“The Homecoming”
Who is the author of the story?
• Paulino Lim, Jr. is a professor of English at California State University, Long Beach
(CSULB).
• The author of six books, short stories, and numerous scholarly articles, he was
born in Camalig, Albay, a province of the Philippines, on August 23, 1935.
• He is married to Barbara Paredes. They have one daughter Claire-Dee, a
screenwriter, who has degrees from UCLA and Berkeley.
• In high school he won first prize in an essay writing contest, sponsored by the
Bicol Association of Catholic Schools. Upon graduation, he also published his first
short story.
• He was the valedictorian of his high school, St. John's Academy, and a magna
cum laude with a bachelor's degree in Education from the University of Santo
Tomas (UST) in Manila.
• At Santo Tomas, he became a staff member of Varsitarion, which published
many of his stories. Nick Joaquin accepted Lim's first Philippines Free Press story,
"Mona Lisa," (1957), and F. Sionil Jose published his story, "The Boy and the
Mountain," in the Sunday Times Magazine (1962).
• In March 2016, he received a lifetime literary achievement award from the
Varsitarian at the 31st Gawad Ustetika, the longest-running campus literary
derby in the country. He was acknowledged for his exploration of significant
theological and philosophical issues hurdled by Filipinos during the post-colonial
period in the country.
What are the author’s intentions in writing this literary piece?
• Paulino Lim Jr.’s intention in writing “The Homecoming” is to show the mixed
emotions that come with returning to one’s homeland after living abroad for a
long time. He wants to capture the joy of reconnecting with family and familiar
places, but also the sadness and surprise of finding that both the place and the
person have changed over time.
Characters:
• There are two unnamed brothers in the story. The author uses descriptions to
differentiate the two.
1. The brother waiting at the airport (perceived as the younger brother) - He is
the one who introduces his brother from abroad and accompanies him
throughout his brother’s journey to visit the country. According to their
conversation as brothers, he is smoking cigarettes and he is an English Teacher.
2. The brother from abroad (perceived as the older brother) - He is described as
soft by his younger brother. The one who feared getting home after years of
living out of the country. According to his younger brother, he took up law and
promised to take the California Bar Examination but did not write about passing
the bar or working in a law office. He works at the Newspaper Office in Orange
Country. He’s married and has two children.
Settings:
Manila – specifically in International Airport, Quiapo, Escolta, Avenida,
Azzcaraga, Baclaran Station, and Hilton Hotel. The author used a geographical
context to help readers understand the characters’ behavior through language
and customs, regional differences, size of town or city, and unfamiliar
environment.
Summary:
• The story takes place in Manila, where an older brother returns to the
Philippines from Los Angeles after twelve years. His younger brother meets him
at the Manila International Airport for his homecoming. While waiting for the
delayed luggage, they visit various places that hold memories for the older
brother, including Quiapo, Escolta, Avenida, Baclaran Station, and Azzcaraga to
reconnect.
During their time together, he shares stories about his life abroad and his
experiences during his journey back to Manila. As they converse, they find
themselves in a minor argument over their differing views on the past, history,
and tradition, highlighting the cultural gap between them over time.
When they returned to the airport to get the older brother’s delayed luggage,
they got separated because they did not agree on a place to meet. Afterward,
the younger brother found his sibling surrounded by a group of five men trying
to extort money or gift from him. As the younger brother approaches his older
brother, another man points to his brother for promising to take the taxi driver's
car. The taxi driver turned out to be a scam.
However, they managed to escape from the situation, but the incident left the
older brother disillusioned. Instead of going to their cousin’s place, they went to
the Hilton Hotel to stay and rest. Eventually, the older brother decides to return
to Los Angeles on the very next available flight without having the chance to
meet his family.
Conflict
• Person vs. Person – this conflict arises between the older brother and his
younger brother, as they clash due to their different perspectives shaped by
time and distance.
• Person vs. Society – this is evident in the older brother’s struggle to fit back into
Filipino society, where he feels out of place after adopting a new lifestyle
abroad.
• Person vs. Self – the older brother’s inner struggle with his identity, as he
wrestles with feelings of alienation and wonders where he truly belongs.
Themes:
• Brotherhood- It shows the relationship between the siblings and how they act
towards each other. Despite the bickering, they still got each other’s backs. The
younger brother's worries about his brother’s perceptions, living conditions and
his return made the brotherhood evident in the story.
• Change and growth- The brother from abroad exposes the difference between
the Philippines and the United States of America. He also noticed the current
state of the economy, politics, and atmosphere of the country he visited and
belonged to. The growth often revolves around leaving behind certain aspects of
one’s past.
• Nostalgia Vs. Reality- The brother’s memories of home clashed with the harsh
realities of returning. It shows how nostalgia can distort perceptions of one’s
view about the place due to constant comparison in the present time.
Character Appreciation:
Character A (as the main character): Coming back home wasn’t what I expected. I
thought I’d feel at peace, but everything felt different like I didn’t belong.
Character B: Really? Why it didn’t feel like home?
Character A: I guess both the place and I had changed. I’d been gone so long that I
missed a lot. Everyone moved on without me, and I felt like a stranger in my own
family.
Character B: That must have been hard. It sounds like coming back wasn’t as
comforting as you hoped.
Character A: Exactly. I wanted it to feel like it used to, but I realized that “home” wasn’t
the same anymore.
Activity:
In a whole sheet of pad paper, answer the following:
• What does “home” mean to you?
• Write a short paragraph describing how you might feel stepping off the plane
and seeing everything again after so long.
Group 15 Presenters:
Velasco, Kezha L.
De Guzman, Ezra Grace
Bernabe, Kristine Red
