D60.4, D60.5)

-“wife” (D13.2, D32.2,

D53.4, D60.1, D62.12)

-“wives” (D62.5)

-“daughter” (D30.2)

-“pregnant” (D52.2)

-“womb” (D20.5)

-"Mrs. Pintoy" (D4.2,

D4.4, D83.1)

-"Mrs. Testa" (D62.6)

-"Ms. Gorrez" (D93.6)

-"Mrs. Puray" (D97.1,

D97.2, D129.1)

Male:

241

Miss (A1.1, A2.1, A3.3,

A6.1, A8.4, A17.2,

A24.1, A29.1, A33.2,

A49.2, A50.1, A56.1,

A59.1)

-"son" (A36.2, A42.1)

-"foreman" (A18.2,

A21.1, A23.7)

-"nephews" (A5.2)

-"fellow" (A30.1)

-“shirt” (A15.2)

B12.2, B13.1, B13.3,

B14.3, B23.2, B25.1)

-"waitresses" (C28.2)

-"nun" (C76.2)

-"Madam" (C113.1)

-"Miss Nuqui" (C59.8)

-"Mrs. Mallari" (C114.1)

Male:

-"man" (C3.1, C6.5,

C12.3, C12.4, C16.3,

C20.4, C21.4, C29.5,

C39.2, C51.5, C56.3,

C57.5 X3, C73.2, C126.2,

C164.1, C166.1, C172.1,

C178.2 X4)

-"men" (C32.10, C38.11,

C178.2 X3)

-"policeman" (C2.3)

-"fisherman" (C57.5)

-"manhood" (C13.3)

-"Man" (C117.8) - used

as an expression

-"father" (C6.3, C19.1,

C19.8, C20.3, C30.7,

C31.7, C43.3, C43.5,

C48.1, C57.1, C57.6,

C70.1, C98.1, C105.4)

-"Father" (C55.1) -

directly addressed

-"boy" (C3.1, C107.5,

C188.5) -referring to a

college male

-“man” (D12.2, D18.3,

D19.6, D29.1, D30.1,

D31.1, D34.6, D35.3,

D38.3, D46.1, D62.9,

D121.6, D123.3)

-“men” (D30.10, D53.4,

D70.3)

-“father” (D31.1, D52.1,

D34.3)

-“boys” (D49.4, D75.2)

-“son” (D31.1, D52.5,

D53.1, D85.1)

-“sons” (D45.4, D49.3,

D55.4, D106.1)

-“Grandfather” (D32.1,

D32.2)

-“husband” (D62.6,

D62.7)

-“beard” (D62.10)

-"Mr. Rividad" (D3.1,

D13.2, D51.1, D54.1,

D55.7, D81.1, D86.1,

D94.3, D95.1, D104.1,

D106.5)

-"Mr. Navarro" (D30.1,

D30.4)

-The word “man” was

also used in “Big Man”

(D27.1, D58.4, D59.1,

242

-"boys" (C122.1, C122.6,

C122.7, C156.1, C163.1) -

refers to the young male

employees at Ernesto's

company

-"choir boys" (C172.1)

-"son" (C15.2, C48.2,

C186.2, C178.2 X3)

-"husband" (C12.2,

C38.5, C40.4, C121.5,

C183.1, C140.1)

-"brother" (C24.1,

C24.4, C56.8)

-"fellow" (C15.5, C51.2,

C185.1)

-"escort" (C21.12)

-"bastard" (C38.9)

-"wizard" (C119.3) -

refers to Ernesto

-"guy" (C138.1, C159.1)

-"Mr. Cinco" (C53.5,

C59.5, C59.7, C64.1)

D59.5, D62.1, D62.8,

D70.2, D71.2, D72.5,

D97.6) to refer to

Domingo Gorrez’ big

boss in the company

where he works.

4.1 Is the generic

pronoun ‘he’ used to

refer to males in general?

The pronoun ‘he’ was

always used to refer only

to the male character to

whom Miss Mijares was

attracted, except when it

was used three times to

refer to the driver of the

No. All throughout the

text, the pronoun he was

used to refer only to Mr.

Gabriel.

The generic pronoun 'he'

was used to refer to

specific male characters in

the story, such as, Ernesto

Bello, his father, Paz's

father, Tomas, and other

minor characters.

The generic pronoun ‘he’

was always used to refer

to a specific male

character in the story,

such as, Domingo

Gorrez, Ernesto Bello,

and the other minor male

243

jeepney which Miss

Mijares rode one day.

characters in the story.

4.2 Are generic nouns

used to refer to males?

In A14.2 and A50.5, the

word "carpenter" was

used to refer to the

occupation of the lead

male character in the

story. Since there are

rarely any female

carpenter especially in a

Filipino society, the

reader assumes that this

term is actually only

used to refer to males.

Other generic nouns

were also present, such

as, "interviewees",

"people", "baby",

"friend", "jobseeker"

and "passengers".

Furthermore, there were

generic nouns that were

specifically referred to

females or to males as

indicated by the

surrounding co-text,

namely:

A6.2: "friend",

"relative" (a

The noun “principal”

(B9.2, B23.3) referred to

Miss Ramos, in

particular. In B3.1, the

noun “friend” was also

used to refer to Salud,

and in B23.3, it referred

to Leonor, a classmate of

Elisa at school. Also, in

B1.4, the word “friends”

referred to people whom

the family are yet to

meet. In B4.2, the word

“person” referred to

Elisa and the noun

“people” referred to

everyone. The noun

“children” (B15.2) also

referred to both boys and

girls in the school. The

word “teacher” was not

used as a noun which

referred to a specific

person but referred to the

room where the teachers

(both male and female)

are staying.

The word "louse"

(C38.10, C38.11, C187.1)

was used to describe a

male person. This was

used by Ernesto on

Tomas, and vice versa.

Also, the term "rig

driver" (C73.2) referred

to a male since he was

revealed to be a man in

C73.3. The character of

the "Chinese proprietor"

(C75.1) was also a male

because descriptions of

him used the pronoun "he"

to refer to him. The noun

"teacher" (C16.2)

referred to a male who

whose gender was

revealed in C16.4. Finally,

the generic noun "clerk"

(C25.3) did not refer to a

male but to Paz Nuqui.

The generic noun

"mankind" (C31.4) was

clearly used to refer both

to males and females,

There was a particular

use of "men" in D30.10:

"Stocks plummeting,

faces lost, an entire

business built upon the

goodwill of a people

(who had been led to

believe that Quality

employed only God-

fearing men) …"

Here, it was not clear

whether the noun "men"

was used generically, or

it referred to the male

employees working at

Quality Products. If it

referred only to men,

then it excluded the

female employees who

were also working at the

company. There might

have been an emphasis

on the male employees

who were the ones

involved in corruption

and other anomalies.

244

married female,

unlike Miss

Mijares)

A8.2: "parent"

(Miss Mijares’

mother)

A14.1: "graduate"

(the man)

A29.1, A30.1,

A32.2, A51.1:

"driver" (most

probably a male)

A30.1: "fellow"

(the driver),

"stranger" (the

driver)

A18.2, A21.1,

A23.7: "foreman"

(Ato, the one for

whom the carpenter

worked)

There were no generic

nouns used to refer to

males only.

including the lead female

character who is also the

narrator:

"He lumped me together

with the rest of mankind

he was eager to save but

the panic with which he

came running to me

whenever the slightest

thing went wrong in his

world was often amusing."

The generic nouns

"policeman" (C2.3) and

"fisherman" (C57.5)

were used to refer

specifically to certain male

characters in the story.

The noun "man" in

D35.3 and D46.1 was

also used vaguely and it

is not clear whether the

said terms were used to

refer both to men and

women in general, or

specifically to men only.

It was used in this

manner:

"The feelings that God

vouchsafed a man—pain

and joy, love and lust—

they were like lights

upon the wall." (D35.3)

"DOMING, she wrote

from Tayug, what does a

man work for?" (D46.1)

Again, the word "man"

initially appears to have

been used to refer both to

males and females.

However, the dilemma of

the main characters

revolved around the

nature and integrity of

the job of Domingo

245

Gorrez, who is the one

working for the family.

The reader is inclined to

associate the word "man"

here to Domingo Gorrez

and perhaps his male

colleagues and boss at

the company.

4.3 Is the suffix ‘-man’

used to refer to males?

The suffix ‘-man’ was

seen in the term

"foreman," to refer to a

male character in the

story, Ato (A18.2,

A21.1, and A23.7).

The suffix ‘-man’ was

never used in the text.

The suffix -man were

found in the words

"policeman" (C2.3) and

"fisherman" (C57.5),

which both referred to

male characters.

There is no particular use

of the suffix ‘-man’ in

the text.

4.4 How are males and

females named in the

text? (surname, first

name, diminutives, title)

"Miss Mijares" (A1.1,

A2.1, A3.3, A4.1, A6.1,

A8.4, A17.2, A23.2,

A24.1, A29.1, A33.2,

A49.2, A50.1, A56.1,

A59.1) was called such

to emphasize

professional distance

between her and the

applicants and the

workers she recruited.

The carpenter to whom

she is attracted is not

Those called by titles and

surnames are "Mr.

Gabriel" (B9.11, B12.2,

B13.1, B13.3, B14.3,

B23.2, B25.1) and "Miss

Ramos" (B9.7, B9.11,

B10.1, B13.3, B14.5,

B14.8, B14.12, B15.15,

B15.17, B16.1, B19.1,

B20.5, B22.2, B23.5,

B24.7, B24.8, B25.2)

who were addressed by

the narrator in such

Characters were named in

different ways. Several

male characters in the

story were named using

their surnames, such as:

-"Bello" (C12.4, C38.5,

C117.3, C117.8, C119.4,

C120.3, C121.1, C121.3,

C122.1, C123.2, C123.3,

C145.3, C168.2, C170.1,

C178.1, C178.2, C187.1)

-"Testa" (CC156.1,

Characters who were

named using their

surname are the

following:

Gorrezes (D33.1)

Cosios (D17.4, D17.5,

D18.3)

Gorrez (D31.2, D32.1,

D56.1, D58.1, D58.2,

D58.6, D59.6, D59.8,

D62.9, D62.11, D66.1,

D68.1, D69.1, D72.4,

246

named in the text. The

foreman is simply named

by his nickname "Ato"

(A21.1). Miss Mijares’

mother is also not named

in the text.

manner to indicate

professional distance.

C159.1, C139.1, C156.1,

C158.1, C159.1, C160.1,

C161.1, C164.1, C166.1,

C172.1, C173.1, C178.1,

C178.2)

-"Cinco" (C92.1, C96.1,

C97.1, C136.2)

-"Reyes" (C172.1)

-"Santos" (C172.1)

-"Pacis" (C172.1)

-"Ganzon" (C172.1)

Occasionally, some

characters named with

such titles to indicate

psychological distance or

formality from the

addresser. These are:

-"Mr. Cinco" (C53.5,

59.5, C59.7, C63.1, C64.1)

-"Mrs. Rodas" (C26.1)

-"Miss Nuqui" (C59.8)

-"Mrs. Mallari" (C114.1)

who is Paz Nuqui

Another indication of

some psychological

distance was seen when

the characters were also

named using their full

D72.6)

Bello (D58.2, D62.11,

D69.1, D70.1, D70.2,

D70.3, D97.6)

Reyes (D62.11)

Paez (D62.11)

Testa (D62.10, D62.12,

D70.3, D71.1, D97.7)

Navarro (D31.2, D33.1,

D33.2, D97.7)

Rividad (D52.1, D55.2,

D96.2, D105.5, D121.2)

Others who were called

by their surnames also

had titles of Mr., Ms.,

and Mrs. These are:

-"Mrs. Pintoy" (D4.2,

D4.4, D83.1)

-"Mrs. Testa" (D62.6)

-"Ms. Gorrez" (D93.6)

-"Mrs. Puray" (D97.1,

D97.2, D129.1)

-"Mr. Rividad" (D3.1,

D13.2, D51.1, D54.1,

D55.7, D81.1, D86.1,

D94.3, D95.1, D104.1,

D106.5)

-"Mr. Navarro" (D30.1,

D30.4)

247

names, such as:

-"Ernesto Bello" (C4.3,

C6.4, C14.5, C30.7,

C34.1, C34.9, C36.6,

C37.1, C37.2, C38.8,

C39.3, C40.7, C44.1,

C60.2, C61.2, C63.1,

C65.3, C107.6, C107.9,

C115.1, C118.5, C119.1,

C122.6, C122.7, C148.1,

C161.1, C167.1, C176.1,

C188.1)

-"Paz Nuqui" (C108.1,

C114.1)

-"Marietta Bello" (C153.1)

-"Lourdes Adriano" (C28.1)

-"Ermina Castro" (C27.1),

-"Socorro Valdez" (C27.1)

Only the main characters

we named by their first

names whenever they are

addressed by someone

close to them. For one,

Paz Nuqui often addressed

Ernesto Bello as Ernesto

Characters were also

called by their complete

names, namely:

Emma Gorrez (D1.2,

D12.1, D16.3, D17.1,

D19.2, D34.1, D59.4,

D62.5, D89.1, D105.1,

D122.1)

Domingo Gorrez (D4.4,

D18.2, D55.6, D59.5,

D72.5, D121.2, D130.3)

Doming Gorrez (D35.1,

D49.2, D57.4)

Ernesto Bello (D58.1)

Rene Rividad (D5.1,

D78.1, D79.4, D105.2)

Norma Rividad (D13.1,

D53.4, D80.3)

Ruby Trias (D59.2)

Fely Barba (D59.3)

Mercedes Sulit (D59.3)

Some are called simply

by their first names, and

others are called in

different ways. Those

who were called by their

first names are:

248

(C6.5, C12.2, C12.6,

C13.2, C17.2, C20.1,

C21.1, C21.5, C21.6,

C21.13, C22.3, C24.7,

C30.1, C33.2, C33.12,

C34.1, C34.4, C40.2,

C40.4, C43.5, C43.7,

C51.3, C51.7, C53.2,

C53.3, C59.2, C65.5,

C66.3, C66.5, C67.2,

C69.2, C70.2, C74.4,

C75.6, C77.1, C90.6,

C99.1, C107.3, C121.4,

C121.6, C155.1, C186.1),

and called her husband,

Tomas (C12.2, C12.6,

C37.2, C38.1, C38.9,

C39.1, C40.1, C40.6,

C107.3, C108.1, C119.7,

C120.3, C121.1, C121.2,

C121.5, C123.3, C145.1,

C148.2, C149.1, C154.1,

C155.1, C164.1, C168.1,

C171.1, C173.1, C177.1).

Ernesto Bello always

addressed Paz Nuqui as

Paz (C18.2, C18.5, C19.8,

C21.6 and C21.8, C42.1,

C48.3, C61.8, C64.2,

C67.2, C83.1, C85.1,

C89.6, C91.1, C101.1,

Emma (D1.4, D2.4,

D4.3, D4.4, D13.3,

D14.3, D16.6, D17.6,

D17.7, D18.1, D20.2,

D20.4, D20.5, D34.3,

D35.2, D41.2, D52.3,

D54.1, D59.1, D59.2,

D63.1, D73.1, D74.1,

D77.1, D81.1, D96.1,

D96.2, D97.7, D105.2,

D105.5, D112.1, D127.2)

Doming (D1.4, D12.3,

D19.3, D19.4, D19.5,

D20.1, D20.5, D31.1,

D33.2, D34.1, D36.1,

D37.1, D38.2, D45.3,

D46.1, D59.1, D59.2,

D63.1, D64.1, D64.2,

D71.1, D72.1, D75.1,

D77.1, D92.1, D93.2,

D94.3, D97.7, D121.4,

D121.6)

Domingo (D17.7, D60.1)

Nora (D17.6, D17.7)

Isabelo (D17.7)

Paco (D17.7)

Mina (D60.4, D60.5,

D97.6)

Rene (D94.1, D98.1,

D115.1)

249

C116.3, C124.1, C134.1,

C182.1). Paz was also

addressed by her father

using her first name

(C19.8). Also, the minor

character of a bar girl was

called only be her first

name, or Dora (C56.9,

C56.12). Finally, the

father of Paz and the

father of Ernesto, which

were always mentioned,

were not named in the

story. In one instance, Paz

only addressed her father

as "Father" (C43.1,

C55.1).

Norma (D95.1, D103.1,

D104.1, D124.1, D124.2,

D125.1)

Mina was also called by

a derogatory term, "the

knowing minx"

(D60.4). Terms were also

used to indicate

closeness as a family,

such as, "Amang"

(D52.5) for Rene’s

father, and "Apo

Laureano" (D85.1) for

Domingo father. Another

character who was a

priest in the story was

called “Father Thomas”

(D96.5). The character of

an executive in the

company who victimized

the daughter of Mr.

Rividad was only named

"Number 2" (D30.3,

D30.5). Finally, the big

boss in the company

where Domingo Gorrez

worked was consistently

called "Big Man"

(D58.4, D59.1, D59.5,

D62.1, D62.8, D70.2,

250

D71.2, D72.5, D97.6)

4.5 Do any of the terms

used to describe males or

females have sexual

connotations?

There is an instance in

A26.1 wherein the

carpenter's body was

described to be a "big

body" which was

"heaving before" Miss

Mijares. This obviously

has a sexual connotation

since this masculine trait

of a "big body" appears

to have attracted the

character of Miss Mijares

sexually.

There are no terms used

to describe males and

females that have sexual

connotations.

There are terms used to

describe females which

have sexual connotations.

For instance, the narrator

tells about Ernesto's

possible experience of

meeting a "shapely girl"

(C2.4), shapely here

means that a pleasing

figure or body of a female

for a male to see. This

"shapely girl" is also

described to be "ripe"

(C2.4) for Ernesto's

picking. In C56.10, one of

the bar girls whose body

Paz Nuqui describes as

possessing a "sensual

ripple." Finally, there is

also an obvious sexual

connotation with the term

"lush-bodied" (C56.10)

which the narrator used to

describe the bar girl.

Males were not described

with terms that have

sexual connotations.

There are direct terms

used in the text to

describe males or

females which have

sexual connotations,

except that in a particular

instance in the story, the

word “nap” (D59.5) was

used to describe the

action of female

employees who would go

inside the office of

Domingo to have sexual

activities with "Big

Man." The fragment "to

nap" was deliberately

quoted in the text here,

which means it has a

different meaning other

than its literal meaning.

These sexual activities

were described very

indirectly and required

the reader to understand

the context of the

situation.

Norma Rividad was also

251

described to have

"potent" (D13.1) hips.

Later on in the story,

Norma is revealed to

have been "meeting

strange men in strange

rooms in strange

towns"(D53.4).

4.6 Do any of the terms

used to describe males or

females have positive or

negative connotations?

There were several

positive and negative

words used to describe

the characters in the

story and these terms

have positive and

negative connotations.

The females were

described using the

following terms:

"tall" (A1.1) - carpenter

"big" (A1.1) - carpenter

"graceful and light"

(A1.1) - carpenter

"bug" - wrists (A15.2) -

carpenter

"strong" -wrists

(A15.2) -carpenter

"insolence" (A17.3) -

The re were several

terms used to describe

the main characters

which have both positive

and negative

connotations. The

female characters, Salud,

Miss Ramos, and Elisa,

were described

significantly, as follows:

"lovely" (B4.6) - Salud

"graceful" (B4.6) -

Salud

"unfazed" (B4.6) -

Salud

"bright" - eyes (B6.4) -

Salud

"dry" - eyes (B6.4) -

Salud

Yes, the terms used to

describe the main

characters in the story

have both positive and

negative connotations.

Since the narrator is the

lead female character of

Paz Nuqui, who tells a

story mainly about her

past relationship with

Ernesto Bello and what he

had become through the

years, much description

was said of Ernesto Bello.

These descriptions

revealed both the positive

and the negative qualities

which Ernesto Bello

possessed or gained as the

years progressed. The

Yes, there are certain

male or female terms that

have both positive and

negative connotations.

The females were

described using the

following terms:

"potent hips" (D13.1) -

Norma Rividad

"slim, well-tended

hand" (D17.6) - Nora

Cosio

"silly girl" (D30.2) -

Navarro's daughter

"stumbling" (D30.3) -

Navarro's daughter

"panic-stricken"

(D30.3) - Navarro's

daughter

252

carpenter

"big body" (A26.1) -

carpenter

"monstrous" (A59.1) -

carpenter

"sweet" (A59.1) -

carpenter

"overwhelming"

(A59.1) - carpenter

"amiable" (A30.1) -

driver

"talkative" (A30.1) -

driver

The females were

described using the

following terms:

"light" (A4.2) - Miss

Mijares

"almost bony" (A4.2) -

Miss Mijares

"smooth" - brow (A5.1)

- Miss Mijares

"clear" - brow (A5.1) -

Miss Mijares

"patience" (A8.1) -

Miss Mijares

"flabby-fleshed"

(A8.4) - Miss Mijares'

mother

"elderly spinster"

(B9.3) - Miss Ramos

"witch" (B10.1) - Miss

Ramos

"rough" - knees (B9.7)

- Elisa

"dark" - knees (B9.7) -

Elisa

"miserable" (B9.9) -

Elisa

The male character of

Mr. Gabriel was also

given the following

description that

possessed positive and

negative connotations:

"good man" (B12.3)

"small" (B13.1)

"thin" (B13.1)

"stooped" (B13.1)

"tenderness" (B13.2)

"coolness" (B13.3)

"soft" - voice (B15.17)

"low" - voice (B15.17)

"gentle man" (B25.1)

The terms “spinster”

(B9.3) and “witch”

(B10.1) have negative

following positive terms

were used to describe him:

"confidence" (C2.2)

"silky voice" (C12.2)

"poet's eyes" (C15.3)

"urbane" (C15.6)

"persuasive" (C15.6)

"charm" (C15.6)

"eloquent" (C21.1)

"hardworking" (C52.1)

"familiar" (C62.4)

"reliable" (C62.4)

"sophistication" (C65.8)

"tenderness" (C68.2)

"candid" (C187.1)

The negative traits that

were said of him (which

were mostly used to

describe him when he was

already older and an

executive) in the story

were:

"impatient" (C13.3)

"bullish neck" (C15.1)

"clumsy" (C15.5)

"thin" (C33.7)

"older-looking" (C33.7)

"reckless courage"

"grief-washed face"

(D45.4) - Emma Gorrez

"hungry, eager young

girls" (D59.4)

"foolish little heads"

(D59.4)

"the knowing minx"

(D60.4) - Mina

"face clean.." (D106.2)

- Emma Gorrez

The males were

described using the

following terms:

"thin, greying man"

(D12.2) - Rividad

"inimitable charm"

(D31.1) - Domingo

"good man" (D38.3) -

Domingo

"chief plotter" (D58.1)

-Ernesto Bello

"limbs trembling with

ague and desire"

(D59.5) - Big Man

" a man's angry hand"

(D62.9) - Testa

"bastard" (D64.1) -

Testa

"steely gaze" (D72.5) -

253

"thick" - fingers (A8.6)

- Miss Mijares

"durable" - fingers -

Miss Mijares

"tiny" - face (A51.4) -

Miss Mijares

"distraught" - face

(A51.4) - Miss Mijares

"toothless" (A8.4) -

Miss Mijares' mother

"thin-haired" (A8.4) -

Miss Mijares' mother

The term ‘monstrous’

used to describe the

carpenter has a negative

connotation and this

actually describes the

effect that the carpenter

has on Miss Mijares.

Here she feels that she

‘must get away’ (A59.2)

but she is already

helplessly caught by his

touch and the feeling is

‘monstrous’ because she

has never really touched

a man before (A8.6). At

the same time, she also

desires him and longs for

him. Here, the male is

connotations and they

are, in fact, offensive

terms for women who

remained unmarried past

the usual marrying age,

and for women who are

considered bad or ugly,

respectively.

(C34.7)

"bastard" (C37.9)

"fool" (C47.2)

"fraud" (C120.3)

"mountebank" (C120.3)

"charlatan" (C120.3)

"drunk" (C123.1)

"louse" (C187.1)

Terms used to describe

other male characters

negatively were:

"aging Ph.D" (teacher) -

C16.4

"bland" (Chinese owner

of the inn) - C74.3

"dangerous" (Testa) -

C186.2

"louse" (Tomas) -

C37.10, C37.11

The female characters

were described as follows:

"young and different" (bar girls) - C23.9

"innocent-looking" (bar

girl) - C24.1

"charm" (Marietta Bello)

- C153.1

Big Man

"long, nicotine-stained,

square-tipped fingers"

(D88.3) - Rividad

"Big Man" (D58.4,

etc.), which was used to

refer to the big boss in

Domingo Gorrez’

company, is a term

which has a positive

connotation for the

person referred to since it

connotes greatness,

perhaps in terms of his

power and authority.

There was also a

negative and offensive

description of Mina,

which is ‘minx,’

meaning “an offensive

term that deliberately

insults a woman’s or

girl’s sense of propriety

and decorous behaviour”

(Microsoft Encarta,

2009).

254

seen as an inescapable

and dangerous thing for a

woman but the woman

also wants him.

"tiresome" (women) -

C25.2

"fierce" (women) - C25.4

"livid" (Mrs. Rodas) -

C26.2

"tired, arthritic woman" (Dora) - C55.12

4.7 Do any of the terms

used to describe males or

females have taboos

associated with them?

No, there were no terms

used to describe males or

female which have

taboos associated with

them.

The term

“witch”(B10.1), which

Elisa used to describe

Miss Ramos because she

despised her personality,

is a term that is used to

refer to woman who may

have similar traits to a

real witch who is

forbidden in society.

This makes Elisa’s

description of her

principal as something

very offensive.

No, there are no male or

female terms in the text

which have taboos

associated with them.

No, there are no male or

female terms in the text

which have taboos

associated with them.

255

QUESTIONS THE VIRGIN THE TRAP THE SOUNDS OF

SUNDAY

THE TOURISTS

5 Are there

statements in the text

which are gender-

inflected?

There are several gender-

inflected statements in

the text. In A1.1, the

carpenter was described

as someone ‘tall’ and

‘big’, ‘walking with an

economy of movement,

graceful and light’, and

‘a man who knew his

body and used it well.’ It

is usually assumed that a

man who is tall and big

is more strong and

appealing than a man

who is short and small.

Also, the description of

the carpenter "who knew

his body and used it

well" represents a male

who is highly in control

of himself.

Another gender-inflected

statement can be seen in

A4.2, where it was said

that Miss Mijares ‘had

learned early how to

dress herself to achieve

an illusion of hips and

There are gender-

inflected statements in

the text. Sentence B4.9

talks about the changes

in Elisa’s body because

of puberty, as manifested

in her growing breasts,

which are also related to

Salud’s. In B4.6, Elisa

describes Salud’s

transformation through

adolescence into a

“lovely, graceful girl.”

Elisa also describes her

dreams which continue

to haunt her. One

particular dream, which

is illustrated in B5.3,

implicitly serves as a

metaphor for Elisa’s

current instability due to

her female adolescent

stage. In particular, the

dream shows that Elisa is

standing on “an unknown

precipice” and watches

“helplessly as my body

dropped over the edge.”

This kind of metaphor,

In general, most parts of

the text are gender-

inflected. There are

certain statements that

are gender-inflected in a

sense that defines the

characteristic of a male

or a female, or addresses

the male or female

exclusively. For instance,

in D19.6, the statement

“Life waited for a man’s

unguarded moments, and

there were plenty,” as

said by the character of

Domingo, the reference

of the word ‘man’ is

quite ambiguous. It is

possible that he is

referring to both man and

woman in general, or he

is strictly referring to the

male gender and

excluding the female. In

D20.5, there is reference

to something that is

peculiar to women, and

that is ‘the life in her

[Emma’s] womb,’

The text contains several

gender-inflected

statements. For one, one

description of the

character of Ernesto

Bello in C2.4 included

his acquaintance with "a

shapely girl" who was

"ripe for his picking."

Here, the girl is

described to have a

pleasant or attractive

bodily figure which

satisfies Ernesto. The girl

is also likened to a fruit

since she is said to be

already "ripe" for

Ernesto's picking. This

gives us the notion that

females are supposed to

be 'consumed' by males,

most probably in a

sexual way. The female

is clearly considered to

be a subordinate and a

necessity of the male.

Another gender-inflected

statement can be seen in

256

bosom.’ Here, a female

is typically represented

as someone who tries to

be as attractive as she

can, and this can be

stereotypically assumed

to be done for the

consumption or

satisfaction of the

opposite sex who would

notice her.

In A4.3, she was also

described to be someone

who likes ‘little girlish

pastel colors.’ Pastel

colors are apparently

being associated with the

adjective girlish so that

these colors may connote

femininity.

In A5.2, Miss Mijares

was classified to have

almost belonged to those

unmarried women who

are either ‘working at

some job’ or ‘in the

kitchen of some

unmarried sister’s house,

shushing a brood of

devilish little nephews.’

which is repeatedly

mentioned in B9.10,

shows that as Elisa is

growing into a young

lady, she is experiencing

some kind of

helplessness or

vulnerability.

In B6.2, Elisa

specifically describes her

promise to write Salud as

a “girlish promise I

would write to her

faithfully.” Another

gender-inflected

statement is seen in B9.3

where Elisa described

her principal as “an

elderly spinster who

wore the tight rimless

glasses on her nose.”

This statement mirrors its

famous counterpart in

society called “Miss

Tapia,” who is also a

teacher and a spinster.

This character also

possesses undesirable

traits such as

unreasonable strictness,

apathy or anger towards

meaning Emma being

pregnant.

In D30.10, the word

‘men’ is used to refer to

people in Domingo’s

company in general

although the text shows

that the company also

employed females. It is

not clear whether the

statement is referring

particularly to the

employees in the sales

department since the

sales persons in the story

are all males (Ernesto

Bello, Domingo Gorrez,

Testa, Paez).

In EE1, there is an

emphasis on Domingo’s

charisma as ‘the

inimitable charm of his

father’s son.’ This charm

is only attributed to

Domingo’s father and to

himself.

In D32.2, Domingo

presents his wife as a

‘fine woman’ to Mr.

C3.1, where Ernesto's act

of standing and boasting

is described to be

"brazen," or possessing

the strong qualities of

brass, which could

associated with the trait

of boldness. This quality

is prone to be read as a

masculine quality and is

unlikely to be used to

describe the personality

or actions of a female.

Also, C10.3 makes

special mention of

women who were

"ravished" by the

"enemy," which one

could assume as males.

In this statement, the

women remind the

Filipino reader of

females, in reality, who

were victimized by

males, even during a

time of war, as in the

raped during Japanese

occupation in the

Philippines.

More gender-inflected

257

Since Miss Mijares is

still single and has lived

past the usual marrying

age, she represents a

woman who lacks

romance and instead

becomes preoccupied

with work and taking

care of other people.

her students, and

probably lack of interest

towards the opposite sex,

as revealed by Elisa in

B9.11, B10.1, B10.2, and

B14.4.

Navarro. Here he makes

use of his wife as another

charm to soften the heart

of the old man and to

persuade him to accept

the check offered by the

company. In D46.1,

Emma Gorrez writes a

letter to Domingo and

asks him, ‘what does a

man work for’? Here,

there is reference only to

a male person being an

active agent, specifically

active in his line of work,

and an emphasis that a

male person is strongly

related to work or

occupation.

Finally, in D59.4, Emma

Gorrez classifies the

female employees in

Domingo’s company as

women who belong to a

certain type, ‘hungry,

eager young girls, fresh

from college, their

foolish little heads filled

with slick magazine

stuff.’ This represents

females who are young

statements are revealed

in the narration. There is

a metaphorical

description of the way

that the soldiers in the

story c ried, as can be

seen in C10.4. The

soldiers are seen with

their "animal cries." This

associates the behavior

of males with the wild

behavior of certain

animals.

In C24.3, there is a

description of a minor

female character which

shows that the a male is

"bringing her to Fort

McKinley" for a

romantic date.

Apparently, the male is

the one who is more

active, being the one who

is bringing the female to

a certain place. It would

be traditionally unusual

if the female was the one

who brought the male to

their dating place.

Ernesto Bello was also

258

and are are sexually

active, whether in

thought or deed. Females

are seen here as also

being interested in sexual

activities, apart from the

males.

described in C54.6 to

have become more

attractive to the opposite

sex only because he had

already changed his

shoes from brogans to,

possibly, more casual,

formal, or stylish kind of

shoes.

In C56.6, five females

were shown to have

specifically "stretched

their lovely legs."

Initially, this would only

be read as a neutral

description of a certain

action done by several

women in the story.

However, a gendered

reading would reveal that

this is a gender-inflected

statement since there is a

certain level of

inappropriacy of

emphasizing this

particular act of

stretching a woman's

legs, which were even

described to be "lovely."

Here, the female is

described in relation to

259

her sexual attractiveness

to the opposite sex.

This kind of description

can also be found in

C56.10-C56.12, where

the character of Dora

was described as follows:

"lush-bodied", "a sensual

ripple would start at her

shoulders and end

somewhere in her toes,"

and "Her flesh had

bloomed beneath the

touch of strangers in

some dimly lighted room

above a raucous

phonograph…" Dora is

described in terms of her

sensuality and her sexual

relations with random

men. One important

observation is that "the

touch of strangers" has

even caused her flesh to

"bloom," which makes

this sexual interaction

seem to bring a positive

consequence to a

woman, which is

to"bloom." There is a

metaphorical reference to

260

a flower, which reflects

the convention that a

female is always likened

to a flower and it is

considered to be

feminine. However, after

this description, the

narrator reveals that at

the end of the day, Dora

would only be exhausted

from this kind of work

and would need rest and

tenderness. Here she is

seen to be violated and

exploited, both sexually

and emotionally,

particularly by male

strangers.

C63.1 shows the

character of Ernesto

Bello as being an "ardent

suitor" of Paz during

their younger years.

Here, the male is seen to

be traditionally pursuing

the female, and not vice

versa.

In C76.2, the room

where Ernesto and Paz

261

rented for a night was

given a gendered

description. The room

was likened to "a nun's

cell" to indicate its

cleanliness and

orderliness. Here, there is

an obvious assumption

that a nun is at least

usually very orderly,

organized and has a

clean room.

The statements in C76.5

and C145.6 can also be

considered gender-

inflected. In C76.5,

There is direct reference

to the female but the

direction of a room being

free from "voluptuous

nudes." By drawing on

the background

knowledge that

illustrations of pictures

of nudes in reality

usually show females,

we can assumer that if

there had been any

"voluptuous nudes" in

the room, it would have

been of females. This is

262

affirmed by the statement

in C145.6 which describe

an illustration of a

"woman bathing by a

river." It can easily be

assumed that the woman

bathing would

necessarily be showing

some skin since she is

doing the action of

bathing.

C122.7 shows some

males trying to please a

girl who suddenly arrives

in a bar where Ernesto

Bello has gone to have a

good time. This girl is

being shown to be

deceived by the "boys" in

order to distract her from

her objective of

capturing Ernesto with

another woman. The

female depicted here is

someone deceived by the

male/s. However, in

C122.8, she is revealed

to have been smarter

than all of them since

later on, she was able to

take them, including

263

Ernesto, to the

authorities.

Finally, the character of

Marietta Bello is

described in C153.1 by

fragmentizing her body

parts. She had

"expensive baubles on

her ears, her lovely,

perfect neck rose proudly

above her dress; the

candlelight threw

softening lines on her

beauty..." Here, the parts

of her body described are

the areas which are more

sexually attractive and

alluring. Again, the

female is described

according to the male's

perspective.

5.1 Are there ready-

made phrases which refer

to gender difference?

There are no ready-made

phrases which refer to

gender difference in the

text.

The text has not provided

ready-made phrases

which refer to gender

difference.

There are no ready-made

phrases used to refer to

gender difference.

There are no ready-made

phrases used to refer to

gender difference.

5.2 Does the text

assume you hold certain

gendered assumptions?

Yes, and this is shown in

several instances within

the text. In A1.1, the

There are certain

assumptions that the text

requires the reader in

The text assumes that the

reader has certain

gendered assumptions.

The text assumes that the

reader has certain

gendered assumptions.

264

Make explicit what this

information consists of.

narrator describes the

carpenter’s physical

appearance and how he

carries himself. This

makes the reader assume

that an ideal attractive

man is supposed to be

‘tall’, ‘big’, and someone

who carries himself well

by moving with grace

and is confident about

himself. Consequently,

Miss Mijares became

attracted to this

carpenter.

Another instance is when

the narrator said that

‘Miss Mijares did not

look 34’ (A4.1). Here,

since she was ‘light’,

‘bony’, and ‘liked girlish

pastel colors’, there is an

implication that a usual

thiry-four year old

woman is supposed to

look heavy, be bigger in

size, and likes colors

other than pastel ones.

There is also the general

assumption within the

text that a thirty-four

order to make sense of

the text. This is shown

by several instances

within the text. For one,

Elisa's description of

Salud turning into a

“lovely, graceful girl”

(B4.6) implies that

young girls are supposed

to be graceful and try to

be as lovely as possible.

Statements B5.1 and

B5.2 describes Elisa’s

experience of feeling

unstable, helpless as

illustrated by what she

actually felt (B5.1) as

well as her dreams of

standing on the edge of a

cliff. The author does not

explicitly explain to the

reader what exactly

Elisa’s problem is and

assumes that the reader

understands the physical

and emotional dilemma

that Elisa was

experiencing. B9.9 also

shows that Elisa was

experiencing some

changes in her, trying to

be more careful about the

This is shown by several

instances within the text.

The text is written with

some gendered

assumptions as

represented by the traits

of the characters in the

story. Men are generally

represented based on a

gendered assumption that

they are, by nature, more

ambitious than women

(D19.8), highly career-

oriented and will do

whatever it takes,

obsessed with security

and stability (D24.1,

D21.2), very logical and

practical, and, as the

head of the family, the

ones who makes

decisions (D19.7), and

they work and provide

for the family (D19.8).

Men in general are also

depicted as the ones who

do the charming (D18.3,

D20.3), persuading

(D32.2), and deceiving

(D27.1). Men are also

portrayed based on the

There are many

constructions in the text

which assume that the

reader knows regarding

gender stereotypes,

specifically within a

Filipino culture. This has

been shown in the

answer to question 5.0.

Again, the description of

Ernesto Bello in C2.4

assumes that "a shapely

girl" or a female who has

already developed a body

with more curves and a

good figure is attractive t

to a male and is already

"ripe for his picking."

Also, there is a gendered

assumption C24.3 which

the text requires from the

reader which is, that a

man should be the one to

bring a woman to a

romantic date. It would

sound unconventional if

the woman was the one

who would be in charge

of the two and bring the

male to their date.

Similarly, the male is

265

year old woman is

ideally a married one and

with children already

(refer to descriptions

from A6.1-A6.4, and

A8.6).

way she moves but at the

same time, still acts like

a young girl. This

requires the reader an

assumption that a

“woman” should be

characterized as someone

with “grace” and “a

manner of self.” Also,

Elisa describes Miss

Ramos as a witch in

B10.1 but the reader

should know that “witch”

here does not mean the

literal witch that

possesses magical

powers but someone who

has some negative traits

that is also associated

with a witc, such as,

being harsh, sometimes

scary, and uptight. In

B17.2, Salud asks Elisa

if Mr. Gabriel is a

married man. The

assumption here is that

the reader should know

that a married man is not

allowed to fall in love

with a woman other than

his own wife.

assumption that they give

much regard to their own

pride and ego (D37.1),

than women do (D19.8,

D22.6). Women, on the

other hand, are

represented based on a

gendered assumption that

they are more laid back

(D40.1, D49.4), and as

wives, they usually do

not work. They are also

emotional (D18.3),

materialistic to a certain

degree, and always serve

as the objects of

affection, pleasure

(D59.5, D62.5) and as

‘commodities’ of men.

They are also represented

as the ones who are more

conscientious than men

(D29.2, D30.10, D38.3).

Although many female

characters here, mostly

the younger ones, are

also depicted as naïve

and easily deceived by

men (D59.4, D60.2,

D60.3), Emma Gorrez

serves as an exception,

since here she is

assumed to be the one

pursuing the female until

he is able to win her

heart. This is seen in

C63.1 were Ernesto

Bello was described to

be an "ardent suitor" of

Paz Nuqui.

In several instances in

the text, the narrator

mentions and describes

other female characters

by way of specifying

their body parts. For

example, in C56.6, five

females were shown to

have specifically

"stretched their lovely

legs." The character of

Dora was also described

in terms of the qualities

of her body parts, such as

the following: "lush-

bodied" and "a sensual

ripple would start at her

shoulders and end

somewhere in her toes."

Marietta Bello was also

described by the narrator

by enumerating some

features of her body, as

266

empowered and

consistently fights for her

principles even if they

are in contradiction with

her husband’s (D17.1,

D18.2, D34.1). However,

there are also moments

when she would give in

to her weaknesses and

submit or surrender to

males (D34.3-D34.4,

D117.1, D123.4).

follows: "expensive

baubles on her ears, her

lovely, perfect neck rose

proudly above her

dress…" Ernesto Bello's

secretary was also

described according to

her facial features, such

as: "a pair of arching

eyebrows that twitched

delicately together with

the fine edges of her

nostrils" (C111.4).

Apparently, these

descriptions convey to

the reader the gendered

assumption that women

are usually noticed with

regards to their

fragmented body parts

and not to their overall

characteristics, and that

this is what interests the

reader, and that in

reality, it will attract the

male. There is also

mention of a room being

free from pictures of

"voluptuous nudes"

(C76.5). This is also

most likely assumed by

the Filipino reader to be

267

referring to females.

Finally, the text in C76.2

shows that females,

particularly nuns, are

assumed to be organized

and orderly in the way

they keep their rooms.

Ernesto and Paz was said

to enter a room which

looked like "a nun's cell"

which was clean, plain

and orderly.

5.3 In order to make

sense of certain

statements do you have

to make a bridging

assumption drawing on

stereotypical gender

information?

There are certain

stereotypes that the

reader should be aware

of in order to make sense

of some statements. The

character of Miss

Mijares, as described

several times by the

narrator (A5.2, A7.1,

A8.6) requires the reader

to be aware that the type

of character of Miss

Mijares exists in reality

and that there are really

women who grow old

unmarried, and who take

on the responsibility of

There are certain

stereotypes that the

reader should be aware

of in order to make sense

of some statements. The

character of Miss Ramos,

as described several

times by Elisa in

statements B9.11, B10.1,

B10.2, and B14.4,

requires the reader to be

aware that Miss Ramos

exists in reality as a

gender stereotype in the

form of a spinster. Also,

other female characters

in the story are portrayed

As has been mentioned

in 5.2, there are many

gendered assumptions in

the text and the text

draws on stereotypical

gender information in the

context of Filipino men

and women and in a

traditionally patriarchal

society. The story

reflects certain

stereotypes of men and

women in a patriarchal

and third-world society.

Most of the male

characters reflect a male

stereotype that is the

There are many gendered

assumptions in the text

and the text draws on

stereotypical gender

information in the

context of Filipino men

and women and in a

traditionally patriarchal

society. For one, in

order to make sense of

the text in C2.4, the

reader has to be at least

familiar with the

stereotype which looks at

the female as a fruit to be

picked by the male once

already ripe. This is

268

taking care of their old

parents. On the other

hand, the character of the

carpenter is based on

typical working class

men in reality. This male

character is also

portrayed as someone

cool and also rather

aggressive. While all the

thoughts and emotions of

Miss Mijares were

shown in the story, the

carpenter was not seen

emotional even when he

reported that his son

died. Instead of

sympathizing with the

carpenter, Miss Mijares

was concerned of the fact

that he had a son and it

was not quite something

that she expected to find

out in an unmarried man.

as people stereotypically

emotional---Elisa’s

mother being concerned

with her emotional

stability, Salud’s

affection for Elisa, and

Elisa’s emotional

attachment to Salud and,

later on to Mr. Gabriel.

However, Mr. Gabriel is

not really portrayed as a

stereotype of a male

person. His physical

attributes are not

considered ideal

characteristics since he is

“small and thin and

stooped, with a way

about him that made him

seem even smaller.” This

seems to show that

Elisa's growing stage has

weakened her in the

sense that she is easily

attracted to the opposite

sex even if it is

inappropriate and even if

her object of affection

may not necessarily be

sexually appealing. Also,

in B15.17, Elisa

describes Mr. Gabriel’s

head of the family, the

one who makes decisions

and works and provides

for the family, such as

the characters of

Domingo Gorrez, Testa,

and Ernesto Bello. There

is also a reference to the

male stereotype that is

physically stronger than

women ) (D1.7, D77.1)

and can inflict physical

pain on them once the

men lose their temper, as

in the case of Domingo

Gorrez giving a blow on

his wife’s cheek (D77.1).

The male stereotype who

is highly logical,

practical, and less

emotional, is seen in

many of the male

characters in the story,

such as Domingo Gorrez

and his colleagues who

have already become

inhumane for the sake of

their abundant status in

life, even to the point of

abusing women for their

own satisfaction.

On the other hand,

evident within the

Filipino culture, where

women are subject to the

male's The reader also

has to refer to the

stereotype that a girl

should be "shapely" or

should have a pleasing

body shape (in Philippine

context, a body which

could be called "sexy")

in order for a male to be

attracted to her or in

order for the female to be

worthy of the male's

attention.

Another statement in the

text which requires the

reader to draw upon

gender stereotypical

information is found in

C24.3, where a minor

female character in the

story was described to be

meeting a male person

"bringing her to Fort

McKinley for a movie."

Here, the reader instantly

knows that the "date"

being referred to is a

male, and that it is

269

voice as “soft and low,

like a woman’s,” which

is an unusual description

and contrary to the ideal

male stereotype.

However, Elisa tells that

he is also a quiet and a

cool person (B13.2 and

B13.3), which is

something similar to

men’s stereotypical

image of not being

talkative and emotional.

women in the story also

reflect certain female

stereotypes. One is that

women are

stereotypically the

housewives who stay at

home to take care of the

family and submit to

their husbands. These

women are taken as

being more nurturing,

caring, and therefore,

more emotional. In

Philippine context, there

is yet another stereotype

for a wife who nags her

husband or a wife who

insists and is very vocal

about her opinions, such

as Emma Gorrez. Also,

for a long time, Emma

Gorrez has been patient

with her husband

Domingo despite her

objections on the nature

of his job. It has been

only after five years that

she has decided to

separate from her

husband. There is also a

female stereotype who is

a young woman who is

customary that the male

be in control, be the

wooer, and be one to

take a female to a

romantic date. This

stereotype is also

reflected in C63.1 and

C63.2, where Ernesto

was shown to be "an

ardent suitor" who

"called often", asked Paz

out, and "stood patiently

in theatre lobbies."

In C39.2, Ernesto Bello

summons or dares

Tomas, Paz's husband,

into a fight, and Tomas is

described to be: "not a

brave man but he was no

coward." This

description implies that

there exists a stereotype

prevailing among males

in society which imposes

that they be brave and

not be cowardly

especially in instances

where they are dared to

fight a fellow male.

Declining a dare for a

fight would mean that

270

naïve and easily swayed

by the deceiving charm

of a man, such as the

characters of the young

female employees in the

company of Domingo

Gorrez who are

victimized by the male

big boss in the company.

There is also mention

how charming the

personality of Domingo

Gorrez is, to the point of

him "bringing the

inimitable charm of his

father's son to bear upon

the old man" (D31.1).

Here, Domingo Gorrez'

charm is being described

in relation to his father's

charm, which he is

supposed to inherit. This

reflects an assumption of

males being expected to

be just like their fathers.

they are cowardly and

that they do not have "the

balls" or guts, or that

they are not "man

enough."

The reader also has to

draw upon the

stereotypical information

that nuns or Catholic

females who enter the

convent are simple, neat,

organized, and there is an

expectation that their

own bed rooms are clean.

This is seen in C76.2,

where the room rented

by Ernesto and Paz for

an overnight stay was

described to be "simple

as a nun's cell and as

clean."

Lastly, in order to

understand what the text

in C76.5 is saying, the

reader has to be aware of

the stereotype of females

frequently being nude

subjects in pictures or

illustrations. In the room

described as being "as

271

simple as a nun's cell,"

there is also mention that

it "no scribbling or

voluptuous nudes or

mirrors." Another

stereotype is that those

nude females in pictures

or illustrations are

sexually attractive if they

are not only nude but

also "voluptuous."

5.4 Are metaphors or

figurative language used

which draw upon

gendered assumptions?

Are males and females

compared with different

elements?

There were no statements

that directly compared

the males and females to

certain elements but

there are some

descriptions of certain

objects that are used

indirectly to liken to the

main characters

themselves. In A11.1 and

A11.2, the carpenter

carries a paperweight

which belonged to Miss

Mijares and it had come

apart. The description is

as follows: ‘In his hands,

he held her paperweight,

an old gift from long

ago, a heavy, wooden

block on which stood, as

Some metaphors were

used which draw upon

gendered assumptions.

One metaphor used was

in the form of a dream

that repeatedly haunted

Elisa. In B5.3, she said “I

had dreams about this

too, unhappy, frightened

nights when my dreams

took me to an unknown

precipice and I watched

helplessly as my body

dropped over the edge.”

Here, the dream

describes how Elisa is

feeling as she feels the

changes that are taking

place in her helpless

female body and in her

Some metaphors and

figurative language

which draw upon

gendered assumptions

were used. For one,

Doming described

himself as a person who

is full of guts or courage,

and aggressiveness, by

“thumping himself on the

chest” (D37.1) and

saying “I am all here!”

(D37.1). This draws on

some gendered

assumption that

masculinity is shown by

guts and machismo.

Another figurative

language shown in the

text is that in D53.4,

Some metaphors and

figurative language were

used which draw upon

gendered assumption.

The female was

described as if she were a

fruit which was ripe for

Ernesto's picking. This is

a stereotypical metaphor

often used for females,

even in a Filipino

conversation. The female

is almost seen to be

something which should

be consumed by the

males.

The female character of

Cora's flesh was

described to have

272

though poised for flight,

an undistinguished, badly

done bird. It had come

apart recently.’ The

narrator goes on in

A12.2: ‘He had turned in

and with a penknife

tightened the screws and

dusted it. In this man’s

hands, cupped like that,

it looked suddenly like a

dove.’ At the end of the

story, the reader is

compelled to think that

the wooden bird here is

Miss Mijares, and that

the carpenter has put her

life back into place and

has saved her from her

singleness.

emotional states.

However, this metaphor

may or may not directly

reflect a gendered

assumption that

downgrades the status of

women. Either this could

be seen as a biological

experience that naturally

happens to every female

adolescent or being

emotional and vulnerable

to men is an inevitable

experience that happens

to a female. Another

metaphor used is when

she said “Miss Ramos is

a witch” out of her

disgust in the personality

of her principal. Finally,

the metaphor “like the

far-off despairing wail of

an animal caught in some

trap” is used for Elisa is

implicitly used in the

text. It seems that Elisa’s

falling in love with her

teacher is the trap that

was caused by her

emerging transformation

into a young woman.

where Norma is

described to be “meeting

strange men in strange

rooms in strange towns.”

Apparently, this is not a

literal description, and

only means that Norma

Rividad is addicted to

being promiscuous and is

having sexual relations

with different men.

Another figurative

language used was the

the verb “to nap” in

D59.5, which did not

literally mean a short

light sleep but was only

disguised for something

sexual to happen. The

‘naps’ were done by

those women whom the

Big Boss liked and they

went to Domingo Gorrez

room not really to nap

but to go to the adjoining

room to join the Big

Man, and perhaps,

engage in a sexual

relations. At the part

where Emma Gorrez is

finally giving in to her

romantic relationship

"bloomed beneath the

touch of strangers" in

D56.12. Here, she is

associated with or

likened to a flower. In

reality, a female is

oftentimes compared to a

flower, even as a form of

flattery. However, in

this particular text, the

cause for why Dora

"bloomed" are the males

which engage in a sexual

relationship with her.

In C119.3, Ernesto Bello

was described as a

"young wizard armed

with only glib." He is

likened to a wizard

because of the way that

he succeeds in his career

in public relations. Since

a wizard is equated with

a magician or a sorcerer,

Ernesto, in his own way,

makes "magic" with only

his "glib" as his weapon.

273

with Rene Rividad, she

described her feeling of

vulnerability and

fragility in D123.3 as “a

dam breaking, like a wall

giving way, and here I

bob in the flotsam, not

wanting to save myself.”

She also describes the

situation by seeing

herself “being swept

awash, the shoe is near,

one step, and I am safe

on the ground, but I do

not wish to go ashore”

(D123.4). Here, Emma

Gorrez is already

expressing her

helplessness and that her

heart overpowers her

mind. Finally, in D121.7,

the narrator cites a

particular poem which

Domingo Gorrez used

when he was still

courting Emma Gorrez

years ago. This particular

poem strongly shows

some gendered

assumptions. The excerpt

of the poem is as

follows: “Your hands

274

within my hands are

deeds; my tongue upon

your throat; singing

arms close; eyes wide,

undoubtful, dark, drink

the dawn—a forest

shudders in your hair!”

Here, the voice of the

persona seems to be a

male addressing a

female. The female

addressed here is the one

whose hands are within

the male’s hands, tongue

upon the male’s throat,

and is also the referent of

‘hair’ mentioned.

5.5 Is the text

humorous? What

propositions do you have

to agree to in order to

find the text funny? Why

is the text using humour?

Is it a difficult area? Is

the text addressing you

as a male? What type of

male?

The text, in general, is

not humorous. However,

there is one instance in

the text where the

paperweight of Miss

Mijares which held a

wooden bird came apart

(A11.2) and Miss

Mijares herself made a

sexual joke out of it

(A11.5 and A11.6). This

is somehow an unusual

situation because, here,

the female is the one who

The text does not strike

the reader as something

humorous. Elisa narrates

her story in a serious

emotional tone since she

was telling about the

difficulties of growing up

as a female adolescent.

In general, the text does

not possess a humorous

quality and is not meant

to be funny. What is

closest to humor is the

mockery with which the

male characters treat the

women. This kind of

humor may appeal only

to a male audience since

the women are seen in

relation to men. For

instance, the office girls

being secretly present

The text is not

considered to be funny or

humorous as it is a

serious narration of an

experience in the life of a

female, namely, Paz

Nuqui. The narration is

in the first person point

of view and is full of

thoughts, sentiments and

emotions.

275

is creating the joke and

the object of laughter is a

woman. It is unusual

since jokes on women

which have sexual

connotations are usually

done for the

entertainment of men or

for male consumption.

Miss Mijares is shown to

have approved this kind

of joke that usually men

make on women. Miss

Mijares may be using

this joke unconsciously

that she herself was

surprised she had said

such a thing. This may

be a result of her lack of

romantic relations with

men for a long time.

When Miss Mijares

reacted with much

laughter on her own joke,

the people who heard it

in the room did not react

in the same way. Instead,

their ‘faces turned and

eyebrows rose and she

told herself, whoa, get a

hold, a hold, a hold!’

(A11.6). This shows that

during those ‘naps’ of

the big boss, and Norma

Rividad’s “meeting

strange men in strange

rooms in strange towns.”

276

this is not a joke that is

accepted by both male

and female audiences. It

can only address a male

audience who are of age

and can understand jokes

with sexual connotations.

Furthermore, the male

audience may also decide

if this is appeals to them

or not at all.

5.6 Does the text use

double entendres? Why

does it use them?

Aside from the joke on

the wooden bird, there

are no other double

entendres used in the

text.

No, the text does not use

any double entendres.

There was a certain use

of the word "nap" in

D59.5 which could have

a literal and a figurative

meaning, if the context is

understood. This words

literally means to sleep

for a brief period of time

but in the story, "nap"

was also used to mean

something else, as

follows: "Whoever it

was Big Man fancied

slipped each noon into

Domingo Gorrez's room

"to nap" ---while in the

office adjoining, the boss

sat, licking his chops, his

limbs trembling with

ague and desire. D59.6

The text does not contain

any double entendres.

277

Fifteen minutes later,

after a sufficiently

refreshing nap, the

connecting door between

Gorrez's and the boss'

rooms would be open."

This reveals that a "nap"

in this case did not only

mean literally but it was

also associated with a

sexual or intimate

activity.

5.7 Analyse the

transitivity choices. Are

they predominantly

material action intention,

supervention, material

event, mental, or

relational? Are they

different for males and

females represented in

the text?

The transitivity choices

are predominantly

material action intention

(81). The next dominant

processes found are the

mental processes (60).

Relational (27) and

material action-

supervention processes

are not so prevalent in

the text. Since the

narrator is focusing on

the thoughts, emotions

and experiences of Miss

Mijares, there is always

reference to what the

female lead character had

done or did before,

resulting in many

The text is

predominantly material

action intention and the

dominant actors are the

female characters

(mother, Elisa, Salud,

and Miss Ramos). Since

the narrator is a female,

she would also be

frequently referring to

what she had done or did

before, resulting in many

material action

processes. The difference

of the transitivity choices

of the males from the

females is that there is

also an abundance of

mental processes which

The text is

predominantly material

action intention (317)

and the dominant actors

are the male characters

(Doming, Rene, Mr.

Navarro, Big Man, other

colleagues in the

company) in the story.

The difference of the

transitivity choices of the

males from the females

is that there is also an

abundance of mental

processes (269) found in

processes whose actors

are females, and there is

almost only a few in

those whose actors are

The transitivity processes

found in the text are

mostly material action

intention (778) and the

dominant actors are the

male characters (Ernesto

Bello, Tomas, and other

minor male characters in

the story). The males are

represented as those who

are more active and

possess a more varied

range of activities and

capabilities, as opposed

to the females who are

shown to have limited

activities, such as work

and are assigned only

minor tasks. However,

278

material action and

mental processes. The

difference of the

transitivity choices of the

males from the females

is that there is also an

abundance of mental

processes which can be

seen in processes whose

actors are females, and

there is only one mental

process found in those

whose actors are males.

Refer to list of

transitivity choices.

can be seen in processes

whose actors are

females, and there is

almost only a few in

those whose actors are

males. All throughout the

text, Elisa expresses her

thoughts and her

emotions.

Refer to list of

transitivity choices.

males. There are also

processes found in the

text which are relational

(103), material action

supervention (89), and

material event (17).

Overall, the transitivity

choices show that the

male characters are the

ones who always make

the decision, who control

the situation and who are

always active. The

females, on the other

hand, act as the affected

recipients of the males’

actions, and they are very

reflective and

introspective of their

experiences since most

of the time they do not

have the upper hand in

many situations. This

manifests in a high

frequency of mental

processes found in the

text whose sensors are

mostly females,

especially the lead

character of Emma

Gorrez.

they are shown to be

more active when it

comes to being reflective

and emotional. Since the

narrator is also a female,

a significant amount of

mental processes could

be found (444) which are

mostly reflecting the

thoughts, feelings and

expressions of Paz

Nuqui. Based on the

transitivity choices found

and analyzed in the text,

the female appears to be

represented as someone

who is introspective,

sentimental, and even

more conscientious,

especially when it comes

to her experiences and

attachment with her

object of affection,

which is a certain male.

Other transitive

processes found in the

text also include material

action-supervention

(131), relational (216),

and material event (17).

279

Refer to list of

transitivity choices.

Refer to list of

transitivity choices.

5.8 Who acts in the

text? Examine the use of

passive voice. Are

females acted upon more

than males or vice versa?

The one who acts more

in the text is the female

lead character. Since the

narrator is more

concerned about the

point of view of Miss

Mijares, she is the one

who is followed in the

story and the carpenter

would only come into the

picture when she

encounters him, which is

not that often. Also, Miss

Mijares is not so much

being acted upon by the

male character and the

male character only acts

upon her during their

final encounter in the

story where he already

touches her and makes

their relationship more

intimate. All throughout

the story, Miss Mijares is

the one who is active,

since she is the one who

approves job applicants

and takes care of their

Referring to the list of

transitivity choices made

from the text, the more

active voice in the text is

that of the female

characters, most

frequently the voice of

Elisa since she is the

narrator and she narrates

about her own actions all

throughout her

experiences. However,

the reader also considers

that there are more

interactions between the

female characters than

those between the male

and female characters.

Although the female

active voice outnumbers

the male active voice in

the text, the characters or

Elisa’s father and Mr.

Gabriel have not been

acted upon by the female

characters. The females

are both actors and acted

upon more frequently by

The one who acts more

often in the text is the

male character, with a

count of 523 instances of

the male as an active

voice. The females are

apparently the ones who

are more often being

acted upon by the males.

However, there are also

some instances wherein

the males are in active

voice without necessarily

making the females as

the recipients of their

actions. There were 240

instances of the female

being the active voice in

the text. There are only a

few instances in which

the females are acting on

the males but more often,

the female active voice is

used without necessarily

having a recipient of her

actions. Sometimes,

these are actions done by

females alone.

Although the narrator of

the story is a female, the

text shows that the one

who acts more often is

the male character, with

535 occurrences with the

male being the active

voice.

Even if it was not

necessarily the case that

the females were the

ones being acted upon by

the males, the males are

shown to be more

decisive in their actions

and are shown to be

involved in varied

situations than women

are.

There were 365 instances

of the female being the

active voice in sentences.

Many of these

constructions of with the

female as the active

voice show their actions

towards or for males.100

280

recruits, especially the

carpenter.

males in the text. Also,

there are instances where

the active voice of Elisa

is used only to show that

she is deeply swayed by

her emotions for Mr.

Gabriel, as shown by the

following: “I fell in love

with him,” “I followed

him,” “I trotted after

him,” “I sat still,” “I

stood,” “I lingered,” “I

betrayed myself,” “my

heart rose,” “[my heart]

beat,” “I trembled,” “I

found him,” “I fell to my

knees,” “I kept thinking,”

“I wondered,” “I wish,”

“I missed a step,” “I had

lost my young heart,” “I

stumbled,” and “I burst

into tears.”

281

QUESTIONS THE VIRGIN THE TRAP THE TOURISTS THE SOUNDS OF

SUNDAY

6.0 Are there larger

structures in the text

which seem to be

gendered?

There are observable

discursive structures

which seem gendered

that can be found upon

the analysis of the text.

There are observable

discursive structures

which seem gendered

that can be found upon

the analysis of the text.

There are observable

discursive structures which

seem gendered that can be

found upon the analysis of

the text.

There are observable

gendered discursive

structures found upon the

analysis of the text. The

source of conflict between

Emma and Doming

Gorrez, and among other

characters in the story,

can be traced back to

these prevailing

discursive gendered

structures in society.

6.1 Analyse the male

and female characters.

Are they described in the

same way? Are certain

words used which are

gender-specific? What

sort of female or male

characters are

represented? Are they

predominantly white or

black? Are they

predominantly young or

old? What sort of

relationships are they

represented as having?

Are there power

In terms of

characterization, there

are several observations

in the way that male and

female characters are

described from the

narrator’s point of view.

In general, the male is

described differently

from the female. The

female character’s

physical description is

much more detailed in

terms of physical

appearance than that of

the male. This seems to

In terms of

characterization, there

are several observations

in the way that male and

female characters are

described. Even though

they are clearly

described in the point of

view of the female

narrator, there are still

certain differences in the

way that men and

women are described

here. The description of

the male in the story

reflects the desires of the

In terms of

characterization, there are

several observations in the

way that male and female

characters are described.

First, there is a clear

difference in the way that

the males were described as

opposed to how the females

were described. There are

more descriptions given to

males, particularly about

Ernesto Bello, than to

females. Since the narrator

of the text is a female and

the character of Paz Nuqui,

In terms of

characterization, there

are several

observations in the way

that male and female

characters are

described. The male

characters portrayed in

the story, especially the

main character of

Domingo Gorrez,

mirrors much of the

dominant male

stereotypes present in

society. Almost all of

the males in the story

282

hierarchies in the test?

Do these relate to

gender, race, class, or

sexual orientation?

be oriented towards

emphasizing that all

these descriptions

manifest her current age

and how she seems to

deal with it. There are

several descriptions

regarding her built, body

parts, how she dresses,

as well as those

concerning her likes and

the way she speaks.

These descriptions also

point to the fact that

Miss Mijares is not that

physically attractive. The

male character, on the

other hand, is described

in terms of his tall, big

body, how he naturally

carries himself, what he

wore in one instance,

and the text also directly

states his educational

background and

occupation. While Miss

Mijares’ background was

not enumerated the way

that the carpenter’s was,

information about her is

occasionally revealed in

the text.

female narrator. The

male character is

portrayed not as

someone physically

attractive but as a gentle

and affectionate person.

The female depicted here

is one that does not look

for physical strengths or

good looks in a man but

someone who is

emotionally satisfying.

This is an indication that

the author is resisting the

ideology that women are

easily smitten with good

looks.

The male characters in

the story are Elisa’s

father and Mr. Gabriel,

as well as the boys in

Elisa’s new school.

However, the only male

character that was

described at all is Elisa’s

object of affection, Mr.

Gabriel. Mr. Gabriel was

described as follows:

-B12.3 He is a good

man.

-B13.1 Mr. Gabriel was

small and thin and

herself, there is not much

description of her own

character. However there

are significant descriptions

of women whom she knew

during that period of time

in her life which she was

narrating.

In terms of clothing, the

males represented in the

text were those who lived

during the post-war period

and so the males were

described to be dressed in

"utilitarian khaki"

(C32.10). The lead male

character was particularly

unique in that he was

wearing "army brogans" on

a daily basis while he was

still in college. He was an

activist and wearing

brogans symbolized his

own ideals and dreams for

his fellowmen and the

world since he was

passionate about his

patriotism and his love for

mankind. There is also

mention that these army

brogans served as "a mark

are shown to possess

the qualities of

ambitiousness,

persistence, firmness in

decision, attachment to

material things, and

sexual attraction to

females. Also, the

characters of Domingo

Gorrez and his

colleagues were

described to be very

presentable because it

is part of their job as

public relations officers

to maintain a

presentable appearance

and an appealing

personality. The text

often shows that the

guiding principles of

the male characters are

different from and are

often in conflict with

the values and beliefs

of the females. They

seem to have different

priorities in the way

they handle their

relationships. The main

difference that this

story emphasizes is not

283

The following

shows how Miss

Mijares is

described:

-A2.3 She spoke now

peremptorily, with an

abruptness she knew

annoyed the people

about her.

-A4.1 Where she sat

alone at one of the

cafeteria tables, Miss

Mijares did not look 34.

-A4.2 She was light,

almost bony, but she had

learned early how to

dress herself to achieve

an illusion of hips and

bosom.

-A4.3 She liked poufs

and shirrings and little

girlish pastel colors.

-A4.4 On her bodice,

astride or lengthwise,

there sat an inevitable

row of thick

camouflaging ruffles that

made her look almost as

though she had a bosom,

if she bent her shoulder

slightly and

stooped, with a way

about him that made him

seem even smaller.

-B13.2 His eyes laughed

even when his mouth did

not, and when that

happened, the tenderness

spilled down the cheeks

to his quiet lips.

-B13.3 When Miss

Ramos blazed into his

room, demanding forms

and reports and C-156’s,

Mr. Gabriel met the

storm with soothing

coolness, as though he

dealt with just another

wayward student.

-B15.6 It was a brown

suit he wore.

-B15.8 It was loose and

it had fitted him badly.

-B15.9 As he walked, the

back of his coat swished

about his thighs.

-B15.17 Perhaps, it was

Mr. Gabriel’s voice: it

was soft and low, like a

woman’s, and I kept

thinking: I wish I could

talk to him alone.

of his impatient manhood"

(C13.3). Females, on the

other hand, were described

to be wearing Unrra

dresses, clogs, clerks

blouses and skirts (C25.3).

They were also shown to be

using cosmetics and

accessories (C23.10 and

C153.1).

There is a significant

difference in the way that

the physical appearances of

males and females were

described in the story.

More detailed description

was given to females than

to males. The only male

whose physical appearance

was described was the main

character, Ernesto Bello.

Ernest Bello was described

as "not tall" (C15.1) and

with a "bullish neck"

(C15.1). There is also

mention that he was

"becoming bald with

aging" (C3.3). The

description given to the

male is not so pleasant and

physically attractive, in

much on the physical

attributes of the males

and females but rather

on their attitudes,

beliefs, values,

priorities and

preferences in life.

Also, there are various

differences found even

among the male

characters themselves

although there are also

dominant qualities that

emerge. On the other

hand, the main female

character in the story,

Emma Gorrez, is that

of a woman with much

regard for herself, her

conscience, the

emotional stability of

her family, with less

priority on career life

and financial success.

The researcher also

finds several other

females in the story

who are shown to be

weak, vulnerable to the

males and money, and

do not possess these

ideal characteristics of

284

inconspicuously drew

her neckline open to puff

some air into her bodice.

-A5.1 Her brow was

smooth and clear but she

was no beauty.

-A5.2 She teetered

precariously on the

borderline to which

belonged countless

others whom you found,

if they were not working

at some job, in the

kitchen of some

unmarried sister’s house,

shushing a brood of

devilish little nephews.

-A25.1 …it seemed the

sun put forth cruel

fingers to search out the

signs of age on her thin,

pinched face.

-A25.2 The crow’s feet

showed unmistakably

beneath her eyes and

smiled widely to cover

them up and squinting a

little, said, “Only a half-

peso—Ato would have

given it to you

eventually.”

-A27.2 “I’d do it for

Here, Mr. Gabriel’s

overall size was

described in A13.1 and

B15.8 but he was also

described in terms of

parts of his face and his

body as can be seen in

B13.2 and B15.9. Elisa,

the narrator, is very

observant of the details

of her teacher’s physical

appearance. It is possible

that Elisa is also sexually

attracted to Mr. Gabriel,

since she is currently

undergoing bodily

changes as a female, that

causes her to be unstable

and vulnerable. Also,

Mr. Gabriel’s character

is someone who is good

and gentle (B12.3 and

B13.2), and even likened

to the softness of a

woman (B13.2 and

B15.17). The narrator

clearly likes Mr. Gabriel,

despite his lack of

physical attractiveness

and masculine strength

(B13.1, B15.8 and

B15.9). This may also

terms of a stereotypical

ideal male image. The only

description given which is

appealing is on Ernesto's

eyes, which were described

as "poet's eyes, full of

dreams" (C15.3).

As for the females, there is

description of the shape of

their bodies or certain parts

of her bodies, particularly

the legs, shoulders, toes,

flesh, eyebrows, nostrils,

and neck, as in the

following:

-lovely legs (C56.9)

-exceptionally voluptuous

(C56.6)

-a sensual ripple would

start at her shoulders and

end somewhere in her toes

(C56.10)

-lush-bodied (C56.11)

-her flesh had bloomed

beneath the touch of

strangers (C56.12)

- a pair of arching

eyebrows that twitched

delicately together

(C111.4)

Emma Gorrez.

MALES

The male characters in

the story are: Domingo

Gorrez (the main

character), Rene

Rividad, Rene’s father,

other men at

Domingo’s company

such as the Big Man,

Ernesto Bello, Testa,

Paez and Reyes,

Isabelo and Paco

Cosio, Mr. Navarro,

Lopez, Father Thomas,

Apo Laureano, sons of

Doming and Emma.

Below are the

representations of male

characters in the story:

Males as

schooled or

educated

Males

described to be

initially shy to

females

Males as

initially gentle

and tender

285

anyone,” she said and

turned away, angry and

also ashamed, as though

he had found out

suddenly that the ruffles

on her dress rested on a

flat chest.

The carpenter is

described in the

following:

-A1.1 HE WENT to

where Miss Mijares sat,

a tall big man, walking

with an economy of

movement, graceful and

light, a man who knew

his body and used it

well.

-A14.1 He was a

highschool graduate.

-A14.2 He was also a

carpenter.

-A15.1 He was not

starved, like the rest.

-A15.2 His clothes,

though old, were pressed

and she could see the

cuffs of his shirt

buttoned and wrapped

about bug, strong wrists.

-A17.2 But for a

signal that Elisa finds

gentleness and affection

in Mr. Gabriel, typical of

what women usually

want from the opposite

sex. His other

descriptions simply

reflect his occupation

(B15.6 and B15.9).

As for the main female

character, Elisa does not

describe her physical

characteristics in detail

since she is the narrator.

But we can gather

glimpses of her physical

characteristics as the

narration continues.

Instances where she is

described physically are

the following:

-B4.4 She had laughed

and looked pointedly at

my breasts and said,

“They’re growing, like

mine, Elisa.”

-B9.7 I had scrubbed

myself that day and put

on my best dress but at

Miss Ramos’ remark, I

-fine edges of her nostrils

(C111.4)

-woman bathing by a river

bank (C145.6)

-lovely, perfect neck

(C153.1)

Here, it is very apparent

that the physical

descriptions given to

females are more

complicated and rather

sensationalized than those

given to males. This shows

that females represented in

this manner are described

according to their

sensuality and sexual

attractiveness. This is

reinforced by the

observation that males are

also represented in C120.5

as always possessing sexual

appetite for females.

In terms of behaviour, the

male character of Ernesto

Bello is seen to be

"stammering" (C15.4 and

C17.5), "clumsy" (C15.5),

"awkward" (C15.5), and

later on, "eloquent" (C21.1

towards females

Males not

listening to,

disregarding or

disrespecting the

opinion of the

females, because

they want to be

the ones who

decide

Males

displaying their

masculine

physical strength

to women, either

to show their

machismo, to

threaten them, or

to make a point

Males as

the providers of

their families by

working with a

certain

occupation

Males as

charming and

appealing

Males’

clothing or outfit

and accessories

signifying their

286

jobseeker, Miss Mijares

thought, he talked too

much and without call.

-A17.3 He was bursting

all over with an

obtruding insolence that

at once disarmed and

annoyed her.

-A43.1 “I am not

married to his mother,”

he said, grinning

stupidly, and for the first

time she noticed his two

front teeth were set

widely apart.

The male character is

also shown to have some

physical imperfections,

as in A43.1. This was

only revealed to Miss

Mijares later on in the

story when she had

already found herself

being attracted to him

and voluntarily giving

him a favor with regard

to his job. Also, the

carpenter is described in

A17.2 as a man who

‘talked too much.’ Aside

from his big masculine

felt my knees grow

rough and dark, my

breasts start to swell.

-B9.9 My days were full

of bodily pain and a

mysterious sense of

growing;

Elisa is described in

terms of her breasts

(which were mentioned

twice), her knees and her

growing body. This is a

typical description of a

female character, who is

always related to a

certain degree of sexual

attractiveness and

availability. This reflects

that the author

recognizes the ideology

that pervades in the

society which objectifies

women, Another

important observation is

that Elisa’s character, in

the end, is that of a self-

deprecating one. She

helplessly blames herself

for falling in love with

the wrong person at the

wrong place and time

and C119.3).

While both the male

(C119.4 and C15.6) and the

female (C153.1) have been

described as "charming",

their differences are shown

in terms of their moral

uprightness. The males

represented are those who

are more prone to more

vices than females are.

Males were shown to have

a tendency to commit

corruption in their

respective careers (C120.3,

C120.5 and C186.2), vices

such as drinking (C21.12,

C120.3, C123.1, and

C23.10), smoking (C48.5,

C66.8, C16.3, and C23.10),

having extramarital affairs

with girls (C122.6 and

C120.5), and being more

temperamental (C7.1,

C16.2, C31.1 and C41.6).

Tomas challenging Ernesto

to a duel is another

manifestation of their male

anger which is expressed

through physical violence.

This is particular trait can

status,

occupation, and

level of

sophistication

Males as

ambitious

Males as

materialistic or as

having the notion

that females are

attracted to

money

Males at

the company

characterized as

deceptive

Males as

looking at

themselves as

tough, gutsy and

courageous

Males

using cursing

language or

expressions

Males as

prone to alcohol

Males as

prone to smoking

Males

courting females

Males as

287

built, his aggressiveness

in asserting his job is

also what strikes and

appeals to Miss Mijares.

Also, the carpenter is

shown to be gentle and

kind with Miss Mijares.

He fixes the paperweight

that stood on the table of

Miss Mijares (A12.1),

thanks her when she

managed to raise his pay

through his foreman

(A23.6), calls her

‘Ma’am’ several times

(A34.1, A36.1, A39.1,

A41.1), and says sorry

because he was not able

to tell her earlier on that

he had a son. Although

they had a business

relationship as recruiter

and worker, there

seemed to be personal

undertones in their

conversations.

Finally, the narrator also

briefly described the

personality of the

jeepney driver in the

story, as shown in the

(B18.1 I betrayed myself

in a hundred ways.).

Another important

characterization found in

the story is that of the

character of Miss

Ramos, Elisa’s school

principal. The following

are the descriptions

given by Elisa to her

school principal:

-B9.3 She was an elderly

spinster who wore the

tight rimless glasses on

her nose.

-B9.4 She rarely smiled

and when she did it, it

was to show big false

teeth that clicked noisily

when she spoke—“How

old are you, Elisa?” she

asked.

-B10.1 Miss Ramos is a

witch, I wrote Salud.

-B10.2 When she’s

around, she gives off a

smell that makes me sick.

Here, Elisa clearly

despises Miss Ramos for

be related to their

confidence and

aggressiveness, which were

seen in C2.2, C7.3, and

C39.2. Females, on the

other hand, were described

to have had "civic

conscience" (C29.2).

Males are represented in

this way since they are also

depicted as people who are

passionate about their

careers. Being able to

obtain a good position in a

company gives them more

power and security as well

as means to be able to

provide for their families.

Ernesto Bello, for instance,

was described to be

"hardworking" (C53.1) and

"accomplished" (C12.3-

C12.4).

As the male represented

here through the characters

of Ernesto, Tomas and

other minor male

characters, is someone

possessing confidence, the

female is seen as having

clever (either

positively or

negatively)

Male

likened to an

animal

Males as

protective of

females

Males as

corrupt or lacking

conscience

Males as

persistent

Males as

lacking in and

yearning for

tenderness

Males’

hands and fingers

noticed by

females

Aged male

is described to be

morally grounded

Males as

greedy

Please refer to

Appendix…for

examples of the above-

mentioned

288

following:

-A30.1 The houses were

low and dark, the people

shadowy, and even the

driver, who earlier had

been an amiable,

talkative fellow, now

loomed like a sinister

stranger over the wheel.

Here, the driver, which is

presumed to be a male, is

portrayed as someone,

who, like the carpenter,

is usually amiable and

talkative.

There are certain gender-

specific words used in

the text, namely,

‘mother’, ‘man’, ‘Miss’,

‘son’, ‘ma’am’,

‘foreman’, ‘girlish’,

‘sister’, ‘nephews’,

‘niece’, ‘woman’,

‘dress’, and ‘skirt.’ The

male character that is

represented in the story

is a Filipino, a man with

a blue-collar job (a

carpenter) and the

her indifference and lack

of affection to Elisa. The

narrator who degrades

and despises a female

character is also a

female. This indicates

that in real life, there are

women who are just like

Miss Ramos and both

males and females detest

her personality. This also

reminds the researcher of

the "Miss Tapia"

stereotype which exists

in Filpino society.

In the text, some words

used are gender-specific,

such as, “spinster,”

“witch,” “father,”

“mother,” “man,” “girl,”

“boys,” “Miss,” and

“Mr.” The male

character that is

represented in the story

is a Filipino, a man of a

professional occupation

(teacher), and the

relationship represented

is that of a student-

teacher type, which is

more formal and rather

irrational or trivial anger or

a nagging attitude, in the

person of Mrs. Rodas in

C26.1. They seem to be

angry only in terms of

trivial mistakes done by

others.

The female is also seen to

be a worrier, in the person

of Paz Nuqui (C7.5), and

also smart, in the person of

the "mestiza" who sent

Ernesto Bello and his gang

to the police authorities

(C122.8).

Males and females also

greatly differed in their

assigned jobs and roles in

the story. These job and

roles can be considered

stereotypical and are

gendered. There were more

jobs and roles mentioned

for females in the story

than for males. Male roles

and jobs mentioned only

included those related to

the military, clerking at an

army depot (C32.10),

public relations, and being

characteristics of males

in the story.

For the male

characters, there was

almost no physical

description given by

the narrator. However,

a description of the

clothes and accessories

they wore (D20.3,

D59.2, D95.1, D62.10,

D62.11, D30.1)

signifies their status,

occupation, and level

of sophistication. The

male characters who

obtained good

positions in their

careers wore “shirt”,

“sleeves”, “thin tie”,

“shoes”, and “watch.”

The men at the

company were also

described as “the

necktied bunch”

(D62.11). On the other

hand, the character of

Testa, who lost his job

in the company, only

wore a “sweat-stained

polo shirt” (D62.10)

289

relationship represented

is that of a recruiter-job

applicant type, which is

civil and rather distant.

The female character

represented is a 34 year

old unmarried woman

who has been working in

the same office for many

years. There are also

power hierarchies in the

text. Miss Mijares, the

recruiter, has the highest

authority, superior to the

carpenter, who is merely

applying for a job. These

power hierarchies are

related to class. The

carpenter and Miss

Mijares obviously

belong to different levels

of work. The one with

the highest authority is a

female.

distant, considering also

that there is a large age

gap between the student

and the teacher. The

female characters

represented are that of

adolescents as well as

unmarried women. There

are also power

hierarchies in the text.

Miss Ramos, the

principal, has the highest

authority, superior to Mr.

Gabriel who is a teacher,

and in turn has authority

over his students. These

power hierarchies

operate only within the

context of the school and

does not relate to race,

class or sexual

orientation. The one with

the highest authority is a

female. However this

female principal is very

typical in real life. There

seem to be more female

principals in reality than

male ones.

husbands. There were

various jobs associated

with women, such as,

clerking at a woman's club

(C22.1), laundry woman

(C23.4),

bar girls (C23.6),

waitresses (C28.2),

manicure girls (C28.2), G.I.

brides (C28.1), dancing

girls (C90.1), and as wives

(C125.5, C12.2).

More contrasts of qualities

between males and females

exist in the text. As males

were seen to be lacking in

tenderness (C120.5), the

females were seen to be

needing kindness (C56.12).

As females showed

conscientiousness,

especially in the person of

Paz Nuqui, Ernesto Bello

was revealed to be

engaging in extramarital

affairs (C122.6). The males

seem to be more

accomplished, in control of

their lives, their situations

and of their families, than

females are. They are the

and had a “three days

beard’ on his chin”

(D62.10), signifying

untidiness and

depression from a loss

of a job. Finally, Mr.

Navarro, the old man

who fought for justice

for his dead daughter,

was described as

wearing “threadbare,

baggy pants” (D30.1).

In relation to this, a

male character in the

story was also

described to be highly

educated. Rene Rividad

“had left town for

years, studied in the

city, returning to set up

the high school”

(D53.3).

The main character of

Domingo Gorrez also

depicts a male

character who had been

initially shy, gentle and

tender (D1.5, D26.1,

D121.6) to Emma

Gorrez during the early

stages of their

290

ones who pursue the

females for themselves

(C63.1-C63.2), they are

more domineering and the

females are submissive

(C66.7), and they have

more chances of becoming

sophisticated (C15.6,

C54.6, and C66.8).

The male represented

through the main character

of Ernesto Bello also shows

a stereotype of a male who

is passionate about and is

often associated with

automobiles. This shows

that an interest in

automobiles is a masculine

trait. Ernesto Bello was

seen to have possessed a

stylish vehicle, Opel (C12.4

and C125.5), and this was

also seen to be important to

him. Another masculine

trait is also their association

with the sport of boxing, a

physically violent sport.

Tomas was described to

have had experienced

boxing for a youth club

(C107.5).

relationship,

particularly before

marriage. This reflects

that males initially

exert their best effort to

attract and captivate the

hearts of females. This

also indicates that

women often seek

tenderness and

emotional comfort

from men. The present

situation of the couple

in the story is a

problematic one

wherein the husband

becomes consumed by

his career and

ambitions at the

expense of his own

marriage. One

consequence of this

problem is Doming’s

growing coldness and

lack of tenderness

towards his wife

Emma. This is also

shown in those

situations where Emma

begins to contradict his

opinions and pleads

that they move back to

291

There is also a striking

observation on how

females were characterized

and represented. Their jobs

were minor as compared to

those to males, as has been

enumerated earlier. The

roles of being G.I. brides,

bar girls and dancing girls

are those which necessarily

involve males. This shows

that there are jobs and roles

which are dependent on

and only possible with the

participation of males.

Similarly, the female is also

frequently seen here as a

sexual commodity of the

male, as in C122.6, C2.4,

C120.3, C120.4 and

C56.12.

Another important

observation to be made

about descriptions of

males, their behaviour and

actions is that they were

often associated with

animals. Males were called

"louse" (C187.1), "fish"

(C117.8), and were said to

the countryside where

they could lead more

peaceful lives.

Also, the main male

character in the story,

Domingo Gorrez,

clearly does not listen

to, disregards or

disrespects the

opposing opinions of

his wife, Emma. It

indicates that the male

represented here

possesses a mentality

that he is better, more

rational, and has the

power over the female.

This can be seen in

D1.7, D19.3, D19.4

and D22.6, where

Emma’s opinions and

pleas are ignored by

Doming.

Another dominating

characteristic of males

represented in the story

is their physical

strength over women.

This masculine

strength is displayed in

292

"bleat" (C172.1).

Given these observations,

the males, in general,

possess more negative

qualities than females, and

that several of these

qualities are destructive and

exploitive to females.

Females, on the other hand,

possess qualities which are

always subject to

consumption and criticism

of males. They are also

shown to be more

dependent on males in

terms of their physical

appearance (what is

pleasing to the males), their

roles and the occupation

with which they are

associated.

Males are the only ones

who are concerned about

more logical issues, such as

ideals about the

government, and success in

one's career, and women

are more concerned with

irrational matters, such as,

love and security. Finally,

several situations in the

story. In D1.7, Doming

“had cut short their

argument with one

vicious swing of his

fist against the

bedroom wall.” Here,

Doming showed his

physical strength

possibly with the

intention of ending his

wife’s assertions by

frightening her. In

D17.7, male physical

strength is again used

to slap down the two

incontrollable women

who are fighting with

each other. Finally, in

D77.1, Doming

showed his physical

strength again to his

wife as a sign that he

has lost his temper and

resorts to slapping

Emma on her cheek.

This reminds the reader

of the stereotypical

macho behaviour

which males have, at

least in literature.

293

men are seen to be

constantly competing only

against men and not against

women, thus, presenting a

view that the female is

inferior to the male. Even

power hierarchy seen in the

text exists among males, as

in the area of career,

manifested in how several

male characters struggled

for higher positions in their

companies.

Relationships shown here

are those between

colleages, between husband

and wife, and between

father and child. There is

also difference in classes

shown here. Paz Nuqui

becomes envious of

Ernesto Bello's current

financial status since she

married a man who is not

as affluent as Ernesto.

There are also class

hierarchies shown in the

story. Some women are

seen to be rich, as in the

wife of Ernesto Bello and

those elite women whom

Another representation

of males in the story is

one who has the role of

providing for his

family and has a

certain occupation.

Throughout their

married life, Domingo

Gorrez goes through

several jobs before

getting a permanent job

at Quality Products

(D17.3). Rene Rividad,

who is married to

Norma, has also

succeeded in setting up

a high school after

studying in the city

(D53.3). This means he

is financially equipped

to provide for his

family.

Furthermore, the male

is represented by

Doming as someone

appealing and

charming (D18.3 and

D5.1). This coincides

with the requirement of

his job as a public

relations officer and the

294

Paz Nuqui had encountered

during her clerking days.

While other women

struggle and sacrifice even

their purity in order to help

their families, as in the bar

girls of Lipa, and the

character of Dora. It

appears that even in their

struggle for survival,

women have had to

succumb to the males and

allow themselves to be

exploited by men in order

to survive financially.

Money was considered a

form of power among

women, and even among

men. Ernesto Bello was

used to paying other people

in order to get what he

wanted, in any aspect of his

life, whether work-related

or personal. Females are

seen to be those which

easily become attracted to

gifts, money and material

things, for whatever

reasons they have in mind.

fact that the mentioned

employees in the public

relations department of

his company are all

males. This is the

reason why his wife,

Emma, complains to

him at times when she

thinks that he is using

his charm to deceive

other people for the

sake of the company.

In D32.1 and D32.2,

Domingo uses his

charm as well as

money to persuade Mr.

Navarro not to press

charges against their

boss. This is yet

another negative

representation of the

male character.

Men’s clothing or

outfit and the

accessories they use

also signify their status,

occupation and level of

sophistication.

Doming’s usual office

attire was twice

described in the text

295

(D20.3 and D59.2).

Apparently, he would

wear “the inevitable

shirt and sleeves and

thin tie” (D20.3), and

also his “shoes”

(D59.2). Rene Rividad

was also described to

be wearing a watch

(D95.1). Domingo’s

colleages were also

named in the text as

“the necktied bunch”

(D62.11). In contrast to

the males who wore

shirts with sleeves and

tie, shoes, and watches,

Testa, who had lost his

job, had a different

description. He was

seen in the text “in a

sweat-stained polo

shirt” (D62.10) with a

“three days’ beard on

his chin” (D62.10). The

old father of the young

female employee who

died, Mr. Navarro,

wore a pair of

“threadbare, baggy

pants” (D30.1). This

reflects the ways in

296

which the males in the

story are categorized

according to their

occupational statuses.

However, males in

general are seen in the

text to be highly

ambitious. The two

major male characters

of Domingo, Bello and

Rene clearly possess

this trait. In D22.6,

Domingo’s

ambitiousness becomes

very transparent as he

expresses himself “in

long, passionate

statements full of his

desire to conquer this

city which had

humiliated him twice.”

Domingo is also seen

to be competing with

his colleague Bello as

they both try to please

their big boss (D58.2).

Also, it could not have

been possible for Rene

Rividad to be able

build a high school in

his town (D53.3)

297

without his sense of

ambition. In relation to

this, the male in the

person of Domingo is

also seen as

materialistic as well as

having the notion that

females are easily

attracted to or swayed

by money. Domingo

has always tried to

answer the insistent

questions of Emma by

presenting money

(D24.1 and D36.3)

even in a very sarcastic

manner. While Emma

was away from him,

Domingo showed his

greed for material

things as he only

mentioned in his letter

that “he might trade in

the car for a two-tone

mauve” since this “was

the latest hue of

success” (D47.2).

Some males also look

at themselves in the

story as tough, gutsy,

and courageous.

298

Domingo was seen

“thumping himself on

his chest” (D37.1 and

D37.2) which was a

way for him to express

his toughness and guts.

In D28.3, he also

expressed his interest

in pitting himself

“against a real foe.”

Meanwhile, Big Man,

Doming’s big boss,

was also described in

D72.5 in terms of his

“steely gaze” that “did

not once leave Doming

Gorrez’s face, which

blanched and burned

by turns.”

One of the

manifestations of how

males look at

themselves as tough,

gutsy and courageous,

are also reflected in the

other ways they

express themselves.

For instance, Doming

dares to curse Testa in

front of Emma by

saying “goddamn son

299

of a b----ing bastard”

(D64.2). Another

instance is when the

males are seen to be

involved with alcohol

(D68.1 and D70.3) and

smoking (D88.3 and

D105.2). There is no

instance in the text

where the females also

engage in drinking and

smoking as the males

do.

The male character is

also characterized as

being the one who

always courts the

female. Both Domingo

and Rene were the ones

who courted and

pursued Emma

(D121.2), and even the

executives of the

company where

Domingo works have

to attract the young

female employees

using money in order

to convince them to

engage in sexual affairs

(D60.1-D60.5).

300

Another trait of the

males in the story is

that they are clever,

either positively or

negatively. In general,

Doming always finds a

way to reason with

Emma whenever they

have arguments, and

also succeeds in his

work in the company

as a public relations

officer. However,

Doming’s boss, Big

Man, best exemplifies

cleverness since the

latter always manages

to influence his

subordinates, and even

gets away with all the

negative things he does

for his own pleasure

and satisfaction (e.g.

D58.4).

Also, Big Man is the

only character in the

story that was likened

to an animal,

specifically a goat

(D72.4). Goat here is

301

clearly associated with

the male and not the

female.

In the person of Rene

Rividad, the male is

also characterized as

supposedly protective

of females. Rene

Rividad was doing “an

act of kindness” when

he took his wife home

(D80.4). However, this

only seems to be in the

background of how

most males in the story

treat the females.

Domingo’s notion of

protectiveness toward

his wife was only

shown in the way that

he would provide her

with financial stability.

The young females in

the company where

Domingo works are

protected financially by

money but they also

lack protection in a

way that they are

physically exploited by

the male executives

302

who were greedy (as in

D30.3), corrupt and

who lacked

conscientiousness. In

the end, Rene becomes

the exceptional male

who remained tender

not only towards his

wife but most

especially to Emma.

There is also an

instance in the text

where the men at the

company are

particularly described

with an implication that

they are far from being

God-fearing (D30.10).

This shows that they

lack conscience and

often prosper in their

work by means of

deceiving people.

Doming was also seen

in the story to be very

persistent in

convincing his wife to

enjoy their abundance

in money (D34.3),

without a hint of regret

that he acquired it

303

without the favor of his

own conscience. Emma

Gorrez, as she writes a

letter to Domingo, also

emphasizes that what a

man really needs in his

life is “a corner and

moment to be tender

in” (D46.1 and D46.2).

This implies that a man

by himself is lacking in

and yearning for

tenderness. This also

relates to the fact that

females, in general, are

also yearning for

tenderness from the

males (e.g. D130.3).

Emma Gorrez also

notices the fingers of

the two men with

whom she engages

herself. In D94.3, “she

looked at Mr.

Rividad’s hands once

more and remembered

Doming’s palm against

her face.” In D88.3,

Emma also sees Rene’s

fingers as “long,

nicotine-stained,

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square-tipped fingers,”

which indicates that

these were typically

characteristic of the

male. It would not have

been appealing to see a

female with this

appearance of her

fingers.

Finally, the aged male

in the story, Mr.

Navarro, was a

complete opposite of

what most of the

middle-aged male

characters were. Mr.

Navarro showed

conscientiousness, real

courage and

truthfulness as he fights

for justice for his

victimized daughter

(D29.2, D30.4, D30.6).

Later on, when he

realized that he was

tricked by the sweet

words of Domingo, he

killed himself out of

sheer guilt for the

mistake he had done

towards his daughter

305

(D33.3). The difference

between old and young

males is shown as far

as moral integrity is

concerned.

FEMALES

Female

characterization in the

story also reflects the

way that the female

behaves, moves and is

treated in society. It

seems that in any

situation, the female is

always inevitably

possessed, or drawn

towards the male (e.g.

Emma to Doming,

Emma to Rene, some

female employees to

the Big Boss, and

Norma to different

men). On the other

hand, the female is also

represented in the story

in a variety of ways.

The female characters

in the story are: Emma

Gorrez (the main

306

character), Norma

Rividad, the female

employees also

working at Quality

Products, the wives of

Domingo’s colleagues,

the girl tending the

bookstore at Tayug,

Mrs. Pintoy, Nora

Cosio, Mr. Navarro’s

daughter, Rene’s

mother, Ruby Trias,

Fely Barba, Mercedes

Sulit, Mina the minx,

Mrs. Testa, Mrs. Puray.

It is important to note

that since Emma

Gorrez is the main

female character of the

story, she represents

the female in more

ways than the other

female characters do.

Below are the

representations of

female characters in the

story:

Females as highly

reflective, evaluative

and sentimental

Females

307

characterized in

relation to the male

Females

characterized according

to how males evaluate

them.

Females as patient

to males

Female as a

worrier

Female as a

typical

housewife/mother

Female as

impulsive

Female as not as

persistent as the male

Female as wanting

a more simplistic,

modest , peaceful life

Female as being

emotional

Female as

assertive

Female as not

materialistic

Young females as

capricious and

materialistic as well

Female as strong

and firm

Female as

308

conscientious but weak

to males also

Female as having

dignity and self-respect

Female as

talkative

Female as being

weak, vulnerable, or

gullible

Females as

(sexually) satisfying

for the males

Females being

attracted to males who

are warm and tender

For the physical

characterization of

females, there are only

a few descriptions in

terms of their hair,

make up, clothes, body

shape, and

attractiveness. For

instance, the main

female character,

Emma Gorrez, was

described in D106.2,

with her “hair pulled

back, face clean of

powder and lipstick,”

and wearing “the

309

simplest clothes” for

her meetings with

Rene. Here, the female

represented is simple,

albeit the use of beauty

supplements to

improve and make

herself look neater and

more presentable. This

description must also

be interpreted in the

context of the growing

romantic connection

between Emma and

Rene. Since Emma and

Rene are seeing each

other often, Emma is

beginning to become

conscious of how she

looks everytime Rene

sees her. Norma

Rividad was also

physically described,

with reference

particularly to “her

potent hips” (D13.1).

In this instance, only

the female’s hips are

being noticed. The

context within which

this description was

made must also be

310

considered. In the

story, Norma is a

promiscuous wife who

engages in sexual

affairs with different

men (D53.4). Hips are

also particularly

characteristic of

females since these

determine their body

curve and shape. This

is also a typical

feminine trait that

affects the

attractiveness of

women towards men in

society.

Other than physical

description, the female

is represented in the

story in many other

ways. For instance,

Emma Gorrez

represents a female that

is highly reflective,

evaluative and

sentimental. In the

story, Emma is always

seen thinking and

reflecting. In D1.4, she

lingers for a moment in

311

the place where she

met Doming in Tayug.

In D2.1, she is seen

wondering and

thinking about Doming

as well. In D12.2,

Emma is caught with

Rene, and at the same

time, reminiscing Rene

professing his love for

her many years ago. In

D21.3, the narrator

expressed a statement

(“It was not a life

worth living.”) as if it

came from the mind of

Emma. Emma also

showed that she is

evaluating the situation

by saying “We’re all in

fragments….And I

want us both whole.

Complete.”(D36.1-

D36.2). In D38.3,

Emma said to Doming

that he used to be “a

good man.”

Females are also

characterized according

to their relation to the

male characters,

312

specifically as wives.

In D32.2, Doming

referred to Emma

Gorrez as his wife

when he was speaking

with Mr. Navarro.

Also, the wives of the

men in the company,

including Emma

Gorrez, were addressed

as such in D62.5.

Norma Rividad was

also described to be the

wife of Rene Rividad

in D53.4.

There also seems to be

a degree of quality that

is preferred, idealized

and admired in a

woman since Emma

Gorrez was described

by her husband,

Doming, to be “a fine

woman” (D32.2). Here,

the term “fine” points

to various possibilities

of traits that Emma

possesses. “Fine” here

is not at all elaborated

although it could mean

that she is well-

313

educated, well-

mannered, presentable,

or even physically

appealing.

Moreover, the female

as represented by

Emma, is characterized

as being patient to her

husband, Doming,

despite his negative

treatment of her.

Emma’s patience could

be seen in D2.1 as a

negative trait since she

would just

unconditionally accept

her husband “if he

strode in, scowling or

not, loving her or

not…” While in D17.1,

Emma’s patience is

seen as a form of

strength. Her being

strong for her marriage

implies patience on her

part in order to try to

save her relationship

with Doming from

separation. However, it

is also mentioned that

her patience here did

314

not suffice and her

marriage still continued

to suffer.

The female is also

depicted here as a

worrier. In D3.2 up to

D3.4, Emma Gorrez is

seen worrying that

Rene has not read her

letter to him. Here, she

becomes upset that she

saw her letter to Rene

remaining untouched

on his desk even if she

is aware that Rene is

out of town.

The lead character of

Emma Gorrez also

represents the female

who plays the role of a

housewife and a

mother. Apparently,

the dilemma that

Emma faces in the

story has to do with her

role as a wife of

Doming as well as a

responsible mother to

her children. As shown

in D16.6, “Emma

315

would gather the

children in the room

farthest from the noise,

reading stories from

books salvaged from

the wreck of the Gorrez

marriage.” While living

together with Doming,

Emma devotes all her

time as a housewife

and mother. As soon as

she returns to Tayug,

she remains busy

attending to the needs

of her children, while

at the same time,

working as a teacher.

This is reflective of a

patriarchal society in

which husbands prefer

their wives to be full-

time wives and

mothers, without

having to work for the

family. On the other

hand, when Emma

separates herself and

children from her

husband, she then

breaks away from the

stereotype and begins

working for her

316

children as a means of

survival and as a proof

also that she is a

responsible and

independent mother,

albeit the regular

allowances that

Domingo still sends her

regularly. Aside from

Emma, Testa’s wife is

also seen in the story

pleading “for her

husband’s job back”

(D62.6-D62.7). Also,

in D62.5, the boss

“danced with all the

wives, including Emma

Gorrez” during a

company party.

The female represented

in the story is also

someone who is

impulsive. Emma

Gorrez is seen in D17.6

losing control of her

temper and physically

attacking another

female character, Nora,

due to business issues.

Even the men who are

there in the scene try

317

their best to stop these

women from fighting

(D17.7). Here, the men

prove themselves to be

physically stronger

than the women since

they are able to outdo

the two women

fighting.

The female, in the

character of Emma, is

also represented in the

story as wanting a

more simplistic,

modest and peaceful

kind of life. There are

many textual clues

showing that amidst the

financial abundance

that she is experiencing

because of Domingo’s

success in his career,

she is always found

seeking the modest life

that they once had in

the countryside. For

instance, in D19.2, the

narrator reveals that

“Emma wanted to

return to Tayug.” Also,

in one of her

318

conversations with her

husband, “she talked

with yearning of

returning to Tayug, to

all that she felt was

meaningful to both of

them…” (D22.6). In

D40.1, she is already

seen directly

suggesting to Doming

that they “could live in

Tayug quietly and

modestly…” Finally,

after she separates from

Doming and returns to

Tayug with her

children, the narrator

reiterates that it was,

indeed, “the quiet and

modest life that she had

wanted” (D49.4).

Emma Gorrez also

represents the female

that is emotional. She

is seen throughout the

story as always

resorting to what she

feels and what she feels

is right for her and for

the family. It seems

that her actions are

319

always guided or

motivated by what she

emotions. In D22.6,

Emma asserts what she

feels to Doming, and

that is her yearning to

return to the

countryside. In D107.3,

“a desire to weep had

possessed her.” As she

says goodbye to

Doming to go back to

Tayug with her sons,

she is also seen with

her face “grief-

washed” (D45.4). As

for males, there is no

particular instance

where the main male

character and other

males are seen crying.

Emma also shows

consistency in her

being assertive towards

her husband. Every

time she feels that she

has her own opinion

about their life as a

family or about

Doming’s job, she

always asserts and

320

expresses herself even

verbally. All

throughout the

instances where she

converses with

Doming, there is

always an assertion or

at least she tries to

convince Doming to

believe what she says.

This is confirmed in

D22.6 as follows: “But

when she was insistent,

when she talked with

yearning of returning to

Tayug, to all that she

felt was meaningful to

both of them…”

As far as being

materialistic is

concerned, there are

contrasting

representations of

females in the story.

Emma who is the main

female character in the

story is seen as not

being materialistic. In

D23.1, she expresses to

Doming that what she

wants more in life are

321

the things that will last.

This is an objection to

Doming’s opinion that

“money lasts” (D24.1).

This suggests that her

views on money are

different from that of

the young females in

the story. There are

several young

employees at Quality

Products who have

given in to the indecent

proposals of their

bosses in exchange for

money. This is shown

in D60.3-D60.4 as

follows: “One girl had

built a summer house

for a sick father, in

addition to the sparkler

on her finger. Mina, the

knowing minx, had

demanded to be sent to

Hong Kong several

times, from where she

had returned loaded to

the ears with luxury

goods which she

peddled at tremendous

profit to the other girls

in the lunchroom—

322

bags, cashmere

sweaters, and silks.”

This may suggest that

the young females are

easily attracted by

money and are caught

up in their own

capriciousness.

However, at one point,

Emma also gave in to

the temptation of

money when, she

allowed herself to

spend on expensive

things using the money

that Doming provided

her with (D34.3-

D34.4). Nevertheless,

Emma feels guilty

afterwards and, in the

end, chooses to live a

more modest life in

Tayug with her

children.

Despite the emotional

trait that Emma

possesses, she still

represents the female

that is quite strong and

firm in her decisions.

As a wife, there is an

323

instance in the story

were she “would not

allow Doming to touch

her” (D34.1).

Apparently, in this

case, she is firm

enough that Doming

could not do anything

to change her mind.

The best proof of

Emma’s firmness is

shown in D36.4, where

she finally decides to

leave Doming to return

to the countryside.

Since Doming does not

listen anymore to her

and does not fulfill her

wishes, she chooses to

separate herself from

him. Again, Doming

does not do anything to

stop her from leaving

as Doming also

remains equally firm

about his decisions

regarding his work and

ambitions.

The female, through

Emma, is also shown to

be conscientious and

324

also weak to males. For

instance, no matter

how firm Emma

Gorrez is, there are

moments when she

would give in to

Doming and to Rene

afterwards. In D34.3,

Emma eventually

accepts the money

which Doming hands

over to her again and

again, and then spends

the money on

expensive things.

Emma also experiences

a new kind of struggle

as she begins to fall in

love with Rene, as seen

in D106.6. Finally, she

gives in to her feelings

for Rene and accepts

him in D109.3.

Besides Emma, other

female characters also

show their weaknesses

towards males. The

character of Norma

Rividad is

characterized as an

adulterous wife,

325

“meeting strange men

in strange rooms in

strange towns”

(D53.4). Some young

female employees at

the company where

Doming works also

show their sexual

weaknesses (D29.4)

since they are easily

swayed to accept

indecent proposals

offered by their bosses.

The character of Mr.

Navarro’s daughter

also shows that a

woman also has dignity

and should be

respected. In D30.10,

the daughter of Mr.

Navarro is shown to be

different from other

young female

employees since she

has rejected the

payment offered by one

of the bosses. This has,

however, caused her

father to defend her all

the more and to seek

justice for the harm

326

inflicted by a boss to

his daughter.

Finally, females are

characterized in the

story as being talkative.

For one, the character

of Mrs. Pintoy is

shown to be talkative

as her “torrent of words

came” (D4.3 and D4.4)

as she talked to Emma

Gorrez. All of the

instances where Emma

argues with Doming

also prove that with her

assertiveness also

comes her

talkativeness.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Overall, what is really

shown in the story as

far as gender is

concerned is the

contrast of what the

majority of female and

male characters are

compared to the very

few cases of women

and men who stand out

327

with their own beliefs

and views in life. The

character of Emma

Gorrez and Mr.

Navarro, for instance,

is different from the

other characters since

they are consistently

exceptionally

conscientious and

upright. This story

presents a trend in the

moral reputation of

characters that prevail

in the story, which are

often corrupt, lacking

conscience, and to a

certain degree,

inhuman. More

importantly, in various

situations in the story,

the females turn out to

be frequent victims of

the dominant males

with whom they

interact. Furthermore,

males are also shown

to be one of the

weaknesses of the

females. This is the

case no matter how

much the females try to

328

fight for their dignity,

rights, and beliefs.

There is also a gender

difference in terms of

priorities when it

comes to relationships.

For instance, it seems

acceptable that the wife

prioritizes her family

above all else while the

husband priorities his

career and ambitions,

even at the expense of

his family. This is

exactly the main

conflict between Emma

and Doming that

causes the demise of

their marriage.

As has been said, there

are many gender-

specific words used in

the text, namely:

“woman” (D1.2,

D32.2), “girl” (D2.3,

D30.2, D30.10, D60.3),

“girls” (D55.6, D59.4,

D60.4, D60.5), “Mrs.”

(D4.4), “man” (D12.2,

D18.3, D19.6, D29.1,

D30.1, D31.1, D34.6,

329

D35.3, D38.3, D46.1,

D62.9, D121.6,

D123.3), “Mr.”

(D13.2), “wife”

(D13.2, D32.2, D53.4,

D60.1, D62.12),

“wives” (D62.5),

“daughter” (D30.2),

“men” (D30.10, D53.4,

D70.3), “father”

(D31.1, D52.1, D34.3),

“son” (D31.1, D52.5,

D53.1, D85.1), “sons”

(D45.4, D49.3, D55.4,

D106.1), “Grandfather”

(D32.1, D32.2),

“mother” (D45.2,

D52.2, D52.8), “boys”

(D49.4, D75.2), and

“husband” (D62.6,

D62.7). The adjective

“pregnant” (D52.2),

and the nouns “beard”

(D62.10) and “womb”

(D20.5) were also used.

The word “man” was

also used in “Big Man”

(D27.1, D58.4, D59.1,

D59.5, D62.1, D62.8,

D70.2, D71.2, D72.5,

D97.6) to refer to the

Domingo Gorrez’ big

330

boss in the company

where he works.

Another significant

observation is the use

of men in D30.10 and

man in D35.3 and

D46.1. It is not clear

whether the said terms

were used to refer both

to men and women in

general, or specifically

to men only.

The characters

presented are all

Filipino and they are

predominantly middle-

aged characters with

families. Relationships

represented are:

husband-wife, mother-

child, and boss-

subordinate, and that of

friendship. It is also

clear that there are

power hierarchies

present in the text. For

instance, there are

power hierarchies in

the boss-subordinate

and the husband-wife

relationship. Naturally,

331

the Big Boss in the

company where

Domingo Gorrez works

has more authority over

his subordinates. There

is a clear domination

by the “Big Boss”, who

always has the final say

in the company.

Furthermore, there is

an evident abuse of

power from the top

executives within the

company. The big boss

cleverly managed to

ignore the pleas of the

employees who he

finds contradicting his

objectives and motives

for the company, as in

the case of Testa. He

influences and

manipulates Doming

and the rest of his

colleagues to be able to

engage in sexual affairs

with the female

employees in the

company. Doming also

becomes obedient to

his boss in matters

concerning the

332

termination of those

employees who appear

to oppose the boss,

particularly the group

of Mr. Testa.

In the case of Doming

and Emma as husband

and wife, there also

appears to be a power

hierarchy since for

most of their married

life, Emma submits to

the decisions made by

her husband. There is

also an implication that

the male as a husband

tends to dismiss the

ideas presented to him

by his wife and the

wife needs to follow

whatever decision he

makes. However, in the

story, Emma Gorrez

and Norma Rividad

eventually gained the

power and firmness of

decision to do what

they choose to do

although it is against

the will of their

husbands. Domingo

333

Gorrez failed to stop

Emma Gorrez as she

decided to leave him

alone and go back the

countryside with her

two sons. On the other

hand, Norma Rividad

was able to “meet

strange men….”, while

her husband does not

stop her from doing so.

Also, there is a power

hierarchy in terms of

class. In the instance

where Mr. Navarro

avenges his daughter,

there is not much that

he could do to obtain

justice since he does

not have the financial

means needed for him

to have the power to

deal with the guilty

executive in the

company.

6.2 Are there narrative

pathways which seem to

be gender-specific? Do

males perform in

different ways from

females? Are these

In the text, males

perform differently from

females. Throughout the

story, Miss Mijares is the

most active character

and the carpenter only

In the text, males

perform differently from

females. More often than

not, the males in the

story are active in

continuously performing

Throughout the narration of

the story, the text shows

that the males are seen to

be the ones who are more

aggressive, confident,

decisive, in control, and

The text shows that there

are narrative pathways

which seem to be gender-

specific. Males perform

quite differently than the

females. These

334

pathways ones that you

have encountered in

other texts? Is the text

resolved in certain ways

which seem to have

implications for gender?

replies or reacts to her

actions most of the time,

except when he

voluntarily fixes her

broken paperweight on

the table. Since the time

Miss Mijares was

attracted to the carpenter,

she seems to lose control

of herself. The females

characters are often

shown to be expressing

their thoughts and

emotions. As the story

progresses, Miss Mijares

becomes more and more

vulnerable to the

carpenter until they are

brought together in a

situation in the end that

would even reveal what

they think about each

other.

material actions and are

more logical than the

females. Mr. Gabriel was

the one who helped Elisa

with her wound because

of an accident. The

females characters are

often shown to be

expressing their

thoughts, feeling

emotions, and engaging

in a correspondence. The

narrative pathways

describing how Elisa is

undergoing the difficult

transition of as a young

female shows that as a

woman, she cannot

escape becoming more

sexually attracted and

emotional. As the story

progresses, Elisa

becomes more and more

helpless until she even

becomes ill one day.

This is a way to show

how females can differ

in experience and

perhaps strength from

young males.

daring in the decisions they

make and the risks which

they take. Although the

narrator, who is the persona

of Paz Nuqui, shows the

evolution of Ernesto Bello

in terms of his priorities in

life and his principles, there

is a consistency to Ernesto's

daring characteristic, of

him making bold decisions

despite possible criticisms

thrown at him. Until the

end of the story, Ernesto is

shown to be firm in

whatever decisions he has

made in his life and he

refuses to be bent and

influenced by other people.

Every now and then in the

text, the males are shown to

be overcome by their

temper and decide based on

the anger they feel for

something. During his

college years, Ernesto

becomes more stubborn

and firm in his ideals when

he becomes infuriated by

an opinion of a teacher in

his class about the future of

the world (C16.2). Later on

differences mainly reflect

the things which most of

the males and females

value or prioritize. The

story ends with the Emma

finally giving in to Rene

Rividad while her

marriage is falling apart.

This implies that the male

is always the female’s

weakness. The narrative

pathways also present the

female as someone who

always ends up being

caught in a trap which

men create through the

ways which they entice or

allure them. Women are

seen as vulnerable,

captured as prey to men.

For instance, the character

of Norma Rividad is

described to be always

sleeping with different

men and different towns

(D53.4).

Most of the males’ actions

in the story also

frequently relate to the

fulfilment of their

ambitions, desires or

335

in his career, he does

everything in order to pin

down Testa, who he thinks

is his rival in the company

(C186.3). Also, no matter

how much the male

characters are in conflict

with each other, each of

them are shown to have

been firm in their principles

and beliefs. Tomas

courageously faces Ernesto

in a fight (C107.3). Ernesto

Bello continues to be what

he has become despite

protests against him and his

company. The character of

Testa was also shown to

have been courageous and

principled (C178.2).

Another observation in the

way the story was narrated

through the eyes of Paz

Nuqui is that it focused on

the evolution of Ernesto

Bello from a young

idealistic college student

into a middle-aged

accomplished but corrupt

executive (C3.1 and

C188.5). It was somewhat

personal interests. They

are also seen to be more

logical than the females

since they are highly

conscious of financial

security for their families,

as in the case of Domingo

Gorrez and Testa. On the

other hand, the female

lead character’s actions

are more focused on what

seems to be more

emotionally essential,

matters which she thinks

is more important than

money, financial status

and position. As in “The

Trap” and “The Virgin,”

the female character, who

is most exemplified in this

story in the character of

Emma Gorrez, is often

shown to be expressing

her thoughts, feeling

emotions, and engaging in

a correspondence. She is

always emotional,

reflective and

conscientious. This

quality of Emma is also

seen frequently to be

ignored, neglected even

336

evaluative on the part of the

narrator and it reveals how

the males act as she had

seen them. Although the

story centers around the

character of Ernesto Bello,

the narrator still injects her

own experiences and

encounters with other

characters, both males and

females, which she thinks

are also significant and

have had much impact in

her life.

In terms of the way females

were described, Paz

Nuqui's narrations of

female characters differs

from her narrations about

males in that when it comes

to her descriptions of their

physical appearances and

emotional qualities, she

gives more detailed,

creative and even poetic

descriptions of them, as

seen in C153.1, C56.9,

C56.6, C56.10, C56.12, and

C111.4.

In the process of narrating

despised by Doming

(D41.1-D41.2).

In the way that the

characters speak in the

story, the males are found

to be engaging in different

vices, such as speaking

bad words, drinking

alcohol and smoking,

whereas females are not.

They are also seen to be

the ones making the first

move in order to pursue

women, as in the case of

the executives at Quality

Products to the young

female employees,

Doming to Emma, Rene

to Emma.

It is also important to note

that the text focuses on

the female character of

Emma Gorrez, more than

it does on Domingo.

337

the story, the narrator or

Paz Nuqui also reveals her

relationships not only with

Ernesto Bello, but also with

other people, such as, her

father (C19.8), the bar girls

whom she encountered

(C23.6), and later on, her

husband, Tomas (C118.7).

She also reveals some of

the differences in the

struggles she had had to

face during the war (C10.4)

and after the war (C8.2).

The narrations are also

reflective of the views,

emotions, thoughts and

opinions of Paz Nuqui on

her own experiences as

well as other characters in

the story, mainly of Ernesto

Bello. The narration is

mostly subjective and some

descriptions were given

with some subjectivity or

bias, as in (C31.4).

Finally, this story, similar

to the three other stories,

leads to Paz Nuqui's defeat

in that, she becomes

338

disappointed and frustrated

with Ernesto Bello, even

after each of them had

already moved on with

their lives separately

(C188.5). Her inner

thoughts also reveal that

somehow, she becomes

envious that she is not with

Ernesto Bello to enjoy his

financial success (C118.5).

In the end, she is rendered

powerless and there is

nothing she could do to

resolve the situation, or to

change or revive Ernesto's

former self, who was more

conscientious.

6.3 Are the bodies of

males and females

represented as whole or

as fragmented parts? As

clothed or unclothed?

Both the male and

female’s bodies were

represented as a whole as

well as fragmented body

parts. Miss Mijares was

represented as a whole in

the following:

o Miss Mijares did

not look 34. (A4.1) o She was light,

almost bony…

(A4.2)

The bodies of both males

and females were

described in the text as

fragmented parts but

there is also a description

of the male in terms of

his whole body. The

male character of Mr.

Gabriel was described by

Elisa in terms of his

facial features,

mentioning his eyes,

mouth, cheeks and lips

Descriptions of the bodies

of the characters reveals

that both the male and

female’s bodies were

represented as a whole as

well as fragmented body

parts. Overall, there are

more descriptions of the

bodies of females than

those of males. The only

male character described

physically in the story was

Ernesto Bello. He was

To begin with, there was

not much physical

description given in the

text towards the

characters of the story.

However, the bodies (or

parts of which) of both

males and females in the

text were rarely

mentioned and if

mentioned, almost only in

passing. Also, their bodies

were always represented

339

She was also described

in fragmented parts in

the following:

o …but she had

learned early how

to dress herself to

achieve an illusion

of hips and bosom.

(A4.2) o On her bodice,

astride or

lengthwise, there

sat an inevitable

row of thick

camouflaging

ruffles that made

her look almost as

though she had a

bosom, if she bent

her shoulder

slightly and

inconspicuously

drew her neckline

open to puff some

air into her bodice.

(A4.4) o Her brow was

smooth and clear

but she was no

beauty. (A5.1)

(B13.2). Prior to that she

had already described

him as being small and

thin (B13.1). On the

other hand, Elisa

described her some of

her body parts (breasts

and knees) because of

her bodily changes (B4.4

and B9.7). Both the

males and the females

are not described as

unclothed. In fact there

was a mention of Elisa

wearing her best dress,

while Mr. Gabriel wore

his brown suit.

described in terms of his

height, neck, eyes and his

hair. He was said to be "not

tall" (C15.1), had a "bullish

neck" (C15.1), had "a

poet's eyes" (C15.3), and

was later on "becoming

bald with aging" (C3.3).

The male's body was

represented as fragmented

parts although scarcely and

not as frequently and as

elaborately as the female's

body was represented.

Physical description of

females both included

describing their bodies as a

whole, and, more

abundantly, in fragmented

parts. The following

enumerates the ways in

which the female body was

fragmented several times in

the story:

-lovely legs (C56.9)

-a sensual ripple would

start at her shoulders and

end somewhere in her toes

(C56.10)

-her flesh had bloomed

as fragmented parts. For

instance, in D13.1, the

narrator notices Norma

Rividad’s “potent hips.”

Potent is a term that is

often used to refer to a

person’s capacity to have

sexual intercourse. This

description specifically

implies (and is later on

further proved by the

narrator) that Norma is

sexually active, even

engaging in extra-marital

affairs with different men

(D53.4). Nora Glockner’s

hand was also described

in D17.6, as “slim” and

“well-tended.” These

adjectives point to the

typical ideal hand that is

expected of a woman in

society---a “slim” hand

which is maintained to be

soft and smooth, or “well-

tended,” is attractive to a

male observer. However,

Rene Rividad’s mother

apparently did not possess

this characteristic since

her hand was described in

the text to be “rough”

340

The male character was

also described as a whole

in the following:

o HE WENT to

where Miss

Mijares sat, a tall

big man, walking

with an economy

of movement,

graceful and light,

a man who knew

his body and used

it well. (A1.1) o “Yes, but you

spoke for me,” he

said, his big body

heaving before her.

(A26.1)

However, he was also

described in terms of

body parts:

o The new hand

was absent for a

week. (A33.1) o …she noticed his

two front teeth

were set widely

apart. (A43.1) o A flush had

beneath the touch of

strangers (C56.12)

-fine edges of her nostrils

(C111.4)

- a pair of arching

eyebrows that twitched

delicately together

(C111.4)

-lovely, perfect neck

(C153.1)

Women's bodies were also

described as a whole.

Although not unclothed,

they were described in a

way that would stimulate

the reader to imagine as if

they were unclothed, as can

be noticed in the following:

-exceptionally voluptuous

(C56.6)

-lush-bodied (C56.11)

-woman bathing by a river

bank (C145.6)

There is also mention of

clothing which males and

females wore in the story.

Ernesto Bello wore "army

brogans" (C4.1 and C13.3)

during his college years

(D52.2). This connotes

that Rene Rividad’s

mother had to go through

physical hardships which

are reflected in her “rough

hands.” Emma Gorrez’s

simplicity was also shown

by her “hair pulled back,

face clean of powder and

lipstick” (D106.1).

Moreover, Emma’s face

was also described in

terms of her emotions. In

D45.4, her face was

“grief-washed” since it

was the exact moment

where she left her

husband, Doming.

Finally, the female is

described in D121.7 as

part of a poetry which

Emma refers to as she

reminisces her college

days with Doming. In this

poem wherein the persona

is a male, the woman’s

hand’s are enclosed

within his own hands,

“my tongue upon your

throat; singing arms close;

eyes wide, undoubtful,

dark, drink the dawn—a

341

climbed to his face,

suffusing it, and

two large throbbing

veins crawled

along his temples.

(A43.2)

There was no description

of both the male and

female as unclothed.

and other males were

"dressed in utilitarian

khaki" (C32.10). The

females were also seen to

be wearing "Unrra dress

and clogs" (C11.1) and

"clerk's blouses and skirts"

(C25.3). The females were

also seen to be also using

cosmetics and accessories

(C23.10 and C153.1).

forest shudders in your

hair!” Here, some parts of

the female’s body as well

as the male’s are dissected

in terms of how they are

engaging with each other.

Apparently, the female

here is the object of the

male and the poem was

also used by Doming as

his way of attracting,

flattering and pursuing

Emma.

The bodies of the males

were also described as

fragmented parts, with

references to the “chin”

(D62.10), “hand” (D62.9),

“fingers” (D88.2-D88.3),

“fist” (D1.7), “arms”

(D50.2) and “limbs”

(D59.5). The narrator

described the character of

Testa with a “three days’

beard on his chin.” Emma

Gorrez also notices the

“long, nicotine-stained,

square-tipped fingers” of

Rene Rividad. Domingo

Gorrez was also seen in

the text to be swinging

342

“his fist against the

bedroom wall” while he

and Emma were arguing.”

The statue of Jose Rizal

was described in terms of

his “unwearied arms.” Big

Man, or the big boss of

Doming Gorrez, sat in the

adjoining office with “his

limbs trembling with ague

and desire.” Finally, a

“man’s angry hand” was

also seen in one of the

scenes in the text. Most of

the descriptions of the

male body parts can be

related to what is

stereotypically masculine.

For instance, a beard on a

man’s chin is appears

highly masculine; long,

nicotine-stained and

square-tipped fingers are

also stereotypical of the

male in society; arms are

also frequently noticed by

females in males; and “a

man’s angry hand,” “fist”

and “limbs” also connote

physical strength and

power in a male person,

which is stereotypically a

343

male’s superior quality

over the female.

There is only one instance

wherein the female was

described to be wearing

clothes, which is seen in

D106.1. Here, Emma

Gorrez is said to have

worn “the simplest

clothes” to her meetings

with Rene Rividad. There

is no instance where both

the female and male are

described as unclothed or

naked. However, there are

several instances in the

text where the male is

described in terms of what

he is wearing. For one,

Testa can be seen in

D62.10 “in a sweat-

stained polo shirt.” In

D20.3, Doming Gorrez is

found “wearing the

inevitable shirt and

sleeves and thin tie,”

which is his usual

corporate attire. Mr.

Navarro was also

described to be wearing

“threadbare, baggy pants”

344

(D30.1). Even Jose Rizal,

albeit a mere statue, was

also described to be in his

“ageless overcoat”

(D50.2).

6.4 Whose point of

view does the text

emanate from? Who is

speaking? Who is telling

you this? Who does the

text focus on? Does the

focalization shift at any

point in the text? Whose

interests does the text

seem to be working in?

Whose information does

the text seem to be

endorsing as true?

The text emanates from

the point of view of the

narrator who is

empowered to penetrate

the mind of Miss

Mijares. The narrator not

only sees the details of

what happened but also

knows all the thoughts

and and emotions of

Miss Mijares. The

narrator, however, does

not penetrate into the

mind of the male

character and could not

only speculate together

with Miss Mijares on the

motives of the male

character. The text

focuses on the character

of Miss Mijares. Aside

from the actual events in

the story, the text

frequently talks the Miss

Mijares’ past

experiences, feelings and

The text emanates from

the point of view of the

female narrator who is

also the main character

in the story, Elisa.

Obviously, Elisa is the

one speaking all

throughout the text. The

text also focuses on Elisa

and reveals her thoughts

and feelings very openly.

The focalization does not

shift at all and all

throughout the story,

Elisa is the one speaking

and narrating. The text

seems to be working in

the interest of the

narrator and the main

character, Elisa. All the

information supplied in

the text is coming from

Elisa.

The text emanates from the

point of view of the

narrator, who is also the

main character in the story,

Paz Nuqui. The narration is

obviously from the first

person point of view.

Although there is an

attempt for the narrator to

share her experiences with

various people in the past,

her main focus is on the

character of her former

young love, Ernesto Bello.

She seems to be focusing

more on her observations

of Ernesto Bello from the

time he was with her during

college up to her most

recent encounters with him.

Her narration is not

omniscient and is only

based on her own personal

encounters with the other

characters in the story or

information which she has

The text appears to be

emanating mainly from

the point of view of

Emma Gorrez, which is

revealed and supported by

the narrator. Although the

one speaking in the story

is the narrator, who is

omniscient and knows all

the experiences, thoughts

and emotions of the

characters, the narrator

most often reveals and

sympathizes with the

interests and experiences

of Emma Gorrez and not

so much with that of the

character of Domingo

Gorrez. The text always

focuses on the Emma

Gorrez and the

focalization does not at all

shift at any point in the

text. Finally, the text

always has a tendency of

endorsing Emma Gorrez’s

345

thoughts about her

regrets, fears and hopes

in life. The focalization

consistently remains

with the narrator

concerned and interested

with the lead female

character and does not

shift at all. The text is

always in favor of the

information gleaned

from the judgment of

Miss Mijares.

gathered from other people.

The text works in the

interests of Paz Nuqui and

it reveals her own

subjective evaluation of

herself, of Ernesto Bello

and the other characters

with whom she has

interacted. The text

sympathizes with the

thoughts, views and

opinions of the narrator,

whose information was

regarded to be true and

correct.

opinions as the ones

which are right and true.

6.5 What elements are

associated with males

and females in the text?

Similar to “The Trap,”

the female lead

character, Miss Mijares

is also associated with a

certain element—a

wooden bird (A11.1 and

A59.2) in the form of a

paperweight. This may

be more of a

metaphorical association.

The broken bird here is

badly broken and the

male carpenter was the

one who repaired it.

While the male character

was not associated with

The male characters are

not associated with

certain elements but

Elisa’s character is.

Although not directly

put, Elisa was likening

herself to some animal

caught in a trap (B25.4).

This is an analogy to her

own experience growing

up as an adolescent, her

instability and confusion,

and her vulnerability to

be attracted towards the

opposite sex.

The text does not

particularly associate

females with certain

elements but males'

behaviours are frequently

associated with animals, as

in the following:

-louse (C187.1)

-bleat (C172.1)

-fish (C117.8)

Testa was called a "louse"

by Ernesto Bello and here,

Testa was associated with a

louse, which is considered

In D46.4, Emma likens

what Doming does to a

spinning top. She sees

Doming and also includes

herself as she says, “[we]

spin like tops, straining

for what will maim and

sear us.” Here, the top is

associated to both the

male and female, or used

as a metaphor with no

gender connotations. In

D72.5, the Big Man’s

gaze was described as

“steely.” The element of

steel, as it is used in an

346

certain elements

although he was likened

to a hand (A33.1). For

the explanation of this

metaphor, refer to

question 5.4.

contemptible and parasitic.

Ernesto Bello clearly

thought of him as an

obstacle in Ernesto's career

advancement in the

company where they were

both employed.

The male employees in the

same company were also

said to "bleat" like a group

of young choir boys. Their

cries and unified protest

against the company was

associated with the cries of

a herd of sheep or goat.

Also, Ernesto Bello was

called a "queer fish" who

swam with the rest of the

men who gave in to the

ways of the world, however

corrupt or immoral they

may be, so that he could

achieve success.

Finally, Ernesto Bello was

described to be "boasting

brazenly" (C3.1) in front of

Paz Nuqui during the time

when he already obtained a

high position in the

adjective form, is

associated with the male

character. Steel could

connote firmness,

heaviness, and strength.

True enough, because of

this “steely gaze,” the

character of Domingo had

no choice but to succumb

to the power and

manipulation of his big

boss.

347

company where he worked.

The use of the adverb

"brazenly" indicated that

his act of boasting was

rather harsh and loud, much

like the characteristics of

the sound of brass when

struck.

348

APPENDIX K

Coordinating and Subordinating Clauses in the Stories

The Virgin

Coordinating clauses with:

and

B1.5, B6.1, B6.2, B8.1, B8.4, B11.6 (3X),

B15.2, B16.4, B21.2, B22.2, B29.1, B30.1,

B32.2, B33.5, B43.1, B43.2, B45.1(2X),

B49.1, B50.2, B56.2, B58.2, B59.2(3X)

but

B4.2, B5.1, B8.2, B8.5, B16.4, B17.2,

B23.5, B26.1, B29.1, B32.1, B38.2, B42.1,

B45.1, B51.3, B53.1, B54.1, B59.2

Subordinating clauses with:

after

B18.2, B29.2

as

B2.1

before

B11.4, B51.2

even

B30.1

if

B1.5, B4.4, B5.2, B8.1, B16.4, B16.5, B56.3

for

B8.1, B26.2, B30.2

that

B3.1, B4.4, B8.1, B8.6, B17.3, B21.1,

B23.6, B27.2, B30.2 (2X), B32.2, B59.2

since

B18.2

so that

B8.1, B11.2

though

B15.2, B26.2

when

B3.1, B6.2 (2X), B7.1, B9.1, B25.1(2X),

B33.5, B50.4

where

B1.1, B4.1, B59.2

while

B1.4, B6.4

which

B5.2

who

B33.6

whom

B5.2

349

The Trap

Coordinating clauses with:

and

B1.2, B3.1, B4.5, B4.8, B5.3, B6.5, B6.6,

B7.5, B9.4, B9.6, B13.2, B15.8, B15.13,

B15.17, B16.2, B17.2, B19.1, B19.2,

B20.11 (2X), B21.5, B24.8 (2X), B25.4

but

B1.4, B6.5, B7.4, B8.1, B9.7, B9.9, B11.1,

B14.10, B15.16, B16.2, B17.2, B19.2,

B20.11, B24.4, B25.1

Subordinating clauses with:

as

B14.14, B15.15, B22.2

because

B20.10, B24.8

before

B1.3

even

B9.10, B13.2, B25.1

though

B1.2

if

B6.1, B9.8, B11.1, B16.1, B17.2, B20.10,

B25.1

that

B3.1, B4.1, B4.5, B4.8, B5.2, B7.1, B9.4,

B9.10, B10.2, B13.1, B20.10, B22.1, B22.4,

B23.5, B24.1, B24.3, B24.5, B24.6

when

B1.1, B3.2, B3.5, B4.7, B5.3, B6.1, B7.4,

B7.6, B9.4 (2X), B10.2, B13.2, B13.3,

B14.1, B14.9, B15.12, B19.1, B23.1, B24.1,

B24.7, B25.1

since

B5.2

so that

B1.4

than

B24.4

though

B6.4

until

B25.2

where

B19.2, B20.7, B22.4, B25.4

while

B1.3, B14.8, B15.18, B19.1

which

B9.10

who

B9.3, B20.2

350

The Tourists

Coordinating clauses with:

and

C3.3, C4.3, C5.2, C5.4, C6.1, C7.3, C13.4,

C17.3, C20.3, C25.4, C26.2, C29.1, C30.7,

C31.5, C32.9(2X), C32.10, C34.6, C34.8,

C35.1, C36.6, C36.7, C38.3, C38.4, C38.7,

C39.5, C41.6, C42.1, C51.1, C56.10(2X),

C56.12, C57.6, C60.2, C61.2, C61.11,

C63.6, C64.2 (3X), C65.5, C66.2, C66.3,

C66.8, C69.2, C70.3, C72.3, C73.3, C88.1,

C89.4, C98.1, C105.4, C106.4(2x), C107.2,

C107.4, C116.5, C117.3, C117.4, C117.8,

C118.2, C118.6, C119.3, C119.4, C119.7,

C120.3, C125.5, C136.3, C156.1, C163.1,

C169.1, C172.1(2X), C178.2(3X), C182.1,

C186.2

but

C6.1, C6.5, C7.4, C17.3, C17.6, C18.4,

C18.5, C21.7, C23.6, C24.4, C24.5, C30.7,

C31.2, C31.4, C32.6, C32.8, C35.1, C39.2,

C43.5, C51.2, C54.4, C56.12, C59.2, C60.4,

C61.4, C63.4, C67.2, C76.4, C115.1,

C116.5, C119.8, C120.2, C121.2, C124.2,

C130.1, C143.3, C153.1, C163.1, C178.2,

C188.1

or

C3.3

Subordinating clauses with:

after

C23.8, C24.1, C33.2, C38.11, C39.3, C41.1,

C43.1, C107.8, C109.2, C117.3, C117.4,

C118.1, C145.3

although

C5.1, C123.2

as

C3.3, C6.1, C40.3, C61.7, C115.1, C118.2,

C123.3, C178.2

because

C7.1, C16.2, C40.6, C40.7, C43.2, C49.1,

C51.8, C56.8, C59.7, C62.1, C70.2, C81.1

before

C7.5, C8.4, C19.7, C59.1, C59.3

even if

C2.1

even

C12.4, C19.7, C133.2(2X), C169.1, C172.1,

C178.2

if

C14.3, C23.10, C29.5, C34.8, C38.2, C40.6,

C41.6, C59.8, C63.3, C70.3, C70.4, C75.2,

C112.3, C178.2

that

C3.1, C3.3(2X), C6.5, C8.2, C10.4, C11.6,

C12.4, C15.2, C17.5, C19.1, C19.8, C21.3,

C21.14, C22.3, C23.6, C23.10, C25.3,

C31.5, C33.3, C33.10, C34.6, C34.7, C40.2,

C41.5, C41.6, C43.2, C51.7, C56.12, C61.2,

C64.1, C65.1, C67.3, C69.2, C70.3, C74.2,

C74.3, C74.4, C82.1, C89.1, C98.1, C105.1,

C111.4, C112.1, C116.1, C117.3,

C118.4(2X), C119.4, C119.5, C119.7,

C119.8, C120.3, C121.6, C123.3,

C125.1(2X), C125.4, C148.2(2X), C164.1,

C188.4, C188.5

since

C25.4, C32.2, C33.3

so that

C24.6, C31.8, C145.4

than

351

C32.9, C70.4, C107.3, C117.8, C122.8,

C123.8

until

C53.3, C77.3, C106.4, C122.7, C169.1,

C188.3

when

C15.4, C17.5, C23.6, C24.7, C25.4, C30.1,

C33.10, C38.4, C47.1, C51.4, C56.4, C57.4,

C59.5, C65.5, C66.3, C67.1, C69.1, C69.2,

C88.1, C105.4, C106.4, C112.1, C116.2,

C116.5, C117.3, C117.8, C119.1, C119.6,

C121.3, C121.5, C122.6, C124.2, C172.1,

C180.1, C188.1, C188.5

whenever

C2.2, C10.4, C31.4, C41.3

where

C4.2, C6.5, C7.4, C10.3, C11.6, C31.5,

C37.2, C39.5, C76.3, C116.2, C121.3,

C123.1

for

C126.1

wherever

C2.3

while

C2.2, C2.3, C64.2, C74.4, C117.2, C145.5

why

C30.1, C36.6, C148.1

who

C2.4, C3.1, C6.1, C6.5, C12.3, C16.4,

C19.8, C24.1, C24.3, C27.1, C38.7, C38.10,

C53.2, C66.8, C178.2, C125.3, C120.2,

C118.2, C70.2

whom

C38.8, C70.2, C125.3

whose

C24.1, C40.4, C111.3

which

C10.3, C23.5, C31.8, C53.2

The Sounds of Sunday

Coordinating clauses with:

and

D1.7, D2.1, D2.3, D4.4, D12.3, D14.2,

D15.1, D15.2, D15.3, D16.1, D17.1, D18.2,

D19.6, D20.5, D21.3, D34.6, D35.1, D35.4,

D36.4, D39.1, D45.2, D46.5, D46.8, D52.4,

D52.5, D62.11, D79.3, D96.1, D96.3,

D107.4, D123.3(3X), D130.3

but

D1.2, D2.2, D3.2, D4.1, D14.1, D16.5,

D17.7, D21.1, D22.6, D34.3, D34.5, D41.2,

D45.2, D46.5, D46.7, D53.1, D55.4, D58.2,

D62.7, D69.1, D96.3, D105.5, D121.4,

D130.3

Subordinating clauses with:

after

D1.6, D49.3, D79.2

although

D1.4

because

D30.4, D30.10, D31.2, D34.5, D41.2,

D46.5, D121.4, D130.3

before

D1.2, D55.6, D59.1, D77.

352

even

D1.3, D17.4, D49.3, D77.1

if

D2.1(3X), D29.2, D83.1, D96.1, D106.7

that

D2.1(2X), D3.4, D12.3, D19.4, D21.1,

D22.6, D30.2, D30.4, D30.10, D32.2,

D33.2, D34.4, D35.3, D36.4, D45.3, D46.6,

D49.1, D49.3, D49.4, D51.1, D55.7, D58.1,

D58.2, D62.12, D85.1, D97.4, D105.1,

D130.3

since

D4.4, D18.3

so that

D97.7

than

D1.4, D4.4, D58.3, D107.1

until

D4.3, D31.1, D34.3, D36.3, D42.1, D86.2

when

D1.5, D3.2, D4.2, D14.3, D17.3, D17.5,

D20.4(2X), D22.6, D33.2, D34.5, D45.4,

D58.1, D62.9, D70.3, D79.3, D79.4, D85.2,

D96.1, D97.7, D106.1, D107.2, D107.7

where

D1.4, D2.1, D26.2, D31.2, D33.2, D42.1,

D46.3, D49.5, D52.2, D52.6, D60.4, D96.5,

D123.2

while

D2.1, D20.4, D59.5

why

D49.1, D49.3

which

D22.6, D60.4, D72.5

who

D12.2, D30.3(2X), D30.10, D45.2, D52.8,

D57.4, D58.4, D62.11

whom

D30.2, D97.7

whose

D18.3, D60.5, D62.6

353

APPENDIX L

Terms describing characters

Female Characters

THE TRAP THE VIRGIN THE SOUNDS OF

SUNDAY

THE TOURISTS

Positive:

lovely (Salud)

graceful (Salud)

unfazed (Salud)

bright [eyes]

(Salud)

4

light (Miss Mijares)

patience (Miss

Mijares)

smooth [brow] (Miss

Mijares)

clear [brow] (Miss

Mijares)

4

potent [hips] (Norma)

slim [hand] (Norma)

well-tended [hand]

(Norma]

clean [face] (Emma)

4

charm (Marietta)

young (bar girls)

innocent-looking

(bar girl)

3

Total: 15

Negative:

witch (Ms. Ramos)

rough [knees]

(Elisa)

dark [knees]

(Elisa)

miserable (Elisa)

spinster (Ms.

Ramos)

5

almost bony (Miss

Mijares)

flabby-fleshed

(mother)

thick [fingers] (Miss

Mijares)

durable [fingers] (Miss

Mijares)

distraught [face] (Miss

Mijares)

toothless (mother)

thin-haired (mother)

tiny [face] (mother)

8

silly [girl] (Navarro’s

daughter)

panic-stricken (Navarro’s

daughter)

grief-washed [face]

(Emma Gorrez)

hungry, eager (young

girls)

foolish little heads

(young girls)

the knowing minx (Mina)

6

tiresome (women)

fierce (women)

livid (Mrs. Rodas)

tired (Dora)

arthritic [woman]

(Dora)

5

Total: 24

354

Males

THE TRAP THE VIRGIN THE SOUNDS OF

SUNDAY

THE TOURISTS

Positive:

good [man] (Mr.

Gabriel)

tenderness (Mr.

Gabriel)

coolness (Mr.

Gabriel)

soft [voice] (Mr.

Gabriel)

low [voice] (Mr.

Gabriel)

5

tall (carpenter)

big (carpenter)

graceful (carpenter)

light (carpenter)

bug [wrists]

(carpenter)

strong [wrists]

(carpenter)

big [body] (carpenter)

sweet (driver)

amicable (driver)

9

inimitable charm

(Domingo)

good man (Domingo)

long fingers

(Domingo)

3

confidence (Ernesto)

silky [voice] (Ernesto)

poet’s eyes (Ernesto)

urbane (Ernesto)

eloquent (Ernesto)

hardworking (Ernesto)

reliable (Ernesto)

sophistication

(Ernesto)

tenderness (Ernesto)

candid (Ernesto)

10

Total: 27

Negative:

small (Mr. Gabriel)

thin (Mr. Gabriel)

stooped (Mr. Gabriel)

3

talkative (carpenter)

insolence (carpenter)

monstrous (carpenter)

3

thin (Rene)

greying (Rene)

chief plotter (Ernesto

Bello)

ague and desire (Big

Man)

angry [hand] (Testa)

bastard (Testa)

steely gaze (Big Man)

7

impatient (Ernesto)

bullish neck (Ernesto)

clumsy (Ernesto)

thin (Ernesto)

older-looking (Ernesto)

reckless courage

(Ernesto)

bastard (Ernesto)

fool (Ernesto)

fraud (Ernesto)

louse (Ernesto)

aging (teacher)

bland (Chinese

proprietor)

dangerous (Testa)

louse (Tomas)

14

Total: 27

355

APPENDIX M

List of Transitivity Processes

The Virgin

Processes with both male and female, and non-living things are actors:

the poor were always proud

years of working for the placement

section had dulled

thoughts flitted

Love stood behind

they had never touched

it had become

It had come apart

[The screws] had loosened

it had stood

it had fallen

they had asked

faces turned

eyebrows rose

it looked [suddenly] like

They hired

the crow’s feet] smiled

The crow’s feet showed

the ruffles on her dress rested

The houses were

That was regulation

the bureau jobs were not

it upset

[someone else] was

A flush had climbed

two large throbbing veins crawled

it slipped away

it ceased

the skies were

The rain gave the

It was past six

Night had come

rainy curtain continued

somebody jumped in after

The cold, tight fear of the old dream

was upon her

it was

it wound

someone protested

the passengers got off

The wind had begun

It was

everyone else had died

they two were

[the wooden bird] had looked like

his touch had fallen

her flesh leaped

Legend: green-material intention (13), light

purple-supervention (17), cyan-mental (5),

yellow-relational (11), red-material event (0)

Processes with the female as actor:

She pushed

she said

she walked

Miss Mijares thought

She spoke

she knew

she talked

she was filled with

she had said

she wore

she sat alone

She was light

she had learned

She liked

356

she bent

Her brow was smooth

she was no beauty

She teetered

Miss Mijares did think

she took

she felt

she held

she did not think

she was

She had gone through

she wished

she had died

Miss Mijares had pushed

she had held up

she returned

she said

She had laughed

she had said

she had laughed

she told

She took

[she] put it down

she picked up

[she]read

Miss Mijares thought

she drew

she wrote

she said

She was

she looked

Miss Mijares asked

She looked

she said

she was oldest

[she] said

She looked

she said

she turned away

she lost

Miss Mijares was

she had boarded the right

she sat

she had dreamed

she had taken

[she] lost

she had changed direction

she was lost

she passed

she alighted

[she] stood

Miss Mijares waited

she said

she asked

she said

she noticed

She looked

she said

she put forth

she stood

she shouted

Miss Mijares ventured

She stood

she flagged

[she] got in

She looked up

She nodded

She bent her

she had stood

Miss Mijares stepped down to

She gestured

she looked

Miss Mijares’ young dreams

fluttered

she thought wildly

she recalled

she turned to him

she turned to him

[she] turned away

Legend: green-material intention (43), light

purple-supervention (4), mental-cyan (36),

relational-yellow (9)

357

Processes with the male as actor:

He went

[the carpenter] knew his body

[the carpenter] used it well

He sat

[the carpenter] laid

he read

[he] wrote down

he glanced

a man pressed down

the man stood

he replied

he held

He had turned in

[he] tightened

[he] dusted

He was

He was

He was

His clothes, though old, were pressed

he said

he towered

he said

he continued

he talked

he said

He came

Ato said

he stooped

the old man said

the stubborn foreman shook his head

he said

he said

[the driver] had detoured

he was low in gas

he took

he rode

The driver stopped

The new hand was absent

he first failed

a man was absent

he sent

he said

he said

he said

he said

he said

the driver had swerved

[the driver] swung

the driver spoke

the man’s voice sounded

he had moved

[he] brushed against her

Legend: green-material intention (25), light

purple-supervention (1), mental-cyan (19),

relational-yellow (7), material event (0)

TOTAL:

Legend: dark purple-material intention (81),

light purple-supervention (22), cyan-mental

(60), yellow-relational (27), red-material

event (0)

The Trap

Processes with both male and female, and

non-living things are actors:

we moved to Cabuyao

We reached the town

it was not quite seven

the streets were empty

We knew no one

358

[we] expected

the day came for us to go

the four years between us yawned

my dreams took me

we drove away

We (Elisa and her father) saw

days were full

dreams persisted

[nightly journeys] took me

tenderness spilled

The tip of the scythe had drawn

The yard was empty

the other children had left

Bits of clay clung

It was loose

We [Elisa and Mr. Gabriel] reached

We had begun

a bell seemed to ring

someone came

It was the postscript

It was dark

We frightened each other

The wind had picked up

it reached us

we stood

it had ceased to hurt me

A dark flush had spread over his face

and neck.

flush had disappeared from his face.

A frown passed over his face.

the back of his coat swished

Processes with the female as actor:

I WAS FOURTEEN

mother asked

I wanted

She said goodbye

Mother frowned

I hated Salud

I had told Salud

I felt

I felt

I said

She had laughed

[Salud] looked

[Salud] said

[Salud] angered

[Salud] disarmed me

she was 18

I had watched her

[Salud] laughed at me that morning

I refused

I dogged her along

I said

I said

I had come home

I had lived

I stood on the brink of something.

I had dreams about

I watched

[Elisa’s] body dropped

Salud spoke

[Salud] asked

I had given her

She stood

I held her arms

I let her go

She blew

I wrote

I flung myself

I called

Miss Ramos stood up

[Miss Ramos] took me

[Miss Ramos] led me

[Miss Ramos] pushed

[Miss Ramos] said

I wrote

Salud replied

I wrote

I move about

I fumbled

[I] dropped things

[I] was miserable before their eyes

359

She was an elderly spinster

[Miss Ramos] wore

[Miss Ramos] spoke

[Miss Ramos] asked

I replied

she remarked

I had scrubbed

[I had] put on

I felt

I wondered

Salud wrote

I said

I said

Miss Ramos blazed into

I swung

I hit my leg

I stood

Miss Ramos walked

She said

I sat

It was not a deep wound

it was ugly

I followed him

I had seen it

I trotted after him

I looked for

I used

I sat still

I wrote

I kept thinking

I wish

I stood

I fell in love with him

I was certain

I betrayed

I wrote

my mind would go blank

I would ask

I crawled beneath

I lingered

I replied

I crawled

I stood

I felt

I had begun

I headed

I fell ill

a friend passed by

[a friend] left a note

I replied

I wrote

I trembled

I wrote

I realized

I had identified

I had met

I sat

I returned

I now stood

The principal smiled

[the principal] said

I said

I returned

I saw

I picked up

[I] left.

I took

I cut across

[I] headed for home.

[I] put

I turned around

[I] ran

I ran

my heart rose

[my heart] beat

I stumbled

[I] found him

I think

I missed a step

[I] fell to my knees

the words were wrung from me

I had lost my young heart

I stood

[I] burst

360

Processes with the male as actor:

my father had said

my father said

father came

Mr. Gabriel was small

His eyes laughed

his mouth did not [laugh

Mr. Gabriel met

Mr. Gabriel took me

He stopped

he raised

Mr. Gabriel opened

He sat

Mr. Gabriel washed [it]

[Mr. Gabriel] bound it

he said

He hurried

[Mr. Gabriel] sloshed through

he walked

he was a weird sight

[He] disappeared

Mr. Gabriel read

it was Mr. Gabriel’s voice

it was soft and low

it was the memory

he smiled

he looked away

Mr. Gabriel stood

his presence would undo me

he surprised me

He had gone

boys who had disappeared

He looked

He saw me

he called

he said

he waited

he asked

Mr. Gabriel handed

his jaw dropped

Mr. Gabriel did not move

he approached me

[he] led me

he said

There are sugar cane stalks

Legend: green-material intention (114), light

purple-supervention (18), mental-cyan (61),

relational-yellow (18), red-material event

The Tourists

Processes with more than one actor (either

male or female or both):

we met

we bumped

(we) exchanging pleasantries

(I and forty other) who made up the

first class

They had had to wait

Did everyone feel

we would not try to commit to

memory

we were nothing

we were forty-two

We meant honestly

(we) to do well

(we) to defend good

(we) to right evil

(we) to correct wrong

we would yet to see

We turned

(we) to see

we could hear

We saw

361

officials spoke

(officials) doggedly praising their

energy

“We’re going to save the world”

We were making our way

(we) looking for a shop

we found

we were through haggling

we had both left school

“They wavered”

“…they had rushed him then”

“their companion’s body fell”

“they might have succeeded”

“(they) cowing the company

“they were frightened”

“they had screamed”

“they did not know”

“(they) what to make of it”

we had gone off

he and I, to resolve many things

we had gone to school together

We were acting out

everyone laughed at

(we) living together

we stood there

(we) confronting each other

we went job-hunting

We walked up and down

(we) pushing doors open

(we) talking to impassive-faced

receptionists

they let us through

we were both ushered

We met in the rain

We made that trip to Victoria

we were waiting for

we did not trust ourselves

(we) to speak

“We must believe each other..”

we drove in

we alighted from the bus

We took a rig

(we) jogged

we had come

We moved ahead

We went past the movie house

We turned into a dust road

We walked up

“We’re conversing in questions”

“We’re here..”

we had known each other

“We’re not the first..”

“Let’s get married today,”

we came face to face

“People kill for these”

“we were kids then”

We said goodbye formally

We peered at each other

we had rung the bell

while we stood

(we) waiting

we found

“They have your signature..”

“..they’re always passing those

letters..”

“..hell they do..”

“Everyone..can be bought.”

“..heads began rolling..”

“..we hire hacks..”

“..we’re the ones..”

“..who keep the world twirling..”

“..we didn’t know..”

Americans had allowed

we drew

a world his elders had devastated

those who do not need them

a couple stagger by

people fought for the privilege

they would continue

(they) to sit at his feet

(they) endure his wild talk

They literally throw you

all that we had shared together

did they dance

they told me the story

“Let’s go to Guimaras.”

362

They were gone

(we) sharing a meal

“Let’s go away..”

he and I shivered

“..or (we) regret everything

those who loved him

“Let’s talk..”

“Let’s talk about it now.”

they spelled his name

(they) speaking of him

all of them…stood

all of them…waiting

them piling into a rented panel

people had defaced

(people) to build their homes

(people) kept trying

(people) to bring it back

“..all properly brought up people

do..”

the world was run by people

the wicked prospered

passersby might take in the elegance

Processes with the female as actor:

I knew

I would stand

(I) talking with him

(girl) who was ripe

I was with some effort

I would try

(I) to reconcile

I had known

I smiled

(I) realizing

I saw him

I saw

I sat

I raised my head

I said

I was pleased

I had come out

I had had a summer

I felt very superior

his mother had died

I asked

I had been brought to Manila

I must tell you

I was eager

(I) to forget

I had sprinted for the safety

I could not recall

as I did?

I would press

(I) to keep the tears back

I am not sure

I am not succeeding

I put it all too well

I guess

I was not listening

I could see him

“I was a fool,”

(I) to say something

I said nothing

I could give nothing

“You were ashamed of me..”

I shook my head

I sighed

I said aloud

I thought

woman leading her drunken escort

“I was very proud of you..”

I said

I thought

(I) wondered

I should word my reply

I got my first job

I could afford

(I) to stop

(I) worrying

I say less

I had discarded

(I) bought a pair

I patronized

I tried

363

(I) going

the bar girls of Lipa were at home

(girls) catching up on their rest

I should run into a few of them

They were friendly

(They) refused

(They) put off by a snub

I got tired

(I) ignoring them

they looked young

one stuck a notebook

they stepped out

(they) to earn

girl who spoke wistfully

she had saved enough money

I stood

(I) talking

She was tired

she continued (to speak)

She was at the shop

(she) to pick up

She had put aside

(she) to pay for

(she) to save up for

she explained

she hoped

(she) to buy him

I nodded

(I) waited

I might say goodbye

I looked up

(I) saw

I ignored him

(I) walked away

The women were tiresome

I fretted under the job

I needed the money

the women were a fierce lot

they (women) snarled at each other

Screamed Mrs. Rodas

(Mrs. Rodas) shoving the society

page

she was livid

Socorro Valdez cooed one morning

don’t you know

it was I

I who lent the silver set

could you make a release

They don’t deserve it

declared Lourdes Adriano

girls going to that wonderful country

I scurried after school

(I) read the poetry

I pulled the mosquito net

I wondered if

I would learn enough

(I) to brighten the last hours

I spoke

I did not leave my job

(I) to work for worthier people

I returned the papers

I did not love

I loved my father

I was beginning

(I) to care about Ernesto

I often wondered

I worked

I would be told that

I took him

(I) gave him breakfast

I attempted

(I) to speak frankly

I was his only friend

I felt that

girls were older

(girls) bore

They (girls) lounged idly

I realized

(I) to imagine him

I realized

I was ashamed

I was angry

(I) feel guilty

I suddenly blurted

I knew

I said again

364

I was aware

I was asking

I could get him to

I might at last allow myself

(I) to love him

I slipped him

(I) walked out

I had married

(I) begun my own family

I took the elevator

I looked around

I wondered why

the brogans I knew

I had married

I did not know

I wondered

I had seen him

last time I had seen him was in a

lodging house

I begged Tomas

(I) threw my arms around him

I had not told him

I held him tightly

I was not sure

I feared

I would grieve

I had done him

I had hit him

I did not see him

I kept my eyes straight ahead

I walked through

I catch a glimpse

I would hear

I wrote all

I need never worry over you again

I wondered

I had learned

I had failed

I could never fathom my father

I wished

I followed a turn

(I) ran into Ernesto Bello

I felt foolish

I slipped out of my office

(I) met him

(I) to mumble the apologies

I once found him

I looked him up

(I) foregoing my lunch

(I) to pay him a visit

I could see

(I) asking him

I told him

I hoped

a young girl might safely fall in love

with

I was huddled in a corner

I pushed the thought

(I) to open myself

I got to Ponteverde

I listened to the people around me

women stretched their lovely legs

Each one reminded me of the

Stardust club girls

Dora was exceptionally voluptuous

She had only to shift slightly in her

seat

She was lush-bodied

Dora would only be a tired, arthritic

woman

woman, wanting rest

(woman) needing kindness

I put my hands to my face

(I) tried

(I) to sleep

I had wept in my dreams

I knew at once

(I) having come to terms

I could get back to the city

I wired Ernesto

I went to school

I picked up the phone

(I) dialled Mr. Cinco’s office

I was told

I imagined his face

“If you see him..”

365

“..tell him..”

I did not look at him

I dodged them

I thought of everything

I pushed him

(I) walked on

I kept the umbrella away from him

As I stepped out

I heard him

I replied

I wanted it

(I) Having gone back

I closed one eye

(I) cocked my head

I did not care

I weighed again

I close my eyes

I could transport him

I thought of the girls

I looked at Ernesto Bello

I said

I found myself

(I) suggesting

I arrived

I was grateful

I had sneaked out

(I) not daring

(I) to bring a bag

I stuck my small bundle

I had not imagined

I might have said

(I) asked

I expected a touch

I looked at him

I wanted to settle

(I) to solve it now

If I proved myself right

if I could woo him

I might…bridge the silence

(I) tell my father

I had discovered

I asked

I waited in the sidewalk

(I) trying

(I) to maintain

I did not feel

I was determined

(I) let nothing appall me

“Are you sorry?”

“Do you want to go back?”

I had been sure

I wanted

I wasn’t certain

“You’re not talking now”

“Are you sorry, Paz?”

I countered (said)

I said

I said

(I) speaking slowly

I said

I stirred in my sleep

(I) to see the glow

“Are you awake?”

I said

(I) added the words

I had withheld

“I love you”

I drifted off

(I) to sleep again

I drifted farther

I met my father

I began to weep

“Don’t cry, Paz.”

the dancing girls called out

(the dancing girls) boarded rigs

I stood up

(I) found my way

(I) Ducking my head

I gave my face a thorough wetting

(I) returned to the room

I knew

I sat down

(I) drying my hair

I wanted to know (said)

I insisted

I said

366

(I) getting angry

“…will you have me bring..”

“..clean gutters..”

“..cover your garbage..”

“..keep the fences painted.”

“I want you to be constant…”

I said

(I) raising my voice

I would accept his terms

(I) bracing myself for the night

I said goodbye

I shook him away

(I) giving him a smart shove

I had

his secretary ushered me

I could see him

I asked Tomas

I went

(I) fought my way

I got out

(I) counted the doors

I stopped before one

The girl at the desk wore

She listened impatiently

she said

(she) returned to her machine

I spoke again

“I am sure”

I insisted (said)

“I am sure..”

“..if you tell him my name?”

I had secretly hoped

I noticed

I who had wanted

(I) had lived

I had been married

(I) waited for Tomas

I waited a long while

I swung back and forth

I spread my hands

I wanted

(I) to hold the quiet

I tried

(I) to fight off the feeling

I had missed something

I was not there

(I) to share it

I knew

I knew

I had kept track

I followed him

I pieced all these together

(I) to put in a call

I did not know

I was

going to say

I could not help

(I) feeling

I was responsible

I was not sure

the girls gurgled

I thought of him

the mestiza…showed up

(mestiza) to give him trouble

the girl was smarter

the girl had them

I sat

(I) adjusting myself to the luxury

I looked at his shoes

Did I say

I went

(I) to see him

(I) to tell him that

I remembered some memories?

I was that bungling

(I) who reminded him

I would seize upon his pause

(I) to remind him of things

I realized

I know him

I conceded

I said

I said

(I) pointing around

“..you hear..”

I agreed (said)

367

I said

I listened carefully

I had not realized it

I said

I mimicked

I knew

I could not stop myself

I dismembered him

(I) threw the pieces into a pit

I faced the painting

Marietta Bello wore expensive

baubles

she was all in all a woman with

believable charm

I wondered

how she has looked

I said at last

I had a horrible feeling

I knew that someone

I had gone to

I would weep

“..I must soon have that”

“..I suddenly need..”

I booked passage

“I don’t need much”

“..I must get down..”

I found

(I) wincing

I turned the porch light on

woman bathing by a river bank

Processes with the male as actor:

“You want a neat world…”

(he) asked

He hadn’t identified

he exuded

(policeman) took his languid time

He would then tell me

He had just thought of

(he) was eager

He assured me

Man who stood

(man) boasting

His hand would steal up

(his hand) would smooth the cowlick

As he thought

He was wearing

He had spent an hour

(he) walking

(he) looking for the class

He did not ask

He was from Isabela

He said

He would have come

his father had loosened

(father) handed him

(father) given him

Ernesto Bello had hitched

The man had said

He would be going

Ernesto had hummed

(Ernesto) melting the sergeant’s

heart

(sergeant) who then drove him

He boarded

I (Ernesto) paid

He said

(he) getting indignant

he laughed

He was starting

He had got them

Ernesto’s silky voice…inviting me

Soldiers came rattling

(soldiers) rocking our bamboo

a man who has conquered

He owns

(He) carries

(He) eats

Bello has no worry

he was instrumental

he has some trouble

Ernesto was actually proud

He wore them

He had wasted four years

he could not wait

368

to pit himself

Ernest Bello led us all

He was not tall

He looked truly like

that he was

he was excited

he tended to stammer

He was a clumsy fellow

He lost them all

(he) shed each one

(he) to emerge

(he) speaking in clichés

he was as full of naivete

he stood

(he) weeping

a teacher had said

He was an aging Ph.D

(he) who had managed

(he) to keep

(he) buying

(he) selling

he said smugly

(he) stating a statistical fact

(he) blowing smoke in the air

(he) not seeing the dead

he had just condemned

He held on to the chair

He was all elbows

he succeeded

(he) pushing it

he opened his mouth

He struggled

(he) to control

he said

his mouth twisting horribly

he broke into sobs

he was waiting

he called

(he) begged me

(me) to sit down

he began again

My father had written

Ernesto said

(Ernesto) waited for me

father waited

Ernesto was eloquent

He did not stutter

he hated

he said

How did a man get that way?

he could not possibly do wrong

Ernesto said

he did not see me

he asked again

Ernesto was glad

he appeared pleased

He himself still hung around

(he) scanning the list

He wore

a date who was bringing

a brother whose legs had been blown

off

Ernesto beckoning to me

He was angry

he asked me

he said

He had organized

he called Peace Lovers

he said

(he) pushed

he said

he was consumed by a violent anger

He loved all

he said

he did

for him to concern himself

he felt

He lumped me

he was eager

(he) to save

he came

(he) running to me

he appeared

(he) to get the heels of his brogans

his father sent him

he delivered weekly

369

he bribed the Peace Lovers

Men still dressed

they (men) hurried home from jobs

Ernesto took the brogans off

(Ernesto) slipped his feet

he smiled

he had first left Isabela

he said

He showed me

He had skimped

(he) to have money

He was thin

him humming

he carried the written declarations

He was going to read them

The shoemaker rapped the counter

(the shoemaker) called our attention

the man said

(the man) turned away

Ernesto picked up

he tossed

He looked at me

His mouth began

he would stutter

him to throw away

(he) to toss them away

Ernesto Bello said

He stepped out

Ernesto Bello pulled the blinds open

he walked noiselessly

(he) making me

Tomas had met him

(the figure of the man) moaning

Ernesto Bello had run over

Tomas recounted

“The soldiers had been pulled off”

“Bello rammed through the line”

“(Bello) enjoying himself

immensely”

my husband said

Tomas who had snapped

Ernesto Bello came to know

“The bastard called up..”

“..(bastard) challenging me..”

Tomas said

“Let me talk..”

“..(louse) who had wrote me up

he said

he said

(he) named a sidestreet in Caloocan

I said

Tomas went

He was not a brave man

he was no coward

how Ernesto Bello looked

he struggled into another shirt

He dropped out of my class

He was still around

Father meant

Was he disappointed

did he think

he had kept

He and Ernesto were alike

he worried

he could not love me

he asked

he admitted (said)

His father would send him no more

(he) raised his pay

Ernesto felt constrained

(Ernesto) to speak to him about it

He soon found

he felt

He was not happy

he detested

(he) sucked in by the whirlpool of

day to day living

he was hardworking

(he) copying notes

He was behind a scarred desk

he went to work

he had repeatedly struck them

He finally got a job

(he) doing research

(he) brooding

he put down

370

(he) handed at the end

(son) delivering incoherent speeches

He wants me..”

“..he couldn’t do for me.”

He did not once stammer

He panted

(he) leaned back against the ledge

He was terrifying

he seemed sincere

he succeeded

(he) beginning confidently enough

Ernesto hesitated

(Ernesto) paused

he spoke again

(he) to struggle with his words

the man behind the desk would

soften

he would murmur

he would flee the room

(he) leaving me

he smoothed his cowlick

(he) weighing it down

he dressed in cleaner clothes

He ate better

He still wore his brogans

He had less and less time

he was getting to be

Father died soon

My father had not died

he deserved

He had killed himself

he had done

(he) taken his own life

(he) to rebuke me

“But he insisted..”

“…your father owned the boats..”

“..he paid..”

“.. he wanted..”

“..(he) to go on his trip..”

we told him

“We set sail.”

“..your father said..”

“..(we) to cast..”

“…we threw our nets..”

“..(we) caught nothing..”

“..he showed us..”

“..we missed him..”

“..your father must have fallen into

the sea.”

he was not at the pier

(he) to meet me

he did not call

(he) drop in

he had quit

he would have to do his own

research

he said

Ernesto Bello stepped out

(Ernesto Bello) blocked my path

He said nothing

his hands were eloquent

He had betrayed me

Ernesto Bello personified my

unhappiness

he followed me

He was shivering in the cold

He said it once more

Ernest Bello now fell into the pattern

of an ardent suitor

He called often

he asked me out

he stood patiently in theatre lobbies

he looked

He was no longer uncommon

he was safe

he was familiar

he was reliable

he had causes

he had only me

he was all right to love

he suddenly said

he could not go on

Did he think

did he doubt

(he) having said

he loved me

371

he had died

old man floating to Ponteverde

he now awaited

Ernesto was already there

he was the poised one

He acted as if

he ground his cigarette butts

He would surely have fumbled

he helped me up

his quiet voice saying

He said

he suffered

(Ernesto) inflicted them

he loved

“I (Ernesto) saw it..”

he said

He bent forward

(he) to take the rig driver

the man touched the animal’s rump

Ernesto paid off the rig driver

If he thought anything

He was bland

He did not leer

he was slightly annoyed

He put a key in Ernesto’s hand

(he) walked ahead of us

(he) stopping before a door

the owner did not show it

Ernesto asked

he pressed (said)

he said

“I love you..”

he said again

“I want to give you the best…”

“..I want to marry you.”

he agreed (said)

(he) crossing the room

he asked

(father) bobbing gently in the waters

Ernesto shook me

(Ernesto) felt my tears

He said

Ernesto was up

(Ernesto) waiting for me

he said

he said

he said

he said

“..what he does.”

Ernesto said

he said

(he) flushing

“I promise you..”

he said

“I will always be there.”

“I want..”

“..to do good”

he said

He stood

he would…slip over the side into the

deep

He hurried

(he) to hold me back

he did not expect

He half-fell

they both realized

Tomas and Ernesto pummelled each

other

Tomas had gone

(he) raising his fists

(he) wondering

he had boxed for a youth club

Ernesto Bello was no better

he stumbled on his feet

they rested by mutual consent

Ernesto Bello, chasing his breath

(Ernesto Bello) asked

Tomas…told him at last

he had told me

“He said nothing more?”

Ernesto Bello did not come

(he) bounding into the anteroom

he had ached

(he) to do good

he posed expansively

(he) tugging at his cuffs

372

he said

He had grown taller

He sported a small cut

He waved his hands

he said

he made it

he had ridden the crest

he had left school

he said

he had bumped into Bello

(he) milling with the rest of the

greedy crowd

“That queer fish had decided..”

“..(that queer fish) to swim along..”

“and he’s doing better..”

“He was pushing..”

“When he saw me..”

“Bello yelled..”

(Tomas) to arrive

Ernesto Bello had achieved

Tomas walked in

He put an arm around me

(he) drew me

what Ernesto Bello had become

He was often in the papers

(he) sitting at directors’ meetings

lighting cigarettes

tucking people in bed

Bello boarding planes

(Bello) alighting

he led

he finally got that job

he moved into high gear

Tomas brought home

what he had become

What had he become?

the boy who had wanted only

(boy) to die for the world

“the boys” going wild

Bello picked up the bill

(Bello) announced

Tomas had tagged along

(Tomas) come home

He hadn’t even known Tomas

he had given him

(he) saying

Bello wanted to collect

Ernesto handed out copies

he wanted made

he came to my husband

Tomas said

Ernesto said

(Ernesto) pushed Tomas

he flung money about

Bello quickly became

the boys to wish upon

He did not fail them

He came across

The boys did him a huge favour

Ernesto Bello had picked up

(Ernesto) installed in Requesens

The boys soothed her

(the boys) plied her with food

Ernesto Bello could disentangle

himself

(Ernesto) meet them on the dance

floor

(Ernesto) acting for all the world

as if he had just walked in

he thought

he was

(the boys) driving to Morong

Bello signed the license

he signed

he was drunker

Bello struggled out of his stupor

(Bello) to exclaim something

he could say

he would say nothing else

He followed my gaze

(he) smiled with pleasure

(he) pulled up the legs of his trousers

(he) stuck out on his feet

(he) said aloud to me

he had acquired

he had left behind

373

he now measured his present

affluence

(he) came out vastly pleased

He talked

he was determined

(he) to forget

He talked

he wanted

(he) to remember himself

he replied

he was quick

(he) to say

He had wanted

(he) to leave Cinco

he was saying my lines

he said

“He knows much.”

“Does he have much?”

“He doesn’t have a stutter.”

he groped for reply

he invited Tomas and me

he had promised

Ernesto Bello had asked us over

he launched

Tomas had written about

“You helped..”

“..to organize..”

Tomas accused

he said

he admitted (said)

“I signed something..”

“You attended..”

Tomas went on (said)

“..if I did..”

replied Ernesto

(Ernesto) shaking a rice spoon

“…you did not speak up..”

“..you did.”

Testa said..”

“..you told them..”

“Testa said..”

“Testa’s a bastard.”

“..the fellow’s been after my spot..”

“..I’m the most vulnerable guy..”

“.. why should I antagonize

management?”

“..Testa said..”

said Ernesto Bello

(Ernesto) pushing his plate away

“Did he say..”

“..I helped..”

..organize the union?”

“You drew the chart..”

“I may have thrown in..”

“..I was the brains..”

“..I went so far..”

“..to pick up a pencil..”

“..and DRAW!”

“..I draw only my name..”

“..the boys on the business beat

know..”

“..I’ll say like..”

Tomas murmured

“..victim lived in Pandacan..”

“..even had a girl..”

“… he was going to marry…”

“...you injured his legs...”

“...you know...”

“..a man needs legs on a

honeymoon..”

“..you’re lucky..”

“..he settled out of court.”

declared Bello

Tomas said

“..he’d see the light..”

..I told him that..”

“..The old man girded himself..”

“You should have seen the way..”

“..men sold their baby out..”

“They couldn’t wait..”

“..to tell..”

“..what they knew..”

“..(the whole lot) creeping into the

old man’s office..”

“..(the whole lot) to bleat there..”

Tomas said

374

“You didn’t get him.”

“But where is he now?”

“He sleeps nights..

“I can sleep, too..”

proclaimed Ernesto Bello

Tomas grinned (said)

“I imagine..”

“..you must run up a high bill..”

Bello spat (said)

“The old man offered him

everything..”

“..the old man said..”

“He’s never called me that..”

“..I’ve stopped at nothing..”

“..to please him..”

“..the old man said..”

“..will you take some advice?”

“..Good men like you are a dime a

dozen..”

“..I’m hiring..”

“..and firing principled men all the

time..”

“It’s the men like me..”

“..who gets things done..”

“What do you want?”

“I’ll throw in his neck, too..”

“..if you wish..”

“If Testa had said no..”

“..or used bad words..”

“..or walked-out..

“..the old man would have forgiven

him..”

“But he sat there..”

“..(he)smiling..”

“..we’d run into a trap

“..he’d discovered something..”

“Perhaps he had..”

“You outgrew them..”

Tomas said

“..I’ve grown up..”

“I was always passing resolutions..”

“..I pick up a phone..”

“,,and give my name..”

“..and getting laughed at..”

“…pushed around..”

“..and I can make a dozen..”

“..two dozen men squirm..”

my husband intoned

Ernest swore

“Every Adam’s son wants..”

“..to survive..”

“..I especially want..”

“..to do so..”

“Testa was dangerous.”

“So I kicked the chair ..”

“I’ll say this, Bello..”

“..you’re the most candid louse..”

“..I ever met..”

Tomas said

He threw his head

(he) let

he was in mortal pain

There was Ernesto Bello

He had ridden

father overcome by despair

It was Tomas

it was Tomas

(he) pointing

“..me to buckle down”

“..I am buckling down..”

related one fisherman

“Did I do anything wrong?”

“…anytime he wishes.”

Paz, I love you”

“I cannot go on, Paz.”

“Why did you pick this town?”

“You know ..”

“..that you are committed.”

“..Are you willing?”

“..to do this..”

“Will you stay with Cinco?”

“I want..”

“..(I) to do something else.”

“I despise him.”

“I despise..”

“..(I) to pray that

375

“Where do I send your body?”

“..I’d swear worth ten grand.”

“..I hope..”

“..it lasts..”

making love in his stockinged feet

“I’m on the labor beat.”

(he) had bought himself

“I had them too when..”

“..I was young..”

“..I’m hard at work.”

“I am doing for him..”

“..the job is his…”

“You are a success”

“You never wanted much”

being our host

Processes with non-living things as actors,

and those with no actors:

there were pictures

Gesture would give him away

A movement releasing

A vowel would slip out

Training had not been so thorough

Shoes, standing

It sounded

the paraos to lift anchor

It was June

tobacco could be gathered

No space could be found

Carabaos meant for the Ilaya

slaughterhouse

they were all

The dormitory was a great gray

building

It showed no signs

sardines that appeared

nothing […] looked

it had just survived

the city was

The dormitory had been given

(The dormitory) cut up into tiny

cubicles

Cots had been thrown

it was

Life was spread

death and dying belonged to

they had happened

sunlight filtering through

its fine rays turning blue

Cruelty was

It seemed far

pens scratched

papers were filled

This is being written

The voice drips

Tomas’s paper carried

picture crashing

(his brogans) transgressing the

silence

they were the butt of jokes

(the bullish neck) cut his height even

more

They were a poet’s eyes

It was an idle remark

It fell

nothing came out

stutters that spread his spittle

it was beyond him now

the jeeps and the six-by-sixes made a

mess

(the jeeps and the six-by-sixes)

roared by

Mud splattered

the seas were still barren

It was better before

the mind stops fearing

a blade descends

soul had gone

(soul) soaring

the saber touches your neck

night made dark by coconut fronds

cicadas singing

it doesn’t sound sincere

376

there is talk

clothes and milk are going to those

The books did not teach

to imbue the powerful

It was the smugness

to give an old man’s dying days,

hope

The saxophone at the Stardust wailed

dream perishing

letter that awaited me

It meant

harvest was a long way off

My relief dress had gone

(shop) which sewed clothes

it was inevitable

there was still the right one

They would have to be wooden

it came

it was like a sob

My job wasn’t exactly

the routine was deadening

it (routine) paid a steady enough tiny

sum

tiny sum that kept me

Doors opened

a fervor appearing in his eyes

The thought did not leave

it was not easy

slightest thing went wrong

(panic) was often amusing

brogans repaired

what seemed like

(money) went for paper

It also went for the soft drinks

this gave me the right

shop to get

his brogans fixed

It was a year

the hysteria of war’s end had

disappeared

There were as many bars

Record players blared

no one paid attention

camaraderie was over

city was uglier

it have ever been

only life was left to be lived

It was when

it was a year

nothing about him was the same

undernourishment had sliced

It was hard

“They’re ready”

what looked like disgust

throw them away

throw them away

They were all in his hip pocket

it was long after

It was on the fifth floor

His shoes sank

they were not

where lay

“this happened at three”

“violence exploded in their faces”

hood of his car must have a dozen

notches

the News had run it

This was how

“Don’t go”

my tears would flow

hedge-trimming that went on

right did not always triumph

evil often prevailed

his reply was prompt

father’s anger was an old, futile one

It would die

“..money from home stops coming.”

“Rid the world of evil.”

the look of suppressed annoyance on

the other fellow’s face would wreck his

poise

His pity aroused

This often shattered Ernesto

his knuckles bleeding

his hand was visible

there was no use

377

His mind was a natural

it sifted facts and figures

..”don’t shove me further..”

My wants are simple”

they would soon go

There was no sleep

Was there a brother’s missing leg

a bomb had burst

(a bomb) ripped out innocence and

youth

a sensual ripple would start at her

shoulders

(a sensual ripple) end somewhere in

her toes

Her flesh had bloomed

it was a beauty

a beauty that carried its own

corruption

something warm and wet dripped

No one knew

Stay behind..”

“There were no stars..”

“..to steer by..”

“..a bad wind was coming..”

“..try this spot..”

“There was no fish..”

his body was sighted

(his body) bobbing like a huge, dark

fish

The current had brought him back

It was more than a month

It was days

His absence did not worry me

There was consternation

“What displeased him?”

“What was it?”

everything that had proved

the night and the rain wrung the

words from him

the words reached me

the saxophone at the Stardust Club

rode

his face rises in my mind

there it is

all it can do is press its lips

willing some of the misery

misery to disappear

mouth fights

(mouth) fights

(mouth) to compose itself

(mouth) it says

that was all there was

Was it reward

There were many ways

to play this game

that was when

The waiting shed had only a

provisional roof

(the bus) had not come in

arousing suspicion

the trip had been his idea

A new sophistication …now

possessed him

one who had gone off on clandestine

weekends before

old bus limped in

to wake me up

it was only Ernesto’s hand

“…everything that happens to us..”

Victoria was a one-street town

It was half-past six

the stores on either side of the main

street were only just beginning to stir

The odor of fresh bread reached me

it was like the newness

my own pressing feelings that had

brought me here

It was necessary

what eluded him

the secret was

to love deeply and faithfully

this was to be involved more

completely

It was the wrong question

It reminded us both

there was no gracious way

378

defining desire

road that ended

stood the Hong Ning lodging house

The door swung open

It was a scrubbed room

The sheets were white and starched

(the sheets) glistening in spots

the iron had passed repeatedly

the room was

for what it was

there was nothing suggestive

The walls were bare

a length of sturdy cloth stretched

(cloth) shutting out the sun and the

view

“..what this means?”

“It means also”

the street lights appeared

the dancing started

The phonograph died away

The cocks of Victoria began

(cocks) to crow

the dream begun

(the dream) to die

“..the rain falls..”

“..the tobacco grows..”

“..father’s monthly pittance to us

comes through..”

“It won’t be as bad as that”

“..it will be bad..”

“It’s not that ridiculous..”

“..to endure..”

“..to be steadfast..”

intensity that seared the air

shoes were in a corner

it was the last night

a cold blast from his airconditioner

enveloped me

They swayed back and forth

It was hard

the crash of pins and rolling balls

covered the sounds

The fight ended there

“And was that all?”

elegance promised many surprises

eyebrows that twitched delicately

it was a diffidence

diffidence that sickened me

the buzzer on the girl’s desk sounded

shiny leather encased his feet

The neck was still there

it was incongruous

the face had changed

only blow that had landed in their

ludicrous fight

to include

It was not as simple

It was four years

“..this is it..”

the bugs disappeared

lizards crawled back

nothing was abroad

a dog who crouched

(a dog) stared impassively

The latch at the gate sounded

an occupation that covered many

things

it was an unnerving change

transition reached me

talk that Tomas occasionally dropped

the liquor bubbled

without turning a hair

it was going on his expense account

“Burn it up!”

it was at four in the morning

large types running the whole width

first cab that stopped before the

drunken group

there were the tips

The traffic was not at all one way

a sleepy justice of the peace awaited

them

the J.P. slapped his book shut

something that sounded like

seemed to be everything

That feeling quickly disappeared

379

this was how

(two) touring the regions of youth

memories turn shabby

the act of love stops short

to look into another man’s heart

door stands

no one may speak of the other

“Don’t believe everything..”

“Life does not mold people..”

“..it reveals them..”

Something in the world had tilted

(something) righting itself

“..to keep..”

it was cruel

“Where did it go?”

The supper…was intimate

There were no other guests

The fence was built

Great ribbons of pink paint ran

The piano faced the window

the window faced the door

to be asked in

It was a rustic scene

Fairview was less valley

It commanded a view

dwindling..forests

They had carved

a weirder jungle of split-level

homes…had sprung

It was amazing

The Bello home was such a one, full

of confused taste

The prints on the wall leading to the

bedroom

It was at supper

“That’s a damn lie!”

“…to prove it..”

perfect neck rose proudly

the candlelight threw softening lines

“..it was for the kicks..”

“..this is verbatim..”

“..Public Relations will back you

up..”

“That’s another damn lie.”

““That’s a damn lie!”

“..to say..”

“..to say..”

“Don’t get carried away..”

“..till the price tags are out..”

““..when the chips were down..”

“The books are written..”

“..nothing generous is ever said..”

“That’s all.”

“It’s a good feeling.”

“Cut another fellow’s throat—“

“It’s not a moral question anymore.”

“What’s immoral..”

The evening hung uncertainly

when Ernesto Bello’s laughter came

it was a trained, practiced laugh

It hinted at no resentment

the Carnegie classes had taken care

of that

the flesh about his lips tightened

(the flesh) and paled

his eyes met mine

something was dying

“..that didn’t bind me to anything..”

(mouth) to flutter

Processes with a hypothetical addressee:

you had to cross

(you) to see

you could hear

you knew

(you) to expect

you could not tell

“You’ll come in handy..”

“You must fight a lot”

“..what you’ve got..”

you wept over the wronged dead

“But you’ve got to wait..”

one was capable

one could forget

380

one finally accepted

one knew

if one had been strung up a cross

you had to look for it

you found it

Processes with either a male or a female as

the actor:

the enemy had ravished

the teacher recited poetry

shouted someone

A careless proofreader had dropped

my cousin from Isabela wanted

(cousin) to see me

whoever stayed behind

Someone told him

employer who proceeded

(employer) to string them together

(employer) stylizing Ernesto’s work

(employer) hurrying to court

someone brought news of him

someone brought up his name

cried another (said)

pursued the story teller (said)

someone had consummated

(someone) sold me in the bargain

someone told Tomas

God does not lightly vouchsafe the

power

“Someone’s getting married..”

“Someone’s dead..”

“Someone’s had a baby..”

Legend: green-material intention (778), light

purple-supervention (131) , cyan-mental

(444), yellow-relational (216), red-material

event (17)

Female as active voice: 365

Male as active voice: 535

The Sounds of Sunday

Processes with more than one actor (either

male or female or both):

two runners come

people fought

they [Emma and Doming] had hurt

I love you! [male or female]

I hate you! [male or female

They [Emma and Doming] had loved

they [Emma and Doming] had left

Tayug

[Doming and Emma had] set up the

press

[Doming and Emma had] gone

through

the Cosios had been amenable to

letting them go

they were [the Cosios] themselves

not too eager

they [Emma and Doming] would feel

safer

then we’ll [Emma and Doming]

show

We’re [Emma and Doming] staying

what we [Emma and Doming] want

We [Emma and Doming] want

what they had all said

[people] who had been led to believe

legal force would not touch it

they could say or offer

We’re [Emma and Doming] all in

fragments

381

I want us [Emma and Doming]

they [Emma and Doming] had

ceased

We [Emma and Doming] could live

Everyone’s doing it

they [Emma and Doming] had gone

they [Emma and children] pulled

away

children were scrambling

they [children] waited

You [Doming or employees] turn out

do you [Doming or employees]

honor them

You [Doming or employees] buy

you [Doming or employees] sell

beliefs

you [Doming or employees] buy

you [Doming or employees] sell

sensibilities

you [Doming or employees] buy

[Doming or employees] sell people

We spin

[we] straining

We think

we know

we want

we chase it

the neighbours had asked

[neighbours] were not

They [general] were panelling

Everyone presumed

people were wondering

she and her two sons lived

[people] strewn all over

they [people] had gone

They [Mr. Rividad’s parents] had

sent me [Mr. Rividad] away

They [parents] were dead

people had said

people had perished

They [Mr. Rividad and Emma]

looked at each other

Her [Emma] own sons would be

[Emma’s sons] waiting for her

they [Mr. Rividad and Emma] had

both stood

[Mr. Rividad and Emma] watching

girls playing

[employees] skittering

Bello and Gorrez held on to theirs

both [Bello and Gorrez] knew better

They [Bello and Gorrez] were

They [Bello and Gorrez] were loyal

They [the women] were all the same

everyone well knew was there

[girls] Squealing excitedly

the girls fought

[the necktied bunch] who had

pledged

[the necktied bunch] sold him out

[Testa and men] had walked in

[Emma and Rene] making small talk

[the Gorrez tenants] had descended

[the Gorrez tenants] bringing

chickens

[the Gorrez tenants] asking

They [the Gorrez tenants] wanted to

know

We’re [Emma and Doming] living

apart

We [Emma and Doming] had

They [Emma and Rene] stood up

together [Emma and Rene] waited

They [Emma and Rene] saw each

other

They [Doming and the men in the

company] had everything

they [Doming and the men in the

company] started

he [Rene] and Emma Gorrez met

Her [Emma’s] sons would be in the

park

[sons] playing

[Emma and Doming] discovering

each other

they [Emma and Rene] met

382

They [Emma and Rene]sat in silence

they [Emma and Doming] had been

careless

Processes with the female as actor:

Emma Gorrez had ventured

she [Emma] had met no one she

knew

[the woman behind the desk] did not

remember

Emma had lingered

she [Emma] had bumped into

Doming

she [Emma] had thought

[Emma] wondering where he was

she [Emma] stood

she [Emma] thought

if she [Emma] should see him

she[Emma] would run

the girl tending

[the girl] tapped her fingers

Emma threw the book down

[Emma] hurried home

She [Emma] had also gone

she [Emma] was coming

first thing she [Emma] saw

she [Emma] pushed

she [Emma] ran into them

She [Emma] had not taken

Mrs. Pintoy sprang

She [Mrs. Pintoy] made

[Mrs. Pintoy] opening and closing

her mouth

Emma stopped her ears

[Emma] pretending to be displeased

she[Emma] had been

she [Emma] had left

She [Emma] met

she [Emma] asked

she [Emma] said

Emma Gorrez ignored

She [Emma] would not do

she [Emma] volunteered

She [Emma] met

swinging her [Norma’s] potent hips

Mr. Rividad’s wife made her way

Emma thought

Emma approached

She [Emma] heard it

[Emma] shut the windows

Emma would gather

[Emma] reading stories

Emma Gorrez had been strong

Emma had wrecked

[Emma had] turned upon Nora

[Emma] holding Nora’s slim

she [Emma] never afterwards asked

Emma did not go back

She [Emma] left Domingo

she [Emma] could not completely

grasp

Emma despised

Emma would watch him go

she [Emma] had stepped back

she [Emma] watched him drive away

she [Emma] tried to reach him

she [Emma] spoke

she [Emma] said

Emma Gorrez wanted

she [Emma] was insistent

she [Emma] talked

she [Emma] felt

she [Emma] said

You [Emma]like

I [Emma] don’t deserve

she [Emma] said

You [Emma] are not

You [Emma] see ghosts

she [Emma] was talking of

she [Emma] flung at him

[Mr. Navarro’s daughter] had

worked

she [Mr. Navarro’s daughter]

deserved

she [Mr. Navarro’s daughter] had got

[the girl] tragically stalling

383

[the girl] stumbling

[the girl] babbling hysterically

girl disdained

Emma Gorrez would not allow

Emma would not spend

she [Emma] finally took it

She [Emma] went

[Emma] spent it

she [Emma] would not have dreamt

of buying

she [Emma] stepped out

she [Emma] looked up

she [Emma] said

[Emma] flagging a cab

she [Emma] spelled

Emma lay back

[Emma] watching

she [Emma] said

she [Emma] did not guess

she [Emma] knew

she [Emma] would have to leave him

she [Emma] asked

She [Emma] took

she [Emma] said

you’re [Emma] better

You [Emma] say

Emma says

How can you [Emma] bear

Will you [Emma] write

She [Emma] nodded

mother [Emma] who turned

[Emma] climbed up

She [Emma] had touched

[Emma] said something

she [Emma] held

she[Emma] wrote

I [Emma] have left you

I [Emma] cannot live

She [Emma] thought

she [Emma] had returned

she [Emma] had begun

she [Emma] heard nothing

she [Emma] had wanted

she [Emma] walked the boys

she [Emma] could see

she [Emma] looked in

then [Emma] turned downhill

You [Emma/general] would think

[mother] had died

her [the mother’s] rough hands

grasping

she [mother] had fashioned

She [Emma] had come out

[Norma Rividad]meeting strange

men

she [Emma] lingered

[Emma] glancing

you’re [Emma] marrying

[whoever it was Big Man fancied]

slipped each noon

You [Emma/general] could always

tell

wife, who had done pretty well

someone [a female employee] was

certain

One girl had built

[Mina] had demanded

she [Mina] had returned

she [Mina] peddled

she [Mina] carried

she [Mina] wrote

Mrs. Testa had not been invited

she [Mrs. Testa] had come

Emma asked

Emma pushed him away

she [Emma] said

she [Emma] asked

Emma felt

She [Emma] felt

[Emma] sitting

she [Emma] remembered

she [Emma] asked

[Emma] speared it with a fork

She [Emma] was doing

She [Emma] did not ask

she [Emma] knew

384

she [Emma] found

She [Emma] asked

She [Emma] told him

you [Emma] tell them

she [Emma] teased

She [Emma] noticed

Emma Gorrez said

I [Emma] don’t know

she [Emma] said frankly

she [Emma] said

I [Emma] hope

she [Emma] ended

She [Emma] looked

[Emma] remembered

Norma will be here soon

She [Norma] always comes home

Emma could not tell

Emma’s heart lifted

Emma spoke reminiscently

she was telling the story

she had wished well

she [Emma] said in mock pleasure

she [Emma] asked

Norma will be

she [Emma] said

she [Emma] hope

Emma was summoned

[Emma] sitting with Rividad like that

[Emma] talking

she [Emma] passed them

she [Emma] wore

She [Emma] took

[Emma] looking in on every store

[Emma] crossing over to Luna Street

she [Emma] fought the wish to see

him

she [Emma] sat

[Emma] telling herself

she [Emma] sat longer

she [Emma] had intended

she [Emma] stood up

She [Emma] began to hurry

she [Emma] ran

[Emma] forgetting everything else

she [Emma] reached

she [Emma] saw him

She [Emma] stepped

[Emma] said

she [Emma] said

She [Emma] felt

She [Emma] did not meet his gaze

you [Emma] could possibly think of

she [Emma] begged

She [Emma] said

She [Emma] nodded

She [Emma] looked

She [Emma] had wanted

she [Emma] had wanted

she [Emma] had tried

Emma Gorrez let her head fall back

She [Emma] closed her eyes

I [Emma] wish

I [Emma] could cross over

I [Emma] could go back

she [Emma] thought

I [Emma]wish

I [Emma]mused

I [Emma] said

I [Emma] bob

[Emma] not wanting to save myself

I [Emma] am safe

I [Emma] do not wish

she [Emma] said aloud

she [Emma] asked unhappily

You [Emma] are not Norma

You are Emma

she [Emma] asked

I [Emma] could love him

she [Emma] thought

I [Emma] love him

she [Emma] thought

She [Emma] had run away

Mrs. Puray dozing

She [Emma] had loved

she [Emma] had been

one [Emma] paid for carelessness

385

[Emma] sipping coffee

Processes with the male as actor:

he [Doming] had stood

[Doming] thumbing through

he had bowed slightly

He had bowed

He would hear no more

he had cut short

He had bowed

[Doming] holding his head

he [Doming] did

if he returned

[Doming] looming

if he strode in

[Doming] scowling

[Doming] loving her

Doming had not appeared

he [Rene] was out

[Rene] he said

[Rene] taking her hand

He [Rene] stood

[Rene] shifting his

[Rene] veiling his

he [Rene] smiled

You [Rene] have learned

he [Doming] was well

He [Rene] did not ask

man [Rene] who had once said

he [Rene] loved her

he [Doming] had chucked jobs

[Doming] walked out

[Doming] turned his back

[Isabelo, or Paco or Domingo]

kicked

[Isabelo, or Paco or Domingo]

slapped Emma and Nora

he [Doming] did admirably

[Doming] charmed them out

Doming would not hear

Doming snorted

Doming said

he [Doming] said

he [Doming] said

I’ll [Doming] get a job

he [Doming] said

Doming had simply walked

[Doming] bluffing his way

[Doming] wearing the inevitable

shirt

When he [Doming] left

he [Doming] drove

He [Doming] returned

[Doming] speaking the jargon

[Doming] donning the jesting

attitudes

He [Doming] slid into

He [Doming] replied

He [Doming] did not like arguing

he [Doming] replied

[Doming] hoping to discourage her

he [Doming] said

he [Doming] asked

He [Doming] knew

he [Doming] recalled

he [Doming] laughed

He [Mr.Navarro] was seventy

He [Mr. Navarro] had earned

Mr. Navarro had come knocking

You [Doming] can’t go on

I [Doming] like pitting

Navarro had stormed

[Navarro] demanding

He [Navarro] wanted

Doming had stepped

[Doming] bringing the inimitable

charm

Gorrez had invited

Navarro went

Gorrez spoke

[Doming] used its native diphthongs

[Doming] had cajoled

I [Doming] might propose

Navarro had wobbled

386

When Doming was through

Navarro had allowed

He [Navarro] had killed himself

Doming to touch

Doming brought it all to her

attack perpetrated by Number 2

Doming Gorrez laughed

He [Doming] had pulled

[Doming] searching

He [Doming] threw it

he [Doming] had said

I [ Doming] am

Doming announced

[Doming] thumping himself

Do you [Doming] remember

you’re [Doming] not

you [Doming] were easier to love

you [Doming] remember

You [Doming] were

[Doming] to arrange people’s lives

he [Doming] snarled

I [Doming] don’t want to go

he [Doming] asked

he [Doming] said

His [Doming] answer was

He [Doming] might trade in

He [Doming] can get along

Doming Gorrez would follow

Doming had worked

Mr. Rividad said

[Mr. Rividad] catching up

Rividad’s father had led

Mr. Rividad had told

I [Mr. Rividad] saw

[Mr. Rividad] was not

he [Mr. Rividad] had run

[Mr. Rividad] found his parents

[the officer] had approached

[the officer] said

The officer who had shot

I [Mr. Rividad] am

he [Mr. Rividad] wished

He [Mr. Rividad] had lived

He [Mr. Rividad] had left

[Mr. Rividad] studied

[Mr. Rividad] returning

he [Mr. Rividad] had lived

he [Mr. Rividad] was living

he [Mr. Rividad] could not satisfy

Mr. Rividad went on

[Mr. Rividad] Falling in step with

Emma

Rividad repeated

Mr. Rividad had blurted out

he [Rividad] had said

[Mr. Rividad] speaking slowly

I [Mr. Rividad] cannot stop

Gorrez who now drew

[Ernesto Bello] was out of town

Gorrez called

[Big Man] who played

Doming gleefully brought Emma

he [Doming] had loosened

[Doming] kicked off his shoes

Doming would give her

Big Man fancied

the boss [Big Man] sat

[Big Man] licking his chops

his [Big Man’s] limbs trembling

Gorrez asked

[Gorrez] stood

[Gorrez] noted the busy signal

[Gorrez] smiled

[Gorrez] took his time

said Domingo

Big Man honoured

[the boss] celebrating

boss danced

husband [Mr. Testa] had led the

strike

Big Man had not known

He was whirling

[Big Man] was probably toying with

a man’s [Testa] angry hand cut his

[Big Man’s] pleasure short

He [Testa] had led

387

[Testa had] lost

Testa took his wife

[Testa] smiling crazily

[Testa] walked

[Testa] shook their hands

[Testa] saying something

Doming had muttered

Doming had cursed

[Doming] shifting gears

replied Gorrez

Gorrez said drunkenly

[Gorrez] stepping

[Gorrez] swinging

[Gorrez’s role] had not been

Bello had done

[Bello] worming his way

[Bello] listing

[Bello] lending

Bello had not marched

had he [Doming] been so minded

Big Man had asked

Bello was already there

[Bello] mixing

Doming could have swung

Doming had picked up

He [Doming] could have helped

Gorrez had thought

he told Emma

You [Doming] could have redeemed

yourself

You [Doming] could have done

Are you [Doming] sure

are you [Doming] sure

you [Doming] do

Rene Rividad walked in

[Rene] took the chair

He [Rene] would wait

[Rene would] go through the farce

He [Rene] would then take her home

He [Rene] asked her

he [Rene] went

He [Rene] told her

he [Doming] was arriving

Mr. Rividad asked her

He [Rene] spooned

[Rene] held the milk

He [Rene] laughed with her

he [Rene] explained

[Rene] spreading his hands

Doming had stopped writing

Mr. Rividad glanced at his watch

[Rene] said

he [Rene] said

Rividad walked in

Father Thomas weekly exhorted

them

Mr. Rividad smoked

You [Rene] remember saying once

He [Rene] nodded

[Rene] smiling suddenly

You [Rene] are not wooing me

if I [Rene] am

he [Rene] asked

[Rene] matching her mood

I [Rene] am not waiting

Mr. Rividad said quietly

he [Rene] waited for

Rene Rividad sat

[Rene] smoking

[Rene] waiting

[Rene] telling

Mr. Rividad was waiting

he [Rene] was there or not

He [Rene] had probably not waited

You [Doming] are here

He [Rene] looked at her

he [Rene] said suddenly

he [Rene] had never called her

I [Rene] would like to wait

he [Rene] continued

he [Rene] insisted

he [Rene] said

Rividad leaned

Domingo Gorrez had leaned

[Doming] pleaded

Rividad pleaded

388

Doming had spoken

he [Doming] had said

he [Doming] had learned

This man [Rene] asked me

he [Rene] said

he [Rene] said

I [Rene] love you

I [Doming] shrugged my shoulders

what he [Rene] was there for

someone [Rene] had said

Processes with non-living things as actors,

and those with no actors:

----

IT WAS her day

there had been nothing

their [Emma and Doming’s] looks

had met

This was how

anger pulsing between them

it would not matter

the rain fell

no one [she knew] appeared

her letter resting

It had seemed

[the information] did not help

That hadn’t changed

things in Tayug had [changed]

[their wired cage] had been taken

over by a pair of deer

[a pair of deer] captured

They [the deer] limped about

[deer] dragging themselves

[deer] looking up

The shanties on Tañedo had been

torn down

they [the buildings] lifted

two movie houses had been erected

faculty sound systems pierced the air

sonorous declarations of love and

anger straddled the town

came the screams

the echoes would carry

It[screams and echoes] lasted for

hours

It [shutting the windows] did not

keep

[some of the stridency] did not reach

her

the echoes persisted

books salvaged from the wreck

marriage had come apart

It [the marriage] was difficult to

understand

[that terrible time] had drawn them

together

business blowing up

business and the friendship wavered

That was all

her foolish rage had plunged them

into

it was from the moment

the marriage began to go

No one was safe

Life waited

there were plenty

It meant

it was not like

there had been

the hills looked down

benevolence enwrapped them

world that repelled her

It was not

This is not

cars cast strange, grotesque shadows

[cars] lighting up

[city] which had humiliated him

things that will last

money lasts

voice approximating

there are none

It was a test

it was true

[redress] took everyone aback

it did not include

389

[nothing] could deter him

It was

There were

Stocks plummeting

Quality employed

[an entire business] going up in

smoke

[charm] to bear upon

[nothing Doming might propose]

will mean disgrace

they [the wounds] were where

heart that must have bled quickly

the check came back

Quality had given him

sun was not there

it [sun/terror] frightened her no

longer

[the memory] did not hurt her

this was corruption

[headlights] momentarily

illuminating

God vouchsafed

they [feelings] were

[the darkness inside you] had known

It was

[the money, the ease, the new status]

had come

That was

they stood

familiar 812 [bus] pulled in

[bus] began to load up

[None] has to happen

[bus] starting

[something] had drowned

it is always

there is finally nothing

what will maim and sear us

hood falls off

it is the macabre face of death

That is a statement

that [statement] should do tour

department at Quality proud

mauve was the latest hue of success

There was a sale

Nobody asked

It was the quiet and modest life

The derricks were still there

[Rizal statue] lifted unwearied arms

he [Rizal statue] had seen nothing

it was here

no one had paid him any attention

He [the Rizal statue] has seen

The wind from the hills was

sweeping

[words] that had brought down

warm bed beckoning

[the Public Relations Dept.]

occupied

The Zenith was a modern

[The Zenith] rising on stilts

cobweb-windows dazzled

windows belonged

it was his [Domingo] voice

[Domingo’s voice] coming over

[voice] that sent them

Conflicting ambitions had nearly

precipitated

neither [Bello nor Gorrez] knew

It [Big Man strategy] was one way

rooms would be open

It was a door

[the connecting door] would be open

no one mentioned

There were the office parties

Music was loud

laughter was raucous

There was Testa

[something] froze

it [Gorrez’s role] had been wicked

things really were

Quality stocks were up

provincial outlets were never better

public relations was going great

a few raises would not have hurt

old goat spent

390

Big Man’s steely gaze did not once

leave

life was

Everything led to

But a shrug is a smart reflex

it [a shrug] comes with

they [the company] distribute

it [Doming’s blow] landed

there was nothing to do

The beverage came

The last bus from Dagupan came

it was an act of kindness

were comfortable

Plaridel [school] was beginning to

attract

they [the school] had

it was not easy to fatten

the liquid turned white

They [Rene’s fingers] were long

They [Rene’s fingers] shook

Happiness just barely misses my

grasp

money came

there had been notes

[notes] saying hello

[notes] asking if the kids were well

they [the notes] had stopped

money orders were reaching her now

There was the red Pantran

[the red Pantran] easing itself

It was two Saturdays later

it was by design

there was no time to talk

there were always too many people

it was different

There was nothing wrong

[business] that went ph-f-f-f-t

no treachery more terrible was

possible

time came to tell her

there are other days

It was not Norma

the last bus from Dagupan would

drive in

knell sounded

[sounding knell] foreshadowing

anguish

Some affection was bound to spill

over

the sun was gone

her feet took her to De Luxe

they [Emma’s feet] bore her..to

where

it was not important if

it was evening

A desire to weep had possessed her

it was an eternity

It was a bold thing to say

it was a perilous thing to say

her [Emma] defences go

[a brief word] it stripped

life will allow me

This is catastrophe

it [love] had gone

a forest shudders

A tremor shook her

it was like

a dam breaking

a wall giving way

the shoe is near

There is a difference

[the jukebox] began to sing softly

electric fan whirring overhead

The joys of Sunday seemed far away

The licit sounds of happiness had

slid

Processes with a hypothetical addressee:

you [general] had seen

you [general] invariably dropped

[you – general] took one of its

battered tables

[you – general] ordered coffee

You knew

you were

391

you could not see

you could not see

Legend: green-material intention (317), light

purple-supervention (89), cyan-mental

(269), yellow-relational (103), red-material

event (17)

Female as active voice: 240

Male as active voice: 523