Written by: Rachelle M. Aurellano
IP 411: Ilokano Lit & Translation
Background: This short story is situated in a place known as Nagsaag, found in the southern coast of Ilocos in the province of Pangasinan. A story about coming of age with a historical reference of the Japanese Occupation in the early 1940's. The setting begins with the moon peering over the high Caraballo Mountain, while a family was eating. The Mother of the family gets up, scoops a handful of cooked rice and throws it towards the full moon. This particular scene is very important in terms of its relation to the entire story and also understanding the traditions of Ilokanos, for they believed that this kind of offering brought good luck. However, during a time of hunger and fear, the Mother had stopped offering rice to the moon, for the war was coming. This meant that food, especially rice, became scarce and the only way to obtain rice was from the rich old man who lived near the mountains, Don Gaspar. During this time of war, because rice was scarce, some people would make do with other products to replace rice. In this case, the Mother used cassava and sweet potatoes because it did grow heavily in their farm. Then one day, two men had visited their place and warned them that the war might not spare their village. And so the families in that area, including the family of the main character, Odet, had to evacuate and make their way towards the mountains. Through this journey, the young boy, Odet, nearly ten years old, narrates their journey from their village to the mountain tops.
Odet, very innocent in his character and also very trustworthy, he observes and reports all that is happening from his mother offering rice to the moon, the journey to a new place, and the story of his older sister, Manang Ason. Odet, who is not young and not yet old, has many questions of the events that are taking place. But through his observations, he comes to understand the world, in terms of the reasoning of leaving behind their town, the love of his sister, the importance of the rich old man, and understanding the significance of offering rice to the moon.
Comment: To get a gist of the entire story from start to finish, please read it.You can find it in the Ilokano Harvest by Pelagio Alcantara & Manuel Diaz.
Reaction: The title of this story, I thought, was really beautiful. In my own interpretation, it was significant from start to finish. The fact that the Mother of the story, in a way, depended on the moon to bring good luck was really interesting. The belief that by offering the moon rice, it would eventually give luck, was in itself a metaphor of the importance of having rice to be able to throw at the moon. Early in the story, it's prevalent that the family's abundance in rice was seldom because of the war, and not having that rice to go along with meals became a symbol of how important rice was. The fact that there wasn't rice to offer to bring luck, shows how the war became problematic in continuing a ritual, that was once very important to the Mother. But through the character of Odet, despite all that has happened and was about to happen, his character gave this kind of glimpse of hope, that even though the family was struggling to put rice on the table, better things would happen--with the help of sacrifice. Although I didn't quite approve of the ending (which you'll have to read yourself), it was very significant as it gives not only a historical event of the Philippines, but also the reality of sacrifice for a family's well-being. This sacrifice, throughout the entire story, is not yet known to the character of Odet until the very end, when he says "Only I didn't know it was good-bye for always." Beautiful line, isn't it?
Odet, very innocent in his character and also very trustworthy, he observes and reports all that is happening from his mother offering rice to the moon, the journey to a new place, and the story of his older sister, Manang Ason. Odet, who is not young and not yet old, has many questions of the events that are taking place. But through his observations, he comes to understand the world, in terms of the reasoning of leaving behind their town, the love of his sister, the importance of the rich old man, and understanding the significance of offering rice to the moon.
Comment: To get a gist of the entire story from start to finish, please read it.You can find it in the Ilokano Harvest by Pelagio Alcantara & Manuel Diaz.
Reaction: The title of this story, I thought, was really beautiful. In my own interpretation, it was significant from start to finish. The fact that the Mother of the story, in a way, depended on the moon to bring good luck was really interesting. The belief that by offering the moon rice, it would eventually give luck, was in itself a metaphor of the importance of having rice to be able to throw at the moon. Early in the story, it's prevalent that the family's abundance in rice was seldom because of the war, and not having that rice to go along with meals became a symbol of how important rice was. The fact that there wasn't rice to offer to bring luck, shows how the war became problematic in continuing a ritual, that was once very important to the Mother. But through the character of Odet, despite all that has happened and was about to happen, his character gave this kind of glimpse of hope, that even though the family was struggling to put rice on the table, better things would happen--with the help of sacrifice. Although I didn't quite approve of the ending (which you'll have to read yourself), it was very significant as it gives not only a historical event of the Philippines, but also the reality of sacrifice for a family's well-being. This sacrifice, throughout the entire story, is not yet known to the character of Odet until the very end, when he says "Only I didn't know it was good-bye for always." Beautiful line, isn't it?
No comments:
Post a Comment