Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
Region XIII-CARAGA REGION
SCHOOLS DIVISION OF SURIGAO DEL SUR
CARRASCAL NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Nat’l. Highway, Gamuton, Carrascal, Surigao del Sur

LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEETS IN 21ST CENTURY LITERATURE FROM THE PHILIPPINES AND THE WORLD

GRADE LEVEL: 11 – STEM/HUMSS & TVL DISCIPLINE: Literature

SUBJECT AREA: 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World TOPIC: “The Apologizer”
QUARTER: 4th WEEK: 2

General Instructions: This learning activity sheet is intended to be answered for the duration of one week, answer all given activity to
earn a grade in this subject. You are not allowed to write anything, crumple or put unnecessary marks in the worksheets, provide yellow
sheet of paper/s for your answers. Please answer the activities provided HONESTLY. Enjoy answering!

WHAT IS IT

A voice came to him from the photograph: “You’ll never know that. Everything you imagine about me is just fairy tales. But I
love your fairy tales. Even when you made me out to be a murderer who drowned a young man in the river. I liked it all. Keep it up,
Alain. Tell me a story! Go on, imagine! I’m listening.”

This most recent short story from Milan Kundera can be viewed in The New Yorker here for free.

I was thrilled when I saw this come out. Milan Kundera is one of my all-time favorite authors, first coming to my shelf with The
Unbearable Lightness of Being. Translated from French, his writing style is always elegant and visceral, finding beautiful, honest links
between philosophy and the body. The Apologizer did not disappoint.

Tackling challenging philosophical and personal the apologizer issues of identity and one’s place in the world, The Apologizer
gives a small glimpse into the mind of Alain and his complex relationship with his mother and himself. Opening with sexual ponderings
on the navel and different eras’ sexual preferences Alain thinks of the last time he saw his estranged mother, who stared with both
contempt and compassion at his navel before disappearing from his life. Split into eight small sections, which originally seem
unconnected then combine to create a whole picture, we see Alain’s imagined version of his mother and how he came to be in the
world – imagining her trying to commit suicide, killing the man who tries to save her, and the cold coitus which brought Alain, the
apologizer, into the world. The dialogue between him and the photograph of his mother and his fantasy of her is cold and brutal,
uncovering his feelings that he is an imposter – unwanted who forced his way into the world and now feels the need to apology when
someone else barges into him, apologizing for taking up their space.

The intricacy and complexity of the very human emotions shown in The Apologizer show Kundera’s deep understanding of
individuals, while not pretending to understand everything about their often-illogical actions and reactions. A lot of the ideas in this story
might seem unpleasant – the purpose of abortion, sexuality, our lack of choice in coming to Earth, and the idea of apologizing for living;
there are parts that make you uncomfortable as the cold mother figure berates her son, as he imagines his father forcing the pregnancy
upon her. At the end its heart-breaking, and we’re offered no solution or comfort. Kundera has written this collection of thoughts, of
imagined scenes and bitter dialogue to create a picture of a man apologizing; “I’m an apologizer. That’s the way you made me, you and
him. And, as such, as an apologizer, I’m happy. I feel good when we apologize to each other, you and I. Isn’t it lovely, apologizing to
each other?”

Sad, frank and beautiful, this strange glimpse into the mind of an apologizer is worth your time.

Note: Refer to this link for the complete story https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/05/04/the-apologizer

WHAT I NEED TO LEARN

Milan Kundera is a Czech and French writer of Czech origin who has lived in exile in France since 1975, where he became a
naturalized French citizen in 1981. He is best known for The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, and
The Joke.
 Kundera has written in both Czech and French. He revises the French translations of all his books; these therefore are not
considered translations but original works.

Due to censorship by the Communist government of Czechoslovakia, his books were banned from his native country, and that
remained the case until the downfall of this government in the Velvet Revolution of 1989.

WHAT I CAN DO

Direction: Answer the following questions based on “The Apologizer”. Write your answers in the answer sheet.
1. The story opens with Alain, the main character, contemplating the female navel which, he observes, is the most
erotic part of a woman’s body if one were to follow the current opinion of “a man or this era.” He recalls that the
eroticism or the seductive power of the female body has a history: before the navel, there were the thighs, the
buttocks, and the breast. In Alain’s explanation, how are these objects symbols that have represented the
female in our culture?
2. There are two plots in Kundera’s story: one revolves around the circumstances of Alain’s life while the other is a
“fairy tale” which Alain himself writes. Why does Alain invent a back story about his mother? Why does the
mother call it a “fairy tale” despite its gruesome plot?
3. “Eve’s Tree” is a retelling of the biblical myth. How is Eve in Alain’s story different from her original counterpart?
What different sentiment about the navel as an erotic object does the retelling provoke? As an instance of myth,
in what way does Alain’s retelling explain the relationship and/or inequality between the sexes?
4. Upon reading the Kundera’s “The Apologizer”, reflect on the lesson you learned from the story write brief
reflection.

“The Lord will keep you from all harm – He will watch over your life; the Lord will
watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.”
Psalm 121:7-8