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MY FATHER’S TRAGEDY BY CARLOS B. BULOSAN:

A REFLECTION PAPER

Subject

PHILIPPINE LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

AND LITERARY CRITICISM (ENGL202)

Professor

FRANCISCO Z. LORENZO, JR., PHD

Student

SWEET GRACE M. DO-ONG, LPT

canvas of Filipino adversity. Carlos Bulosan, the author, was born in the Philippines in

the rural farming village of Mangusmana, near the town of Binalonan (Pangasinan

province, Luzon Island). Born into a family of farmers, Carlos spent the majority of his

childhood living with his family in the country side. Like many Filipino families during

economic hardship, Carlos' family struggled to survive in the Philippines. In the

Philippines, conditions created by US colonization led to the plight of many families who

were impoverished. Because of the growing concentration of wealth and power in the

hands of the economic and political elite, rural agricultural families in areas like Carlos'

had to deal with severe economic disparities. After all, Carlos' goal was to support his

family and further his education, so he traveled to America with the hopes of achieving

both.

As a result of similar circumstances to the author's, the story opens with a

situation in which there is little food to eat, which drives farm-dependent families into

poverty and hunger, including the family of the narrator, the son. In the son's narrative,

the author shows how his family struggled to get by and how his father responds to the

challenges they faced. It is true that we struggle into some miserable circumstances,

such as poverty, rejection, inequality, discouragement, strange phenomena, or any

sorts of misfortunes in life. Towards the beginning of the story, we are shown how the

rice field, the basis of the lead character's income, was destroyed by locusts from their

neighboring town. There are some readers who consider My Father's Tragedy as a

humorous narrative. It displays Filipino’s deep love for gamefowl since it literally

mentioned in the story that the narrator’s father focuses more of his attention into

exercising his fighting cock, Burick and dreaming his time away, hoping for some luck to

save them from poverty though cockfighting. As raised in the narrative text, their

carabao became thin due to unexpected famine and the only thing that is healthy is his

father’s cock. His father became lazy and neglected the needs of his family most of the
time. He even stole the boiled egg intended to Marcela who is suffering from meningitis

and gave it to his cock. After the arranged schedule for cockfighting, the father directly

gave instruction to the son (narrator) to prepare viand for the dinner. As the son went

home from the fish pond, he then knew that her mother prepared something good as he

smelled it the moment, he entered the gate. The family gladly have their dinner with full

of satisfaction, for it is their first taste of chicken in a long time due to the series of

unfortunate events happened in their life. The father ate more than he usually does.

Later he asked his wife if where did she got the white meat because the poultry house

in the village is empty. The wife answered, "Where do you think I got it?". His father’s

face broke in great agony.

This story made me reflect on our own current predicaments, which stem from

our neighboring countries as well. People who are less fortunate have been hit much

harder by this pandemic. The first time the lockdown occurred, penurious citizens were

suffering from hunger and these were the ones who were more negatively affected. As

we are living in such a very harsh condition nowadays, we cannot make judgements

about how people are managing to survive. Instead, we ourselves should be more

compassionate and show sympathy, especially to those in need.

Most Filipinos who suffer hardships became inadvertently exposed to this

pandemic even while enduring poverty. In this context, I am referring specifically to

employees in the informal economy, as well as small businesses that depend on daily

sales to grow. Almost all Filipinos source their incomes from the informal economy, and

the ability of our economy to function is based on the “no work, no pay” and “no work -

no income” paradigms. Traders selling street food get paid if they are on the streets

selling their wares to the citizens of cities. Employees in this sector who do not have

employment rights do not qualify for unemployment benefits, and they have not

received any financial aid from their employers or organizations, despite not being able

to earn an income during the lockdown. Many people seeking access to these grants

have encountered difficulties because of the conditions and requirements of the grants.
The government has provided numerous grants including a covid grant, but its criteria

and conditions pose a challenge for some. Grants such as this can marginalize the

illiterate persons in rural areas and the segments of our population that don't have

access to the proper technology.

Many Filipinos who are in need of assistance may not even qualify for the grants,

as their priority is to eat a meal every day the way things are now. This food assistance

is not intended for a single person, but rather to fill a gap produced by struggling homes

for a few months. Our currency's depreciation increased the cost of basic commodities

such as rice, which is a staple diet for many impoverished households. The availability

or inaccessibility of basic items at reasonable prices can influence the ability of these

homes to prepare cost-effective meals for their families. These homes face daily and

weekly food budgets and the challenge of continuously preparing healthy and affordable

meals for their families. Families are forced to compromise on luxury items such as

balanced nutrition and other personal necessities so that food is sufficient for all.

The main characters in the story “My Father’s Tragedy” resembles how real

Filipino families should simultaneously work together. As Hinckley, MP writes, "Home is

where you are loved most and act the worst" illustrates how disagreements in a family

relationship occur occasionally for a number of reasons. The purpose of the statement

is to convey how disputes occur within the family unit and among members. Financial

problems and instability are the most common sources of family conflict and it is the

main reason why the parents of the narrator mostly argue. Thus tensions, however,

strengthen and enforce the family bonds.

Indeed, the story is hilarious for some readers, hence even before the Spaniards

invaded, cockfighting or better known as "sabong" is already an integral part of Filipino

culture. Furthermore, cockfighting went over into trend specially in social media today.

Despite the fact that they lack money, the gamecock represents the vices of the people.

Gamecocks are usually kept by less fortunate people in provinces. They treated the

cocks so much in order for them to participate and gamble their money in festivals or
any events in their town or nearby town. In spite of their poverty, they enjoy gambling.

Some people assume their luck comes from gambling because when they win, money

is easily obtained. In contrast, when they lose, they accumulate more debt. People find

“Sabong” irresistible and attracted. It may in the form of the thrill that they experienced

once the fight had started or may bet on the outcome of the fight to win huge amount of

money. However, success should not be relied on luck. All of us have the desire to

achieve our goals in life. All credits to that simple yet strong trust on the fate one has,

people lack the major factor to achieve their goals and that is hard work. It is not enough

to simply dream about something. One must take action on it and, in turn, stay

committed to the goal before one can succeed. In order to excel in life, you must have

an optimistic attitude as well as the perseverance for the cause of achievement. This is

the factor most people lack and fail in the event of reaching their goals. A person must

be aware that any dream that he or she has is within their capabilities. This is achieved

by determining that the dream can be fulfilled by making a thorough and serious

examination of how much work the dream would require There is not enough evidence

to prove that fortune and luck can support a person in achieving his or her dream, as

there are hardly any cases where luck has favored the individual towards the

accomplishment of a dream. Consequently, the person must realize that there is a

minimum amount of labor that must be put forth in order to fulfill their dreams. An

intense desire to succeed will motivate any man to overcome every obstacle in their

way and achieve their goals with all his might.

The Filipino author, Carlos Bolusan, cleverly captured the hearts of readers with

a presentation of one of Philippine Cultures. Cockfighting is among the most renowned

gambling activities in the Philippines, so, for some, it's about bad luck and bad attitude.

As William Bolitho stated, “A gambler is nothing but a man who makes his living out of

false hope”, vents how the narrator’s father dreamed for some luck to save his family

from poverty through gambling his trained rooster named Burick to cockfighting.

Unfortunately, his dream was dashed because of false hope. However, Filipino mindset
strongly believes that those who have succeeded are those who have taken big risks,

even knowing that they might fail, but might succeed more than they thought. All of us

should gamble within the limits of our means to ensure that we can provide the basic

needs of our families. Gamble not for a selfish way. I believe that we should not laugh at

ourselves for ensuring their well-being Even with good intentions, most of us risk our

lives, especially the poor and indigent who suffer the most. However, merely hoping for

luck won’t suffice. Therefore, in order to alleviate poverty, people need to work hard and

be dedicated.

REFERENCES:

Aperçu (2010) My Father’s Tragedy by Carlos Bolusan