CALUB JR. JERRY P.

LIT (PRELIM INDIVIDUAL OUTPUT)

4 EE – C PROF. JOCELYN GARCIA

ANALYZING MAGNIFICENCE BY ESTRELLA ALFON

PLOT = The story is about a mother who protected her daughter against being molested by
Vicente, who happens to be the tutor of her children. The story is arranged chronologically,
because it started with an introduction, down to ending. The story is narrated just as normal,
although it started the narration directly to Vicente coming to the house as their tutor, before giving
the reason why he ended up being the tutor. The plot is fast-paced because after the introduction,
it goes directly to the conflict, then the resolution. When the characters are introduced in the first
part, the conflict follows right away. The main conflict of the story is between Vicente, the little girl,
and the mother. The conflict resulted in an emotional impact on the little girl as she was frightened
about what Vicente did to her. It was resolved when the mother drove him off the house by
slapping him hard multiple times. I can say that the main conflict is subtle because you can easily
determine it. The climax of the story is when Vicente molested the little girl. He tricked Oscar, the
little girl’s brother, to go outside the room by asking Oscar to get him water. They were deceived
by his kindness and gentleness. The climax occurred at the middle of the story. For me, the story
is unhappy. The emotional impact it brought to the girl is really saddening, and slapping Vicente
is not enough to bring justice to what he did to the little girl. It might bring trauma to her.

SETTING = The main setting of the story is at the house of the mother. I can say that the story is
around the Japanese occupation, because there are parts of the story that mentioned Japanese
bazaars and Japanese confection-maker. Also, the word centavo was mentioned as the “baon”.
The story happens mostly in the evening, because that’s when Vicente would tutor the little boy
and little girl. Therefore, the action takes place in their house and during the evening. The main
social forces that shaped the character is the rage for pencils. That is why it was used by Vicente
as bait to the kids.

CHARACTERIZATION = The main characters of the story are Vicente, the mother, and the little
girl. The minor characters are Oscar and his father. Vicente was first described as kind and gentle.
He has a soft voice. He is a young bus conductor who offered to be the tutor of Oscar and his
sister. The mother is a tall woman and is the president of the neighborhood association. The little
girl is seven years of age, while her brother is eight years old. They were both very tall for their
age. Vicente described them as smart, but lazy with regards to their homework. Vicente’s family
background was not mentioned in the story. The father seemed to be judgmental, because of
what he said that Vicente just offered to be a tutor just to get a new job and used his children to
get a way through to him. He also seemed to not care about anything because there’s a line that
said he just grunted and did not pay any attention anymore. The mother, as I observed, is strict
because when her children asked her to buy them pencils, she did not agree with them. She is
also a brave woman, and it shows when she slapped Vicente upon seeing what he did to her
daughter. I can say that she also trusts easily, especially when she allowed Vicente to tutor her
children. The conflict that the characters faced is person vs. person. It is revealed when Vicente
showed his true colors by molesting the little girl, and when the mother stood up to protect her
daughter. It clearly shows that Vicente is not consistent with his character because at first, he’s
very kind, especially when he offered to be the tutor of Oscar and his sister, but then, his true
intention revealed later on. On the other hand, the mother shows her bravery when she faced the
man dauntlessly, but then showed her soft side when she tucked her daughter to sleep.

POINT OF VIEW = The point of view used in this story is the Third Person Point of View. The
narrator is not part of the story, and it is visible all throughout the narration. The narrator seems
to know the characters well because he/she was able to describe each character. The narrator
may know the characters well, but it is not visible that he/she knows their inner thoughts as well.
I can say that the narrator assisted the story well, and the author may choose the third-person
perspective to reveal the characters’ traits.

IMAGERY = For me, there are lots of imagery used in the story Magnificence. The line “He would
smell very faintly of sweat and pomade”, you can imagine the smell upon reading this line. Also, the
words that were used to describe the siblings, which is “their legs were the long gangly legs of fine
spirited colts”, shows how tall they are. The colorful pencils that were mentioned in the story is also an
imagery. Colorful pencils make me nostalgic because it reminds me of my elementary days, wherein
my classmates would show to the class their pencils. It was mentioned in the story also the specific
color that Vicente gave to the siblings, which appeals to sense of sight. He gave green and blue pencils
to the boy, while red, yellow, and white to the girl. The line “The man’s arms tightened suddenly about
the little girl”, which appeals to a sense of touch, makes me feel disturbed. This is where I thought that
Vicente is slowly trying to show his true intentions to the little girl. For line “The mother’s voice was of
such a heavy quality and of such awful timbre”, it shows here that the mother is very angry at Vicente
on what she had seen. For me, the author wants us to feel the emotions she wanted us to feel, based
on the imagery that she used.

SYMBOLISM = I found a few symbolisms in the story. First off is the white pencil, which
symbolizes purity, as what I have analyzed in the story. Also, the pencil in general symbolizes the
pride of a student who owns it, because it was mentioned in the story that it was the rage during
that time. The light was mentioned in the story multiple times. New clothes and burned clothes
also show symbolism. New clothes mean a new beginning, while the burnt clothes mean
forgetting the past and moving on. For me, it symbolizes courage, for it shows how bold the mother
is with regards to protecting her daughter. At first, the mother was silently watching Vicente on
the shadows as he molested the little girl, but on the line “The mother kept coming into the light,
and when Vicente made as if to move away into the shadow”, it clearly shows that the mother slowly
have the courage to face Vicente, while the latter move away to the shadow which means he is
losing his courage. Based on my interpretation as well, the mother symbolizes strength, for she
has the courage to confront Vicente without asking help from her husband. She serves as the
hero to her daughter, as it is evident on the line “Her voice had been like a bell of safety to the little
girl.” The setting, which happens at evening, symbolizes the timing where crimes usually happen.
We all know that it’s in the dark where bad things usually occur. The symbols in the story were
used all throughout the narration.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE = The figurative language that I found is Onomatopoeia, for the line
“shouted with glee”. I also found Hyperbole on the line “laughed a little breathlessly”. Here, it
shows exaggeration when conveying the line. Line “People like those, they make friends with
people like us,” shows Simile, because it used the word LIKE, as shown also on the lines “her
mother and father always treated her like a big girl, she was always told never to act like a baby.”
I also found Personification when the lines “cool air of the free night touched him” and “into the
shadows that ate him up.”

TONE = The author conveys sad emotion in this story. She clearly wanted the reader to feel sad
about reading it, but it also aims to bring awareness. The story is tragic, because of what
happened to the little girl. It is not clear whether the author likes or dislikes the character, but it
seems to me that the author is admiring Vicente at first, of how gentle and kind he is. I think that
the author is serious in this story, because she wanted to bring awareness and she wanted to
bring the message to the readers.

IRONY = The story obviously has irony in it. As a reader, I expected that Vicente is such a nice
guy and he really cares about the siblings, but it turned out that he has a motive in volunteering
to be their tutor. The trust that the mother gave to him resulted to her daughter being a victim of
child abuse. The mother was deceived by Vicente’s offer to be their tutor when she said that her
children were smart, but lazy with their homework. Vicente intentionally said to the mother that he
is willing to help the siblings since he has nothing to do in the evenings. The family was deceived
by his gentleness and kindness.

THEME = The theme of the story is about choosing carefully who you trust. The author’s main
purpose is to bring awareness that we should not trust easily. We should not be blinded by the
kindness of others easily. Know how to examine a person first before giving your full trust. For
me, the theme of Magnificence is implicit because it has deeper meanings and it creates more
imagery. Also, the story does not have one theme only. Other theme that I can find on this is child
abuse. Children are the ones who are most vulnerable with regards to abuse. They are the easiest
target, hence the abuse that the little girl experienced when Vicente molested her. It also conveys
how parenting is important within a family. The father, who seems to be unbothered about what
is going on, shows the lack of good parenting.

GENERAL QUESTIONS:

• What light is thrown on the story by its title?

➢ The title Magnificence is very suited to the story, because the mother shows magnificent
action when she protected her daughter. In general, it also shows how a woman can stand
for herself, especially when they are being abused. A woman is being seen as weak, but
when violence arises, a woman can be brave and knows how to protect herself.

• Did you enjoy reading the book? What aspects of the book gave you pleasure, and why?
Does the story chiefly offer escape? Purpose?

➢ I did enjoy reading this story. At first, there are parts that I cannot understand, but as I
continue reading it, it sheds light to me. The story might be simple, but it holds a big
message to every reader. The time when Vicente showed his true color gave me pleasure.
It makes me reflect about how we should be careful in dealing with other people in real
life. Magnificence does offer purpose, as it brings awareness to us, readers, that trust
should not be given easily.