Generations
Misery seems to be
ninotchka rosca
the author wrote of the people as if they were
comparable to animals. that was something
noticeable. it could be that it was the author's way
of saying how some families lived when martial law
still loomed over the entire nation. the members of
the family in the story lived desolate lives. the
father was a drunkard. the mother was physically
abused. the grandfather was always left mumbling
in some corner. and the kids had nothing to do but
endure the dreadfulness of their lives. the girl, for
example, was beautiful. she could have been an
actress. but she was not able to properly utilize her
God-given resources for her own sake. instead, she
was obligated to help her family the best way she
could. but what about herself? what about her own
future? surely, the family was not normal. they were
not like those families whose portraits hung proudly
in a large room in a gargantuan house. luck was not
on their side. as if their life was not terrible enough,
the father found himself in trouble, and the girl was
forced to have herself desecrated by men in whose
hands the fate of her father lied. in the end, the
father still died. what was weird was the way the
family members took it all too lightly. the children's
taking a bath after the news was divulged was a sign
that indeed, after the funeral, the laundry. they knew
they couldn't dwell on the sadness because there
was life.. life they must fix if they wanted it to be so
much better. their eating together including old selo
was a sign of solidarity, and so was the children's
taking a bath. they went through things together,
and that's what's important to them. and maybe the
title says that the problems get passed from one
generation to the other. the problems could get
worse, have the same intensity, or better yet, be
remedied in the future. but i think the children of
this family will be encumbered for a long time.
i guess times like those one couldn't really afford to
severe his ties with the last few bony shoulders to
cry on.
I found this story to be tragic.
hounding the family in this selection, from Old Selo
down to his granddaughter. I felt no shred of
sympathy for the father, as he was a pathetic excuse
for a man. Showing neglect for the family, he beat
up his wife, and instead of spending time with his
family, he got drunk and got into trouble with the
soldiers as a result. After being freed from the
barracks, he probably knew that his daughter was
raped (after all, he saw a bruise on her left thigh),
or, at least, that an untoward incident happened to
her. A good father would be enraged - and that
might even be an understatement. Instead, he
pretended not to notice the bruise, and not even
displayed the least bit of concern for her plight. No
wonder his daughter had the final straw and killed
him. I'm not condoning what she did, but given the
things she had gone through, I think I could
understand why she decided to put an end to things.
The females in the story were pitiful - a grim
reflection of several females of the past, and even of
the present. The mother was the submissive, passive
type, who could hardly defend herself against her
abusive husband, and yet couldn't bear to leave him.
The daughter was a bit feistier than her mother, but
she still ended up being a victim to lecherous men. I
was disturbed and horrified that she paid for her
father's freedom with her body. Such a young girl
didn't deserve to go through the physical,
psychological and emotional trauma of rape. As the
girl's grandfather described her, she could have a
bright future, but now her hopes of ever having a
better life have probably been crushed. I can't
imagine what pain and torture she must have gone
through.
It's a sad reality that many Filipino families,
especially those in the lower class, are no strangers
to this kind of misery. Some have probably even
gone through worse. While this story was
interesting - not a boring moment in it - it was
heartbreaking to imagine the plight of Old Selo and
his family.
This story is a very dark, tragic and symbolic story.
Rosca did not simply focus on the abusive side of
the Philippine Government, but focused on
ignorance and negative health conditions of the
poor, the togetherness of a Filipino family,
empowerment of the women and the and how these
things connect to the scenarios in the story.
During the first few parts of the story, the readers
are already introduced of the setting of the story, the
characters and their condition. The mention of
“harvest” shows that the story is situated in a
farmland, probably in the provinces. Strengthening
this point is the mention of the canal near their
house, the “bird-claw” hands that signifies hard
work, as well as the sicknesses of the grandparents
that show their state of poorness. As early as the
first sentence, Old Selo has already signified certain
ways of how the Filipino people adapt to certain
things.
Mumbling, a rather peculiar act, can actually be
used to calm oneself to the sufferings and hardships
of life. Moving on, the part about the massacre on
the possession of the tattoo signifies also the lack of
freedom of speech because these tattoos are
supposed to bring out the ideas and sentiments of
these peasants, but they were killed. The fact that
the grandmother was the one who actually was able
to find a way to save his husband, shows and
introduces the theme of empowerment of the
women.
Through this, the readers are gained knowledge that
this might be about certain parts of Philippine
history. This has also introduced that the story
would be about violence, most especially on
oppression against the peasants, who are rather
poor. In addition, the military can be seen as a
group who has supreme control over the people
due...to the fact that they can kill people without
cost. The massacre went on for months, with the
odor of putrid flesh mingling with the harvest
fragrance”. This line, by means of using smell as a
figure of speech, intensifies the dark and feeling of
death and sufferings.
The females in the story were pitiful - a grim
reflection of several females of the past, and even of
the present. The mother was the submissive type,
who could hardly defend herself against her abusive
husband, and yet couldn't bear to leave him. The
daughter was a bit feistier than her mother was, but
she still ended up being a victim to lecherous men.
It's a sad reality that many Filipino families,
especially those in the lower class, are no strangers
to this kind of misery. Some have probably even
gone 53
through worse. While this story was interesting -
not a boring moment in it - it was heartbreaking to
imagine the plight of Old Selo and his family.
“Generations” by Ninotchka Rosca is a depiction of
many Filipino families especially in the lower class
who have experienced this kind of misery. The
father was a drunkard, the mother was physically
abused, the grandfather was always left mumbling
(tongue-tied), the kids endure the misery or
awfulness of their lives, the girl was a beautiful
person which could have been an actress if she was
able to appropriately utilize her God-given
resources, instead, she was obligated to help her
family. Conflict is a part of every intimate
relationship, domestic violence, however has no
place in a healthy relationship. The mother is afraid
to fight back his drunkard husband because of fear,
she is afraid of the fact that her husband will
become more violent if she tries to leave him, fear
that they will lose their children, fear that she
cannot make it on her own. She believed that the
abuse is her fault; she always thinks that she can
stop the abuse if she just acts differently. The man
believes that her wife is inferior, that women are
inferior. He believes that men are meant to
dominate and control women. He blames his wife
for the abuse, saying, “You made me do this”. The
daughter paid for her father’s freedom with her
body. She was a victim of rape. In the end, the
father was died and the family just took it lightly.
The children took a bath together and went home
afterwards. They went through things together
which is a representation of the togetherness of a
Filipino Family, a sign of solidarity.