my brother my executioner

I.BOOK DATA:
Title of the book: My brother, my executioner
Author: F. Sionil Jose
Publisher: Solidaridad Publishing House
Date Published: 2006
Number of pages: 192 pages


II. GENEALOGY
Luis was a illegitimate son of Don Vicente. Trining was his first degree cousin and also his lover. Ester was just a fling partner of Luis and also Trining’s classmate in school. Victor is Luis’s half brother.





III.LITERARY MAP


Baclaran Church, it is where Luis and Ester attended the midnight mass for Christmas.


Luis’s mansion in Manila.


This was one of the farms owned by Don Vicente at Sipnget.

IV.DESCRIPTION OF THE CHARACTERS
Luis – Mestizo type, tall with masculine body, very humble, kind and a very loving brother and son. He works as a writer-slash-editor in a three year old magazine owned by the Dantes’s Company. He is also the illegitimate son of Don Vicente.

Victor- Luis’s older half brother from his mother side. Dark skinned and is also tall. He is the type that is capable of living alone, very secretive person. He became the new leader of the Hukbalahap and is known as “Commander Victor”.

Trining- Luis’s cousin and wife. She is a very feminine, fine and seductive woman. She was sweet and intelligent. She had the beauty of a goddess. Eighteen at age and is a college student.

Don Vicente- is the father of Luis. Robust and obese as rich man always are. Wealthiest landowner in Sipnget, Rosales Pangasinan.



V.SUMMARY OF THE NOVEL

What started the events rolling?

The story deals with the 2 half brothers - Luis Asperri and Victor. Luis is the biological, but illegitimate son of Don Vicente Asperri, the wealthiest landowner in there. At a young age, Luis was taken by his father from his poor mother and his half-brother Vic (a nickname for Victor), who both lived in Sipnget, Rosales, Pangasinan. His father gave him all he needs. Luis studied at manila and became a writer and editor of a left-wing magazine. He often writes about issues about the peasants and sides to them.

How did the event progress?

When Luis returned to Sipnget for vacation after being unable to visit for years because of studying and then now because of work he visited his grandfather and his mother, but originally he decided to go back to visit his ailing father, Don Vicente. He planned to stay for weeks even for a month but then he suddenly changed his mind when he realized that the place had already changed a lot, his brother is not there and more over his mother and grand father has gone believing that his father and all the rich people should give up their wealth to the poor. He couldn’t take it. And, also there was the Hukbalahap which is against the Japanese and the elite’s--- he couldn’t take it anymore.
Before leaving first thing in the morning the next day he heard his father shout in surprise and when he ran to look after him he saw the window glass of his father’s room was broken and a stone wrapped in paper was on the floor, when his father picked it up and then read the message it says that “he should give all he has to those who deserves it better--- the poor.” Luis, stunned by what he saw was also wondering who did it. He kept thinking but only one suspect is fitted with the situation. It’s his brother Victor who is very best at using sling—sling was the best thing to use to throw a stone trough the mansion’s security. After that, Luis fled off back to manila and then there was a time that Victor came to him and asks for his support—just the same as to the message his father got, back to Sipnget.




What is the conflict of the story?

Thus, the brothers had different personalities, beliefs, views and status in life. They met again as both friends and foes. These are their misunderstandings as brothers. Luis considers himself liberal. He is against the goals of his brother which is to put down his status as a wealthy landowner for the benefit of the poor.

What is the climax of the story?
He returned to Rosales. He came home together with Trining, his female cousin, who studies in the convent. In order for the Asperris to preserve their wealth, Luis married Trining. After sometime, she got pregnant. But in manila, Luis also had an affair with his manager's daughter - Ester - which is also Trining's best friend. But because they quarreled one night, Ester disappeared and was found out to be dead. He then found out from his mother that his half-brother Victor became the commander of Hukbalahap (hukbong bayan laban sa mga hapon) which is against rich people and feudal landowners.

What is the resolution?
At the end of the story, Vic warned them about the Huks. He told him to leave the place. But they didn’t listen. Trining got shot and died. Luis then revenged and fought for his status and for the death of his wife.
VI.REACTION TO THE NOVEL
This story is a must read for everyone for it elaborates on the political structures and some aspects of the Philippine history. It is also somewhat similar to Jose Rizal's Noli me Tangere and el Filibusterismo. Reading it really requires full attention for them to be able to grasp the meaning of the story. Although the theme tackles more on political life of the rural people, readers can still be caught by romance in some chapters, particularly to Luis, and his affection for 2 women, Trining and Ester.
When Trining died I felt sorry for both the main character and her. As said Luis took revenge for his status and his wife so that settles it because I definitely like to have my revenge if it was me. Good for Luis he is elite so he didn’t feel so down and he had the power to do so.
I was surprised to read the incest situation in the novel I couldn’t bring myself to believe but the writer simply made it as if it was real. I fell thinking, are there many incest here in our country just to preserve their pure elite blood? I felt being more understanding to respect everyone’s choices for they have their own motives. My understanding of people’s motives has now been clear to me that everything has a cause and that cause might be good or bad but still we follow what we believe because we are humans we can decide for our own. While reading I found some Filipino values depicted in the novel and they we’re: the true love and respect of family members. Patience, dignity, disciplines and being responsible—they were all shown with great passion. From what I now observe in our system as Filipinos we must keep deep understanding between the poor and the rich. Now we have this border that keeps our world apart that sparks a revolution against each other. We must learn to understand, listen and share.

VII.BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR

F. Sionil José or in full Francisco Sionil José (born December 3, 1924) is one of the most widely-read Filipino writers in the English language. His novels and short stories depict the social underpinnings of class struggles and colonialism in Filipino society. José's works - written in English - have been translated into 22 languages, including Korean, Indonesian, Russian, Latvaian, Ukrainian, Dutch.

Childhood
José was born in Rosales, Pangasinan, the setting of many of his stories. He spent his childhood in Barrio Cabugawan, Rosales, where he first began to write. Jose was of Ilocano descent whose family had migrated to Pangasinan before his birth. Fleeing poverty, his forefathers traveled from Ilocos towards Cagayan Valley through the Santa Fe Trail. Like many migrant families, they brought their lifetime possessions with them, including uprooted molave posts of their old houses and their alsong, a stone mortar for pounding rice.
Life as a writer
José attended the University of Santo Tomas after World War II, but dropped out and plunged into writing and journalism in Manila. In subsequent years, he edited various literary and journalistic publications, started a publishing house, and founded the Philippine branch of PEN, an international organization for writers. José received numerous awards for his work. The Pretenders is his most popular novel, which is the story of one man's alienation from his poor background and the decadence of his wife's wealthy family. Throughout his career, José's writings espouse social justice and change to better the lives of average Filipino families. He is one of the most critically acclaimed Filipino authors internationally, although much underrated in his own country because of his authentic Filipino English and his anti-elite views. Sionil José also owns Solidaridad Bookshop, which is on Padre Faura Street in Ermita, Manila. The bookshop offers mostly hard-to-find books and Filipiniana reading materials. It is said to be one of the favorite haunts of many local writers.
Works
Rosales Saga novels
A five-novel series that spans three centuries of Philippine history, widely read around the world and translated into 22 languages
* Po-on (Dusk) (English, 1984)
* The Pretenders (1962)
* My Brother, My Executioner (1973)
* Mass (December 31, 1974)
* Tree (1978)
Original novels containing the Rosales Saga
* Dusk (Po-on) (1993)
* Don Vicente (1980) - Tree and My Brother, My Executioner combined in one book
* The Samsons
Other novels

* Gagamba (The Spider Man) (1991)
* Viajero (1993)
* Sin (1994)
* Ben Singkol (2001)
* Ermita
* Vibora! (2007)
* Sherds (2008)
Short story collection
* The God Stealer and Other Short Stories (2001)
* Puppy Love and Other Short Stories (March 15, 1998)
* Olvidon and Other Stories (1988) * Platinum: Ten Filipino Stories (1983) (now out of print, its stories are added to the new version of Olvidon and Other Stories)
* Waywaya: Eleven Filipino Short Stories (1980)
* Asian PEN Anthology (as editor) (1966)
* Short Story International (SSI): Tales by the World's Great Contemporary Writers (Unabridged, Volume 13, Number 75) (co-author, 1989)
Children's books
• The Molave and The Orchid (November 2004)

Verses
* Questions (1988)
Essays and non-fiction
* In Search of the Word (De La Salle University Press, March 15, 1998)
* We Filipinos: Our Moral Malaise, Our Heroic Heritage
* Soba, Senbei and Shibuya: A Memoir of Post-War Japan
* Heroes in the Attic, Termites in the Sala: Why We are Poor (2005)
* This I Believe: Gleanings from a Life in Literature (2006)
* Literature and Liberation (co-author) (1988)
In translation
* Po-on (Tagalog language, De La Salle University Press, 1998)
* Anochecer (Littera) (Spanish language, Maeva, October 2003)

In anthologies
* Tong (a short story from Brown River, White Ocean: An Anthology of Twentieth-Century Philippine Literature in English by Luis Francia, Rutgers University Press, August 1993
In film documentaries
* Francisco Sionil José - A Filipino Odyssey by Art Makosinski, 1996
Awards
* Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Awards for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts (1980)
* National Artist Award for Literature (2001)[8]
* Pablo Neruda Centennial Award (2004)
* Palanca Awards

smaller and smaller circles

I. Book data:

Title of the book : Smaller and smaller circles

By: F. H. Bantacan

Publisher: University of the Philippines Press

Date published: 2002

Number of pages: 198 pages

II. Genealogy

Lead by Father Gus Saenz , with the help of his former student and fellow forensic anthropologist Father Jerome Lucero, they track down and try to decipher the mind of a serial killer, Alex Carlos whom Atty.Benjamin Arcinas the head of the NBI investigating team that doesn’t believe that serial killer exists.

III. Description of the characters:

Father Gus Saenz represents the tall,mestizo,and ruggedly handsome priest you hope would not be in front of an altar in your wedding, but beside you instead. He is a product of an affluent, amiable family, iswell-educated, and witty.

Father Jerome Lucero is Father Gus’ former student, a forensic anthropologist, and his partner in solving the series of killings. He is much younger, but less likely to withhold his feelings when agitated or irritated.

Posing as a hindrance, the acting director of the police department is somehow a satire of the attention-seeking, media-loving police figure. He not only takes the case carelessly, but leads the people in the wrong direction just to make himself look good and seem in control of the case.Atty. Benjamin Arcinas.

Alex Carlosis the resident dentist-slash-serial killer in this fast-paced novel. He works in the mobile clinic that provides dental and medical check-ups in the Payatas area. It is there that he is given access to the undersized and undernourished boys he needs to fulfill his sick plan. His anger comes from being molested as a child by his PE teacher Mr. Gorospe. Unable to talk to his parents about the humiliating incident, and incapable of talking to any friends about his trauma, he grows up psychologically impaired and angry.

Summary of the novel

The Big Circle:

The story opens to Father Emil—a fellow priest and acquaintance to Father Gus and Father Jerome—finding a dead boy’s body dumped in the Payatas. A series of investigation has started, and over six bodies are already found suspiciously patterned to one another.Although, Father Gus and Father Jerome are eager and most likely sure about the crime being done by a serial killer, the lawyer who heads the NBI’s investigating team Atty. Benjamin Arcinas never believed in their theories.

The two priests pursued the investigations of the crimes. Double checking all the evidence left by the killer on the corpses especially the facts that he kills with precision and with symbols—he defaces his victims, and excises the genitals, signs that there is a sexual conflict and a need to rid off the identity of the kids.

Figuring out the goings-on of a psychologically disturbed killer, especially if he’s very good at hiding it, is fairly difficult. The sleuths go through some complicated twists in their quest to find truth and justice amidst the media-hungry personalities who don’t give much attention to the case.

Deciphering the crime isn’t easy…. they conducted investigations among the people of Payatas and also within the volunteer medical group members assigned there. They suspect that the killer is one of the men attending to the people’s health. They ended up researching the records of one of the dentists—Alex Carlos. They found out that Alex was molested by his homo PE. Teacher when he was still in elementary school at Payatas. And as a way of bringing out his revenge he kills boys at his age during the abuse. Father Gus together with the troop conducted an arrest. They cornered him inside the medical van. Father Gus got inside the van alone and he tried to convince Alex to surrender but before he could speak the killer had injured him using a medical blade many times. He dropped dead outside the van.

When Father Gus dropped dead outside the van the troop immediately came forward for rescue and when they saw Alex still holding the blade they shot him. Alex died. And Father Gus managed to escape death after the fatal injury. The two priests proved their theory and the crime was solved.

Reaction to the novel:

The novel is really great,at first I wasn’t really interested in it because of my first impression on the title but then, when I read the summary at the back I found my self reading it even before I could let the teacher check for it.

F.H. Bantacan’s way of writing is really good. It drags you deeper and deeper, as if as you continue reading you were already in the scene and yet nobody sees or notices your existence but you know what is happening, you can see everything and you can hear everything, whisper or thoughts, that are being left. Naturalistic dialogue that’s also contributed to the essence of the story, it made it like a true to life story.And last, but not the least, is how the published it—the book is handy so it’s more comfortable to read anywhere, anytime.

The novel was a thrilling detective story.

From reading the novel I got to the idea that, the antagonist seeks for justice like most of Filipinos (especially those who are under the poverty line). The police force only pays attention to those cases that will bring them media exposures, I believe this really happens to the kind of society we have now. Justice men should at least look to every case equally.

As a student I’m also an observer of the happenings in our country and I admit there have been many cases that I watched over the television that had been solved but it is also true that most of them are cases that involve high profile persons. The story opened my eyes to this kind of harassment that maybe a lot of people have been experiencing and yet they can’t talk about it to anybody so they tend to let it out trough killing/ violence. This novel changes my view of priest from stereotype to more exciting and analytic life of priest. I love reading books but previously I read only those that is written by foreign writers but after reading this novel I appreciate it a lot that I am convinced to read more and more Filipino books. My understanding towards people grew deeper and wider. I learned lot of things. The Filipino values that were depicted in this novel were the tight family ties- they continuously search for their love ones even though there’s a high possibility that they were dead already, warm family and loving- pictured in the family of Father Gus.

XII. Bibliography of the author:

F.H.Bantacan has a degree in broadcast communications and a master’s degree in Art studies, both from the University of the Philippines in Diliman. She worked asa policy researcher, broadcast journalist, web designer and musician, and is currently a business copy editor for theThe straits times in Singapore.She previously won a prize for her short story “Door 59” in the 1997 Palanca Awards, and her work has appeared in local magazines, as well as in online literary magazineWeb DelSol.