Jocelyn P.

Tabuena
STEM 11-29

DEAD STARS
The Dead Star written by Paz Marquez was all about an unrequited love, a choice
between what the others want for a man and what a man really loves, and a battle of the
mind and heart. Is it really hard to decide for oneself? To be honest the answer is no
because the only thing that makes it even harder is the pressure given by the people. In the
story, Alfredo Salazar, the main character, has faced a predicament wherein he has to
choose between his fetish for Julia and his loyalty to Esperanza. He finally chose to stick to
his commitment and marry Esparanza. His love for Julia was like dead stars, long vanished.

Alfredo was very fond of Esperanza way back from his youth. He courted her like
there was no tomorrow. Things have changed and his love for Esperanza had disappeared
little by little when he met Julia Salas. Alfredo had seen things in Julia that Esperanza
doesn’t have. It picqued his interest to solve what was the mystery behind Julia but he is
afraid what the society would tell about him.

Women in this work were just tools for the man to satisfy his needs and fulfil his
interests. Alfredo was bound to marry Esperanza as predicted by the society but he would
like to know how the future goes if the life he will have is with Julia. As you can see Julia
was just an experiment tool for Alfredo’s “what ifs”. She is just a tool for Alfredo to escape
reality, away from the prying eyes of people and how it feels to be free without anyone’s
pressure.

Women are portrayed as a very dependent individual to the man.. It seemed like
women were not entitled to chase and fight for their love because it is shameful as viewed
by the society just like in Julia’s case, especially when both man and a woman was bounded
by an agreement formed by the people around them. On the other hand, Men are allowed to
toy with women just for bliss and satisfaction even if he is betrothed. It is just injustice that
a woman gets hurt by loving truthfully.

Women are abused and damaged emotionally, they are sensitive creatures and they
get hurt more easily. Also, women couldn’t redeem the love they had given. First is
Esperanza for Alfredo was not satisfied and second is Julia for Alfredo had realized that it
was just nostalgia that is holding him back from being loyal to his fiancée. It seems like
women are the only ones who catches all of the agony.
 Paz Marquez, the author, used a third person point of view. The author was
acquainted with the feelings or ideas of the characters. For example, Carmen thought that
Alfredo is not rushing towards his wedding with Esperanza. He is over thirty and still a
bachelor. Also, when Esperanza have told a story about an immoral story about Calixta,
wherein she gave her thoughts about it but it feels like she also pertains to the
neighbouring of Alfredo and that she already knows about it.

In the story, male superiority is present. It seemed that men are the only ones
capable in decision making. Women are not entitled to do such an act for I have said that
they are very dependent to man. The man in the name of Alfredo is like the only one to
decide not reminded by the fact that someone might get hurt because of his actions. He only
cares about his reputation and the judgement of the society. Also, there was a scene where
Alfredo halfway hurt Esperanza physically for he was high-tempered at that time. It just
implies that women are weak and fragile and men are far more superior in terms of
choosing or decision making.

Its literary strength is that it shows people about how complicated love can be. It
served as a medium to show how courtship, fidelity as well as infidelity, and marriage are
viewed in the past. How complex human decisions and feelings can be, that reputation
among families are important and it makes us aware about how society could affect us. It
shows that we should not be dependent to what the society would tell us, we should decide
for our own sake, and we should know what our heart really wants. Sometimes it is not
wrong to go beyond the norms for in the end it would somehow teach us a lesson.

The literary work somehow compares the past and the present, the existing culture
and the almost forgotten and fading one. Although, it is good to see how generations
changed there were some points in the literary work that implies humans’ weakness. The
confusion and the decisiveness of the main character reflect that we humans are delicate
and easily swayed by any aspect. People give high consideration to their society that they
are afraid to go beyond norms for they do not want to be judged and that sometimes result
in giving up a part of themselves.