The God Stealer

by Francisco Sionil Jose

 BANAUE
RICE
TERRACES

What is Banaue Rice

Terraces?

Banaue rice terraces, system of irrigated rice terraces

in the mountains of north-central Luzon, Philippines,
that were created more than 2,000 years ago by the
Ifugao people.
 Objectives
ONE TWO THREE

To understand To identify and To identify and

the lives of the explain the suitable explain the suitable
native Filipinos literary approach for literary approach for
the story. the story
Author's
Background
Francisco Sionil Jose was born
to a poor family in Pangasinan
on December 1924. Despite
hailing from poverty.

He is a National Artist for

Literature and is one of the
most famous Filipino writers,
not just locally but also
internationally.
Author's
Background
José’s works written in English have been
translated into 28 languages including,
Korean, Indonesian, Czech, Russian, Latvian,
Ukrainian, Dutch.

He has travelled abroad extensively and has

experienced wars and great political and
economic shifts in his lifetime. He puts the
spotlight on these economic classes and
changes in his short story “The God Stealer”. It
examines the relationship between culture
and economy and the rifts that occur when
people change economic classes.
Part 1: Text Elements of the Story
Dependent (The God Stealer)
Interpretation Symbolism
Style
Characters:
Also known as Ip-pig

A native Ifugao who become less

sentimental to his past culture

He lived at the city life for a few years that

made him foreign to his own homeland and
their culture

Philip Latak
Characters:
An American who wanted to visit the rice
terraces of the Mountain Province

He and Philip were best of friends and they

both work at the same agency

Interested in buying an original figurine of an

Ifugao God that mad Philip do things he
shouldn’t
Sam Christie
Characters:
Philip’s older brother

He dislikes Philip’s idea of leaving them in return of a

life that’s far beyond their culture and tradition

He thought that by living in Manila for few years,

Philip would have forgotten what is to be an Ifugao

Sadek was a farmer in their terraces with sunburned

and stolid face
Sadek
Characters:
Owner of the figurine that Sam
wanted to buy

He wholeheartedly welcome Ip-pig

upon his visit to their homeland and
throw a feast for him
Philip's
Grandfather
Settings:

PLACE TIME
Banaue Rice
Terraces in December
Mountain Province Dawn
Baguio
 Theme
SUBJECT MATTER
It is not just a tale about an Ifugao stealing a religious
idol, but also about the friendship that developed
between a Filipino and an American, a representation of
the relationship that developed between the
"colonized" and the "colonizer".
 Theme
VALUE OF HERITAGE
The narrative emphasizes the importance of Filipino ancestry. It focuses not just on
the current struggle, but also on the rich culture of the Ifugao. Philip has lost his roots
to the extent where his own country feels strange to him. We can see that Philip's
roots as an Ifugao are slowly going away, and his rich heritage and wisdom are
receding into the background as he experiences the opulent life in the city. It is
obvious that our culture is rich, which is all the more reason for us to be more aware
of it and conserve it for future generations.
 The story begins at the dawn of
December with two officemates Philip
Latak and Sam Christie on the bus
taking its route to Baguio.
Philip (Ip-pig) now lives in Manila despite
the request of their grandfather to stay

PLOT:
in exchange of his share of the famous
rice terraces.

EXPOSITION
He still choose to live in the city, away
from his family and homeland and
against the wish of his grandfather.
They are on their way to Baguio for the
fact that Sam wants to buy a genuine
Ifugao god as a souvenir and as best of
friends, Philip was there to help him find
one with his local connections.
Blinded by the fact that he
considers himself as a city
boy, Philip has no plan to
return to mountain life and he
even said bad things about
Ifugao's and the place where
PLOT:
he came from. RISING
Regardless of his attitude, his
grandfather is pleased to see ACTION
him and decides to throw a
big party in his honor.
 On the day of the party, Philip and Sam
discover that no one is willing to sell his
Ifugao god figurine.
At that moment, Philip comes up with
the idea of stealing his grandfather’s god
as a last resort just for Sam to have it.
PLOT: He considers it as a way to showing
gratitude to Sam for giving him a raise at
CLIMAX work.
Eventually, his grandfather finds out that
his god was missing and he dies from the
fact that his own grandson stole it.
That’s when Sam finds out that Philip will
no longer be going back to Manila.
Out of curiosity, Sam looks for Philip and
found him working in his grandfather’s
house.
That’s when Philip expresses his guilt
and say his reason for staying on the
mountains. It is because he is really guilty
of what he did at the day of the feast.
PLOT:
His grandfather knew from the very start
that it was him who stole the god.
FALLING
“I killed him, Sam. I killed him because I
wanted to be free from these. These
ACTION
cursed terraces, because I wanted to be
grateful. I killed him who loved me the
most” Ip-pig’s tone is very sad and guilty.
 Sam wanted to talk to Philip
about what happened but Philip
doesn’t consider Sam a friend
anymore.
In the semi-darkness, Sam saw
PLOT: Philip wearing a well- built Ifugao
attire in the simple costume of the
DENOUEMENT high lands.
He doesn’t even bother to notice
Sam for he’s completely busy in
scraping again the block of wood.
He’s making a new god to replace
the old one, the stolen god.
 CONFLICT

MAN VS HIMSELF
Philip is a self-proclaimed city boy and this perception in his mind
lead him to make a bad decision together with his pride.
Philip has lost his sentimentality and has no regard for his culture,
tradition, or homeland.
Furthermore, his pride built through his years in the city made him
ungrateful and ignorant to his grandfather's affection, and he chose
to betray his grandfather for the sake of the foreigner
 CONFLICT

MAN VS SOCIETY
The Ifugao treat Philip with a sullen silence because they know he is a
native that have change his belief to be apart of the city life. Years of living
in the city Philip became a stranger at his own homeland and it's only there
to steal the God of Ifugao, the God that is precious to their religion.
He struggles against the society of Ifugao because of the influence of the
city life that he have experienced. Most people tend to forget their origin,
once they experience the pleasure of luxurious living.
SYMBOLISM

IFUGAO GOD
Symbolizes Filipino's identify, beliefs and traditions.

PHILIP LATAK
Symbolizes Filipino's who embraced other cultures
SAM CHRISTIE
United states of America
 SYMBOLISM

SADEK
Symbolizes Filipino's who stayed in their place but adopting
colonizers culture
GRANDFATHER
Symbolizes Filipino's who resisted colonial mentality
Time, the old days

BANAUE RICE TERRACES

Symbol of patience and hard work of our Ifugao ancestors.
 STYLE
FORESHADOWING
"It takes a cataclysm, something tragic, to shock a man back to his wits,
to make him realize his loss..." This statement in the tale provides
evidence of foreshadowing. It informs the reader that some action will
be taken to awaken Philip's colonial thinking. The comment
foreshadows Philip's betrayal of his family and heritage, which would
have catastrophic repercussions.
 CULTURAL
SIGNIFICANCE
It is José's most widely anthologized novel. It's not simply a
story about an Ifugao stealing a religious idol; it's also about a
friendship between a Filipino and an American, a metaphor for
the bond that develops between the "influenced" and the
"influencer.". Philip's thievery symbolized the Filipinos'
abandonment of their tribal origins and traditions, which were
replaced by colonialism's "unnatural" culture. Confusion,
confused feelings, helplessness, pain, embarrassment, and the
inability to appreciate the past were all brought to the
Filipinos by colonialism at one point in history.
 Guide Question
ONE TWO THREE

Philip and Sam If you were Philip, In your own

are symbols of how would you treat perspective, who is
what? natives like you? the god stealer in
the story?
Part 2:
Reader-
Dependent Literary Criticism
interpretation
 MARXIST APPROACH

Upper Class Lower Class

Philip's
Sam Christie Philip Latak Sadek Ifugao
Grandfather

Social Conformity
= Pride
 FORMALISM APPROACH

Took a visit in Ifugao

Grew up in Ifugao but less sentimental with his cultural

identity, beliefs, and customs; city dweller. and decided
to go with Sam his co-worker

Philip talak(Ip-pig) Sam Christie

Philip= “Philippines” Intimidates the Ifugao culture Sam= American “Uncle

Sam”
Latak=” Residue”
Christie= Christian

Ifugao God= they symbolize the identity

Stole his grandfather’s God
of a spirit of a Filipino Wanted to have Ifugao
for Sam to show his gratitude
God as his Souvenir
 CULTURAL STUDIES

Philip Latak Ifugao Sam Christie

Intercultural Intercultural
Colonial Conflict Dependent Tension
Foreigner
Mentality on Ancestral way

Has a distinct set of views,

publicly opposes and Ifugao
Religion
disrespects his family and
previous faith God

Negative Model for Intercultural Relations

 Guide Question
ONE TWO THREE

Philip and Sam If you were Philip, In your own

are symbols of how would you treat perspective, who is
what? natives like you? the god stealer in
the story?
“No man stops caring as long as

he breathes. As long as he has a

mind and memory, he will care.

This is what separates us from

the animals."

-F. Sionil Jose.

 “It takes cataclysm, something

tragic to knock a man back to his

wits, to make him realize his

loss...”

-F. Sionil Jose.