GHOST

CONNIE JAY MARAAN

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

CONNIE JAY MARAAN

written works:
o The Boundary
o "Transient and other short stories
o The Childrens Hour: Stories on Childhood.
professor in De La Salle University
was nominated for an award for an annual fellowship who is completing a work in any of
the following genres: poetry, fiction, drama, and creative nonfiction

SETTINGS:
Light Railway Transit Tayuman Station
flashback of the 1990 crash and the protagonist's life

CHARACTERS:
1. The Ghost
genderless
no sense of feeling
2. The Creator
no beard
hardly looks fatherly
androgynous in appearance
Handsome Beauty with wit and wisdom

3. Friend
First friend he/she had intimate relationship
taught the art of hand-holding and relaxing the grip
4. His / Her Better-half
had an argument with the ghosts past life in the summer of 1984
stole a red banana for the ghost when he / she was still alive
had a weakness for rituals like house blessings where family and friends gathered for
celebration
They werent married
THE LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT

The Light Rail Transit (LRT-Line 1) is a railway system that connects through a series of stations
from Baclaran (Pasay City) to Roosevelt (Quezon City). Many people have complaints about the
railway system as it is slow moving, creaking, sometimes shaking and it is always overcrowded
on rush hours. In the story, the train makes it crash on Tayuman Station in the city of Manila.

BRIEF SUMMARY
The story started with protagonist, who wasn't named nor had a gender, described an accident
he/she was involved in which happened in Tayuman Station. A commuter train jumped into the
missing tracks and fell into the street through the pavement. The narration was told in a first
person point of view. As the persona was one of the casualty in the said accident, he/she
describes back his/her past memories and her experiences as a ghost.

MEMORY TIMELINE

1st Memory:
He described himself as a daily commuter of Manilas Rapid Transit system. He described how
hard it is to ride one.

2nd Memory:
He tells how he discovered immortality on the first nights in Transmigration, and one way to
prove it is by trying to submit himself to the road , and let the race-hungry motorheads run over
him. He then compares the ABSENCE OF FEELING, the being of NON-EXISTENCE. He then
proceeds by telling the reason why was he in Tayuman street in the first place. From there, he
said that he was conducting a casual survey of religious figurines on festive display.

3rd Memory:
He then tells that he regrets allowing the person he loves left him, describing how hed been
from the day he left.

4th Memory:
He began commuting by train when him and the person he loves started living together.

5th Memory:
He describes the Creator has no beard, hardly looks fatherly, androgynous in appearance, and
manner of speaking. He also describes that spirits are hermaphrodites in reverse, having neither
set of genitalia

6th Memory:
He reminisces on the first time he rode the train. He describes how uneasy he was, than it was in
the northern place. Because of this, they did not choose to live in the city, but rather on the
outskirts, near a memorial park, in a residential area to be exact. He described how normal their
life is.

7th Memory:
He described Tayuman street. What caught his eye on that street, is the orange-colored banana
hanged on a stand, and past the fruit stand, is the Sto. Nino figurine in a policemans uniform.

8th Memory:

The time they had a terrible argument with his lover in summer of 1984; blaming his vocation
working with the poor, and jealousy. And because of his vocation, is the reason why was he in
Tayuman, to buy a statue of Nazarene. He then again compares the life of human from life of
being a ghost. He states that he misses his senses, the human sensations. That words,
thinking, and doing is past life.

9th Memory:
When the slabs of concrete crashed him, he suddenly remembered their house blessing, stating
that they were not married. He thought of the screaming and laughter as coins were thrown into
the air.

Tenth memory:
His first friend he had intimately.

Last memory:
The sporting event that the ghost and the person both love. And the orange-colored banana the
person stole for the ghost.

CONFLICT
Mortality vs. Immortality
Being cut off from earthly life, to relive the feeling of being alive, absence of feeling.
Man vs. Himself
Acceptance of ones death, coping the inability to settle dispute with loved one.
SYMBOLISM

Ghost - Immortality; lack of sensation

Brazilian Loafers - identity

Sto. Nino in Police Uniform - Blasphemy

Statues - reminds us that God is with us all the time.

Creator with no Beard - difference of belief from the religion

Train - meeting, parting of ways, place to think and contemplate, work on something and rest;
journey of life
THEME
The significance of remembering our loved ones and significant events in our life.

--ANALYSIS:
In this story, souls do not end up in heaven nor hell, instead they remain as a memory to
other people.
The author presented and tackled death in the most acceptable terms like making
anything possible because of the absence of feeling.
The main character wants his/her lover to always remember the tragedy when the lover
visits the station.
The main character of the story just accepts his/her death and move on without any
bitterness, though he/she at first was restless with many unaccomplished goals.

The protagonist waits for someone to remember him which would make him alive once
more

MORAL:
We should live our lives as it is first and last and we should make every loved one feel
as if they are really loved so that when the time comes, they will pass away without any
feeling of bitterness and us without feeling of regret.
The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living
Significant symbol of TRAIN in the story:
Life is like a journey on a train with its station
At birth we boarded the train and met our parents, and we believe they will always travel
on our side.
However, at some station our parents will step down from the train, leaving us on this
journey alone.
As time goes by, other people will board the train; and they will be significant i.e. our
siblings, friends, children, and even the love of our life. Many will step down and leave a
permanent vacuum. Others will go so unnoticed that we dont realize that they vacated
their seats!
This train ride will be full of joy, sorrow, fantasy, expectations, hellos, goodbyes, and
farewells.
Success consists of having a good relationship with all the passengersrequiring that
we give the best of ourselves. The mystery to everyone is:
We do not know at which station we ourselves will step down. So, we must live in the
best way love, forgive, and offer the best of who we are. It is important to do this
because when the time comes for us to step down and leave our seat empty we should
leave behind beautiful memories for those who will continue to travel on the train of life.
Life is about the journey AND the destination.