My Father Goes to Court by Carlos Bulosan

     Carlos Sampayan Bulosan (November 24, 1913 – September 11, 1956) was an English-language Filipino novelist and poet who spent most of his life in the United States. His best-known work today is the semi-autobiographical America Is in the Heart, but he first gained fame for his 1943 essay on The Freedom from Want. (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Bulosan)

Vocabulary

• condemn - express complete disapproval of; censure.
• anaemic - lacking in colour, spirit, or vitality.
• molave - a large Philippine timber tree
• presidencia - the office and function of president
• waft - pass or cause to pass gently through the air.
• strut - walk with a stiff, erect, and apparently arrogant or conceited gait.
• glower - have an angry or sullen look on one's face; scowl.

Characters:

• The Narrator - he is one of the children of the farmer/farm owner.
• The Father/Farmer(?)/Farm Owner - the father of the narrator. Since it was mentioned in the story that he owned a farm, I might refer to him as the farmer or farm owner, to avoid confusion.
• Mother- the wife of the Farmer/Farm Owner.
• The Children of the Farmer (?) - the siblings of the narrator. They were referred to as strong, robust, and cheerful. They were accused of stealing the spirit of the food which was prepared for the rich man's children.
• The Rich Man- the neighbor of the narrator when they moved to town. Described as someone who is not sociable, especially to those who has a lower status in life than him. It is implied in the story that he is also stupid. He accused the family of the narrator of stealing the spirit of the food which his servants prepared. 
• The Judge - the one who is in charge of the case filed by the rich man. He was described as someone who is old-looking.
• The Rich Man's Children- described as thin, anaemic, and pale.
• Servants of the Rich Man- the ones who are preparing food for the rich man's family.

Minor Characters:

• Rich Man's Lawyer
• Spectators

Setting

     The story was set several years after 1918, in a town (the town's name wasn't mentioned in the story). The events occurred in their neighborhood, and the trial was held in a court in their locality. I believe that the story occurred in a period wherein the influence of Spain is still seen, because of the use of a Spanish word which refers to their local government, yet the story was already set during the American colonization.

PLOT

Exposition

     The narrator tells the story of how they moved into a town after getting ther farm destroyed by a flood. They moved near the house of a rich man, who doesn't interact with his neighbors much. The children of the farmer/farm owner were described as cheerful and playful. Their cheerfulness was especially seen  whenever the servants of the rich man are cooking, since they were already satisfied with just smelling and listening to the sizzles and aroma of the food.

Rising Action

     The conflict starts when the children of the farmer/farm owner grew up to be healthy, while the children of the rich man were pale, despite the difference of status in life. The rich man was seen observing the family of the farmer/farm owner, and he ordered his servants to shut all windows and doors in their house. However, this doesn't stop the aroma from going out of their house.

Climax 

     The problem starts when the rich man filed a complaint against the family of the narrator for stealing the spirit of his wealth and food. When the day of the trial arrived, the rich man came, looking old and weak, and the rest of his family, in the same bad situation he is in. The trial starts with the judge asking the farmer questions regarding the complaint, and the farmer cross-examined the children of the rich man. Learning of their "logical" reasons, he then proceeded to give them an equal payment for what they stole.

Falling Action

     The farmer collected coins from his family, and went to another room which is near the courtroom. He shook the coins, which made an audible sound, even from where the rich man was. The farmer then confirms if the rich man and his children heard the coins shaking, and after they confirmed that they heard it, the farmer then says that they are paid.

Ending/Conclusion

     The rich man fell to the floor, and the case was dismissed. The judge then went down to talk with the farmer, and the judge, the farmer, his family, and the spectators laughed hard.

Symbolism

     The tall house of the rich man refers to his status in life. He is rich and was able to live a luxurious life. It also symbolizes his attitude, for he looks down on others because of their status. I think that the reason why he was able to file a complaint that stupid was because he was underestimating the farmer's wits and knowledge. The tall house may also symbolize how rich people try to keep away from those who are poor, which is also seen in the modern society.

      It was mentioned in the story that the rich man looked down to the children of the farmer. They were seen as happy, healthy, and cheerful despite their average status in life. I think that this symbolizes the happiness that we achieve in life. We can achieve happiness in life even without wealth. There are also times when we have reached the top, only to lose sight of what is really important to us. I believe that even with the wealth he has, the rich man was not able to achieve happiness.

     The rich man's complaints about other people stealing the spirit of his wealth and food may symbolize greed, since he was trying to contain everything, even the smell, to his family only. This shows just how some rich people in our society tries to take everything for themselves, not leaving any for those below them.

      Overall, I believe that this story's theme is absurdity. We can see how the rich man blamed the narrator's family because of an illogical reason. This was also shown in the ending. I am assuming that they were laughing at how stupid the whole case was, and how the father resolved it with an equally absurd yet wise way of solving the whole problem.

Lesson: 

• Be careful when accusing others without logical basis. 
• In the pursuit of happiness, material wealth is irrelevant.

Portrait of a Great Man by Manuel Viray

Portrait of a Great Man

By Manuel A. Viray

   Manuel A. Viray (1917-1995?) has compiled poetry anthologies, essays on Philippine literature, and was editor-in-chief of Archipelago Quarterly. He worked in the foreign service corp of the Philippine government until his retirement. (Source: https://essaycatalog.org/philippine-essay-with-author)

Vocabulary

• capricious- changing according to no discernible rules; unpredictable.
• chauffeur- a person employed to drive a private or hired car.
• Bundy Clock- a person employed to drive a private or hired car.
• protégée-a person who is guided and supported by an older and more experienced or influential person.
• stenotypist- a keyboard machine resembling a typewriter, used in stenotypy.
• treatise- a written work dealing formally and systematically with a subject.
• Kaywoodie- a brand of pipe
• appal-greatly dismay or horrify.
• red tape- excessive bureaucracy or adherence to official rules and formalities.
• placated-make (someone) less angry or hostile.
• jurisprudence- the theory or philosophy of law.

Characters

• Dr. Rufino T. Ventanilla- the doctor and the deputy commissioner in the story. Known to be someone who is picky about details, and someone who does not trust his subordinates' abilities.
• Marcos Montalbo II- the special assistant, and a good friend of Adriano Perez
• Adriano Perez y Tiron- a doctor and the Deputy Commissioner who had succeeded Ventanilla at the end of the story.
• Zabala- the typist
• Lita- mistress (?) of Ventanilla, not seen much in the story
• Serafin- the chauffeur of Dr. Ventanilla.
• Del Mundo and Estabillo- assistants on mechanization

Setting

It was implied in the beginning of the story that it was "5 minutes to eight", and that the story occurred in the bureau office. The conversation between Perez and Montalbo occurred in the restaurant. The story is set in a day wherein the Commissioner is absent (a deputy commissioner is in charge when the commissioner is absent) and Dr. Ventanilla will be promoted after a few weeks.

PLOT

Exposition

       The story starts of with Dr. Ventanilla riding the car to his office. He was seen as easily annoyed, and someone who is arrogant due to his position, yet kind of subservient to those superior to him. Other characters were also introduced in the story, such as Zabala, and Serafin.

Rising Action

       As he entered the office, it was shown that his desk was piled up with papers which he needs to check one by one. His easily irritated and perfectionist personality was further shown when he reprimanded Perez about a missed semi-colon in his treatise, and when he ordered his subordinate to order things which Lita requested from him. Another instance was when he ordered Zabala to take a bottle from the fridge. As we can see, the conflict introduced in this part is the unlikeable personality of Ventanilla, and how his co-workers look at him.

Climax

       The problem was introduced when he was choosing a new deputy commissioner who will replace him. I believe that this is the climax since his insecurity was shown in this part. Another part which I believe is the climax is when he was discussing parts of the contract with Del Mundo and Estabillo, wherein his problems in the story are piling up. As he tries to resolve everything, he felt nervous and went to the "House of Commons". I also believe another part which I can call is the climax of the story is when Perez and Montalbo discussed Ventanilla's personality, and his past problems with the Commissioner. It was shown here that he was trying too much to prove that he is capable of something.

Falling Action

       While I did include the conversation of Perez and Montalbo in the climax, I also believe that a  part of the falling action was here, since they were also discussing how Ventanilla might be appointed as a Director of Internal Affairs, which happened later on in the story. Furthermore, they also discussed what Ventanilla should've done in the duration of his term in the office. In the later part of the story, Perez was appointed the new Deputy Commissioner, and Ventanilla was apparently working hard as the Director of Internal Affairs.

Ending

       Perez was appointed the new Deputy Commissioner, but his personality has also changed into what resembles Ventanilla's personality. Ventanilla is now relaxing as he was appointed as  Director of Internal Affairs. Perez is now shouldering Ventanilla's responsibilities, which lead to Perez slowly neglecting his employees' status.

Symbolism

       I believe that how they refer to the sun as "an intruder of sleep and stolen love" symbolizes how the sun starts a new day of work and stress for employees who need to wake up early. However, as for the "stolen love", I believe that this refers to Ventanilla's affair with Lita, since there are times when these kinds of affairs will stop during the day, and they have to go back to their daily lives with their respective families. I also think that this affair symbolizes a person's outlet (?) or way of relieving stress after a day's worth of work.

       Another thing which I noticed in the beginning of the story was when Ventanilla was annoyed with Serafin's dirty nape and unkempt hair. This may represent two things: an employer's cruelty to his employee, or how the rich looks at the poor. I said that it may be cruelty because he had to wake his chauffeur up early in the morning, even causing him to not take a bath just to keep up with the demands of the doctor. I believe that this represents a subordinate trying to fulfill his boss' demands, even if he has to neglect his well-being. I also think that this refers to how the rich looks at the poor because the rich always looks down at the poor, and they may look annoyed.

       The clock and Ventanilla's pickiness which is seen in the semi-colon incident represents a man striving for perfection and a man's pride. I believe that man can never be perfect, for if man will be perfect, we cannot be called as such anymore. However, some still strive to be as close as we can be to perfection, even at the cost of pulling others down, and finding mistakes in other people's hard work.

       The pile of papers in Ventanilla's desk represents the mental stress and problems he has to endure everyday in work. This pile of paper confronts him everyday as he goes in his office, and this may have changed him for the worse, since he neglected different people as he worked in this office. This shows how problems and stress may shape a person into a different one. 

       Ventanilla's argument with the Commissioner may represent a man's pride. It was seen how the Commissioner tried to silence Ventanilla, yet he still answered back, since he was someone who studied law in a prestigious university. This shows how people can be prideful if they have achieved something, and act like a know-it-all. 

        I also believe that the conversation between Perez and Montalbo represents how man can be ignorant of the hardships of others. They say things behind other people's back even without knowing of the circumstances, or even experiencing their hardship.

        Lastly, the title "Portrait of a Great Man" may represent the imperfection of man, since the characters in the story were depicted as someone far from perfect. It shows a contrast of what makes and doesn't make a great man. 

Lesson:

• Think of other peoples' circumstances before talking about them.
• Do not be insecure of what others have that you don't.
• Always remember to look back from where you came from.
• Always try to be good to others, even when you are filled with problems

To read the full story, check this link: http://www.sushidog.com/bpss/stories/great_man.htm