Climaco, Blair T.

Mrs. Mariecris Dolino

12 – Charity STEM

September 15, 2021

“Tong” Short Story Analysis

The lack of action and response towards the system of oppression have a significant
negative effect towards the daily-life experience of the oppressed individuals among the
community. Most of the oppressed individuals are abused and mistreated due to their lack of
financial stability. Should our Social Classes dictate the destiny that you deserve? Majority of the
population have their own way of making money, cultural traditions, customs, practices and
beliefs. These affects the people’s lives because their actions and purpose start to revolve around
these ideas. Because of the cultural differences and ideology, signs of oppressions start to become
clear and evident in the said short story.

The Filipino National Artist, F. Sionil Jose have always been a unique and a creative author.
What makes him a talented and a great author is his strong sense for Social Justice. The Filipinos
have been always oppressed by other countries because we have been colonized by multiple
countries and we have been treated less. One of his written literary pieces which depicts the
development of Social Injustice towards the Filipino was the short story “Tong” that was published
during the year 1993. After a thorough analyzation of “Tong”, the Marxist Literary Theory was
very clear and observable in the said story. The conflicts between the conversations done by Ms.
Tan and Mr. Conrado shows the clash of their ideas, culture and the stereotypes that showed the
Filipino were oppressed by the Chinese people because of their certain behaviors and actions.
Alice Tan stated that “you are lazy. You don’t know what industry is – and this is why, no matter
what your leader says, you will never amount to anything.” It shows that the Filipinos tend to act
blind on the things that happens to them like corruption and manipulation. The Filipinos shows no
sign of improvement and change thus called “lazy” meanwhile compared to Chinese people, they
have been always business minded and productive, thus the total opposite of the “lazy”. These
Chinese citizens in the story have always been very harsh towards Filipino men. They always think
that they have been better than them. The line “See?” they never like Chinese girls to date Filipino
boys. They think Filipino boys are just making fools of us . . .” shows the hatred towards Filipino
men thinking that they are not serious and are just there for the potential dowry to receive after the
marriage in the Chinese woman’s family. They generalize every Filipino man being poor and
thinking that the true intention of every Filipino man in the marriage is money.

The obsession towards materialism really determines their decisions in their life. Because of
materialism, the idea of different social classes like bourgeosie and proletariat has risen and makes
those who are in the ruling class feel that they have the ability to abuse and do whatever they want
to those who are below them. The idea of thinking that you are way “better” than others doesn’t
give you the authority to take advantage of their lives and rights as a human being, which is very
evident in the story “Tong”. The statement Alice Tan became the Tong or the payment because
her brothers were given a great opportunity to have a great life through Job opportunity but there
was a catch, their rich Chinese Boss will be marrying Alice Tan. “That means we are not rich,”
she said. “The rich Chinese are in Greenhills. That’s where they live anyway. Before the war, they
said it was in Santa Mesa.” Despite that Alice Tan never loved that Chinese man nor have feelings
for him, she has to do it because of the agreement that they have made to make the lives of their
family better than before. It also seems like they were desperate and have no choice since they
were orphans and had no one to take care of them other than their uncle. The people who have the
higher power such as those who control the law and the rules in the society were also abusing their
power. This line “And then, you are so corrupt. Why, almost every week, someone goes to the shop
– policeman, revenue agents, all of them. All they want is money. My uncle always gives of course.
And every time, he increases the price of what we sell. In the other end, it is the customer who
suffers.” Shows that those who are already struggling, always struggles more because of those
who are in control decides to take advantage of their power to gain more wealth. Their way of
corrupting the individuals in the community results in poverty and struggles towards the life of the
affected.

When I was given chance to read the story again, it gave me an idea of another view towards
the story, the view that Alice Tan have in her life. The story was not just revolving towards
Conrado but also the life of the poor Chinese woman named Alice Tan that despite the challenges
and restrictions she experienced in her life, she was able to feel the excitement of being a free
woman. The literary theory that could be connected to this literary piece is the Feminist Criticism.
The literary piece has many instances that showed that even a woman can be an important element
or role in the story. Alice Tan is also a Main Character in Tong, her life was full of struggles,
restrictions, challenges but she still enjoyed everything that gave her life the thrill that she wanted
to experience. The thrill of truly loving someone despite knowing that they cannot be together.
She was tied down and feeling restricted because of their culture and custom that woman have no
impact in their community, most women in China are treated less, therefore she was experiencing
first-hand the oppression towards her gender. The way the story is also constructed really shows
that the author himself wants us to show the influence of every woman in this world and that they
are very important because of their contributions towards society and they are also proving their
capabilities as an individual in this harsh industry. It is already very evident in the story that she
experienced multiple hurdles to be able to experience just the life of a free woman who is not
restrained from anything. She finds ways to meet the man he loves in secret, they had fun being
together, sharing thoughts, being in each other’s presence and talking about their future that they
could never experience. The story never really ended happily for Alice Tan and Conrado but there
is nothing that they can do about it because of the social status that they are both on, Conrado is
not rich enough to give Alice Tan and his brothers the life that they wanted to have, which is out
of the poverty and Conrado is Filipino, which is really discouraged by the custom and traditions
among the Chinese People.

Indeed, the lack of attention and actions towards the system of oppression has really
affected many lives negatively because its impact can both destroy lives and result in a toxic
community that is hard for the individuals to have a chance to grow and have a decent lifestyle.
When I read the story, both the Marxist Literary Theory and the Feminist Criticism first came into
my mind because of how the entire short story was constructed. The idea of putting the main
character in a difficult environment where gender oppression, racism, social class conflicts and
corruption exists, is really a real reflection on how harsh people are treated in the real world. These
situations are indeed real and many people were affected because of these problems and up to now,
there are still no actions for resolve. Their ideology which is giving way too much attention
towards materialism is really the main culprit for existence of the different Social Class in the
story. It is also the main reason why there is corruption, abuse of power and manipulation of the
poor, it is all because of materialism. The gender oppression towards women also had a big impact
in the lives of every woman. It is only recent that there were actions towards this issue but still it
is very evident and clear that it exists even up to this time. It affects them in their work
environment, public status, and even in schools.