Pasores, Ileen M.

ME-1C
Purposive Communication
Activity 8: Critical Analysis Paper

Tong
by F. Sionil Jose
 Good morning ma’am, I am Ileen Pasores from ME-section 1C. And I am here to present
my criticial analysis paper of the short story entitled Tong written by F. Sionil Jose.
Francisco Sionil Jose's short story "Tong" is about a tragic love between two people of
different nationalities: a Filipino man and a Chinese woman. It involves both lovers'
dissimilarities in beliefs, situations, and classes. So, their cultural differences prevent them from
being together. The word “tong” which is the title of the short story, is a Chinese name for
"Pambayad utang," which means "borrowed money" in Filipino. Since Tong's presence
complicates their forbidden love story, they are unable to be together.
The short story depicts submission and dominance in Chinese-Filipino culture, where
oppressive institutions of gender, class, race, and ideology intertwine. Because the author
emphasizes different social classes, each character represents one of them. The main character,
Alice Tan, is a Chinese-Filipino who represents the Ongpin Chinese, Ongpin Chinese a term
used when a Chinese is from a lower class in the Philippines, so it means they are not rich. Her
uncle, despite owning an electrical store, is of the same social level as Alice Tan. The upper class
is represented by the other Chinese in the story, that old rich Chinese with whom Alice is set in
marriage with belongs to upper class, meaning he is rich. The Chinese residents of Greenhills are
members of this upper class.
The story's social differences between Chinese and Filipinos are classified by place or
their location. Conrado Lopez, the other main character, is a Filipino who has become class-
aware or became conscious of his social status after falling in love with Alice Tan. This
demonstrates that Filipinos are treated differently in the story than Chinese-Filipinos. They face
racial discrimination or stereotypes, which are exacerbated or worsen by the way Chinese-
Filipinos view them as a race. Filipinos are lazy and ignorant, according to Chinese-Filipinos.
They have no business experience. As a result, Filipinos are looked down upon in such
situations. On the other hand, Conrado sees Chinese-Filipinos as exploiters and clannish.
The freedom of the two main characters to decide who they love is highlighted in this
story, regardless of their class, race, or culture. But traditional practice has affected Alice. This
oppression reflects the patriarchal nature of Chinese life, which is dominated by Confucian
norms. According to Qing (2014), Confucius saw women as completely inferior to males, that is
why they segregate them from men and assigning them only the tasks of serving their partners
and parents, caring for the family, and bearing healthy sons. In the story, Alice's parents have
died in the story, and she has no option but to obey her uncle. As a result, she follows their
custom of obeying and appreciating those who have raised them.
 Conrado's relationship with Alice is hindered by custom and tradition. The author tries to
show that racial prejudice and materialism are the main obstacles to interaction between Chinese
and Filipinos. This is demonstrated by Conrado's rapid awareness of class inequalities among
Chinese in the nation. Given their race's racial prejudice against Filipinos, it's easy to conclude
that Alice’s interaction with Conrado is due to racism. Her interactions with her uncle and the
Greenhills Chinese are classed and gendered because she understands her place in their culture—
as an entirely inferior woman, according to Confucian custom.
  She must follow her uncle as a woman, who only sees her as a means for accumulating
wealth. Her uncle's treatment of her is gendered because he only sees her as a woman who is
limited to doing housework and obeying her husband when she marries the wealthy Greenhills
Chinese in the future. If her uncle values her as a woman, he will not force her into an arranged
marriage in order to elevate their social standing. The old Greenhills Chinese, on the other hand,
will not be cooperative with their uncle if he views women as equal to their social standing, with
the freedom to choose their partner and the ability to improve their lives without relying on their
husband's social standing.
Conrado's interaction with Alice is likewise classed and raced, but this occurred after he
discovered how class-conscious Chinese-Filipinos are. After learning of their relationship's
problems, he only recently recognized who he was. That's why he kept asking Alice if the major
reason he wasn't permitted to meet her was because of his race. His contact with Alice's uncle is
both raced and classed, in that he understands how unequal he is to them because he is not
wealthy, not a businessman, and simply an ignorant Filipino.
Furthermore, I realized that the privilege of Chinese-Filipino men marrying Filipina
women is gendered. Even if it is normal Confucian doctrine for them to marry a woman from
their own group (due to the fact that men are valued more than women), they are still free to
marry a woman of their choosing. This is particularly the case if they are from a higher social
status.
I also notice the hints in the story. The foreshadowing method which the author made
from the beginning, in the part in which the protagonist, Alice, says to Conrado, "The lines
should never get mixed up. When the covering is worn out and they cross each other, that's when
trouble starts". The cover represents their various identities, which include their views and how
they perceive themselves and each other and might relate to the two of them being of different
nationalities and backgrounds.
As a result, conflicts occur when they try to mix. This implies that the story isn't only
about oppression in one culture; it's also about how one culture may be oppressed by the
ideology, class, and race of another. In the story, Conrado, a Filipino, is oppressed by Alice's
oppression in their Chinese culture. If Alice had not been oppressed by their culture, she would
have had the independence and ability to choose her own love partner. Nonetheless, as the title
and ending of the narrative suggest, tong, a word that appears several times in the story, refers to
the bride's dowry. According to Chinese-wedding-guide.com (n.d.), the dowry is presented to the
groom by the bride's parents. This is equivalent to the bride's dowry, wherein the husband is
required to pay to the bride's family. In this story, dowry refers to Alice's loss of independence as
a result of her uncle's desire for wealth, as well as her uncle's iron-fisted ideological hold on
patriarchal Confucianism.
I can see how the severe Chinese-Filipino custom in the Philippines allows only Chinese-
Filipino men to marry Filipino women and not the other way around, effectively suppressing
them by their patriarchal nature. This is especially true in areas where Chinese-Filipino women
are prohibited from marrying males from outside their own racial community. The economic
system; Alice's uncle's racial prejudice in favoring a wealthy Greenhills Chinese over a Filipino;
how Chinese-Filipinos view Filipinos who are lazy and stupid in business affairs; obviously
indicate the conflict in the story; oppression in the main character as race, gender, class, and
ideology intersect.
 In conclusion, the short story shows how Filipinos are being construed or interpreted by
the Chinese-Filipinos and vice versa. Sionil Jose’s writing upholds social justice and the moral of
the Filipinos which usually centers on Philippine history especially on colonialism in the
country. This short story about the conflict between Filipino and Chinese culture is probably a
reflection of his feelings towards the Chinese-Filipinos. He said millions of Filipinos work for
the Chinese and it was never the other way around. The Chinese are the ones who dominate
industry and commerce in the country and all the menial jobs are filled by Filipinos. He also
made a solid statement that nationalism should not be confused with racism, as he is not
advocating anti-Chinese attitudes; he simply wants to highlight our vulnerability as we are poor
and the Chinese are wealthy. This is a moral problem, not a political one, for him. Reflecting on
the author's views against the Chinese, I recognized that the oppression shown in the story may
also be a metaphor for the oppression of the poor in the Country; between both the Chinese-
Filipinos and Filipinos, the Filipinos are undoubtedly the ones who suffer.
And as what Taylor Swift said on her All too well 10-minute version song, “F-word the
patriarchy”. A lifetime of patriarchy has taught us that men can do whatever they want with very
little consequence as long as they keep it light and as long as the women they harm are too
emotional or too young to know that they are harmed, will never be okay. Women should have
the rights to choose what they want.