Ma. Faith A.

Esquida Monday- (3:00pm-7:00pm)

ACT189

Title: Magnificence by Estrella D. Alfon

Introduction

About the Author:

Estrella D. Alfon (July 18, 1917 – December 28, 1983) was a nude
storywriter, playwright, and journalist. She was a well-known prolific
Filipina author who wrote in English. Her first story, “Grey Confetti” was
published in 1935. She then became a member of the U. P. writers club
and earned and was given the privileged post of National Fellowship in
Fiction post at the U. P.Creative Writing Center. Moreover, she was the
only female member of the Veronicans, an avant garde group of writers in
the 1930s led by Francisco Arcellana and H.R. Ocampo, she was also
regarded as their muse. The Veronicans are recognized as the first group
of Filipino writers to write almost exclusively in English and were formed
prior to the World War II. She is also reportedly the most prolific Filipina
writer prior to World War II. Furthermore, she died in the year 1983 at the
age of 66.

This paper will discuss the analysis of the short story entitled as Magnificence. Magnificence, by
Estrella D. Alfon is about a woman who portrays a strong and loving mother to protect her child against
the stranger she entrusted, which in the end betrayed her for abusing her daughter. The author’s
fictional world is defined by family relationships: between parents (especially the mother and children),
women and lovers, wife and husband, women and their female friends. Magnificence explores the
mother-child relationship which made her stories become most powerful and intriguing. “Magnificence”
is unparalleled for its silent intensity, its ability to stop short of spelling out its potential horrors.
However, this gives more focus about the mother’s love. Although, there are many impressive job titles
in the world, none should be as highly regarded as “mother”. Mothers are the ones who love us
unconditionally, who support us enthusiastically, and who never let us go driving bicycle without
wearing our helmets. As one of the famous author quoted, “Your mother died to save you. If there is
one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. Love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves its
own mark. To have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us
some protection forever.”- J.K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. On this line, even though
Harry Potter’s parents are gone, they are still with him, marked on his very skin. In other words, there is
no greater measure of love than giving your life for another person and that was what Harry's mother
did for him. That kind of sacrifice forms a magic spell more powerful than any other in this world.
Moreover, I have chosen this literature for it creates an impact to the readers as they find out the
conditions of each issue present in real life as stated in the story. Furthermore, I also believe that the
theme of the story is about women empowerment. Women empowerment is vital to sustainable
development and the realization of human rights for all, so as a woman, we should not let men make us
feel inferior by showing our strengths and capabilities. Finally, we, women, must always remember that
without us, men cannot live and bring out the best in them and maximize their potentials.

Setting

The setting of the story is in the house of the little girl and Oscar, together with their parents, in
the evening while the children are doing their homework.

Character Analysis

The Little
Vicente Oscar
Mother Girl

Physical Physical Physical Physical

•feminine and •with eyes that •innocent
•8 years old
gentle held pride •7 years old
maternal •tall man
•voice is soft, •long-legged tall
manner is slow gloathing girl
•smell very faintly •tall woman
of sweat and •strong
pomade •protective and
loving

Beliefs Beliefs Beliefs Beliefs

•Children are •Her •Receiving gifts is •His little sister is
more likely easy responsibilities always a good always on good
to deceive. will be lessen thing. hands.
•Giving gifts will since someonel= •Sitting on
make him close will work for Vicente's lap is
to the children. them. just normal.
•He act so gentle •Trusting someone
and kind to hide to tutor her
his hidden children will help
agenda. them perform
well.
 A protagonist is the central character or leading figure in poetry, narrative, novel or any other
story. In the story, the protagonist is obviously the mother. The story evidently shows the binary
opposition between the protagonist and the antagonist-- not just with their gender but also with their
major characteristics. The woman was described as too masculine and aggressive than Vicente. Even
through the mere differences in their descriptions, we can now conclude that the mother is more
powerful than his contrary to common stereotypes that man ought to be more powerful than women.

On the other hand, the antagonist is the opposing force in a story which plays an important role in
story development. As a result, because the protagonist has been in conflict with the antagonist, his or
her character grows. Without antagonists, stories would definitely be less interesting. Vicente, the bus
conductor is the antagonist in the story. In the line, when told the mother that “he had never seen two
children looking so smart” it is now evident that there is something he wanted from them. Without
them knowing, the little girl’s innocence is what he is aiming for.

Point of View

The third person or omniscient point of view was used by the author. The story was not told by a
character but by an "invisible author", using the third person pronoun (he, she, or it) to tell the story.

Conflict

The external conflict confronts the characters because it is in the man vs. man situation as Vicente
had used the little girl’s innocence to gain her trust by offering them the pencils. Pencils were valued by
the school children before. It was indeed in school but very expensive for the poor. To have two pencils
was a wonderful thing for a child.

Characters:

Vicente - dynamic, flat

Mother - dynamic, round

Little girl - flat, static

Oscar - flat, static

Plot

The story started by introducing the characters, specifically, Vicente as “so gentle, so kind”. The
mother met him on the meeting of their neighborhood association, as she was known as the president
of their village. There, the mother met Vicente as he watched her children and told the mother how he
had never seen children looking so smart, but she immediately cut him off for they were so lazy doing
their homework. Vicente volunteered himself as their tutor since he was free from work, which in the
end, the mother agreed to. During evenings, he would arrive and start helping them solve problem and
write correct phrases. The night they spent together, he became closer to the children. Vicente was
aware that the children like pencils very much so he assured that he would give each of them two
pencils. Thinking how the little girl deserved more for being bright, he then promised her to give the
biggest pencil next time. When that night came, he did not fail them. They were both happy and
thanked him. He tried to joke around if he would be receiving kisses from them as an exchange for those
gifts. And so, Oscar kissed him on the cheek. However, when the little girl embraced him and did the
same, the innocent girl was disturbed as she felt how his arms tightened, then he let go with a look of
puzzlement on her face. The next day, they were proud to show their pencils in the class and told to
themselves that they could ask more from Vicente after all their mother insisted to buy them. The
couple talked about the children asking a lot from Vicente and how they observed his odd actions. That
night, Vicente arrived earlier as usual. Before they start, he requested Oscar for a glass of water. That
time, Vicente and the little were left alone and so he put the little girl on his lap and asked about her
lessons. His eyes were strange, as the little girl shyly wanted to get off as she felt uncomfortable having
the thought that she was heavy. However, Vicente just shrugged it off. All of a sudden the little girl was
starting to be frightened so she jumped away from his lap. He snatched the papers and put it on his
stomach and turned around from where the mother was standing. The mother stopped in her tracks
and commanded him not to move. She saw the little girl with so much fear and question, rubbed her
back and asked her to go upstairs. In that moment, the mother faced Vicente with full angst and slapped
him repeatedly. He was gone out of the house. The mother then bathed the little girl, changed her new
clothes and asked to thrown the pencils. In the end, she led her to sleep on her bed.
Conclusion

The contradicting descriptions to the mother and Vicente helped the story to have an impact and
more effective to the readers. This made the story more interesting because the characters’ portrayal
was different from those typical short stories. In the past, women's involvement to society was
restricted and controlled by men. Women used to be restrained to the supremacy of the man. They
were somehow treated to be physically, mentally, and emotionally belittled, embarrassed, silenced, and
worst, abused. Women could not express their opinion, they were voiceless, and no freedom. A
woman’s importance was being covered up because of romanticizing the idea of man as powerful
compared to woman. On the other hand, this idea was not followed anymore, as it is more valued than
ever before. Women’s role has now seen and brought to a bigger picture as man. This is now changed
enormously and is making its greatest impact in our society today.

This story is not just the representation about all the women and mothers who have been in
shadows but “raise their hands” against male abuse. The duality and connection between light and dark
casts a shadow right away on Vicente's motives while affirming the purity of the children. Interestingly,
it is the mother’s magnificence which banishes the dark associated both with the light and the dark.
Thus, the mother in the story is capable of showing love and caring (light) and enormous acts of
violence, if necessary, to defend her children (dark). The shifting of mother from dark to light in the line
“The mother looked at him, stopped in her tracks, and advanced into the light...The little girl looked at
her mother, and saw the beloved face transfigured by some sort of glow”. She motioned herself into
the light, saving her child, she pushes Vicente away. “As soon as the cool air of the free night touched
him, he recovered enough to turn away and run, into the shadows that ate him up”. This line proves
how her personality changed from her sweet side to worst side, as she was triggered by Vicente’s dirty
plan.

Another thing is the traditional chivalric image of a knight in shining armor saving the damsel in
distress is discarded. Also, the father is not only a useless figure in the story, but he is also rendered as
one who had failed in protecting his daughter because he has misjudged the other man, blinded as he is
concern with protecting his image as male/head of the family. There are also symbolisms used in the
story. The eagerness of the children in having those pencils portrays their innocence that has been taken
advantage. Vicente used this element to deceive the children, as well as the mother’s trust so he would
not be doubted while getting along with the two.

Moreover, Feminist approach was seen in the literature that depicts a clear and easy perspective
on the reality of life. The author emphasized a woman empowerment present in the contemporary
society, but there are still traces of machismo. In the story, it is evident that content contradicts the
misconceptions about women. Estrella Alfon, the author, managed to view the mother as a woman who
held pride, which shows feminist perspective and she used third person point of view to relate the
actions and feelings of the characters in the story. The change of subjects were also noticed from
“mother” as shown in the line “to their mother that he had never seen two children looking so smart”,
to “woman” in the crucial part of the story which was evident on the line “Finally, the woman raised her
hand and slapped him full hard in the face”.

In a Marxist approach, it has been portrayed that the mother is the president of the
neighborhood association and so, we can conclude that she had many works to do to watch over her
children. In this case, she believed that entrusting Vicente, a bus conductor, would lessen her duties
without having the audacity to doubt. In other words, high class individuals more likely depend on low
class individuals to work for them in exchange of a reward. They did not mind being deceived along the
way. At the time one had already gained by someone, he/she will take the opportunity to stimulate
you, which sometimes leads in a serious crime. There is also the presence of crude imagery; Vicente is
keen on handling the little girl a pencil that immediately suggests Vicente’s perversity. Philosophically
speaking, the pencil itself resembles a penis which can be one of the phallic symbols.

Furthermore, based on Sigmund Freud’s psychosexual stage of development, in the phallic stage,
there is a phallic symbol which resembles or represent penis. Phallus is said to be symbolically
substituted with all things that are similar to it by their form, such as those things that jut out.

All in all, it is entitled as “Magnificence” because of how the mother handled the situation.
Commonly, when a mother found out that her child was sexually abused she will become scandalous
disregarding its impact to the victim, the innocent child, who was not aware about what had happened
to her. The way how mother reacted to the situation prevent her daughter from being harmed, which is
considered as magnificent. It seems like nothing had happened, leaving the child’s ignorance.

Issues

Child Abuse

The story “Magnificence” tackles about one of the serious problems in the society today, namely
child abuse. Child Abuse is any mistreatment or neglect of a child that results in non-accidental harm or
injury and which cannot be reasonably explained. It might include: physical abuse, emotional abuse,
sexual abuse and neglect. According to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
(NPSCC), physical abuse is deliberately hurting a child causing injuries such as bruises, broken bones,
burns or cuts. Emotional abuse means children who are emotionally abused suffer emotional
maltreatment or neglect, which is sometimes called psychological abuse and can cause children serious
harm. Sexual abuse is where a child is sexually abused when they are forced or persuaded to take part in
sexual activities. This does not have to be physical contact, and it can happen online. While, neglect is
the ongoing failure to meet a child's basic needs. It's dangerous and children can suffer serious and long-
term harm. According to The East Asian and Pacific research published in the journal “Child Abuse and
Neglect”, violence against children often takes place behind closed doors but it is preventable when
people come together and say loudly and clearly that this is not acceptable.

In the line, "The man’s arms tightened suddenly about the little girl until the little girl squirmed
out of his arms, and laughed a little breathlessly, disturbed but innocent, looking at the man with a
smiling little question of puzzlement". In this line, Vicente was on the brink of doing something bad to
the little girl, and based on her reaction she was really surprised by this sudden change of behavior of
Vicente. In the Philippines, the increasing number of violence, particularly child abuse is not seriously
observed and controlled since it mostly happens at home or private places.

Gender Stereotypes

Eriksson et al (2017) states that it remains a puzzle why so few women have reached top
management positions or become directors in large firms despite the fact that in many countries
women have overtaken men in terms of educational qualifications and have been full-time labor force
participants for decades. Several explanations have been suggested for the observed gender gaps,
ranging from differences in human capital and ability, lack of role models, working time flexibility and
work-life balance problems. Based on the United Nations Human Right Office of the High Commissioner,
gender stereotype is a generalized view or preconception about attributes or characteristics, or the roles
that are or ought to be possessed by, or performed by women and men. A gender stereotype is harmful
when it limits women’s and men’s capacity to build up their personal abilities, pursue their professional
careers and make choices about their lives. In the story, the existing stereotypes about women are
mentioned but in different way. The descriptions between the mother and Vicente were contradicting
not just only against each other but also against stereotypes of their genders. The story began with
describing Vicente as “so gentle, so kind,” an adjective that is usually use for women. Vicente is a dark
“little” man whose “voice [was] soft [and] manner slow.” On the other hand, the mother is a “gloating”
mother whose “eyes [held] pride.” Later on, the mother completely revealed as a “tall woman” who
spoke in a voice “very low, very heavy” and with an “awful timbre.” The contrast emphasizes the
darkness of Vicente and the mother’s magnificence.

Women Empowerment

With the increasing number of working women, they are getting financial independence, and this
gives them the confidence to live their life according to their own. But doing so, women are also taking
care to balance between their personal and professional life. They are playing multiple roles of mother,
daughter, sister, wife and so on with remarkable harmony. With equal chances, they are cooperating
with their male counterparts to complete each other works. As illustrated in the story, the mother works
as the president of their village’s neighborhood association which we conclude the reason why she
entrusted Vicente to teach her children immediately. This symbolizes some of the women nowadays
who are working hard to raise their children’s future. Subsequently, because of their busy schedule
having no time to watch over their children, they will find someone they know to take her part.
However, the arising consequences are ignored anymore with the desperation of prioritizing one. Even
so, the author still gives justice to the protagonist by strengthening her against the abusive Vicente.

Symbolisms

 Light- It portrays the mother’s love and care for her children and darkness for doing acts of
violence to defend her children.
 Shadow- It symbolizes the mysteriousness and the bad intention of Vicente.
 “He would stand for a while just beyond the pool of light, his feet in the circle of illumination,
the rest of him in shadow” - this represents Vicente’s mysterious actions
 The use of jumbo size pencil symbolizes the male’s generative powers and his hidden agenda
towards the little girl. The colors of the pencil given to the children also symbolize various
meanings:

Colors of the pencil given to Oscar

Blue- In literature, blue is used to draw a positive response and represents calmness and peace.
Green- It symbolizes relaxation and peace.

Colors given to the little girl:

Red- It symbolizes power, evil and desire.
Yellow- It symbolizes intelligence, happiness and hope.
 White- White represents innocence and purity. As indicated in the story. The color of the jumbo
size pencil is white which shows that by giving the pencil to the little girl it was evident that he
cannot be trusted anymore.

 Bubbles in the Soda- The bubbles in the soda signify the tension and foreboding. In the story,
Vicente was caught by the mother before he was able to act on it. In the line, “She put the glass
of soft drink down on the table, where in the light one could watch the little bubbles go up and
down in the dark liquid.” Violence is about to erupt and magnificence about to come to the fore.
 Burning the clothes- to burn and forget the nightmare brought by Vicente
 Bathing the girl- to take away or cleansing the little girl from the bad incident happened.
 Reflection

Magnificence is indeed a disturbing story. I admire Alfon's idea to present her period through
clear-glass stories, no sugarcoating and all. I think because her parents are merchants and she does not
belong to upper society, she presented her stories in a more relevant and unpretentious way. Ironically,
I've read somewhere that her writing is her "rice and salt" (or "bread and butter" in American English).
Magnificence gives different views about real life situations that are just seldom noticeable. In my
opinion, the author, Estrella Alfon, made the title “Magnificence” for the character of the mother.
Magnificence means great-mindedness and courage whereas it gives honor to the mother for standing
up against violence and proving that women are more than just a thing to look down on. After reading
the story, I was moved after what the mother did for her children. When we relate it in real life, not all
women have the guts of speaking up every time this incident happens, they are more likely choose to be
blind than to make it stop by doing an action. Moreover, the story shows the magnificent characteristic
of a mother. Mothers will gather all her strengths and do everything for their children, even if it is
between life and death, or it means risking their life just to protect them. Furthermore, the story also
tells about gender equality. Both men and women enjoy the same opportunities, rights, obligations in
all spheres of life. Women should not let men make them feel inferior. It also opens up our awareness
about violence against women. There are number of children, teenagers, young adults that are being
molested, sexually harassed and abused and to think that this happen every day and people think that it
is just a normal thing makes me sad for some reason. Not speaking up also means letting the
perpetrators continue to do the same to another person, and the cycle of gender-based violence
continues. We should always stand for what we believe is right, spreading awareness regarding this
matter can help a lot of people who are in the same ground and experiencing these things to speak and
be heard. Another thing the story wants us to realize is we should never give our trust to a stranger no
matter how gentle and kind they look. Do not trust easily. Trust is a word that is similar to respect
because it is not simply given to you or somebody right away. Somehow, the mother must be blamed
about what happened since she is more likely the one who has the ability to stop Vicente beforehand
and not let him be close to the children. This is commonly observed in real life, as we easily give our
trust to someone who we barely and recently knew without knowing them more. This prohibits us to be
conscious about the people who we interact with for the sake of our own security. There is a saying that
says “Mother knows best”, and is indeed true because she already felt the queer actions of Vicente and
with that she got to move immediately preventing him to do his evil plan.
Recommendation

Overall, I can say that this is a good story that is worth to be recommended. Although, there are
some gray areas in some scenes, it did not make the story unreliable. The only weakness of the story is
since it used a third person point of view, it obviously has limited lines from the characters.

Parents- By reading this story, it will raise their awareness on how to deal with strangers who is getting
involved into their family. Especially, those single parents who do not have his/her someone to take the
place of watching over their children. Part of their job as a parent is to protect their child from other
people who might abuse them, including their partner. As a parent/s, they should always listen and
respond to their child if they tell them someone has abused them. It may seem surprising, but parents
can turn a blind eye for years while the other parent or step-parent abuses their child—this is a classic
type of denial. This will also serve as a reminder for them not to trust easily.

Educators- Children and adolescents spend a large portion of their time in school, which gives educators
more access to students than most other professionals. For the purpose of this manual, the term
“educator” is meant to encompass not only the classroom teacher, but also other school personnel
involved in serving the child (Tower, 2013). The protection of children is not only an individual issue, but
a community concern as well. Educators are an integral part of the community and, as such, can lead
and be involved in community efforts to combat child maltreatment.

Governments- The story reflects a problem which needs the involvement of the government who
implements law for the betterment of the society. They need to take urgent action to address violence
against children, both for the sake of the children themselves and for the well-being of future
generations.

Future generations - In today’s generation, human beings as social creatures could only build a society
based on mutual trust. This means, without broad feeling of trust in a group, community or society,
there will be non-occurrence of them. People would distrust each other and would not believe anything
being said by anyone. When a group, community or society becomes very used to trusting other people,
any small mistake in the picture would be pretty much unnoticed.
 Copy of the Short Story

Magnificence

By Estrella D.Alfon

There was nothing to fear, for the man was always so gentle, so kind. At night when the little girl and her
brother were bathed in the light of the big shaded bulb that hung over the big study table in the
downstairs hall, the man would knock gently on the door, and come in. he would stand for a while just
beyond the pool of light, his feet in the circle of illumination, the rest of him in shadow. The little girl and
her brother would look up at him where they sat at the big table, their eyes bright in the bright light,
and watch him come fully into the light, but his voice soft, his manner slow. He would smell very faintly
of sweat and pomade, but the children didn’t mind although they did notice, for they waited for him
every evening as they sat at their lessons like this. He’d throw his visored cap on the table, and it would
fall down with a soft plop, then he’d nod his head to say one was right, or shake it to say one was wrong.

It was not always that he came. They could remember perhaps two weeks when he remarked to their
mother that he had never seen two children looking so smart. The praise had made their mother look
over them as they stood around listening to the goings-on at the meeting of the neighborhood
association, of which their mother was president. Two children, one a girl of seven, and a boy of eight.
They were both very tall for their age, and their legs were the long gangly legs of fine spirited colts. Their
mother saw them with eyes that held pride, and then to partly gloss over the maternal gloating she
exhibited, she said to the man, in answer to his praise, But their homework. They’re so lazy with them.
And the man said, I have nothing to do in the evenings, let me help them. Mother nodded her head and
said, if you want to bother yourself. And the thing rested there, and the man came in the evenings
therefore, and he helped solve fractions for the boy, and write correct phrases in language for the little
girl.

In those days, the rage was for pencils. School children always have rages going at one time or another.
Sometimes for paper butterflies that are held on sticks, and whirr in the wind. The Japanese bazaars
promoted a rage for those. Sometimes it is for little lead toys found in the folded waffles that Japanese
confection-makers had such light hands with. At this particular time, it was for pencils. Pencils big but
light in circumference not smaller than a man’s thumb. They were unwieldy in a child’s hands, but in all
schools then, where Japanese bazaars clustered there were all colors of these pencils selling for very
low, but unattainable to a child budgeted at a baon of a centavo a day. They were all of five centavos
each, and one pencil was not at all what one had ambitions for. In rages, one kept a collection. Four or
five pencils, of different colors, to tie with strings near the eraser end, to dangle from one’s book-basket,
to arouse the envy of the other children who probably possessed less. Add to the man’s gentleness and
his kindness in knowing a child’s desires, his promise that he would give each of them not one pencil but
two. And for the little girl who he said was very bright and deserved more, ho would get the biggest
pencil he could find. One evening he did bring them. The evenings of waiting had made them look
forward to this final giving, and when they got the pencils they whooped with joy. The little boy had tow
pencils, one green, one blue. And the little girl had three pencils, two of the same circumference as the
little boy’s but colored red and yellow. And the third pencil, a jumbo size pencil really, was white, and
had been sharpened, and the little girl jumped up and down, and shouted with glee. Until their mother
called from down the stairs. What are you shouting about? And they told her, shouting gladly, Vicente,
for that was his name. Vicente had brought the pencils he had promised them. Thank him, their mother
called. The little boy smiled and said, Thank you. And the little girl smiled, and said, Thank you, too. But
the man said, Are you not going to kiss me for those pencils? They both came forward, the little girl and
the little boy, and they both made to kiss him but Vicente slapped the boy smartly on his lean hips, and
said, Boys do not kiss boys. And the little boy laughed and scampered away, and then ran back and
kissed him anyway. The little girl went up to the man shyly, put her arms about his neck as he crouched
to receive her embrace, and kissed him on the cheek. The man’s arms tightened suddenly about the
little girl until the little girl squirmed out of his arms, and laughed a little breathlessly, disturbed but
innocent, looking at the man with a smiling little question of puzzlement.
The next evening, he came around again. All through that day, they had been very proud in school
showing off their brand new pencils. All the little girls and boys had been envying them. And their
mother had finally to tell them to stop talking about the pencils, pencils, for now that they had, the boy
two, and the girl three, they were asking their mother to buy more, so they could each have five, and
three at least in the jumbo size that the little girl’s third pencil was. Their mother said, Oh stop it, what
will you do with so many pencils, you can only write with one at a time. And the little girl muttered
under her breath, I’ll ask Vicente for some more. Their mother replied, He’s only a bus conductor, don’t
ask him for too many things. It’s a pity. And this observation their mother said to their father, who was
eating his evening meal between paragraphs of the book on masonry rites that he was reading. It is a
pity, said their mother, People like those, they make friends with people like us, and they feel it is nice to
give us gifts, or the children toys and things. You’d think they wouldn’t be able to afford it.
The father grunted, and said, the man probably needed a new job, and was softening his way through to
him by going at the children like that. And the mother said, No, I don’t think so, he’s a rather queer
young man, I think he doesn’t have many friends, but I have watched him with the children, and he
seems to dote on them. The father grunted again, and did not pay any further attention.
Vicente was earlier than usual that evening. The children immediately put their lessons down, telling
him of the envy of their schoolmates, and would he buy them more please? Vicente said to the little
boy, Go and ask if you can let me have a glass of water. And the little boy ran away to comply, saying
behind him, But buy us some more pencils, huh, buy us more pencils, and then went up to stairs to their
mother. Vicente held the little girl by the arm, and said gently, Of course I will buy you more pencils, as
many as you want. And the little girl giggled and said, Oh, then I will tell my friends, and they will envy
me, for they don’t have as many or as pretty. Vicente took the girl up lightly in his arms, holding her
under the armpits, and held her to sit down on his lap and he said, still gently, What are your lessons for
tomorrow? And the little girl turned to the paper on the table where she had been writing with the
jumbo pencil, and she told him that that was her lesson but it was easy. Then go ahead and write, and I
will watch you. Don’t hold me on your lap, said the little girl, I am very heavy, you will get very tired. The
man shook his head, and said nothing, but held her on his lap just the same. The little girl kept
squirming, for somehow she felt uncomfortable to be held thus, her mother and father always treated
her like a big girl, she was always told never to act like a baby. She looked around at Vicente,
interrupting her careful writing to twist around. His face was all in sweat, and his eyes looked very
strange, and he indicated to her that she must turn around, attend to the homework she was writing.
But the little girl felt very queer, she didn’t know why, all of a sudden she was immensely frightened,
and she jumped up away from Vicente’s lap. She stood looking at him, feeling that queer frightened
feeling, not knowing what to do. By and by, in a very short while her mother came down the stairs,
holding in her hand a glass of sarsaparilla, Vicente. But Vicente had jumped up too soon as the little girl
had jumped from his lap. He snatched at the papers that lay on the table and held them to his stomach,
turning away from the mother’s coming. The mother looked at him, stopped in her tracks, and advanced
into the light. She had been in the shadow. Her voice had been like a bell of safety to the little girl. But
now she advanced into glare of the light that held like a tableau the figures of Vicente holding the little
girl’s papers to him, and the little girl looking up at him frightenedly, in her eyes dark pools of wonder
and fear and question. The little girl looked at her mother, and saw the beloved face transfigured by
some sort of glow. The mother kept coming into the light, and when Vicente made as if to move away
into the shadow, she said, very low, but very heavily, Do not move. She put the glass of soft drink down
on the table, where in the light one could watch the little bubbles go up and down in the dark liquid. The
mother said to the boy, Oscar, finish your lessons. And turning to the little girl, she said, Come here. The
little girl went to her, and the mother knelt down, for she was a tall woman and she said, Turn around.
Obediently the little girl turned around, and her mother passed her hands over the little girl’s back.

Go upstairs, she said. The mother’s voice was of such a heavy quality and of such awful timbre that the
girl could only nod her head, and without looking at Vicente again, she raced up the stairs. The mother
went to the cowering man, and marched him with a glance out of the circle of light that held the little
boy. Once in the shadow, she extended her hand, and without any opposition took away the papers that
Vicente was holding to himself. She stood there saying nothing as the man fumbled with his hands and
with his fingers, and she waited until he had finished. She was going to open her mouth but she glanced
at the boy and closed it, and with a look and an inclination of the head, she bade Vicente go up the
stairs. The man said nothing, for she said nothing either. Up the stairs went the man, and the mother
followed behind. When they had reached the upper landing, the woman called down to her son, Son,
come up and go to your room. The little boy did as he was told, asking no questions, for indeed he was
feeling sleepy already. As soon as the boy was gone, the mother turned on Vicente. There was a pause.
Finally, the woman raised her hand and slapped him full hard in the face. Her retreated down one tread
of the stairs with the force of the blow, but the mother followed him. With her other hand she slapped
him on the other side of the face again. And so down the stairs they went, the man backwards, his face
continually open to the force of the woman’s slapping. Alternately she lifted her right hand and made
him retreat before her until they reached the bottom landing. He made no resistance, offered no
defense. Before the silence and the grimness of her attack he cowered, retreating, until out of his mouth
issued something like a whimper. The mother thus shut his mouth, and with those hard forceful slaps
she escorted him right to the other door. As soon as the cool air of the free night touched him, he
recovered enough to turn away and run, into the shadows that ate him up. The woman looked after
him, and closed the door. She turned off the blazing light over the study table, and went slowly up the
stairs and out into the dark night. When her mother reached her, the woman, held her hand out to the
child. Always also, with the terrible indelibility that one associated with terror, the girl was to remember
the touch of that hand on her shoulder, heavy, kneading at her flesh, the woman herself stricken almost
dumb, but her eyes eloquent with that angered fire. She knelt, She felt the little girl’s dress and took it
off with haste that was almost frantic, tearing at the buttons and imparting a terror to the little girl that
almost made her sob. Hush, the mother said. Take a bath quickly. Her mother presided over the bath
the little girl took, scrubbed her, and soaped her, and then wiped her gently all over and changed her
into new clothes that smelt of the clean fresh smell of clothes that had hung in the light of the sun. The
clothes that she had taken off the little girl, she bundled into a tight wrenched bunch, which she threw
into the kitchen range. Take also the pencils, said the mother to the watching newly bathed, newly
changed child. Take them and throw them into the fire. But when the girl turned to comply, the mother
said, No, tomorrow will do. And taking the little girl by the hand, she led her to her little girl’s bed, made
her lie down and tucked the covers gently about her as the girl dropped off into quick slumber.