Lesson V

Literature of the Philippines

in the American period

Group IV
Nhoven John Martinez
Angelika Torres
We will discuss about
•Paz Marquez Benitez
•Jose Garcia Villa
•Paz Latorena
Paz Marquez Benitez

Paz Márquez-Benítez (March 3, 1894 – November 10, 1983) was a Filipino short-story
writer, educator and editor. Her career as a woman educator as well as her
contributions as a writer are seen as an important step within the advancement of
women in professional careers as well as in the development of Philippine literature.
She was also a former beauty queen.
During her career as a writer, Marquez-Benitez wrote short stories critical of American
Imperialism. She is most known by her short story Dead Stars (1925) in which the two
main characters are displayed as allegories to American imperialism in order to portray
the slow decay of Philippine heritage. Her only other known published work is A Night
in the Hills (1925). Even though she had only two published works her writings would
be regarded as the first steps of Philippine literature moving into the mainstream. [4]
Marquez-Benitez remains as a prominent influence on Philippine literature through not
only her writing but her impact as an educator and editor. She and her husband's
establishment of educational magazines, schools, and her contributions to the
development of creative short story writing courses within the Philippines is believed to
have inspired generations of Filipino writers.
About the works
• Dead Stars (1925)
“Dead Stars” is the 1925 short story that gave birth to modern Philippine writing in English. English was still a young languagein the
Philippines, and many of the writers using the language were still struggling with it. Paz Marquez-Benitez, in her masterpiece Dead
Stars, did not only write about a love story.

• A Night in the Hills (1925)

A Night in the Hills is a short story written by Paz Marquez Benitez. A Night in the
Hills is a story about a man named Gerardo Luna, who is an owner of a pawnshop. After
his wife died he was getting tired of staying all alone at his pawnshop. He grew tired of
staring at the four walls at his pawnshop all his life. He was longing for a change of
scenery that is why he wants to go to the forest. He met Ambo a gatherer of orchids who
tells him about the forest where he can gather orchids. They went to the forest and and
Gerardo finally experienced what he was longing for.
Context of works
She is most known by her short story Dead Stars (1925) in which
the two main characters are displayed as allegories to American
imperialism in order to portray the slow decay of Philippine
heritage. Her only other known published work is A Night in the
Hills (1925).
José García Villa
José García Villa[1] (August 5, 1908 – February 7, 1997) was a Filipino poet, literary critic,
short story writer, and painter. He was awarded the National Artist of the Philippines title for
literature in 1973,[2][3] as well as the Guggenheim Fellowship in creative writing by Conrad
Aiken.[4] He is known to have introduced the "reversed consonance rhyme scheme" in
writing poetry, as well as the extensive use of punctuation marks—especially commas, which
made him known as the Comma Poet.[5] He used the pen name Doveglion (derived from
"Dove, Eagle, Lion"), based on the characters he derived from his own works. These animals
were also explored by another poet, E. E. Cummings, in "Doveglion, Adventures in Value", a
poem dedicated to Villa.[3]
About the works
As an editor, Villa first published Philippine Short Stories: Best 25 Short Stories of 1928 in 1929, an anthology
of Filipino short stories written in English that were mostly published in the literary magazine Philippine Free
Press for that year. It is the second anthology to have been published in the Philippines, after Philippine Love
Stories by editor Paz Márquez-Benítez in 1927. His first collection of short stories that he had written were
published under the title Footnote to Youth: Tales of the Philippines and Others in 1933; while in 1939, Villa
published Many Voices, his first collection poems, followed by Poems by Doveglion in 1941. Other collections
of poems include Have Come, Am Here (1942) and Volume Two (1949; the year he edited The Doveglion Book
of Philippine Poetry in English from 1910). Three years later, he released a follow-up for The Portable
Villa entitled The Essential Villa. In 1958 he brought out Selected Poems and New, in which he retained "only
those poems that I can still care about" from Have Come, Am Here and Volume Two. There was, in addition, a
section of early poems, "comprising what I deem to be the best of the work done in my early youth,"
published for the first time. With this volume "Villa abandoned poetry" (Cowen). Villa, however, went under
"self-exile" after the 1960s, even though he was nominated for several major literary awards including the
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. This was perhaps because of oppositions between his formalism (literature) formalist
style and the advocates of proletarian literature, who misjudged him as a petty bourgeois. Villa only
"resurfaced" in 1993 with an anthology entitled Charlie Chan Is Dead, which was edited by Jessica Hagedorn.
Context of works
Jose Garcia Villa (1908–1997) was a Filipino poet, writer,
and critic. He used the pen name “Doveglion,” which was
a combination of the words “dove,” “eagle,” and “lion” and
was what he believed was his true persona. His notable
works include The Anchored Angel, The Emperor's New
Sonnet, and Footnote to Youth.
Paz M. Latorena
Paz M. Latorena (pseudonym, Mina Lys; January 17, 1908 – October 19, 1953) was one of
the notable writers of the first generation of Filipino English writers, in both literary writing
and education. She was a poet, editor, author, and teacher.
About the works
She became the literary editor of the Varsitarian and
published her poems, “Insight” and “My Last
Song,” under her nom de plume, Mina Lys. She shortly
earned her master's and doctorate degree while teaching
literature courses in UST.
Context of works
Desire by Paz Latorena is about a woman who
longed to be loved and valued for who she is,
not for what she have or could give. Despite his
ugliness, she was blessed with a body that every
man could desire. This makes it difficult for her to
experience pure love.
Dead Stars by Paz Marquez Benitez
Alfredo Salazar – a man of love
The short story revolves around one man, Alfredo Salazar and the affairs of his heart. He is a man
who believes in true love and hopes to find bliss in its wake. The first woman he falls in love with is
Esperanza.
Their families are acquainted with each other and they thus they begin a passionate relationship.
But soon it fades away when Alfredo comes across another woman, Julia, who becomes the object
of his desire.
Esperanza and Alfredo have their engagement after three years of romance. Alfredo, a lawyer is a
man who wants warmth and compassion but Esperanza is a strong-willed, impassionate and
woman of principles.
His Love for Julia Salas
So when he comes across Julia Salas, sister-in-law of the Judge who is a friend of Alfredo’s
father. He is strongly attracted to her. Julia is an enthusiastic and optimistic person. A woman
of hope, dreams and desires.
On his visit with his father, he starts engaging in profound chats with Julia and starts getting
attracted to her charm, wit and passion. In his impassioned state, he does not even disclose
the truth about his engagement to Esperanza.
In order to avoid the scrutiny of his fiancée, he starts keeping secrets from Esperanza too.
One day he learns about Julia’s return to her hometown. His eyes are doomed with the fear of
losing her and he decides to confess his guilt and true feelings to Julia.
His Lies are Exposed
After the Church’s function, he goes to meet her even though his fiancée is waiting for him to
come to her. However, reaching to Julia, he realizes that she has already learned about his
lies. She even wishes him best on his marriage to Esperanza and leaves him.
He gets a double blow when he returns home to Esperanza. She is talking to a friend about
loyalty and faithfulness. Alfredo feels an urge to speak. He defends the cause of desire and
choice over immorality.
This gets under the skin of Esperanza who declares that she knew about him and Julia. She
encourages him to commit such immoral infidelity and cancel the wedding, all in pursuit of
his heart’s content and lust. However, Alfredo surrenders to reason and sanity and the
wedding goes ahead as planned.
He Meets Julia Again
As fate would have it, he is sent on some work duty to a place near Julia’s hometown. He
cannot help resist the feeling of nostalgia and old lust for Julia. He finds an excuse and way to
her place where he met her.
She is still single and he is forced to dream about a life with her instead of Esperanza. But
soon he comes to know that something is not the same after all. Julia has changed and rather
lost something now.
Maybe it is her beauty, wit, charm or even her passion, but she is a different woman. She is
cold and aloof and does not extend the same warmth and affection to him anymore.
He is heartbroken and pensive and questions whether he ever loved her truly. Was it all a
futile infatuation or mere affair? Was the romance they shared, just a figment of his
imagination? Whatever it was, he is no more alive. He accepts the hard reality that anything
that there may have been was there no more.
The Fence by Jose Garcia Villa
Setting
The story is set is a desolate place where two nipa huts are the only visible houses. The
occupants of both the houses are distant and cold towards each other. Their attitudes reflect
the remoteness and emptiness of their location.
They have an unyielding fence between them to stay at arm’s length from each other. But the
bamboo fence was not always there. The parched soil between the two houses was once rich
and fertile as the neighbours used to share a bond of warmth and care. But it all changed one
night.
The Hate
Their rancour and hatred stem from their history and what happened that one night. Aling
Biang caught her husband with their neighbour, Aling Sebia. Aling Sebia was a childless
widow who showed a lack of guilt and remorse at her actions.
The husband of Aling Biang left after his misdemeanour was caught and his wife did not
bother to pursue after him. The betrayal, the hurt, and the memory had hardened her heart.
Both the women were left with a festering dislike for each other, so much so that they refused
to even water the vegetable rows between the two houses, lest the water replenished their
neighbour’s plants.
Children
As the story unfolds, we read about Aling Sebia’s pregnancy and the only person who could
help her was Aling Biang. And she did but even that did not end the bitterness which goes on
unabated. The children of the two women,
Sebia’s daughter and Biang’s son Iking grow up oblivious to each other’s existence. They are
innocent victims of their family feud. They, too, are sentenced to desolation on either side of
the merciless bamboo fence. They both are not gifted physically but in their loneliness, long
for company and even friendship.
One day Iking sneaks a peek at the girl through the withering fence and his heart is
captivated by her. Even though she seems uglier than him, the need for companionship
makes him fall for the only girl he has ever seen.
Then he hears her play the guitar. She does not complete her notes and Iking is desperate to hear her
complete. Aling Biang tries to instil hatred in Iking’s in Iking’s heart but he shows signs of quiet resistance.
Gradually but surely he gets drawn to the music coming from the house next to his. He even starts sleeping by
the door where he is able to hear the guitar being played by the girl. He feels the urge to destroy the fence
but his mother bolsters the decaying fence and eventually even the guitar stops playing.

Tragic End
Then the story moves for three years and we arrive on Christmas day. Iking is emaciated and weak having
being deprived of the girl’s sight and music. His mother Aling Biang asks him to rest while she prays to God.
But Iking only yearns to hear the guitar and goes to the fence. Through the slits in the fence, he whispers to
the girl. He wants her to play the guitar and she looks at him, seemingly in agreement.
He waits for the girl to honour his muted request. But there is no music. He is afraid that the girl might have a
fence in her against him even though he does not. Unfortunately, at 2 in the morning, the boy dies before the
girl could answer his wishes.
The Small Key by Paz Latorena
Introduction
Paz Latorena, a writer from the Philippines, is the author of “The Small Key.” A woman named
Soledad and her husband Pedro Buhay is the subject of the story. They are rural dwellers.
One morning, Soledad wakes up knowing the farm will yield abundantly, yet she still feels
unsatisfied inside.
Some of her husband’s clothing, which was locked in a trunk, she intended to repair. Pedro
pulled a rope with two keys—one big and shiny and the other little and rusted—out of his
pocket.
Pedro and Soledad’s relationship
The marriage of Soledad and Pedro Buhay, an apparently happy couple, is at the heart of the
narrative. As the narrative opens, Soledad returns home to find her husband, Pedro, enjoying a late
lunch. Pedro tells his wife that he will be running late after work since he needs to pick up Tia Maria
from their residence.
He said that he might have left the clothes in his trunk when Soledad asked him for the shirts she
had ironed the day before. Pedro reaches inside his pocket and pulls out two keys that are
connected by a crimson cord.While the small, rusted key safely slid back into his coat pocket, the
husband gently unties this and offers the large key to his wife, which made Soledad warier of him.
Pedro adds that his wife appeared paler and more exhausted than normal before he departs the
scene. She then offers him an explanation, saying that the intense heat is probably what caused
her headaches. Pedro agreed to this and hastily left his coat with the key inside because he was in
a rush.
Pedro’s backstory and how he came to be married to Soledad
Soledad found the little key in his coat as he eventually walked away. She had the key and
used it to unlock the trunk, which contained Pedro’s late wife’s clothing. She torched them in
the backyard and went back inside, believing Pedro wouldn’t notice if she pretended to be ill,
driven by envy and the worry that he still loves his ex-wife.
Pedro didn’t suspect anything that fateful evening when he finally arrived home because he
was only truly concerned for his ailing wife.He didn’t see a half-burned panuelo outside their
house until he went outside to split some wood. He walked back inside to validate his
suspicion because he didn’t want to draw any premature conclusions.
He sighed in exasperation at his wife for acting in such an absurd manner after discovering
that his coat and the trunk were both empty. When the doctor eventually showed up, it was
discovered that Soledad wasn’t even remotely ill. He advised a day of total rest and then left
right away.
The importance of communication in a marriage
Pedro immediately turned to face his wife, trying desperately not to lose his temper with her.
Even though what she did was wrong, he refrained from yelling at her because he was
confident that she would eventually apologize and change her ways. Even then, though, he
would still forgive her since, after all, he still loved her.
Nevertheless, he was aware that despite everything, they would always be haunted by this
episode, which would live on in their memories as a memorable moment for the remainder of
their married life.
Pedro and Soledad’s relationship
The marriage of Soledad and Pedro Buhay, an apparently happy couple, is at the heart of the
narrative. As the narrative opens, Soledad returns home to find her husband, Pedro, enjoying a late
lunch. Pedro tells his wife that he will be running late after work since he needs to pick up Tia Maria
from their residence.
He said that he might have left the clothes in his trunk when Soledad asked him for the shirts she
had ironed the day before. Pedro reaches inside his pocket and pulls out two keys that are
connected by a crimson cord.While the small, rusted key safely slid back into his coat pocket, the
husband gently unties this and offers the large key to his wife, which made Soledad warier of him.
Pedro adds that his wife appeared paler and more exhausted than normal before he departs the
scene. She then offers him an explanation, saying that the intense heat is probably what caused
her headaches. Pedro agreed to this and hastily left his coat with the key inside because he was in
a rush.