Fegidero, Rosemary Dawn C.
BSED English 3
Prelude
1. Who is Daryll Delgado?
a writer from the Philippines
awarded the Manila Critics Circle/Philippine National Book Award for best book of short fiction in English,
and shortlisted for the Madrigal-Gonzales First Book Award in 2013(After the Body Displaces Water).
She studied journalism and comparative literature in the University of the Philippines (UP), and has taught in
UP, Ateneo De Manila University, and Miriam College.
She works for an international NGO, where she heads the research programs for Southeast Asia and writes
global reports on labor rights issues.
(https://aaww.org/postauthor/daryll-delgado/)
2. What is a prelude? Why is that the title of the story?
In a musical sense, a prelude is a brief introductory part that leads into something else (Tim Parry, 2018). The
story is entitled Preludes because it begins briefly with the phrase “The man died singing” but after this
paragraph, we are presented with the wider picture about what really happened.
3. What does Nenita feel for her husband? Why do you think she feels that way?
Nenita appears to be the typical loving and caring wife. But, behind that, she is frustrated and angry because
her husband does not care about her feelings and continues to do cheat with different women.
4. Who was the man who died in the first paragraph?
The man who dies is Nenita’s husband.
5. How do you think he died? What clues helped you to reach that conclusion?
I think he died because of the herb that the herbalist gave Nenita. Nenita said that the weather is “hot enough
to boil an old man’s blood and pop his veins” in the last part. Also, she said that the herbalista told her that
the herb is “the one that would make his balls shrink, give him hallucinations, make his blood boil until his
vein popped”. We can see that in the first paragraph, it was really hot when the man died.
6. Who killed the man? Explain your answer?
For me, the one who killed the man is Nenita. It was evident by her lack of grief and concern with her
husband’s death. Also, she has something poisonous in her possession. We can take note that she always
prepares a “medicinal tea” for her husband. We can sense that she is having a positive reaction on her
husband’s irregular breathing. Another, her imagination that Willy Revillame said condolences to her and
comforted her, and she snapped out of it, looked around guiltily and thought that her husband is there to swear
at her symbolizes that she is aware that something is going to happen to her husband. Lastly, the song that she
sparked an interest and enjoyed dancing with has lyrics that says “Perderte Despuese” which means “lost you
later”, this is a clue that she is somehow getting ready to lose her husband soon, she does not mind that her
husband is slowly getting choked with each word and she even laughed with her silliness.
7. Do you think, with what happened, that some kind of justice was served? Why or why not?
It may be great for Nenita since she got rid of her abusive husband, but for me, justice does not work that
way. My principle is “Return evil to evil for no one” as what being said in the book of Romans. There could
have been a legal process for Nenita to get the justice she deserves but she resulted to something unjust.
Killing someone is a crime, so there is no presence of justice in the story.
