Why Antonio Samson commits suicide?

The pretenders, which I only had the opportunity to read now after months of setting it aside or putting it down, is a very heartbreaking novel, although I shouldn't feel that way about it. This was written by F. Sionil. His style is unique, the themes and plots are captivating. It is critical and subtle but progressive and smart. His characters are intriguing and complex but full of life and you cannot help to wish to understand them, know them. His story is sheer perfection. He captivates the readers the exact way that s/he desires

The man in question is Antonio "Tony" Samson. He travels to the U.S., leaving behind Emy, who unperceived to him, is pregnant with his son. There, he meets Carmen Villa, the daughter of a rich mestizo industrialist, Don Manuel. When Tony returns to the Philippines, engaged to Carmen, Don Manuel proceeds to show Tony how easy it is to buy people. His marriage leads to his eventual downfall. He barely protests and he accepts a position with the Villas and goes along with shady business plans. Don Manuel proves his point when he shows Tony a canceled check made out to a magazine journalist whom Tony regards as a man of integrity. Almost simultaneously, Tony realizes that Carmen has lost respect for him and is having an affair. Pushed too far at last, Tony rebels in the only way left to him.

Some of these may be the reasons. He found out that the book of Dean Lopez was a plagiarized work. He just copied his book from others. Next is Carmen Villa had an abortion because she wants to remain her figure. She aborted their first child and Tony forgave his wife after doing that. He felt to be poor before but when he became part of the Villas, he became blind to reality which everything has a price. He is now made to move in elevated social circles and do work he had not prepared himself to do. And also, Tony has frequent spats with his wife who, he discovers to his dismay, has been engaged in affairs with other man.

Tony Samson is a very appealing character. His weaknesses and strengths are presented to the readers with ease and acceptability. Despite of being a scholar and an Ilocano, he is surrounded by people and a place that was intoxicating him with all the reality there is..

All of these runs on his head which leads to frustation. And he thinks that it's better to end it up, commiting suicide is the only answer. He throws himself under a train in Antipolo.

HUM014/A14 (oyEah!)

Course Code: HUM014-Philippine Literature in English. OMG! I don’t feel this course when I saw it on my assessment form. I wonder what is the connection of this course in our engineering program. I said to myself, “Dagdag pahirap na naman ngaung term.” I think that in this course, we will read long essays, stories, novels, poems, etc. aww! Nakakatamad ever. That's why my blog page title is "In danger of becoming allergy or aversion". I know most of the students don't like this course. I even heard this to my kuya and ate. But I don't have any choice, I have to take and passed this course in order to finish my program. Actually, I’m not into book that’s why I don’t feel this course. I read books but I can’t finish it because I feel sleepy. So the result is, I’m ‘bitin’ in the story. But the first book that I tried to finish was "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupery when I’m in high school. I like it but though I finished it, I didn’t have the courage to continue reading other books then.

But as time passes, all of these changed because of our professor Mrs. Joahnna Eduarte. She is fun and a good teacher. During the first meeting, I was impressed by the way she talks. She was encouraging us to this course. She said that we will love this course. You can see the passion on her in teaching. As she taught us, she is like our friends. She made our Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays a break from the other hard courses. I enjoy the topics that we discussed. The interesting topics to talk about which made us to participate in class, kahit lumalayo minsan ung topic xD. I expected that in this course, there will be lots of requirements to pass. Despite from these activities, we’ve been always enjoyed it as we accomplish it.

And of course, this cannot be complete without my dear classmates. Iba-iba kame ng trip ng mga classmates ko. First, Majay and Mago, they were my friends since first term of our first year. They are kind to me though I’m quite childish to them, spoiled ako sa kanila eh. ^_^ Jenny (always late, eheheh) is my seatmate, she was a transferee that's why she is quiet so I talked to her, but OMG! She’s not that kind of shy type person pa la, maligalig din like me ehehehe. Next are the back people, the group of Noel, Robert and Andro, who I consider the clowns ‘cause they make the discussion a laugh trip, though it became a quite interruption. ahahah, fan nila ko every time na magjojoke sila, astig sila. Everytime we had recitations, they will say "n0se bleeeeed!!!!" ahahaha.^_^. Here are Jordan (tarsier1), Nicole (tarsier2), and Alex (marmoset) who always playing around with me. Lakas ng trip ng mga ‘to eh, lage akong inaasar pero okey lang nakakaganti naman ako eh. Actually when we had a play, everyone got closer to each other. In this activity, I discovered that I’m not the only one who has a crush on HIM! (ahahaha, let’s name him Mr. Right, because he always seats at the right side and he looks a perfect guy err, corny >_<). So, when I joined in the “Muchaha Group”, there I discovered it na and they encourage me to join in the fans club ^_^. And of course, I didn’t refuse to join (join agad ako syempre). Edward, Kuya Arjay and Kuya Ralph are the quiet one in the class. I talked only once to Kuya Mark and Edward but to Kuya Ralph I don't have a chance because he looks suplado. xD And of course, our director in our group, Ate Ezhra. She’s nice and fun to be with. S’ya ung nagpaarte sa’men ni Mago, ahahaha. Astig nga ung script namen eh, and thanks to her. Tsaka only in this activity, I got my first slapped from a guy. Ay, grabe! that really hurts when Mago slapped me. Berris and Jeyron are at the backstage who also helping us. They are also my playmates during the practice, ehehehe. Makulet! Any ways, basta, makukulet kameng lahat! There are good things that happened during the play, astig, nakakatuwa tlga, I really enjoyed their company, good thing we had this play! ^_^

I have to thanked Ma’am for encouraging/giving me the chance to appreciate the literary works made by our very own kababayan. She was the one who proved me that this course is not boring. She was right when she said before that we will enjoy here. I really enjoyed this course.And for sure, I will miss this course, the people behind this everything. And now for me, understanding literature need no longer be a mystery, thanks Ma’am!

*Ma'am, tagalog ung iba para p0h ma-express mabute @^_^@*

TANAGA

Butterfly

img source: (http://tattoodesignspictures.com/images/Butterfly-tattoo-1.jpg)

Love is like a butterfly,

Trying to spread its wings

'Cause finally, it stopped to cry,

And started towards the sky.

4th Post- Analysis on "Laughter" by Maningning Miclat

(http://www.uucpa.org/thespians/images_thespians/Theater_masks_3x3.png)

For me, this is a good poem. Its title is Laughter but when you read the whole stanza, you will

know that this is just an irony.This is about the hidden sadness of the speaker, who is Maningning, to the guy that he loved. The laughter here represents the girl's sadness and sorrow because the guy left her.

I think in order for her to forget the sadness, she just laugh. The guy told him to forget their

memories maybe because in time he will leave. Only in the poem she can saved those memories and

make the readers feel the same way as she felt. And the guy left her without knowing what does

the laughter for her was. And that's the saddest part. ='[

3rd Post - Servant Girl

(http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/wml/humanworld/egyptian/graphics/large/servant_girl.jpg)

This is a story about a a servant named Rosa. It shows the usual

treatment of the masters to their servant. She cannot join in the

conversation of her neighbors in the public bathhouse because she

is limited only in their place. Due to her suffering, she had made

imaginations that might save her. She is just waiting and dreaming

that her Angel (Pedro) will save him from her mistress' brutality.

Estrella Alfon's wrote about a simple story of an ordinary girl and

made it extraordinary. She was able the readers to feel what a servant's

life has. I feel pity for Rosa because her only hope was to have a better

life. She thought that Pedro will save her but in the end she returns to

her mistress again.

I think this means that she cannot avoid from the world that she's

trying to escape in, and she will live forever in imaginations.

2nd Assignment-The People

Nick Joaquin

(http://www.rmaf.org.ph/Awardees/ImgAwardees/ImgJoaquinNic.jpg)

Philippine novelist, poet, playwright, and essayist writing in English, the National Artist for Literature Nick Joaquin (Nicomedes Marquez Joaquin) is widely considered the best postwar author in the Philippines. He also mastered the Philippines' most popular and widely-read literary form, the newspaper column. In offerings titled "Jottings," "Small Beer," and such, he dished out regular rounds of history, opinion, and gossip with such candor, flair and intelligence that he managed to raise this daily newspaper exercise to an art. He translated Spanish works into English, something he had done intermittently for years. His most important in this field was The Complete Poems and Plays of Jose Rizal(1976). Nick also returned to theater. He adapted the stories "Three Generations" and "Summer Solstice" as the plays Fathers and Sons (1977) and Tatarin (1978). He published many written works and he also received several awards. He had influenced and inspired generations of aspiring writers. English is his preferred field of work and he uses the language masterfully to convey his own quintessentially Filipino persona.

(Source: panitikan.com.ph: The National Artists for Literature.

<http://nationalartists.panitikan.com.ph/njoaquin.htm>)

(Source: Resil B. Mojares.The 1996 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts: BIOGRAPHY of Nick Joaquin.

<http://www.rmaf.org.ph/Awardees/Biography/BiographyJoaquinNic.htm>)

Carlos Bulosan

(http://en.wikipilipinas.org/images/4/4c/CarlosBulosan.jpg)

Carlos Bulosan came from a poor family that’s why he went to Seattle at the age of seventeen. With only three years of education from the Philippines, he spoke little English and had barely any money left. In order to survive in Seatle, he took low cost jobs. Then he became an alcoholic, in result he underwent surgery for tuberculosis. In two years in the hospital, he read books every day. Despite of his health condition, he managed to write great works. In his written works, he records his aimlesstravelling, his odd jobs, his organizations of American Filipinos, his experiences of the horrors of victims of discrimination and suffering poverty and yet his high courage and spirit prevailed, his believed to survived in America.

(Source: Carlos Bulosan Exhibit: Bulosan Biography. <http://www.bulosan.org/html/bulosan_biography.html>)

(Source: Wikipilipinas hip n' free: Philippine Encyclopedia.<http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Carlos_Bulosan>)

First Post - LITERATURE: What is it and why is it important?

"Literature is written work produce having exellence of form or expression and dealing with ideas of permanent interests."

-Mirriam-Webster's Dictionary

Literature is the written record of man's thoughts, aspirations, emotions and experiences. It makes the readers feel, see, understand, and take delight in the meaning and worth of life. It is important because it can delight, arouse emotion and fire up the imagination of the readers. It offers us an experience in which we should participate as we read by our own experience. If we are sensitive and receptive, we carry away something of value, a new awareness, a feeling of pleasure and understanding.