• Formalistic Approach

Miss Phathupats by Juan Crisostomo Soto is a story about a woman named Miss Yeyeng, a Kapampangan, who
claimed to have forgotten how to speak her native language after she was convinced by an American soldier to learn
and be able to communicate in English better. Now, it so happened that Miss Yeyeng attended an entertainment
program or a festival where she pronounced her inability to speak and read words written in Kapampangan. Because
of this, she was humiliated by the townsfolk who exposed her true color or her true identity. "Phathupats" is a name
derived from Miss Yeyeng's wide hip which is forced to fit in a very tight pencil cut skirt that made her no less than
that of a "patupat" or "suman sa ibus" tightly wrapped in a banana leaf.
Miss Yeyeng is the main character of the story. She is a typical Filipina woman born and raised from a simple and
poor family. She is hardworking before she was enticed to learn English. (Miss Yeyeng could be seen with a load in
her head some "ginataan" or "bitso-bitso" or donut in the gambling dens.) She's even introduced as a young and
deemed to be a hopeless lady who can't change her life's condition. ("She turned into a young lady with no chance to
change her life's condition.)
Another character is the American soldier who's a regular customer of Miss Yeyeng. He enticed Yeyeng to learn
English that would help her communicate better. Soon enough, Yeyeng learned the language and was even sent to the
other towns to teach. However, this has changed Yeyeng completely. Because of the American soldier, Yeyeng acted
as if she forgot her true identiy.
The townfolks are also one of the characters who played a significant role in the revelation of Yeyeng or Miss
Phathupats', as she was soon dubbed, hidden identity. "There was again another loud laughter from the listeners. Miss
Phathupats wept and as she wiped her tears came along the thick powder on her cheeks. Her natural color was
revealed, darker than a "duhat" which is black plum or java plum). In the story, they are used to introduce the conflict
in the life of the main character, Miss Phathupats.
The plot of the story reveals how a man tends to hide his true identity for the sake of letting others know how well-
versed he is at a certain thing. In the case of the story, Miss Yeyeng hid her true identity just to let everyone know that
she's good at speaking foreign languages which, to her own demise, humiliated herself in the end.
The setting gives a clear picture of how Philippines was once colonized by Americans. It allows the reader visualize
some of the events that happened during the American occupation. They taught Filipinos to speak the language which
caused others to forget their own just like Miss Yeyeng.
The second person point of view has clearly narrated the events in the story. It began with Miss Phathupats' apparent
description and ended with how she was embarrassed because her true identity was revealed.

• Psychological Approach

The story reveals how Filipinos are easily influenced by other dominant races just like the Americans. Let it be
recalled that during the American occupation in the Philippines, Filipinos were coerced to learn English in order to
follow the laws promulgated by the Americans. Insubordination to their rules meant death to thousands of others and
this might be one of the reasons why the story's main character, Miss Phathupats, decided to accept the American
soldier's offer aside from her personal interest about the matter. Truly, everyone has his own reasons why he does
something even if it means offense to his true identiy.
Moreover, the story also manifests man's instinct in making fun of others' misfortune. The townfolks made fun of
Miss Phathupats and ridiculed the pretentious woman in public. No one has ever dared defend Miss Yeyeng even if
they knew that she's still a Filipino. While it is true that Miss Yeyeng did wrong, same thing goes with the idea that it
is her own countrymen who disowned and humiliated her.
The story explores man's ability to hide himself under different identities which he thinks would somehow improve
others' impression about him. Miss Yeyeng is explicitly described as a poor woman and perhaps this is one of the
possible reasons why she learned and spoke in English, professing she forgot how to speak her own native tongue.
She might have entertained the idea that people would look up to her if she can speak the language well. As is also
cited, she wore thick make-up to hide her true skin. This means that she really wanted to change how others look at
her. However, the story has a different tone which gives the impression that Miss Phathupats is indeed a pretentious
woman.

• Sociological Approach

The story clearly shows the type of society Philippines has. People easily judge others by the language they prefer to
use. If someone speaks in a different language, others would then think that he's being boastful. This has become a
stigma as years pass. More and more Filipinos think that speaking English means forgetting one's true identity as a
Filipino. While this notion is evident in the story as Miss Yeyeng professed that she does not know how to speak
Kapampangan anymore which is her native tongue, most of the townfolks embody the kind of society she lives in - a
society where colonial mentality seems to be an immortal sin.
Truly, we should not uproot ourselves from our true identity. We are Filipinos therefore we should act and speak like
one. But does this mean we have to shrug our shoulders off when it comes to widening our horizons in terms of our
academic pursuit? Basing it from the story, the apparent answer is yes.
Accordingly, Miss Phathupats was taught and eventually learned the English language. Same is true with the
educational system we have where students are taught how to read and write English texts, even speaking it in
academic discussions. Children are even taught first with the English alphabets not ABAKADA. She also played the
role of a teacher, teaching others in different towns, of the English language. These facts strengthen the idea that Miss
Phathupats is really proficient in such language. It is her fault that she neglected her true identity but not entirely hers
why she grew fond of using the language to the extent that she "forgot" how to speak Kapampangan. Why? Because,
she was taught and it has become her actual job. But the townfolks didn't consider it. They directly pressumed that
Miss Phathupats is a pretentious woman hiding under the beauty of her thick make-up and the language she use.
Drawing the line between love of one's language and the ability to speak others sometimes is indeed a difficult task as
our society views this issue differently. One should not be misled that love of one's language can only be manifested
in the frequency to which it is being used by someone. If he keeps on speaking Filipino but his heart is for English,
reading English novels and speaking it when no one is around, does that account him as someone who loves his own
language? Although the story's lesson is clear, the kind of society presented is the type where thousands of Miss
Phathupats are judged as people who forget their origin.

• Feminist Approach

Women are portrayed as pretentious in the story. Miss Yeyeng was dubbed as Miss Phathupats because of her clothing
that made her looked like a "patupat" or "suman sa ibus". The first and second paragraphs give comparison about her.
The first paragraph tells that she is poor and she "...could be seen with a load in her head some "ginataan" or "bitso-
bitso" or donut in the gambling dens."
However, in the preceding text, she "is full of lipstick and make-up". These give truth to the idea that Miss Yeyeng is
really trying to hide her true identity as a Kapampangan.
Women are truly conscious about how they outwardly look and care so much about other people's impression about
them. Even if she's obviously a Kapampangan, "from head to toe, even to the extremity of her hair", Miss Yeyeng still
managed to conceal these attributes. She was even compared to a black plum, in fact darker than it, after she wept
because of humiliation.
The story depicts how women are easily influenced by others especially if they sense merit from an offer. Enticed,
Miss Yeyeng learned how to speak in English and eventually became good at it that she was even sent to different
towns to teach. She can be compared to Doña Victorina, a fictional character in one of Rizal's book, who spoke in
Spanish and claimed to have forgotten her own language. This just goes to show that even before, women are used as
instruments to portray Filipinos' tendency to turn their backs from their true identity.

• Cultural Approach

The story's main point is obviously about loving one's language to which his identity is anchored. Language and
culture are intertwined and turning one's back from the former means forgetting the latter. Miss Yeyeng professed
even to the hearing of many that she already forgot how to speak Kapampangan. This means that she also forgot who
she really is as a Filipino.
The first paragraph states that she wears make-up. It is undeniable that most Filipinas don't during the primitive era.
However, her attributes as Filipina are revealed in the succeeding paragraph ("from head to toe, even to the extremity
of her hair"). This paves way to a lesson that no matter how hard we try to hide our true identity, we still can't conceal
the fact that we are Filipinos - born as one, will die as one.
However, this literary piece vividly shows how malleable Philippine culture is. Miss Yeyeng is just a representative of
the many Filipinos who already forgot who they truly are. They speak using different foreign languages, thinking that
they'll appear dominant. Through the years, this has become an apparent culture - an affront to the ideals our beloved
heroes have fought for.
Furthermore, the story also depicts how Filipino culture has been influenced by foreign people, from the language
even to the clothing. History tells us that many Western people have tried to colonize and rule over our country. Had
the heroes raised a white flag, our country could still be a puppet to powerful countries presently. But they fought and
liberated our motherland from the hands of the oppressors. However, traces can still be seen on how those colonizers
influenced our country. These traces are evident in our culture and as the story makes it clear, it is mostly affected by
these happenings in the past. Albeit, the richness of our culture is also manifested like the celebrations or fiesta where
Miss Phathupats was humiliated.

• Impressionistic Approach

Although the story's message is clear that many Filipinos are becoming forgetful of their own identity, claiming that
foreign languages are more preferable, it also teaches us to be considerate and understanding.
It is implied that everyone laughed at the misfortune of Miss Yeyeng during the fiesta. No one ever dared to help her
and personally tell her that what she was doing isn't right. Same thing is true in the present time. One's preference in
using a certain language, with which he's most comfortable, seems to be a great insult to our identity as Filipinos.
If someone keeps on speaking in English, everyone would narrow down his thinking that he's slowly forgetting his
own identity as a Filipino. Very few understands and considers that we're already in an era where speaking English
fluently offers and merits someone lucrative jobs in teaching and many other professions inside and outside the
country.
While it is true that we need to value our own language, it is also imperative to widen our horizon and respect others.

Prepared by:

FROILAN J. AGURING