Manuel Arguila’s short story “Arroz” (1938) presents readers with a meander of events that reflects two literary approaches. One is from a psychoanalytic perspective in which the three divisions of the psyche dominate or interact in the evolution of history. One division is the id, which is the part of the psyche that is completely unconscious and is the source of psychic energy derived from instinctual needs and drives. The second division is the ego, which is the organized conscious mediator between the person and reality, especially as it functions in both perception and adaptation to reality. Lastly, there is the superego, which is the part of the psyche that is only partially conscious, which represents the internalization of parental consciousness and the rules of society, and which functions to reward and punish through a system of moral attitudes, conscience and a sense of responsibility. fault. The other literary approach could be a Marxist perspective which states that a literary work can comprehend a lesson about the impact on our lives of the common immorality and indecency of the affluent classes who are given the right to run and control our system. economic.
The story begins with Mang Pablo, an elderly farmer from Hacienda Consuelo who is on his way home in search of his family to denounce his pranks for the harvest that day. Osiang, the wife of his good friend Andrés, finds him when he leaves his hut. Mang Pablo, due to his old age, struggles to inform Osiang of that day’s harvest because she is caught hitting her mortar. Meanwhile, Osiang rants about the immorality of the people of Hacienda Consuelo so that the lower-class people who live there pay a fine of five 1caves of rice for a handful of snails that they got from the stream. Mang Pablo once again struggles to inform Osiang that there is no rice for that day.
The story switches to a flashback of what happened in the morning when he, Mang Pablo, along with the other tenants of Hacienda Consuelo, went to the lady’s house to borrow grain. Unfortunately for him and his fellow farmers, an announcement from the 2loaded of the bags of rice. The ad says that five sacks of rice to be lent that day will turn into ten at harvest time. This news shocks Mang Pablo and the other farmers terribly, ranting that they have always lent 3Tersiohan ie oven caves of rice for six. After which, the Mrs he comes out with his cane hitting the polished floor while threatening the peasants with the news that every sack of rice harvested that day will be loaded onto trucks and delivered to the city; so the tenants will definitely starve.
The story returns to the present with Osiang, who still does not realize that there is no rice for that day and offers Mang Pablo coals from his stove. Mang Pablo tries once more to inform Osiang of the terrible news, but she hits her small stone mortar again.
After some time, Osiang’s husband arrives and meets Mang Pablo. Mang Pablo insists on stopping Andrés and his fellow farmers’ plan to steal rice and kill truckloaders, but Andrés is determined. They discuss the consequences of his plan. Mang Pablo comments on going to 4Bilibid if they continue with his plan. Andrés responds by saying that there will be rice in the Bilibid. Mang Pablo insists again on what they would gain if they carried out his plan. Andrés responds by saying that the rice is for his wives and his children.
After Andrés and Osiang leave, their family arrives along with a security guard. The guard approaches Mang Pablo and informs him of the infraction -collecting snails from the stream- committed by his family and the fine they must pay. They then walk home. Sabel, the daughter of Mang Pablo, cries repeatedly to her father from hunger for her. After contemplating what to do about his desperate situation, Mang Pablo grabs his bolo, leaves his shack, and walks over to Andres, who is silently waiting for him by the broken fence.
As mentioned above, the “Rice” story could be viewed from two literary perspectives. One is from a Marxist perspective. In history, the Mrs in Hacienda Consuelo he represents the rich people who oppressed the powerless people represented by Mang Pablo, his family and his fellow farmers. Tea MrsThe portrayal of a well-to-do oppressor is implied when she walks out of her mansion with her cane banging on the porch floor. A cane has both a positive and a negative connotation. However, in history, the staff symbolizes negativity: it was a tool used to hit or inflict pain.
The lady was out his cane tapping a quick tattoo on the polished porch floor…
The story also reflects a situation of repression and manipulation of workers by their owners. It is evident when the announcement comes in that five sacks of borrowed rice become ten at harvest time. Mang Pablo and his fellow farmers repeated over and over again that they had always borrowed Tersiohan that is, four sacks of rice become six. They insisted that 5takipan – five sacks for ten – is too much.
“Five becomes ten,” said the manager, “Either that or you don’t have rice.”
“See those trucks?” she had finished, pointing to three big red trucks under the mango tree in the yard. “If you don’t carry the rice today, tonight the trucks will carry every sack in sight to the city.. So I hope they all starveungrateful beasts!
The story also describes the value of things for their usefulness in society. For the oppressed (Mang Pablo and the other farmers), rice is something that they, the humble people, value and use to satisfy their hunger for food. For the oppressors (lady and authority), they value rice because it symbolizes that they are of high social status and have the power to dominate lower class people. The context of this literary work remains consistent with the ideology that rice is a staple food for everyone to satisfy hunger and to symbolize one’s social status and power in society.
A literary approach superimposed on this story, in addition to a Marxist approach, would be a psychoanalytic perspective. As discussed, the psychoanalytic approach involves the roles of all three divisions of the psyche – id, ego, and superego – in a literary work. In Arguilla’s “Arroz”, an interplay of these three divisions is implied in how he narrates each event in the story. It begins with Mang Pablo submitting to his ego as he accepts the fact that he will always be a humble man destined to serve people in power.
Although not stated, Osiang’s continued and unconscious disdain for Mang Pablo’s news that there will be no rice could suggest Mang Pablo’s acceptance of his current situation of living in a place dominated by people of superiority, that is, the complete ignorance of the upper social class for People of lower social class like them.
“Andrés is talking to some of the men at Elis’s house. Osiang, do you know where Sebia and the children are?”
“Why don’t you come home? He knows I’ve been waiting all day for the rice he brings home! I am very hungry. I can’t even drag my bones away from the stove. What is he doing at Elis’s house, the shameless and worthless son of a bitch?“
Pablo backed away from the fence, stumbling a bit as the long blades of grass got in his way. “There’s no rice, Osiang,” he yelled over his shoulder with difficulty. but evidently the woman did not listen to him because she continued speaking: “Mang Pablo, how many caves of rice did you lend yourself?”..”
“There is no rice, Osiang,” he whispered. He felt too tired and weak to raise his voice…
The next sentence taken from the selection implies that Mang Pablo succumbs to being a humble servant of the people at Hacienda Consuelo when he no longer dares to tell Osiang about the bad announcement.
Pablo looked at her and wanted to tell her again that there was no rice, but he didn’t dare to do it…
In the middle of the story, Mang Pablo is being overpowered by his superego of contradicting his fellow farmers’ plan to steal the sacks of rice they carefully harvested and the probable possibility of killing the truck loaders. It is evident in the story when his fellow farmer, Andres, comes home with his wife, Osiang.
“Are you coming with us?” she asked Pablo, her voice hoarse in his throat as he struggled to keep his voice down. There was a fierce, desperate look in his small eyes that Pablo had a hard time finding.
“Don’t be silly Andrew.“he said, coughing to clear his throat and trying to appear calm…
“What can you do, Andrew?” he said. “You say you will stop the trucks that bring the rice to the city. That will be a robbery.“
In the end, what dominated Mang Pablo’s psyche is his id. After the vigilante, along with his wife and children, approach him and tell him about his family’s rape, Mang Pablo ponders how to find payment for his family’s rape and how to find food to feed his family. . His daughter, Sabel, comes repeatedly and whispers of her hunger for food. Until that night, he decides to succumb to his identity: he decides to follow Andres and his fellow farmers’ plan to rob and kill truckloaders of the rice they harvested in the morning.
The piece of wood finally broke and Pablo was left with a small stump in his hands. He looked at it, sobbing with rage and weakness, then ran towards the hut crying: “Give me my bolus, Sebia, give me my bolus. We will have food tonight.“
After this scene, Sebia tries to stop Mang Pablo from succumbing to her plan. Mang Pablo’s superego at some point interacts with his id, leading to his indecision.
“God save me,” Pablo said, broken. He raised his knees and dropping his face between them, wept like a child.…
Outside the darkness had thickened. Pablo made his way through the tall grass of the patio. He stopped to look back at his house.…
Mang Pablo’s latest action shows that he has finally let his id get the better of him.
She tightened the heavy bolus belt around her waist.. Placing her old buri hat firmly on her head, she joined Andres, who was waiting by the crumbling fence. silent, they walked together…
“Arroz” is a narration, written by Manuel Arguilla, that describes the way of life of the farmers who are under the authority of the superiors in Hacienda Consuelo. It narrates how rice marks the difference between the two classes, since having rice means having a high social status and power. The oppressors (represented by Mrs) use their authority (of reclaiming the rice harvested by farmers) to win over humble people (the oppressed, Mang Pablo and his fellow farmers). It also narrates how a problem can lead a person to commit a heinous crime caused by the desperation that becomes evident when Mang Pablo joined his fellow farmers to commit the crime for the survival of himself and his families.
1cavanes – a rice cavanes is equal to a sack of rice (fifty kilos of rice)
twokeeper – one who carries loads or sacks of rice from sleds to trucks
3tersiohan: a loan system among Filipinos in which four sacks of rice are paid for six
4Bilibid – a Filipino term for “jail” or “jail”
5takipan: a loan system among Filipinos in which five sacks of rice pay ten (the amount borrowed is doubled at harvest time)
Reference:
Arguilla, ME 1998. How my brother León brought home a wife and other stories. Manila: De La Salle University Press, Inc.
