THE TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT OF LITERATURE STUDIES
ENG 106
Name: Ramer R. Diaz
Year and Section: BSED ENGLISH 2A
THE WOMAN WITH TWO NAVELS
By Nick Joaquin
The summary of the story
Narrated by an unnamed third-person narrator, The Woman Who Had Two Navels opens with Connie
Escovar arriving at Pepe Monson's Hong Kong apartment to ask if he can perform surgery to correct the
two bellybuttons she claims to have. Pepe believes she is telling the truth, but he laments that he is a
horse doctor and therefore unable to operate on humans. Connie tells Pepe the story of how she learned
of her two navels as a girl when she pulled up the clothing on her doll. She threw the doll in her backyard
pond and proceeded to hide the fact of her bellybuttons from anyone but her family and maids, who
didn't seem to take notice. She says she avoided letting men discover her secret throughout her
twenties. Recently, she married a man named Macho. She says she married him that morning and then
fled to Hong Kong before he could discover her secret bellybuttons on their honeymoon.
Pepe explains that he is the son of a Filipino exile who fought alongside General Aguinaldo and who
didn't want to return to the Philippines until it was freed. Connie says it is independent now, and Pepe
replies that his father has visited. He thinks of his father sitting with a hopeless look in his eyes in the
next room. Connie's presence has an odd effect on Pepe. He shivers and develops tears in his eyes as she
seems to make the furniture in the room hover. Later that afternoon, Connie's mother, Concha de Vidal,
visits Pepe. She disputes Connie's account, saying she was married a year ago, she's only eighteen and
not thirty, and she only has one navel. After becoming frustrated with each other, Pepe and Concha
discuss how Concha, as a girl, looked up to Pepe's father, who was a local hero in Manila. The glittering
memory she relates contrasts with the image of the devastated man Pepe thinks about on the other side
of the wall.
Concha reveals that Connie became obsessed with Paco Texeira, a bandleader who Pepe has known
since childhood, when he was performing on contract in Manila. She says Connie is in Hong Kong to
chase him. Pepe is shocked to think of Paco betraying his wife, Mary. At Mary and Paco's apartment,
Pepe learns that Mary already knows about Paco's relationship with Connie and Concha, and that Mary
has even met with Concha, who bought two of her watercolor paintings. Paco is reluctant to tell his wife
the whole truth but insists he didn't rape Connie or her mother. He says he is staying in the apartment so
much because he wants to avoid running into them. Eventually, the couple decides to go out to the park
with their children. They invite Paco.
The narration shifts to a summary of Paco's time in Manila. On a six-month contract with his band the
Tune Technicians, Paco meets Concha and develops a friendship that involves driving her around the city
while she teaches him about the Philippines, which he had never visited before. He writes to Mary about
the friendship without concern. Soon people around him and Concha joke about them being a romantic
item. He scorns the attention and stops seeing Concha for a time. He senses death and doom in the
atmosphere of Manila, where people seem indifferent to the realities they live in, filled with American-
influenced fantasies of being like Hollywood stars. Paco and Concha rekindle their friendship and he
stops writing to Mary. He then meets Connie, who informs him that Concha is at the morgue identifying
the bodies of her friends who were murdered. Out on a car ride in her convertible, Paco kisses Connie,
but she resists. She comes to his club that night and they begin spending time together. Paco's passion
for her grows as she evades further physical intimacy. Twice she brings him to a temple in the Chinese
quarter, where she offers a plastic doll to an idol with two bellybuttons. Eventually Paco brings her to his
hotel room and struggles to have sex with her. She fights him off before he can rip her dress fully off to
reveal her navels.
Seeing Connie's bloody smile, Paco runs from the hotel room and falls unconscious on the beach. Two
days later, he takes a ship back to Hong Kong. Paco's dialogue picks up the narration, revealing that he
has been telling Pepe the story of his time in Manila. The men sit in a park; Mary has taken the children
home. Paco says Connie and Concha are evil, and that they share in the pleasure of torturing people and
damning their souls. Pepe refutes the idea, saying Connie's insistence on her two navels is a way of
saying she has a guardian angel. After Paco tells Pepe to leave him alone in the park, Pepe walks away,
reflecting on how his father also returned early from Manila as a changed man. Pepe thinks of the
literary figure of Alice going through a mirror to another world. Like her, Pepe and Paco have gone
through the mirror. Now the barrier between worlds is broken open, and it threatens to affect people
like him and Mary who haven't had their reality shaken so violently that they are ghosts of their former
selves. Pepe thinks about himself as being surrounded by broken glass and ghosts, immersed in a reality
where people are emotionally unstable and logic no longer applies. Pepe shivers and then walks toward
Mary's apartment, where she is waiting with soup.
THE TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT OF LITERATURE STUDIES
ENG 106
Name: Ramer R. Diaz
Year and Section: BSED ENGLISH 2A
THE WOMAN WITH TWO NAVELS
By Nick Joaquin
TASK
Author Study: Author’s life, work, and literary legacy
Nick Joaquin, widely regarded as the best Filipino writer in English. Nick Joaquin, who was born in Paco,
Manila, on May 4, 1917, grew up under the care of a teacher mother and a father who served as a
colonel in the Philippine Revolution of 1896. Despite not finishing high school, Nick was a brilliant boy
who enjoyed reading books from his father's library, which fostered his interest in writing. Throughout
his life, he wrote brilliantly about many aspects of Filipino culture. Before speaking out against the
country's martial law, he founded and led a workers' union at the Philippines Free Press. He has also
received various prizes for his services to writing, which recognize his brilliance and perseverance.
Joaquin's literary oeuvre included plays, novels, poems, short stories, and essays, as well as insightful
journalism under the pseudonym. Notable works such as "The Woman Who Had Two Navels," "A
Portrait of the Artist as Filipino," and "Manila, My Manila: A History for the Young," among others, reflect
Joaquin's lasting legacy, resonating with readers and providing profound insights into the Filipino
experience long after his death on April 29, 2004.
Author’s writing style, themes, and literary devices, as well as the cultural and historical context in
which they wrote.
Nick Joaquin wrote largely about the Spanish colonial period, the diverse Filipino heritage and the
dimensions of the human psyche. He exhibited amazing variety in his creative activities, delving into
various elements of Filipino life with eloquence and depth. Critics coined the name "Joaquinesque" to
describe his lush, Spanish-influenced English and creative synthesis of Filipino components. Bienvenido
Lumbera emphasizes Joaquin's significant impact on Philippine literature, particularly his exploration of
the country's colonial history and insightful portrayal of social change through youthful perspectives,
exemplified in stories like "Doña Jeronima," "Candido's Apocalypse," and "The Order of Melchizedek."
Examine the author’ work have been influenced and been influenced by the literary movements and
trends of their time.
The terrible periods Nick Joaquin lived through, especially the Second World War, heavily influenced his
writings. Despite the difficulties he endured, he found inspiration to write some of his best works, like
"La Naval de Manila" and "It Was Later than We Thought." These stories discussed the difficult times of
war while also demonstrating how tenacious and powerful Filipinos can be. Joaquin did not just follow
the prevailing literary trends of the day. Instead, he questioned the standards, particularly when
American influence was overwhelming and overshadowed Filipino culture. He enthusiastically explored
Filipino history and traditions in his literature, shedding light on our colonial past and honoring our
distinct heritage. Through stories such as "The Summer Solstice," "May Day Eve," and "Guardia de
Honor," Joaquin demonstrated the importance of embracing our identity in literature, paving the path
for more Filipino voices to be heard. In doing so, Joaquin had a significant impact on Filipino writing,
influencing many writers who followed him.
