Nathalie Dagmang 2010-24702 BFA Sculpture

October 25, 2011 Eng 11 WFU3

FINAL PAPER: Speak No Evil As a whole, the webcomic served as an allegory for the Filipino migrant workers situation. The character used, however, is not an actual Filipino but a Mexican, for as the author had explained, they were more known to Americans as the illegal migrants and migrant workers more than Filipinos who are only known as maids and nurses. From this single decision of choosing the nationality of the main character, the author has already showed his intention of pointing out the racial and social discrimination that is happening in the present times. The author Elan Trinidad actually stated in his afterword that the webcomic is all about an neveryman, doing his best and getting little in return, much like the situation of every migrant workers from the Philippines.

In the first frame, Trinidad showed an image of Mexicans falling in line as they are being sprayed one by one with chemical tank. In the afterword, the author mentioned how he used the situation of the bracero workers as reference. The fumigation of bracero workers upon arrival to the US was done to ensure the safety of its citizens along with the inspection for vegetables, weapons and marijuana that the workers may have brought to the country. The chemical used for fumigation was DDT, a kind of synthetic pesticide used mainly against diseases like malaria, although DDT was also proven to be toxic to human health. The following frames then showed the process of removing their nose and mouth which was kept on earth while the workers work on the planets and asteroids. The blocks of nose and

mouth are being constantly fed with food and clean air, both readily available on earth and need not to be imported. These scenes symbolize how migrant workers in real life are somehow being promised a good life: not having to worry about their food and other needs when they agree to work in a far place. The government encourages their citizens to go abroad by promising them a better life in terms of basic necessities that are actually available in their own country, thus it is not necessary that they work in other places. The removal of the mouth also symbolizes how the workers voices are also removed from them in the place where they had to

work. They need to remain silent in their new work place as they are the foreigners and employees, two conditions that make them inferior to the people who live there. In the next scenes, the blocks that are left on earth sing in unison as each migrant worker sings to himself a private song. This private song equates to the workers woes, their sentiments, pains and aspirations that they can never express at work. However, on earth, a number of blocks share the same song, the same sentiments for that matter. But no one knows, of course, as their voices are separated from their body and only the owner of each block hears himself. The place where the blocks were kept then had a fire, suffocating the oral blocks and their owners. When Javier felt suffocated, he opted to kill his own block by stabbing it with a knife so that he wont die with it. The suffocation of the block, the workers choice to kill it and swallowing its own blood after its death, shows how workers are being somehow suffocated by the system that they are under and how they choose to just kill their voices and swallow the pain that they are suffering. When Javier went back home, he was told that his oral block was

deemed missing after the fire and that he cannot file charges for he already signed some papers saying that the company is not responsible for this misfortune. He was set in rage and was about to punch the officer but the security guard was called just in time. Nevertheless, the officer did not call the cops as he already knows how much damage he has done to Javier. This ignorance is evident in many real-life officers involved in the migrant workers situation. They know how much damage they have caused on them, but chose to pretend that they dont care. The money that the workers get from serving a foreign land becomes their driving force to continue on with what they are doing, no matter how painful it is for them. The company gave Javiers family, along with his extended family, enough money for survival. OFWs today can also relate to this situation: their families and other relatives up to the nth degree depend on their wages. Javier had no choice but to overstay his visa, knowing that he needs money more than ever. The company that employs Javier knows it, so does the other workers who have done the same. But of course, because both parties benefit from this, they know better that they should hide this fact. And after all, the workers do not have any nose or mouth, how can they speak about it? The main thing that keeps Javier from leaving his work is his family, who he can only contact through the internet. Because of Javiers lack of voice, only his wife talks. She babbles about the happenings in their family and pleads for more money. Eventually, the wife hesitantly asks Javier to show his mouth, which shocked her and soon stopped their conversation. Migrant workers usually hide their sufferings from their loved ones because they do not want them to feel guilt over how much they are sacrificing just to provide for their families.

The hole in Javiers face does not only cripple him but also distances him from the people around him. Having a hole in the face and being a part of his own race somehow makes him more different from the others. In these scenes, the author further illustrates the racial and social discrimination that the migrant workers are experiencing even outside of the workplace. Even after all his sufferings, he is still confused if not having a nose and mouth is either a blessing or misfortune. He wanted to have a resemblance of a mouth by cutting open his cheeks but it was impossible. In the end, he just saw it as a blessing in disguise, an answer to his prayers. This is one of the Filipino traits that keep them going in hard situations like this. They see things as blessings from God and just tell themselves that they should be grateful for whatever opportunity they are given, whoever it may come from and whatever comes with the opportunity.