Del's English Nook

Let us dissect the story "The Safe House by Sandra Nicole Roldan". 
Grab your 21st Century Literature  from the Philippines and the World book, pages 15 - 18.

Together let us analyze the events and underlying meanings in each paragraph for better understanding. 

The narrative started with the description of the scene. There mentioned, "a one box among many", "identical to all houses",  and "it is easy to get lost here". 

What kind of place is being described? What is exactly the box that was mentioned?
  With the mentioned lines above, we can sense that we are inside an apartment complex, or might be a subdivision, where houses all looks identical that if you're not that familiar enough, you'll get lost.
  Aside from the houses, being all looking the same, an oozing feeling of luxury and elegance can be felt as luxury cars, pools, tennis courts and a clubhouse was mentioned. Yet, inside, reveals little of what happens - "there is not much else to see".
  The box mentioned here is our main building, where all scenes takes place - the safe house.
  The safe house, where silent cries are poured, wounded are healed, and empty stomachs are filled.
The house that looks exactly the same with the other buildings, but not THAT the same. A refuge where the visitors know exactly where and when to turn even in the midst of darkness.

  "It is 1982." The time that there was  a struggle against the life in Martial Law. A five year old girl, witness through her innocent eyes the coming in and out of strangers-- people with faces that differ every night. She does not care that much, but make sure to keep quite because the "relatives" are "Talking about Important Things".

Who are these people? 
  The girl sees these people as her "relatives", well, at a young age, with people eating, talking inside your house every night, everyone just seems like relatives. Every new face becomes her "newer relatives".

 There was this man, with band-aids on his feet instead of toenails and wears dark glasses on his eyes. Funny to think about, she's wondering if he man has superhuman powers like laser vision, or maybe a one-eyed pirate.
  Needless to say, this man might have went to tremendous danger, with wounds on his feet. What could have happened to his toenails right? What happened to his eyes that even at night, he covers it with dark glasses?

"sundalo, kasama, talahib --- katawan" A lot of things can come to mind, yet one thing can be clear -- someone died in the midst of the bushes. It may be their comrade, the government's army, or the army killed their comrade. SOMEONE DIED.

   We later get to know that these people are against the current administration - the rule of Marcos. With the grownup's eyes nailed on the television, she did not have the chance to watch her favorite channel, instead, curses are heard. People are not just angry, they are furious!

   A year passed, 1983, and more and more people are coming. With children's birthday as masks for their meetings. Dusty beer bottles that are never opened were serve. The  "relatives" do not drink at all, it's all just a game of pretending. A laughing game through  the eyes of the little girl. Then, there's the mother not enjoying the game at all, crying as the laughter of the husbands continues.

   "underground, revolution, taxes and bills" words that does not make any sense to the little girl.

   The mother left her for good. The siblings would just spend their days playing outside as their house is occupied with more and more papers, plus the smoke that most probably from the cigarettes of the "relatives".

   There is a mention of the "small red book". Based on the description of the little girls, we can say that it is a book of Mao Zedong or Mao TseTung. This book was distributed in China during the Cultural Revolution, in which many people were killed, owning it became a way of surviving. This book covers class struggles, correcting mistaken ideas, and other things that talks about revolution. This book has been carried  secretly by the "relatives" and may be a source of idea and inspiration.

  Another year had passed, the father got arrested. Everyone was quite witnessing the arrest, but after the soldiers left, murmurings went louder.
   The siblings lived with their grandparents. A story about lovebirds was also mentioned, that may have an underlying meaning of soldiers that has been taking over since long ago.
   The little girl would come visit her father in his "new house", of course that means prison cell, and sleep there during the weekends.
    She had dreams, bad dreams -- scary images of what's supposed to be her house. She sees her house now as a dangerous place, a scary place. To make things better, she paints it pink, blue and yellow. Such lovely colors through the eyes of a girl, then have the sun and the moon and the star on the floor, to provide light to such dark world. A world where she is left-- alone.

    Soon after, when she comes of age, she will still be living in the same old house -- the safe house. With it's new door, and a familiar stranger  will come knocking looking for his now gone father. She knows the stranger needs help, but she will still decide to close the door, and "push the bolts firmly into place".

The safe house, was actually not safe. Years passed and the house has been catering defectors, "relatives" that were not actually relatives. Now, she knows better. Though she knows she can help but, she chose to close her doors so that what happened before will not repeat itself. She will keep her house--- safe.



*This is all a personal interpretation. Readers may disagree. If you have any questions, just fill me up in the comments section below. 😊😊😊


Image taken from Google Images.

1. There's this man's photo on the wall
2. of my father's office at home, you
3. know, where father brings his work,
4. where he doesn't look strange
5. still wearing his green uniform
6. and colored breast plates, where,
7. to prove that he works hard, he
8. also brought a photo of his boss
9. whom he calls Apo, so Apo could,
10. you know, hang around on the wall
11. behind him and look over his shoulders
12. to make sure he's snappy and all.
13. Father snapped at me once, caught me
14. sneaking around his office at home
15. looking at the stuff on his wall - handguns,
16. plaques, sword, medals, a rifle-
17. told me that was no place for a boy, 
18. only men, when he didn't really
19. have to tell me because you know,
20. that photo of Apo on the wall was already
21. looking at me while I moved around,
22. his eyes following me like he was
23. that scary Jesus in the hallway, saying
24. I know, I know what you're doing.

Uychoco, M. T. (2016). 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World. Quezon City: Rex Bookstore Inc.

1. Who is Pepe? Explain.
     Pepe is the Philippine National Hero, Jose Protacio Mercado Rizal y Alonso Realonda or commonly known as Jose Rizal. During the Spanish era in the Philippines, children named Jose is given a nickname Pepe.

2. Why does Pepe ask the persona about purgatory?
       Rizal has been in battle against the Spaniards through his writings. Being consciously aware that his name is under fire, there is an immense knowing that his  execution might be coming. 
       When we speak about purgatory in Roman Catholic Doctrine, it is where the souls enter after death for cleansing and purifying of sins before transcending to heaven.
        Rizal might have been thinking about his  forthcoming death and is mentally preparing himself if he is about to go to purgatory. What is it like? or maybe, does it even exist.

3. The poem talks about the nature of the stars. Can you explain what he means, in terms of science.
      There is the statement that says, "when we look at the stars, you're actually looking at the past." The light that we see from the stars is actually a light that travelled years- thousand of light years before it reaches Earth. So, the stars that we see today are actually dead in present, what we're seeing is how they shimmered thousand years ago.

4. This discussion of a star is also a metaphor. What is the metaphor for?
     The star is a metaphor of Jose Rizal. Like the star that's already died years ago, we can still see its light shimmering before us. Like Jose Rizal, he might be dead, but his legacy will forever remain in the hearts of the Filipinos.

5. What do you think the persona felt for Rizal? Give textual evidence.
     Sadness-- regrets (panghihinayang)