What details reveal that the story is set during the Martial Law Era?
The military’s overpowering presence gave clues to the story written under Marcos Era. The soldiers have the strict implementation of peace and curfew, which those patriarchal men in the story take for granted. There are some details in the story wherein one of the main characters is abused. It only shows that during the imposition of Martial Law, civil law, civil rights, and habeas corpus are suspended.
What is the personality of the four characters you enumerated in question 1 of Level 1? Cite parts of the text as proof.
Mother – she is a submissive type of wife; she hardly cannot defend herself against her abusive husband. Thus, she could not bear to leave him. For instance, she felt anxious when her drunken husband left home that night.
Old Selo – he is a forgetful and mumbling older man. For instance, he even forgot that his wife suffered death due to pulmonary disease. However, even though he is withered with age, he does not want his family to be oppressed by those powerful landlords. He always makes sure that his family can still eat enough food. He tried to seek a sack of corn, but one of the goons caught him and struck old Selo’s chest with a hilt.
Father – he neglects his own family. He is an alcoholic man who always beats his wife. He did not express any sympathy towards his daughter even though he noticed that his daughter was raped. Based on the text, the father ignored or looked away when he noticed a bruise at the back of her (daughter) left thigh, indicating that she experienced violence.
Daughter – as old Selo described she could have a bright future. She was also a respectful and a hero daughter as she let the soldiers rape her for the sake of his father’s freedom. As stated in the text, “Any self-respecting daughter would do much more. How about it? We will give him a bed that makes him comfortable while you are paying. At dawn, we will give him to you. How about it?”
What is the history behind Old Selo’s right hand? What does his former tattoo look like and what does it represent?
His right hand contains an insignia tattoo which symbolizes that he is a member of the national society of peasants. It looks like a sickle, one of the symbols that comprise the representation of a Communist group. Who at the end betrayed them when the landlord’s goon squads started kicking house doors down.
What is the family’s means of living? What makes their socioeconomic condition worse?
Farming is the family’s means of living. The feudal system that exists between the farmers and the landlord makes their socioeconomic status worst, as the goons also used military oppression to harass them.
What caused “a twinge of anger” to shoot through the daughter during dinner?
Old Selo could not take anything solid that is why it could be a shame and a waste of rice if she insisted on giving solid food to her grandfather. But as just what they always been believed, “Even with eating, one took a vow akin to marriage— one ate as the others ate, for richer and for poorer.”
What causes the anxiety of the mother to the point that she asked her daughter to bring back the drunken father home at that night?
The mother knows the strict and harsh implementation of a curfew in their town. She knew that whoever violated the law would be left heavily bruised or even die once got in hand with the military because the military suspended the writ of habeas corpus during martial law.
How did the daughter save her father?
Unfortunately, the arresting officers used the daughter’s body to free her father. Although the details are not explicitly written, the soldiers who laughed when they said she could pay some other way indicate that they will rape her in exchange for his father’s freedom. Moreover, the daughter’s skit splattered by blood and white matter indicates vaginal laceration and semen from the abusive soldiers.
What did the daughter do to his father at the end of the story?
Henceforward, the two of them escape from the barracks of the soldiers. As the father quickened his pace, leaving his daughter behind, she killed her father by smashing a jagged pebble at the back of his skull.
What instigates the father to engage in heavy drinking? Support your answer with evidence from the text.
Alcohol would serve as the relaxant of the father due to resentment in agrarian reform. Another factor would be that alcohol drinking in male farmers is the norm already taken by the father, especially during harvest. Based on the text, “The father was trying to convince the two soldiers that a man had the right to get drunk where and how it pleased him. Particularly when the harvest was involved, yes, sir, particularly. One of the soldiers replied by pummelling him in the ribs and stomach.” that means the father tries to justify drinking given that he has the right and its harvesting season.
Lastly, we should also consider that he does not care about his family anymore, so that farming would be out of his mind. Heavy drinking might come from patriarchal principles, from the notion that he is a man and has the right to abuse alcohol and his family. As supported by the text, “Son-of-a-goat, he said, he was a man, and a man had rights. So the law decreed.”
What details in the story foreshadow the fate of the daughter? In relation to this question, return to the story’s mention of the mimosa, and answer this question too: what does the mimosa symbolize?
Details in the story that foreshadow the daughter’s faith are when the mother tells her to take her brother with her to the canal. her mother replied, “Because you are no longer a child,” came the answer. “Because of what could happen which must not happen.” It is also highlighted by what she has said “it is not as if I take my clothes off, which points to possible sexual abuse.
On the other hand, the mimosa pudica symbolizes a persevering yet powerful woman who will first fold but rise with her thorns to retaliate. Maybe, these jagged thorns could also represent the jagged pebbles used by the daughter in killing her father.
How do you explain the title of the story? Also, how do you make sense of the flies in the story’s ending? What does the story tell about generations?
“Generations” represents the generational gap between Old Selo, the abusive father, the submissive mother, and the main protagonist-daughter. The flies are the illusion of a patriarchal system that gives false hope. Hence, the younger generation should not let the flies land because the older generation, which supports patriarchy and the feudal system, is nourished with sick things.
The story foreshadows how the younger generation should not imitate the rotten age group. They should stand up and fight against oppression.
How is life during Martial Law Era according to the story? Cite details or events in the text that support your claim.
First, The landlords and the rich become more prosperous. The national government didn’t provide concrete solutions for agrarian reform. That is why they create an alliance against the capitalist system. This assumption is evident from the text because it says that “In high hopes, Selo had had the society’s insignia tattooed on the skin web between his thumb and forefinger. Other men in village carried the blue sickle on their bodies—on the chest, above the heart; on the thigh; on the skin web between thumb and forefinger.”
Conversely, Women were abused during Martial Law. The incident of rape that happened to the daughter is just a representation of what had happened to women activists, including the writer.
Lastly, the arresting officers are too overpowered. That is why they tend to forget morality and objectify women as sexual tools for the sake of their lust.
The story admittedly contains sensitive scenes of violence and sex. Revisit those sensitive scenes. Are violence and sex graphic in the story? If yes, cite parts of the story to prove your claim. If not, how did the writer avoid being graphic in depicting such sensitive scenes?
There is some violence that is graphic. For example, the reader felt the explicit beaten action of the father when he attacked their home drunk last night. The text showed notable violence, stating, “Resentment came into the room. The man halted prowled about the accusing air of his family. His insulted soul gave him pride. Son-of-a-goat, he said, was a man, and a man had rights. So the law decreed. Circling, he came upon a face. His grief bailed itself into a fist. Without a word, he smashed a blow into his wife’s face.”
Fortunately, the writer avoids being graphic in depicting the rape scene between the soldiers and the daughter by using phrases like “can she pay some other way” and a statement like “There are only four of us here. You’re lucky.” provokes a possible sexual interest. Moreover, as perceived by the father, he just heard a woman’s cry and a man’s laugh sometime in the night, indicating that his daughter is being molested.
