The Virgin by Kerima Polotan

The title of Kerima Polotan's "The Virgin" gives us the subject-virginity,

female virginity, a cherished value of Filipino Male culture. By presenting its
protagonist as "victim" rather than heroine of this value system, the text
subverts it. Reflecting on her virginal state, Miss Mijares does so "with a
mixture of shame and bitterness and guilt"

The story's eroticism is heightened by the lyrical, almost cadenced language.

(The eroticism is quite explicit for it's time, and the foregrounding of a
woman's sexulity is also rather in advance of its time.) But the use of
symbolism is a bit too obvious--the paperweight, the dream of being lost,
the jeepney's detour, the storm.

Miss Mijares is a dutiful daughter, sacrificing herself, in this case, for a sick
mother, and becoming a spinster, a pathetic figure, her sternness of manner
and abruptness of speech, disguise for an aching loneliness. Referring to her
as "Miss Mijares" underlines her primmness, as well as her distance from the
carpenter. She is slim and frail-looking, which contrasts with the carpenter's
physical streghth and size.

The carpenter has a certain grace, poise, confidence "walking with an

economy of movement, graveful and light, a man who knew his body and
used it well", which comes from being easy in his skin, which Miss Mijares,
decidedly, is not.

Miss Mijares' over reaction to the discovery that the carpenter has fathered a
child by a woman he is not married to reveals the extent of her acquiescence
to the system--moral, social, etc. Discovering that he has "feet of clay," she
suddenly notices everything else that is wrong with him--his stupid grin, his
defective teeth.

In capitulating to her desire and her loneliness, does Miss Mijares triumped
over the system in which she is trapped? The language would suggest that
this is not so: note the pathos of the final line ("with her ruffles wet and
wilted, in the dark, she turned to him...") She remains an absurd, even
grotesque figure.

The subversion of the prevailing value system is not complete.

Kerima Polotan-Tuvera’s “The Virgin” is a short account that is centered on two

character types namely Miss Mijares and The Carpenter. The title “The Virgin” reflects
the niche virginity which can be an important and cherished benefit for Filipinos. A
Filipina should be very pleased to have preserved her virginity but in the truth of the
thirty-four-year-old Miss Mijares, she is ashamed of it. In her thirty-four years of
existence, she got never been committed in a relationship.

The moment she was younger, generally there had been other things to do and she
never put love together with her goals. She experienced college to end, a relative to put
through school, and a mom to take care. Her tasks became hindrances for her being in
a relationship. Miss Mijares’ childhood experience and obligations affected her
personality.

Miss Mijares is known as a thirty-four-year-old woman who performs at work placement

organization. The initially encounter from the two heroes is at the job interview.

The way Miss Mijares treat him is as distant and cold just like the way she treated her
different interviewees. The girl looks at herself as superior which talks about the
impolite language the lady uses to communicate with all of them. According to the text
“When the lady was youthful, there had been other things to do-college to finish, a niece
to put through school, a mother to care for. ” Her childhood experiences damaged the
way she actually is now, this greatly affected her individuality. According to the theory of
Sigmund Freud specifically Psychoanalytic Theory of Freud, a person’s child years
experience and unconscious brain contributes to his / her personality (Cherry).

The way Miss Mijares keep her length from other people and the way she speak to them
function as a defense mechanism. Her unsociable manners coupled with honest and
abrupt way of presentation is a undercover dress for her isolation. For eight years your
woman dutifully appears out for the needs of her mother. For nine years your woman
doesn’t consider her personal happiness pertaining to she categorizes her duty to take
care of her parent. In line with the text “But it had used her father or mother many years
to die. For the end, it had become a thankless chore, kneading her single mother’s loose
skin, hour following hour, battling to rise the cool, sluggish blood in her dying body
system. In the end, the girl had died-her toothless, thin-haired,  flabby-fleshed mother-
and Miss Mijares had moved against the understructure in grief and also appreciation. ”
We can infer through the way the lady dedicated her early years to address her mother
that your woman valued her family much more than herself. Your woman was really
affected by the fatality of her mother who she cherished so much and it brought on the
difference in her personality. She exemplified her superiority as a woman.

“Miss Mijares did not appear 34. Your woman was minor, almost bony, but she had
learned early how to dress herself to attain an impression hips and bosom. The lady
liked si�ges and shirrings and small girlish pale colors. ” According to this text, Miss
Mijares knows how to make her look appealing to opposite gender. This is her way to
handle her isolation. For thirty-four years this wounderful woman has not even
carressed a man. How she behaves and handle other people provides for a defense
device.

According to the Behavioral Theory, persona is based on the interaction between your
individual as well as the environment which may be learned and unlearned (Cherry). Her
bossy and indistinct manner of conversation coupled with the way in which she
costume acts as a protection mechanism to hide her major depression. The “girlish
pastel color” as stated inside the story is also a way to cover her the case feelings. She
actually is ashamed of very little for continue to being a virgin at the age of thirty-four.

“And but Miss Mijares did think of love. ” It is stated in the text that Miss Mijares had
temporary fantasies. She actually is still expecting that like will come her way someday.
It abruptly happened if he met the carpenter. She actually is cold and distant at first but
all of a sudden she is drawn to the man. Everything started right now she found the man
possessing her paperweight. It is a wooden block using a bird poised to flight. The
paperweight was ruined with one particular wing bent unevenly and so the carpenter
chosen to fix it. The bird is a symbol of freedom; it symbolizes the liberty of Miss
Mijares. The lady lived in a system where virginity is something important and really
should be taken proper care of.

The problem is the girl with trapped with this system since at the age of thirty-four she
is continue to a virgin mobile who hardly ever touched a person. This will alter because
of the father. She will always be free such as the bird in her paperweight fixed by
carpenter. She could be innocently attracted to the carpenter. Your woman doesn’t just
like the way this individual talk with no permission but it won’t change her feelings
toward the man. When she found that the foreman has just given him three sobrecarga
but he could be filling in for a four-peso task, she confronted the honcho, chief, gaffer
boss right away. It not expected on her to be concerned because of her cold and distant
technique of treating him. A change in her individuality can be seen and it is because of
the carpenter.

Miss Mijares was psychologically attached to the carpenter. She was surprised and
upset when your woman learned that the carpenter contains a son. Your woman
thought the he is solitary and not determined. After learning that having been raising a
child by a girl he is not married to, she recognize everything else that is certainly wrong
with him-his crooked grin and defective the front teeth. Her reaction proven that she is
really in love with the carpenter. She does not even see his grin and teeth because of her
infatuation. Miss Mijares rode again a jeepney that detoured once again to avoid traffic
but this time he is with the father. It was pouring and all of these people were asked to
acquire down the jeepney.

She realized that there are not any other people in sight but the two of them. Her
emotion moved wild for her young dreams have instantly come to life. The girl turned to
him with her ruffles moist and wilted. Out of her free-will, Miss Mijares has nabbed the
opportunity to get love. In line with the Humanist Theory, a person’s free of charge will
and individual encounter contribute to character development (Cherry). Her emotions
for him have altered her persona. She instantly becomes more caring and anxious. Her
personal emotion may be the factor for the change in her character.

The Virgin deals with the life of Miss Mijares. A daughter bounded by her duty. She lived
in a society wherever virginity is definitely something to take care of but when justin was
thirty-four she actually is ashamed that she is still a virgin mobile. Miss Mijares’
childhood encounters and tasks affected her personality. The cold and distant character
coupled with a frank and abrupt method of speech may be traced in her early years. All
of these function as a protection mechanism to cover her despression symptoms. She
developed a certain excellent mentality which can be seen in how she talks during
selection interviews but most of these changed if the carpenter came into her your life.
The paperweight with a bird on it symbolizes freedom. Miss Mijares was now totally
free of all her anxieties as a result of carpenter who also brought buy in her life only
like how he fixed the paperweight. Her loved pertaining to the father brought the change
in her life.

Summary
Having spent most of her adult life caring for an ailing mother, Miss Mijares is past her
youth. She realizes to her disappointment that love and marriage have eluded her. She
lives a dull life and behaves with stiffness and aloofness, camouflaging her tiredness
and loneliness with ruffled and pastel-colored clothes. When a new carpenter applied at
her agency, she is unwittingly drawn to the man. After a confrontation, the two find
themselves stranded on an unknown street in the rain, and Miss Mijares allows herself
to be led by her feelings for the carpenter and responds to his invitation.

Analysis: A Feminist Approach

 The main character of the story live up with expectation of the society towards women.
She is a virgin- a word often associated with the dignity of a woman. In the Philippine
setting, women are expected to be a virgin until the night of her marriage. Women are
so tied up with this norm that it became a ground for husband's ridicule if you failed to
live-up with this societal expectation.(aside for those men who have  broader
perspective). She also has the inner struggle to be the ideal woman, physically. She
was described as the skinny type, bony if you call it, but her desire to portray the
physical attributes of the ideal woman- with curves on the right places and a bosom, she
started wearing clothes with ruffles in the front to conceal her flat chest. She liked poufs
and shirrings and little girlish pastels to achieve the illusion of hips and bosom.

 She had  undergone the three stages of women's history namely the feminine, feminist
and female stage. The scene of the story which depicts  the character  in her feminine
stage was when she spend most of her young life taking care of her old and sick
mother, sending her niece to school and being responsible for the family. She's so
selfless that she even  put  her dreams of having a man in her life on hold. When she
reached the feminine stage, she started to realize  that she can't go on forever doing
these things. She realized that love and marriage are slowly eluding her.She developed
inner protest. She no longer feel the satisfaction she once felt doing the sacrifices for
the family. After nine long years, her mother died. Surprisingly, she feel not only grief
but also gratitude.

The scene in the story wherein she got lost on her way back home, having seen a new
and much easier route to get back  is a symbolism of her- self discovery. She now
reached the third stage which is a female stage. in this stage she no longer struggle
with her inner protest. She's now entitled with her long-suppressed emotions, freed from
the societal roles she used to follow.

Why Miss Mss------epitome of these desperate women – old maid

The story was written long time ago. The salary is 3 pesos. 1950
He went to where Miss Mijares sat, a tall, big man, walking with an economy ofmoveme
nt, graceful and light, a man who knew his body and used it well.

Invariably, Miss Mijares would turn away to touch the delicate edge of thehandkerchief 
she wore on her breast.

Where she sat alone at one of the cafeteria tables, Miss Mijares did not look 34.

On her bodice, astride or lengthwise, there sat an inevitable row of thickcamouflaging ru
ffles that made her look almost as though she had a bosom, ifshe bent her shoulders slig
htly and inconspicuously drew her neckline open topuff some air into her bodice.

Secret, short-lived thoughts flitted through her mind in the jeepneys she tookto work wh
en a man pressed down beside her and through her dress she feltthe curve of his thigh; 
when she held a baby in her arms, a married friend’sbaby or a relative’s, holding in her h
ands the tiny, pulsing body, what thoughtsdid she not think, her eyes straying against he
r will to the bedroom door andthen to her friend’s laughing, talking face, to think: how d
id it look now, spreadupon a pillow, unmasked of the little wayward coquetries, how we
nt the linesabout the mouth and beneath the eyes: in the one final, fatal coquetry of all? 
tofinally, miserably bury her face in the baby’s hair.

In the movies, to sink into a seat as into an embrace, in the darkness with ahundred sha
dowy figures about her and high on the screen, a man kissing awoman’s mouth while he
r own fingers stole unconsciously to her unbruised lips.

She had gone through all these with singular patience, for it had seemed to herthat love 
stood behind her, biding her time, a quiet hand upon her shoulder sothat if she wished s
he had but to turn from her mother’s bed to see the manand all her timid, pure dreams 
would burst into glory.

In the end, she had died –– her toothless, thin-haired, flabby-fleshed mother ––and Mis
s Mijares had pushed against the bed in grief and also in gratitude.

In the room for her unburied dead, she had held up her hands to the light, noting the thi
ck, durable fingers, thinking in a mixture of shame and bitternessand guilt that they had 
never touched a man.

In this man’s hands, cupped like that, it looked suddenly like a dove.

“We’re breaking him in proper.” And he looked across several shirted backs towhere he s
topped, planing what was to become the side of a bookcase.

“Three,” the old man said, chewing away on a cud.
“Come now,” surprised that she should wheedle so, “Give him the extra peso.”
“Only a half,” the stubborn foreman shook his head, “Three-fifty.”
“Ato says Ihave you to thank,” he said, stopping Miss Mijares along a pathway in thecom
pound.

“Thank you, though I don’t need it as badly as the rest, for to look at me, youwould knew 
I have no wife –– yet.” She looked at him sharply, feeling themalice in his voice.

The driver stopped at a corner that looked like a little known part of theboulevard she pa
ssed each day and she alighted and stood on a street island, the passing headlights playi
ng on her, a tired, shaken woman, the ruffles on herskirt crumpled, the hemline of her s
kirt awry.

Miss Mijares waited on that Tuesday he first failed to report for some word fromhim sen
t to Ato and then to her.

Without warning, it seemed to shine outside Miss Mijares‘ window a gray, unhappy look
.

Miss Mijares stepped down to a sidewalk in front of a boarded store.

The wind had begun again and she could hear it whipping in the eaves aboveher head. “
Ma’am,” the man’s voice sounded at her shoulders,
“I am sorry ifyou thought I lied.” She gestured, bestowing pardon.

In her secret heart, Miss Mijares‘ young dreams fluttered faintly to life, seemingmonstro
us in the rain, near this man –– seeming monstrous but sweetoverwhelming.

Share this:

The story is about a woman who is still a virgin at 34. She was so busy taking care of
her mother and minding her studies when she was a teenager so she did not have time
for love. A carpenter who applied for a job in the company she was working in,
reminded her of her teenage fantasies when they were left alone on a street. 
 
I liked how the story showed Miss MIjares’ background to help the plot. For me, the
unspoken romance began when she saw the carpenter fixing her paperweight. The
author also depicted how some people act around different kinds of people. Generally, it
was a good Filipino short story. 
But it was clear that the man made her realize that the life which she thought was normal was no
longer normal for others. The guy made her realize that she needs to get married. It seems that
she finds the guy irresistable, since she was showing interest towards him. She suddenly
switched from female to feminine, the thing that made the story quite interesting.
The Virgin by Kerima Polotan-Tuvera Kerima Polotan-Tuvera’s “The Virgin” is a short
story that is centered on two characters namely Miss MiJares and The Carpenter. The
title “The Virgin” reflects the subject virginity which is an important and cherished value
for Filipinos. A Filipina should be proud to have maintained her virginity but in the case
of the thirty-four- year-old Miss MiJares,the main character named showcased were her
stiff and aloof behavior wherein her superiority to herself makes her unfriendly and
detached to other people.

Also her attitude when it comes to dealing with people wherein she ften humiliates them
by asking them questions with regards to their standing in the society. Moreover, her life
was effusively based on caring for her ailing mother and putting to school her niece
thus, her realization to herself when it comes to her own personal life such as love and
marriage was eluded. Miss MiJares is a thirty-four- year-old woman who works at a Job
placement agency wherein her perspective in life has put her into a situation of helping
first her family before herself. she is ashamed of it.

In her thirty-four years of existence, she had never been committed in a elationship.
When she was younger, there had been other things to do and she never put love on
top of her priorities. She had college to finish, a niece to put through school, and a
mother to take care. Her duties became hindrances for her to be in a relationship. Miss
MiJares’ childhood experiences and duties affected her personality. She was slimy and
almost bony. She also knows how to dress herself to hide the small chest she has by
putting puff and ruffles on her chest part. She was not an ugly person but not also
beautiful.

She was a woman that has full of priorities hat she later realized that she was old
enough to find a man that she can marry. Miss MiJares, a dictator woman also a choosy
manager of the company that speaks English during the interviews of the construction
workers that was not really appropriate to do. The major problems that Miss MiJares
encountered in the story was the death of her mother wherein she mourned on that very
day kneeding her mother’s flesh and struggling to keep herself strong which also
changed her ideals in life which made her superiority as a women more resilient.

Another problem that she encountered as confronting her emotions especially with her
feelings to the new man at the carpentry shop wherein during the interview and
application for the Job. It was a rainy evening but the driver unloads his passengers.
They protested but the driver has no choice. Miss MiJares and the man stepped down
to the sidewalk and his touch had fallen on her flesh. The first encounter of the two
characters is at the job interview. The way Miss MiJares treat him is as aloof and cold
Just like the way she treated her other interviewees.

She looks at herself as superior which explains he impolite language she uses to
communicate with them. According to the text “When she was younger, there had been
other things to do-college to finish, a niece o put through school, a mother to care tor. ”
Her childhood experiences attected way she is now, it greatly affected her personality.
According to the theory of Sigmund Freud namely Psychoanalytic Theory of Freud, a
person’s childhood experience and unconscious mind contributes to his or her
personality (Cherry). The way Miss MiJares keep her distance from other people and
the way she talk to them serve as a defense mechanism.

Her unsociable manners coupled with frank and abrupt way of speech is a disguise for
her loneliness. Miss MiJares shows a bossy or arrogant kind of personality towards the
guy, furthermore she was unwittingly drawn to the man especially during the time that
both of them were stranded on an unknown street because of heavy rain and Miss
MiJares driven by her feeling and emotions to the guy allowed herself to the invitation of
the man. One day, she met a man applying on the Job she was handing. Unlike the
other applicants, she felt an unusual and strange feeling and she noticed hat he’s teeth
has a missing tooth.

The man, unlike the other workers, has a big impact on Miss MiJares. She cared a lot
on that man and even cared if he’s around or not. Miss MiJares looked at the man
sharply feeling the malice in his voice knowing that the man has no wife… yet. She was
ashamed knowing that as if that man knew the ruffles on her blouse was one of the
ways to put impact and volume on her chests. one day, this man was absent and Miss
MiJares lost her way home which was a question why since it is been ages that she
sauntering in that place. She found the an on the street and asked the reason for being
absent in a week.

She discovered that this man lost his son but he was never been married to its mother.
About the Author: Kerima Polotan-Tuvera (December 16, 1925 – August 19, 2011) was
a Filipino author. She was a renowned and highly respected fictionist, essayist, and
Journalists, with her works having received among the highest literary distinctions of the
Philippines. Some of her stories have been published under the pseudonym Patricia S.
Torres. Between the years 1966 and 1986, her husband served as the executive
assistant and peechwriter of then-president Ferdinand Marcos.

THE VIRGIN 
by Kerima Polotan Tuvera

ANALYSIS: 

         From the title itself  "The Virgin", the story talks about those who are chaste,
untouched and unstained. When we talk about virginity society wise this is very
crucial and important. Am i right? When you hear about this through your elders,
automatically they would probably say that " You must give that to the one who
your gonna marry."

     Like the main character in the story Ms. Mijares who have kept her virginity
until the very end, keeping dignity and  achieving respect would mean everything
 all through out. The story depicts how Ms. Mijares, a woman who struggled to
find her identity as person and as woman in the midst of what we call " Social
Dictate". Ms. Mijares in very good example of an obedient and caring child. Driven
to be a woman not for herself but for her family, she spents her life aiming to
finish college in order for her to send her niece in school and take good care of
her parents. It was not her choice but she had nothing to do with it. 

As society dictates woman to be prim and proper, Ms. Mijares was not free to
express who she really is. So she stick to live out of what the society expects her
to be, hiding the character that she possess. Meaning her life was about abiding
the guidelines that society has set.  The society expects woman to be the one
who will take care of their elders and look after them, which is totally crossing the
right of an individual especially women to choose what she wants to do. This
case exactly what the main character Ms. Mijares is going through. She was left
to take care of them and look after to those who was left, leaving the character
with no choice at all. 

Many years have gone by as she looks after them, she longs for love not just
from her family but from others especially a man. The story conveys that even at
an old age she haven't touched a man at all, which she dreams of. The romantic
feelings of Ms. Mijares towards the carpenter are depict when she showed
anguish towards the man when she found out that it has already a son and she
thought he lied. But upon knowing the truth about the man, the anguish she felt
diminished.

Elaine Showalter said that literary subcultures all go through three major phases
of development. For literature by, or about women, she labeled these stages the
Feminine, the Feminist and the Female. These three stages are found in Miss
Mijares' life in the story.
       
The Feminine involves "imitation" of the prevailing modes of dominant traditon
and internalization of it's standards. Ms. Mijares has gone through this phase in
which she sacrificed almost all her younger years to give service to her love ones
. She let the guideline set by the society to rule over her life. As the story
progresses the character evolved from being feminine to feminist.

The Feminist stage involves protest against the standards and values and
advocacy of minority rights.  Though she didn't voiced it out that she don't want
to follow such, her inner self is protesting to do so.

The last stage which is the Female stage is a phase of self-discovery, a turning

inwards freed from some of the dependency of opposition, a search for
identity.  It is evident in the last paragraph how Ms. Mijares overcome the
struggles and succeeded to be a female and chose to follow her own instinct.
The Virgin Kerima Polotan-Tuvera Thesis Statement: “The Virgin”, a story by Kerima
Polotan-Tuvera reveals the struggles of women in going against the cultural
expectations of the society. Text Analysis (Formalism) Setting- The setting of the story
is in the Philippines. This can be proven by the fact that jeepneys are mentioned in the
story. Characters- The main characters of the story are Miss Mijares and the carpenter.
Miss Mijares was stated as a slight, almost bony, has smooth and clear brow, thin
cheeks, a small and angular receding chin, thin, pinched face, crow’s feet, lippy and
almost sensual pout which graduated in college and an HR Officer. While the carpenter
was visualized as a tall, big, graceful, light, big,, strong wrists, old, a high school
graduate which is unmarried with a son. Plot- A carpenter was looking for a job that
went to the office of Ms. Mijares. Ms. Mijares was intrigued by the man; by the way he
approached her. Ms. Mijares was a virgin at the age of 34 who was feeling ashamed of
herself knowing that she is still doesn’t have a partner despite of her age. And
eventually found herself in love with the carpenter. Conflict- The conflict depicted in the
story was “Man Vs self”. Miss Mijares had an inner protest within her and experienced
being lost because of what was expected of her. She was torn between the social
dictates and her own self. The main character strived for self-discovery in search for her
identity. Theme- The theme of the story was feminism that talks about maintaining ones
virginity in order to be accepted in the society. Reader Base Analysis Going through
Kerima Polotan Tuvera's "

The Virgin" which is a Philippine literature, reflects the subject virginity which is an
important and cherished value for Filipinos. A Filipina should be proud to have
maintained her virginity but in the case of the thirty-four-year-old Miss Mijares, she is
ashamed of it. In her thirty-four years of existence, she had never been committed in a
relationship because when she was still young, there had been other things to do and
she never put love on top of her priorities 1 more like she forgot to prioritize her own
happiness when it comes to love. She had college to finish, a niece to put through
school, and a mother to take care. Her duties became hindrances for her to be in a
relationship. Miss Mijares’ childhood experiences and duties affected her personality.
For nine years she doesn’t think about her own happiness for she prioritizes her duty to
take care of her parent. According to the text “But it had taken her parent many years to
die. Towards the end, it had become a thankless chore, kneading her mother’s loose
flesh, hour after hour, struggling to awaken the cold, sluggish blood in her dying body. In
the end, she had died-her toothless, thin-haired, flabby-fleshed mother-and Miss Mijares
had pushed against the bed in grief and also gratitude.” We can tell from the way she
dedicated her early years to take care of her mother that she valued her family more
than herself. She was really affected by the death of her mother whom she loved so
much and I can say it triggered the change in her personality. She exemplified her
superiority as a woman. She developed a certain superior mentality that can be seen in
the way she talks during interviews but all of these changed when the carpenter came
into her life. Miss Mijares was now free from all her anxieties because of the carpenter
who brought order in her life just like how he fixed the paperweight. Her loved for the
carpenter brought the change in her life. Context Analysis (Feminist Approach): Major
Point I: Women in our society are expected to stay virgin before the get married. In the
story, it is stated that our culture values virginity as if it is sacred. That gives us the idea
that a woman’s virginity equates to her own dignity. As a result, Miss Mijares followed
the widely accepted “marriage before sex” rule which is in-line with our culture.
However, because of this, a trace of regret was shown as she realized that she was still
a virgin at the age of 34.

Though it seems that being in that age is impossible to find a partner, Miss Mijares still
dreamt about getting love from a man and building a family of her own. The following
lines have shown the main character’s thoughts about love. “And yet Miss Mijares did
think about love. Secret, short-lived thoughts flitted through her mind—in the jeepneys
she took to work when a man pressed down beside her and through her dress she felt
the curve of his thigh; when she held a baby in her arms, a married friend’s baby or a
relative’s, holding in her hand the tiny, pulsing body…”

Major Point II: 2 In most Asian countries, children of a household are expected to take
care of their elderly, and even their struggling relatives. This is widely accepted in the
Philippines even though this is not a spoken rule. The character in the story, Miss
Mijares, spent her time in accomplishing her responsibilities like finishing college,
sending her niece to school, and taking care of her mother. That was her duty as a
woman, to help her family. This role that was dictated by the society shaped her to be a
woman for other people and not a woman with her own self. This may be the reason
why she didn’t have the chance to prioritize herself and look for a partner to spend her
life with. The following lines from the story depicted Miss Mijares’ desire to have a man:
"But neither love nor glory stood behind her, only the lurking, empty shadows, and nine
years gone, nine years. In the room of her unburied dead, she held up her hands to the
light, noting the thick, durable fingers, thinking in a mixture of shame and bitterness and
guilt that they had never touched a man."

Major Point III: Women, in order reach the standards of society; force themselves to
have the attributes of an ideal woman. In the story, Miss Mijares had an inner struggle
to be the ideal woman in her physical aspect. She was described as a slight, almost
bony but she desires to live for the society’s standards—to be a woman with curves,
hips, and bosom. She started wearing clothes with ruffles in the front to hide her flat
chest, she also liked poufs and shirring’s and pastel colors to make an illusion of hips
and bosom. This is just a manifestation of how most women are basing their
appearance on society’s judgments. This is one of the reasons why most struggle to
find out their womanhood and own identity.

Major Point IV: There is a nature of women, or even men, to desire of being loved by
someone which was revealed symbolically. “In his hands, he held her paperweight, an
old gift from long ago, a heavy, wooden block on which stood, as tough poised for flight,
an undistinguished, badly done bird.” The carpenter offered it to her, which shows that
the carpenter was offering something to Miss Mijares. The fact that Miss Mijares
laughed about it shows that she likes the offer. Thus, it confirms that Miss Mijares is
attracted to the carpenter as implied by her acceptance of the object that was given to
her. 3

There was also one scenario in the story that shows Miss Mijares’ romantic feelings
towards the carpenter when she got concerned when he was absent for a week. When
the carpenter went back, he told Miss Mijares that his son died, which shocked her
since she knew that the carpenter was not married. She even felt angry about the
revelation. “Are you married?” she asked loudly. “No, ma’am.” “But you have—you have
a son!” she said. “I am not married to his mother,” he said, grinning stupidly, and for the
first time she noticed his two front teeth were set widely apart. A flush had climbed to his
face, suffusing it, and two large throbbing veins crawled along his temples. She looked
away, sick all at once. These lines illustrated that she was emotionally affected with the
carpenter's revelations. As the carpenter explained, Miss Mijares found herself
examining his face and was embarrassed about it and looked away.

The story has full of symbolisms. The use of symbolism is a bit too
o b v i o u s l i k e t h e paperweight, the dream of being lost, the jeepney's detour, the storm. The
part where she gets lost, it is a symbolism or representation for confusion on what to do, asking
her self what’s next. Because for her, it is a daily routine in her life and I think that she
was yearning to break free of that system.

There is no villain and hero on this story but there is a dynamic character that really
contribute to the life of Miss Mijares and that is the carpenter. Having pay out most
of her adult life thinking about for her ailing mother, Miss Mijares is forgotten her
formative years. She becomes conscious to her frustration that affection and matrimony
have evade her. While a new carpenter submits an application at her agency, she, without
knowing, is attract to the man. She permits herself to be led by her outlook for the carpenter and
take action to his invitation.
One of the figurative speech uses in the story is irony: “He went to where Miss Mijares sat,
a tall, big man, walking with an economy of movement, graceful and light..” Then, metaphor:
“Since you are not starving yet…” and personification: “…it seemed the sun put forth cruel
fingers to search out the signs of age on her thin, pinched face.

The determination is one major trait of each leading character that we can see on the
story. The author makes the readers conscious of its trait by the characters actions and
description. Miss Mijares has this eager to maintain success in her life. And for that, we can see
her determination. Also the carpenter, you can see his determination for applying a job. And
lastly, the determination to fall in love.

Yes it gives a single effect on the reader and it is let your heart speak the way it should. If you
sacrifice many things already and achieve success, you must therefore rest for a while and
let your heart speak out and follow what it needs. It is also give us the impression that
love has its time and place. That no single person really is alone. That we need
companions in our daily lives. It is like a food that nourishes us and giving us somewhat a
purpose here in this world. ...

Yes it has a moral lesson. And the lesson is that we must be responsible for the sake of
our f u t u r e a n d a l s o f o r t h e f u t u r e o f o u r f a m i l y . I f t h e r e i s a n o p p o r t u n i t y
g i v e n t o y o u , y o u m u s t wholeheartedly grabbed it because it is rare to be given an
opportunity. Then don’t let you heart be covered with darkness. Live life to the fullest and
make the most out of it. Balance all things and if you balance all the things, you can achieve you
worth and you can attain your self-fulfillment