The Deconstructed Life of

Lorenzo by Chuckberry Pascual

Aljon Delos R. Santos Chadric Asidre

Rich Cyrene O. Diaz Angelo Cinco
Psalm Faith Pecayo Desiree Magpantay
INTRODUCTION
Introduction
“Lazaro” was written by Chuckberry J. Pascual. It is an excerpt from the book Talong/Tahong: Mga Kwentong
Homoerotiko written by Rolando B. Tolentino, published on 2011. The story is a about a Half-Chinese young man who
spent his life managing their family business, sari-sari store. They have a pet mynah named Kwaylo. He's a religious
person. He goes to church every Sunday, he always has his rosary in his pocket, and praying is a part of his daily
routine. Even with this way of living, he fantasized their new neighbor. Using the Deconstructionism lens, this
analysis will show how the story depict the stereotypes that are deconstructed by the text itself and by the readers'
interpretation. Textual evidences will be presented on the latter part of this analysis.
Textual Evidences
Deconstructing of idea about religious people “Kaya naman masaya ako
“Paalis na ako sa terrace nang
makita ko siyang nag-iinat. Walang suot
na maliban sa maikling shorts. Sige lang
siya sa pag-iinat, ipinapakita sa buong
mundo ang mapipintog niyang braso,
matambok na dibdib, malalaki at
mabuhok na mga hita at binti…Pilit kong
pinagwawalang-bahala ang paninigas ng
kalamnan sa gitna ng hita pero bumigay
rin ako at pinaligaya angsarili..Pinahid ko
muna ang tuwalya sa noo at leeg bago
lumuhod at nagdasal”
p.43
“Nasa Ikatlong Misteryo:
tuwing Linggo. Ipinako si Hesus sa Krus
Pansamantala kasi akong na ako nang pumasok sa
nakakaalis ng bahay para isip ko ang bago naming
magsimba…Madalas pa nga kapitbahay. Ano kaya ang
akong nagrorosaryo sa pangalan niya? Ano kaya
tindahan kapag hapon.” ang hitsura niya kung
p.45 nakadipa siya sa kama ko?”
p.46
“Nanaginip ako. Nakahiga sa kama ko ang kapitbahay, walang suot
maliban sa maikling shorts. Hihiga na sana ako sa tabi niya pero
biglang may huli sa akin palayo sa kama…Bigla, nakita ko ang sarili
sa loob ng kapilya . Nakaluhod ako at nagdarasal, may hawak na
rosary. Pero nagtaka ako dahil iba ang pagkakasalat ko sa rosary:
malambot at maaligasgas. Tiningnan ko ang aking mga kamay:
rosaryong gawa sa bayag ang tangan ko.SIngkuwenta’y nuwebeng
pirasyo ng maliliit at mabuhok na mga bayag. Nang masalat ko ang
ulo ng maliit at matigas na laman na pumalit sa lugar ng krus sa
rosary, hinimatay ako.
p.47
Explanation

We can consider people who always pray and attend church regularly as a religious
people. We all know that religion helps in molding our morality. Based on Dolan
(2019), across the world, religious people are often viewed as more moral than
nonreligious people. Religious people are expected to be decent and because the Word
of God is taught to them. They are expected to imply it to their lives. But in the story
"Lorenzo", Lorenzo, as a religious person, opposed the stereotype of religious people.
Even with his way of living, he has a lustful admiration towards their new neighbor
who is also a male. The textual evidences above show that Lorenzo has lustful
thoughts about their new neighbor and mercilessly killed their neighbor’s cat even
though he's living a religious life.
Deconstructing the idea of Myna as a talking bird

"Noong una, araw-araw na kinakausap at

pinapakain ito ng Nanay. Pero nang magtagal,
nakasawaan, kaya nanatiling pipi. Nakadagdag
pa sa mga gawain ko sa bahay ang pag-aalaga sa
piping mynah."
p.42
Explanation
Hearing the word “Mynah”, talking birds is the first thing that comes to our minds. Mynas are sociable
type of bird. Mynah birds (Gracula sp. and Acridotheres tristis) originate from Africa, India and
Southeast Asia and are best known for their ability to talk and to mimic any and all sounds that they are
hearing from their environment. (Axelson, 2009). On western part, mynas are considered as an
entertaining bird, because aside from they can mimic the sound of things, they can also mimic the sound
of human. According to Leisure (2019), Mynah birds are the best mimics on the planet, rivaling parrots
in their speaking ability. Mynah birds are capable of learning to mimic human speech and can easily learn
to say around 100 words. Not only do they mimic words, they also mimic tone and clarity. They are
extremely intelligent. Talking to them constantly and will eventually make them start repeating what
they’ve heard.(The Pet Wiki, 2018). They don't need to be trained to mimic sound, as long as they are
hearing words in their surrounding, they can already copy the words or even the voice of a person.
However, Mynah birds seem to stop learning new words once they reach two years of age. But in the
story, Kwaylo isn’t able to speak. The textual evidence above shows that Lorenzo’s mother has been
talking to Kwaylo everyday for a long time before she lost her interest in talking to the mynah. In that
case, Kwalo must be able to speak but still, it can’t mimic words.
Conclusion:

The group that conducted an analysis of "Lorenzo" by Chuckberry

Pascual using the deconstructionism lens concluded that there are
scenes in the story that oppose the recurring patterns of life. The
common beliefs that most of the people applied to some things,
behavior, or people etc are not mostly true. The group also concluded
that the story is based on the perspective of the people who belong to
the third gender. That's why the protagonist is also inspired by the
third gender. And most of the people's notion can be deconstructed
and have another meaning, that opposes the common judgement to
it.