The Wedding Dance

SUMMARY

The Wedding Dance is a story of Lumnay and Awiyao, who as members of a tribe in Cordillera, have to
conform to the dictates of their culture. After seven harvests, Lumnay and awiyao are still childless. Not having a
child creates a problem with them. Lumnay, as a woman is expected to be suspected as infertile. Awiyao has to look
for another wife even if he loves Lumnay so much. At the day of Awiyao’swedding to Malidumay he paid visit to
Lumnay for the last time and invited her to come to her wedding. They are both wretched. Lumnay tried to fight for
her husband. She wanted to defy the unwritten law of the tribe besides they both love each other. During the
course of their conversation Awiyao explains his opposition to his marriage to other woman but is defeated with
cultural dictates. Awiyao called by the loud sound of the gongs goes back to the ceremony. Lumnay considered
breaking into the ceremony but ends up alone in the company of bean plants. The love for their tribe reigned over
Awiyao. Lumnay becomes the image of a woman whose qualities as a good wife and the best dancer among all the
other women in their tribe mean nothing if she cannot bear a child. 

INTERPRETATION

The Wedding Dance tells the reader “that there could be a conflict between your personal love and love for
one’s people (tribe) and culture, and in some cases culture prevails.” The story clearly demonstrates how their
culture prevents Lumnay and Awiyao from loving each other and living together as husband and wife.Their love for
each other is revealed through their conversation. Awiyao, no matter how it pains him to leave Lumnay has to
conform to the social dictates. Lumnay, no matter how much she loves Awiyao chose to give in to their unwritten
law. There could also be an underlying theme of the story that is love as self- sacrifice. The couple, Lumnay and
Awiyao has to give up for their love not only because of what their culture dictates but alsoto save each other from
the scorn of the society. In Awiyao’s case he had been mocked being childless because a man to be considered a
man should have a child. 

 PLOT

The plot of The Wedding Dance does not follow the traditional plot structure. The conflict is already revealed
in the beginning of the story. Nevertheless, the problem is not clear to readers yet. The technique used by the writer
allows a sense of suspense. Knowing the existence of the problem which is still unclear hooks the reader to continue
reading in their pursuit to know what the problem is. In addition, such technique prevents predictability of the flow
of the story. If the story followed a traditional plot which it could not create the suspense and emotional intensity it
is able to do with the way it is structured. 

SETTING

The choice of the story’s setting The Wedding Dance fits the story perfectly. The triumph of culture and
tradition over personal love is emphasized by framing the story in the Cordilleras because the Cordillera region is
known for its richness in culture and its people’s obedience and conformity to their tradition. Setting the story in the
Cordillera region highlights the importance of fertility and gives the events of the story a realistic appeal.

 CHARACTERIZATION

The characters in the story The Wedding Dance are Lumnay, Awiyao and Malidumay. The author greatly used
dialogues and actions to reveal his character’s nature. Lumnay is the lead woman character in the story. She is
allegedly infertile and her believed inability to bear a child causes her to lose the man she loves, her husband. The
writer effectively used Lumnay’s character to reveal how personal love is defeated by culture dictates. Lumnay
represents what a deep attachment to tradition could bring to an individual. Her actions and words make the
readers feel pity to her situation.

On the day of her husband’s wedding with another girl she bounds herself in their house, not moving in the
darkness. She is not a passive follower of the situation although she is the victim of the superiority of their culture.
She does not easily give in to their culture she wants to fight back and defy the unwritten law. Her words say so: “I
don’t want any man.”, “I don’t want any other man.”, “Neither can you blame me.” “You know that I have done my
best. I have prayed to Kabunyan much. I have sacrificed many chickens in my prayers.”, “It is not right. It is not right.
How does she know? How can anybody know? It is not right.” Her actions and words reflect opposition. In the latter
part, she decides to break in to the ceremony, go to the chief of the village, to the elders and tell them it was not
right Awiyao was hers.

Nobody could take him away from her.. Let her first woman to complain, to denounce the unwritten rule
that a man may take another woman. There is such strength in Lumnay’s character and it could be the author’s way
of waging an attack against the sovereignty of the culture. There is much sympathy felt in the character of Lumnay.
Making her the victim signifies the ill effect of the influence of the society. Although Lumnay is described by her
husband as one of the best wives in the whole village she admits that it done her no good since she still cannot bear
a child. She is even the best dancer in their tribe and is envied by most women and captures men’s attention: “…Did
not the man praise her supple body and the women envy the way she stretched her hands…Tonight all women who
once danced in her honor, were dancing now in honor of another whose only claim was that perhaps she could give
her husband a child.” These lines strongly tell how her sole deficiency has overshadowed everything. Lumnay
attempts to go to the wedding ceremony and fights for her man.

However, in the end, she did not have the courage to break into the wedding ceremony. She ends up in the
mountain away from the ceremony. She hears the sound of the gongs that seem to thank her for her sacrifice. The
other character is Awiyao, Lumnay’s husband. Like her wife, his character represents the defeat of personal love and
the victory of culture and tradition. Awiyao repeatedly expresses his love for Lumnay, but he submits to the dictates
of the culture in the end. Several aspects of culture are depicted in his character: the superiority of culture,
proliferation of his family name and the concept of machismo. He is not in favor of what he has done, but he has to
do it. His need to conform to their tradition pains him as much as it pains Lumnay.

During his wedding ceremony he pays visit to Lumnay and asks her to come to his wedding although it is an
emotional blow to himself. He utters words which are against his wishes. It hurts him to leave Lumnay, but he has to:
“…It is taking away half of his life to leave her like this.” As he leaves her, he laments why a man has to have a child.
Doubtlessly, the fact that he visits Lumnay on his wedding day asserts his love for Lumnay.

Awiyao’s words tell about the superiority of their culture: “..I am very sorry, but neither of us can help it…
You know very well that I don’t want any woman either.. I do this for the sake of our tribe.” Awiyao is a depiction of
the so-called machismo as well which is proven by being able to have a child: “..If I did this it is because of my need
for a child. You know that life is not worth living without a child. The men have mocked me behind my back.

The last character is Malidumay, the woman Awiyao is getting married to. Nothing more aside from that is
said about her. Her character also emphasizes the function of a woman in the society, to bear children. Her character
shows conformity to tradition as well because even though she knows that Awiyao is only marrying her for the sole
reason of having a childshe still marries him regardless of Lumnay. On the other hand, in the Distance to Andromeda
there are three characters as well, Ben, Pepe and Tito. The actions and dialogues also reveal the characters nature
like in The Wedding Dance. Since the author did not make any description about the characters and did not made
use of many exchange of dialogues as well, just sensible ones. 
SYMBOLS

Symbols are used in the stories to effectively point out the message of the stories. In The Wedding Dance the
symbols are: the sound of gongs or gangsas, the rattan flooring, the beads, the beans, the fire/flame, the dance, the
stream or river and other objects symbolizing abundance such as harvests, jars filled with water and the field.

The sound of the gong most particularly is the most important symbol in the short story. The gong signifies the call of
culture and its victory over man’s personal love. It is very dominant in the story since it is mentioned many times.
Nevertheless, what is more important is when the sound of gongs is heard in the flow of the story. The rattan
flooring: Lumnay is twice described as pulling at the rattan that keeps the bamboo flooring in place and tugging at
the rattan flooring. The bamboo signifies Lumnay and Awiyao as individual person. However, they are bound by their
union as wife and husband. This binding is symbolized by the rattan as it described to hold the split bamboo
together. Lumnay’s pulling at the rattan represents the breaking of their union. The beads: The beads are the only
objects Lumnay asked from Awiyao to be in her possession. The beads are very precious since they are said to be
worth twenty fields. The beads stand’s for Awiyao’s love. Before he leaves he put the beads on her head. The beans:
The beans represent abundance and fertility. Beans or bean pods contains seeds, which signifies fruitfulness. In the
end of the story Lumnay is seen in the company of the bean plants and there seems to be an envy felt by Lumnay as
she touches the plants for they are oozing with fruitfulness while she is fruitless. The flames: It symbolizes the
intensity of love Awiyao and Lumnay has for each other. The dance: It symbolizes culture because dancing marks any
form of cultural celebration. The stream or river: It represents the unending flow of life. Lumnay recalls how she and
Awiyao had to pass through the growling waters as he took her away from her parents. This may signify the
troubled life they had because of being childless. In the end of the story, Lumnay goes to the mountain stream
which is said to be very cold. It represents the continuation of Lumnay’s life alone. The darkness of the house
represents the prevailing emotions of the characters which is melancholic.

Source: http://www.slideshare.net/ronacatubig07/critical-analysis-25512537?related=1

A Comparative Critical Essay onDaguio’s “The Wedding Dance”, Brillantes’ “Distance to Andromeda And Joaquin’s
“May Day Eve An Occasional Paper presented to Dr. Fulgencio T. Soriano Department of English and Humanities
College of Arts and Sciences Central Luzon State University

REFLECTION:Don’t be helter-skelter of one thing that you didn’t know that at end you will regret it.Think first before
you make a move.Don’t be selfish.Don’t be a self centered.Take time to think just to make sure that you will be
contented for the outcome.