LITERARY ESSAY

“A Comparative Analysis of Manuel Arguilla’s Rice and Atom Araullo’s Tiempo Muerto”

Arguilla’s story emphasizes the farmer’s oppressive situation and poverty despite
their hard work, they did not even have the competency to defend themselves against those
people who stepped on theirs. The story “RICE” shows how hard the life of a farmer is, the
situation on how they were unable to experience freedom from the cruelty of life that they
are experiencing. However, even the farmers themselves, although they work hard every
single day, political and psychological aspects are unavoidable.
On the other hand, Atom Araullo’s “Tiempo Muerto” shows the situation of a
sugarcane farmer in Negros Occidental, Philippines. Unlike “RICE” by Arguilla, this
documentary is non-fiction and shows a deeper understanding of their situation. The
documentary focuses on the lifestyle of the sugarcane farmers, especially during Tiempo
Muerto, or the dead season. This video expresses how these farmers are tough despite
being in a difficult situation and never giving up on their dreams.
"Farmers themselves who's slave of their land". In connection to "Rice" by Manuel
Arguilla, they both experience poverty, they must borrow money or loan "utang" to survive
and provide their necessities every day since they do not have any option. As Mang Sonny
said, "Our lives are like a never-ending series of work and winning". However, they still
could not get up from poverty, instead, they were the slaves of their farmland. The justice
that the farmers deserve to have, " There are times that the justice favors wealthy people
that those poor cannot reciprocate ", Toper said. Therefore, Rice by Manuel Arguilla and
Tiempo Muerto, a documentary by Atom Araullo has the same plot, where farmers suffer
from being unable to get up from poverty despite their hard work as well as the aspects
that impact their lives.
The overview of how the farmers do not have the opportunity to stand up for
themselves because of their situation as they are still determined to keep working for their
everyday survival. "It was definitely hard, and if you really do not have the courage you
probably cannot get up from poverty" Oro bravely said. The determination and sacrifices
that they put on every day to survive is what every farmer can do and hold.
In the short story "Rice", it is shown to have a conflict about the rights at the
Hacienda Consuelo, due to the farmers being treated poorly by the authority which was the
watchmen and Señ ora. As the main character Pablo dismounted from the carabao, he began
to feel a sense of envy due to the carabao being able to eat after working but he could not,
due to them not getting the cavanes of rice, leaving him disappointed, envious, and
resiliency.
 Economical conflict in the short story is shown when the time of the harvest began,
Señ ora raised the interest rate of the takipan. Surely enough, the farmers were furious
about it because they thought it was unfair to them that the takipan interest was raised.
However, due to their needs, Señ ora took advantage of the farmers by telling them that
they needed it and that they should take the truckload full of sacks of rice.
Thus, the other farmers have been fed up with the authority of Señ ora that they
have started a revolution and share it with Pablo for him to join. The internal conflict also
was shown because Pablo had second thoughts about the moral principle of not stealing.
However, despite the morality that Pablo has, the condition that he's in makes it harder for
him to refuse to join the heist. But it was triggered when his daughter was present in the
storytelling Pablo that she was hungry, leading to Pablo grabbing his bolo and leaving.
In the documentary "TIEMPO MUERTO" in connection with the short story "RICE"
both presented many issues about the life of the farmers and their family as they suffer and
live in poverty but still work in order to change the fate they are set upon on.
The Farmers of the sugar cane plantation and the Farmers of the "RICE" work
tirelessly under the scorching hot sun and only earn a minimum of 250pesos a day, the
Farmers continue this every day for 4 to 5 months straight so they can support their
families when the "TIEMPO MUERTO" or dead season arrives they will have to stop
working and cannot earn any more money and that can last April to August, it is the most
toughest time that they have to face.
When the C.A.R.P or Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program was implemented by
Corazon Aquino in 1998 and expired on June 30, 2014, 88% of the 7.8 million hectares of
land that was covered by C.A.R.P was given to the farmers, but the hacienda where Mang
Sonny worked in Nasugbu even though the land was given many of the farmers have no use
the particular reason for this circumstances is the layered cased of ownership and even the
support of the government to the farmers is not enough.
After analyzing the two literary materials, the conflicts still happen which leads to a
plight among Filipino farmers to this day. According to (Verkaart et al. (2018)), one of the
problems that cause the plight of the farmers is the difficulty of rice production. (Verkaart
et al. (2018)) also stated that the difficulties of growing rice are clearly described in our
country's famous folk song "Growing rice is not fun" or Magtanim ay di biro.
A farmer bends down to plant rice all day; he or she cannot even sit or stand, or
even rest for a moment. It is one of Verkaart's respondents Aling Tasya proved: “I had pain
in my waist and back, especially during and after transplanting rice plants. I must endure
this pain so I can support my family.
 The poverty rate in the country is highest in the agricultural sector, at 34.3%, higher
than the poverty rate in the general population of 21.6% in 2015 According to (PSA 2015).
Which leads to the agricultural sector being more involved in poverty than the population
itself. Thus, the two literary works correlate with each other through the conflicts shown in
real-life scenarios. That leads to the plight of Filipino farmers to this day.
The life of farmers in the story of Arguilla and the documentary of Araullo are
difficult. Tersiohan is the only way to survive, even though their sacrifice is too much they
still do not rise from poverty as if their suffering is still insufficient. The real curse in the
lives of farmers is not bad luck but the extreme poverty caused by living like a slave on the
land that is farmed and enriched. Due to the lack of knowledge, the farmers are oppressed
by the rich people, and what the rich people want to do to the farmers is what happens
because they have power. Despite sacrifices and sometimes failures, the farmers face their
work fearlessly.
Common situations such as hard work, resilience, and the challenges of farming
between humans and the land. Both forms of storytelling and stories can delve into critical
issues related to agriculture, like the life of the farmers and how difficult it is. Poverty is the
issue. Income inequality is the problem, some rich people take advantage of the farmers.
From the story and documentary, the situation is different, but the problem is the same,
which is poverty and income inequality, even though they are working so hard, the salary is
not enough. Farmers are in debt because of poverty, and no matter how hard and sacrifice
they make if the government is not fair, nothing will happen.

References:

GMA Public Affairs. (2018b, July 2). I-Witness: “Tiempo Muerto,” dokumentaryo ni Atom
Araullo (full episode)
[Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6gq3nWLQx8

Rice by Manuel E. Arguilla. (n.d.). Scribd.

https://www.scribd.com/doc/257311534/Rice-by-Manuel-E-Arguilla
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