III.
SHORT STORY ELEMENTS
A. CHARACTERS
1. Lumnay a woman who was left by her husband because he had to marry another woman/
Developing
2. Awiyao- the husband stated above / Flat
3. Madulimay Awiyaos new wife / Flat
B. PLOT - Linear
a) Introduction
The story opens with Awiyao entering his and Lumnays house.
b) Rising Action
Things start to heat up when Lumnay says she does not want any other man.
c) Climax
There is more intensity when Awiyao says he does not want any other woman.
d)
Falling action
But they both have to follow their tribes tradition.
e)
Denouement
Awiyao has to go back to the wedding dance.
C. SETTING
a) place in the mountains somewhere in the Philippines
b) time- a long time ago
c) weather conditions- fine
d) social conditions- lower-class
e) mood or atmosphere- sad and tense
D. POINT OF VIEW
The Point of View used in this short story is the Omniscient Limited - The author tells the story in
third person (using pronouns they, she, he, it, etc). We know only what the character knows and what the
author allows him/her to tell us. We can see the thoughts and feelings of characters if the author chooses
to reveal them to us.
E. LITERARY DEVICES
For me, there is an extensive use of the literary device Symbolism. There are many symbols here,
and these are the darkness, the houses four walls, the smoldering embers, and the beads. The darkness
symbolizes how the two lead characters feel. Meanwhile, the houses walls symbolize the former couples
imprisonment. The smoldering embers that become glowing coals symbolize the love that both of them
still feel towards each other. Finally, the beads symbolize Awiyaos great love for Lumnay even if she was
not able to give him a child.
F. THEME
In my opinion, the theme True love never dies is applicable to this story.
G. CONFLICT
The conflict here is Man vs. Society. The lead characters have to follow their tribes custom
As my father was collecting his thoughts in the writing of Hudhud, it must have occurred to
him that this particular custom paralleled, in a way, his own life. When he first came to learn
about this custom, he was so young that it never really entered his thoughts to give it any
significance. However, in 1952, it was a different story. He and his wife, my mother Estela,
had endured for 10 years, from the time they got married in 1939, not having a child of their
own. He knew he had the material to write about the custom. He knew about his feelings
and, perhaps, his wifes feelings from their own communings.And so, the drama he created
in the interplay of feelings between Awiyao and Lumnay may have been the drama of his
life, though not entirely. And when my father narrates Awiyaos and Lumnays love for each
other, he must have been thinking of his love for my mother and my mothers love for him as
he toiled by his lonesome self more than eight thousand miles away.
Wedding Dance was published in early 1953 and would have been written at about the
same time as my father was writing his thesis for his Masters in English at the Stanford
University in California. His thesis is rich in historical information as to how he came to
learn about the Ifugao harvest song and the stories about the Bontocs and the Kalingas. In
his Foreword, he states in part,
My childhood was spent among the inhabitants of Kalinga, a sub-province of the
Mountain Province, and I travelled through all the sub-provinces of the area. Close
contact with the place and the people gave an intimate knowledge of their customs
and their culture as well as comprehension of their dialects.
Reading through the Introduction part of the thesis, where he wrote about the people of the
Mountain Provinces, I came upon this on page 15,
