PAMATASAN NG LUNGSOD NG VALENZUELA

Maysan Road corner Tongco Street, Maysan, Valenzuela City

Survey of the Philippine Literature

(LITT 3)

Out of bounds
(A presentation of untold feelings of Zita)

Zita by Arturo B. Rotor

Have you ever experienced one-sided
love?
 If the feelings aren't mutual,
will you consider moving on or
wait until it's equal?
 Table of Contents Characters
A person, a figure, an
inanimate object, or
Author Settings animal that drives
the story forward.
The creator of the The time and
story. place of the story
of ZITA
Theme and symbols
Theme is the
Plot
underlying message or
meaning of the story.
The organized Symbols is a
sequence of the story. representation of
Lessons something in the story
The message or the of ZITA.
life lessons that can
be learn in the story
of ZITA,
ARTURO BELLEZA ROTOR
✓ medical doctor, civil servant, musician, and writer of
English short stories.
✓ attended the University of the Philippines (UP),
graduated from the Conservatory of Music and the
College of Medicine.
✓ discovered a rare form of jaundice known as "Rotor
Syndrome", a non-itching jaundice.
✓ One of the best Filipino short story writers in 20th
century
✓ A founding member of Philippine book guild.
✓ Awarded as a Republic Cultural Heritage award

(June 7, 1907- April 9, 1988)

Rotor's best-known literary works are:

1. The Wound and the Scar (1937)

2. Confidentially, Doctor (1965)
3. Selected Stories from the Wound and the
Scar (1973)
4. The Men Who Play God (1983)
5. Dahong Palay (1928)
6. Zita (1930)
Background of the story:
Setting

When:

1930
Where:

• Pauambang
• ANAYAT
• Turong’s house
 A Zita • A provinciana; Daughter of Don Eliodoro; A
student that fell inlove with her tutor. The
main character of the story

B Mr. Reteche • A mysterious guy with unknown past;

A teacher from City; Teaches Zita to
be a fine lady

C Don Eliodoro • Father of Zita; Owned almost all

the coconuts in Anayat; He asked
Mr. Reteche to teach Zita to be a
fine lady

D Turong • A fisherman who brought Mr. Reteche in the

island of Anayat. ; owner of the house where
Mr. Reteche stay while teaching. ; delivers
the letters to Mr. Reteche.
Characters
 Exposition
Using a small sailboat, Turong brought Mr. Reteche to the Island of Anayat. It was
almost midday, the municipal president, the parish priest, Don Eliodoro, the herb doctor, and
the villagers had been standing in the white glare where the tiniest pebble and fluted conch
had become points of light. All of them were mildly surprised when Mr. Reteche spoke their
native dialect. They see Mr. Reteche as a strange person. Because his head was uncovered and
he had a way of bringing the back of his hand to his brow or mouth, they read behind Mr.
Reteche's movements. It was not a gesture of protection. The older men see Mr. Reteche as a
young exile.
They had prepared and offered him a room in Don Eliodoro's house so he won’t have
to walk far to school every morning, but he didn't care about the big stone building with its
Spanish Azotea, its arched doorways, its flagged courtyard. He chose instead Turong's home, a
shaky hut near the sea. They let Mr. Reteche do as he wanted. The older men knew that it was
not so much the nearness of the sea that he desired as its silence so that he might tell it secrets
he could not tell anyone else.
 Everyone is talking about Mr. Reteche. They dressed him in purple and
linen, myth and mystery, put him astride a black stallion, at the wheel of a blue automobile.
Mr. Reteche? Mr. Reteche! The name suggested the fantasy and the glitter of a place and
people they never would see; he was the scion of a powerful family, a poet, an artist, a prince.
That night, Zita tells her father of her encounter with Mr. Reteche. She
makes sure that she tells the whole story to her father.
After getting all of their names and reading them aloud, she tells his father that Mr.
Reteche reacted when he calls her name. Mr. Reteche couldn't believe that her name is Zita.
He insisted that maybe Zita is just a pet name, but Zita told him that her real name and her
father always called her that. Don Eliodoro told her to please her teacher because he is a
gentleman that comes from the city, and he was thinking of a private lesson for her daughter
Zita with Mr. Reteche.
Rising Action
As days passed, his strange character became evident to the people of Anayat.
They started talking about him anywhere. Other people conclude that maybe Mr. Reteche
wants to go home, and others thought that he was sick because he looks like Father
Fernando, who had a similar habit of looking into space, seeing nobody before he died.
Every month, a letter came for him, sometimes two or three; large, blue envelopes
with a gold design in the upper left-hand corner, and addressed in broad, angular, sweeping
handwriting. One-time Turong brought one of them to him in the classroom. During that
time, Mr. Reteche instructed his students to write a composition about the things they love
the most. After the students passed their work, Mr. Reteche will pick one and read aloud the
best composition. He went over the pile of papers two times as if he was disappointed with
their work, but then, he stopped and picked. Zita's work is not the one he picked, and he
read aloud the one he chose.
"I did not know any better. Moths are not supposed to know; they only come to the light.
And the light looked so inviting, there was no resisting it. Moths are not supposed to
know, one does not even know one is a moth until one's wings are burned."
Zita thought about the short piece that Mr. Reteche read was poorly written, and she did
not know any of her classmates could write those. Zita wrote the words that she did not
understand. It contains
Esurient greedy.
Amaranth a flower that never fades.
peacock a large bird with lovely gold and green feathers.
Mirash
The villagers observed that Mr. Reteche never went to church, and they
reported it to Father Cesareo, but it seemed that he already knew. "Let a peaceful man
alone in his prayers." The answer had surprised them.
Climax
One day, Zita was half-asleep and half-dreaming, sitting at her open window.
She was dreaming about Mr. Reteche, and she was slowly falling in love with him
because she always thinks about him. Zita loved to remember those moments she had
caught him looking when he thought she did not know. While she was half-sleep and
half-dreaming, she saw a shadow, and it happened to be Mr. Reteche. He went to their
house to accept her father's offer to have a private lesson with her.
Don Eliodoro was planning to go to the city with Zita after the next harvest. He doesn't
want her daughter to feel like a provinciana.
There are changes in Mr. Reteche. He reached out to the village boys by telling them
why the sea is green, etc. There were nights that Turong observed Mr. Reteche being
bothered with something.
 One day, on Turong's sailboat, some boxes made Zita surprised and
Speechless. It is a silk, slippers, a green necklace, and perfume. She was hoping that
Turong will also bring the writer of the letters that Mr. Reteche always received.
The private lesson of Mr. Reteche and Zita started. Mr. Reteche explained to
Don Eliodoro why Zita's dresses fit tight. He said that "In society, women use clothes to
reveal, not to hide. ". He also explained that dresses have bright colors because the
peacock has bright feathers. He points out that Women in society paint their lips
because it can smile when they do not want to. The long eyelashes serve as a tool to
hide deception, Mr. Reteche explained. He expected Zita to be shy and uncomfortable,
but she does everything naturally. He instructed Zita not to smile openly because it
can reveal her true feelings.
All men want to dance Zita in the drawing-room, but she refuses them and says that she
was tired. But, deep inside, she was waiting for Mr. Reteche to dance her. She can't figure
out which moment was a dream and memory. Zita observes that every time Turong
brought him a letter, he never answered it.
Falling Action
It was their Spanish Dance class. Mr. Reteche Instructed Zita to dress
accordingly. She prepared for hours to look beautiful. When Mr. Reteche saw Zita, he
was shocked because she looked like someone whom Mr. Reteche was expecting,
waited, and prayed.
Zita blushed when he took her in his arms and taught her to dance. She throws a glance
at her father, asking for disapproval, but her father looked at them with admiration. She
felt wonderful while they dance but suddenly, Turong politely interrupted them and
handed an envelope to Mr. Reteche.
Without opening the letter, he tore it slowly, and he thought he was forgotten. The whole
night changed after he received the letter. Zita was confused why he tore the letter. She
asked him, and he answers Zita that someday she will do it too, and she will understand.
Resolution
One day, Turong brought a stranger from Paumbang. The villagers knew that
the stranger also came from the city, just like Mr. Reteche. The stranger is an old friend
of Mr. Reteche. Behind the thick door, the two men talked, and Zita heard that the
stranger asked Mr. Reteche to leave the Island. Before Mr. Reteche responds to the
question, Zita goes immediately.
Mr. Reteche bid his farewell to everyone in the village. However, Zita still
prepared for their Spanish dance lesson, but Mr. Reteche didn't come. The time came
where Mr. Reteche leaves the Island without saying goodbye to Zita. She was sad and
felt strange because of the silence at their big house.
While she was having a moment, the door opened, and Turong came in. He
handed her a letter from Mr. Reteche. Upon receiving the letter, Zita tore it
into pieces. After some time, she tried to put the pieces back together even
she was hurting. She then realized and understood why Mr. Reteche did the
same thing before.

THE END…
Lessons

This story will teach you to:

✓ Sacrifice for the betterment.

✓ Learn to control.
✓ Express what you feel before it’s too late.
✓ Happiness isn’t about money, fame and beauty.
 Theme

Unrequited Love
Symbols

01 02 03 04
Blue envelopes/ Paint on the lips,
Turong’s home Zita
letters: long eyelashes,
Simplicity Innocence Emotions / To hide
luxury
Symbols

05 06 07 08
Tore letter and
Essurient Amaranth Peacock
putting it back
together Affection
love/feelings that beauty of
Parting and towards Zita
never truly disappears Zita
acceptance
 THANK YOU
FOR LISTENING!
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 “When you recover or discover
something that nourishes your soul
and brings joy, care enough about
yourself to make room for it in your
life.”
Jean Shinoda Bolen
 References
Culla, Z. (n.d.). Zita. Prezi.Com. Retrieved April 26, 2021, from https://prezi.com/3mjcmn-

ha2fq/zita/

“Zita” by Arturo Belleza Rotor Free Essay Example. (2020, October 30). StudyMoose.

https://studymoose.com/zita-by-arturo-belleza-rotor-essay

“Zita” by Arturo B. Rotor. (n.d.). The Reading Life. Retrieved April 26, 2021, from

http://rereadinglives.blogspot.com/2012/08/zita-by-arturo-b-rotor.html