2. Francisco Arcellana
Francisco "Franz“ Arcellana (September 6, 1916 –
August 1, 2002) was a Filipino writer, poet, essayist,
critic, journalist and teacher. He was born on September
16, 1916. Arcellana already had ambitions of becoming
a writer during his years in the elementary. His actual
writing, however, started when he became a member
of The Torres Torch Organization during his high school
years. Arcellana continued writing in various school
papers at the University of the Philippines Diliman . He
later on received a Rockfeller Grant and became a
fellow in creative writing the University of Iowa and
Breadloaf's writers conference from 1956- 1957.
3. He is considered an important progenitor of the modern
Filipino short story in English. Arcellana pioneered the
development of the short story as a lyrical prose-poetic form
within Filipino literature. His works are now often taught in
tertiary-level-syllabi in the Philippines. Many of his works were
translated into Tagalog, Malaysian, Russian, Italian, and
German. Arcellana won 2nd place in 1951 Don Carlos
Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, with his short
story, "The Flowers of May." 14 of his short stories were also
included in Jose Garcia Villa's Honor Roll from 1928 to 1939.
His major achievements included the first award in art
criticism from the Art Association of the Philippines in
1954, the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan award from the
city government of Manila in 1981, and the Gawad
Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas for English fiction from the
Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipino (UMPIL) in 1988.
Francisco Arcellana was proclaimed National Artist of the
Philippines in Literature in 1990.
4.
5. Characters:
Mr. Angeles (Jaime) - the head of Angeles
family
Emilia (Miling) - wife of Mr. Angeles
Marcelina, Jose, Antonio,
Juan, Jesus, Susanna, and Alfonso -
children of Mr. and Mrs. Angeles
Josefina, Victoria, and Concepcion - dead
family members.
6. Summary:
For the Angeles family, Mr. Angeles'; homecoming from his periodic inspection
trips was always an occasion for celebration. But his homecoming--from a trip
to the South--was fated to be more memorable than, say, of the others.
He had written from Mariveles: "I have just met a marvelous mat weaver--a real
artist--and I shall have a surprise for you. I asked him to weave a sleeping-mat
for every one of the family. He is using many different colors and for each mat
the dominant color is that of our respective birthstones. I am sure that the
children will be very pleased. I know you will be. I can hardly wait to show
them to you."
Nana Emilia read the letter that morning and again and again every time she
had a chance to leave the kitchen. In the evening when all the children were
home from school she asked her oldest son, José, to read the letter at dinner
table. The children became very much excited about the mats, and talked
about them until late into the night. This wrote her husband when she labored
over a reply to him. For days after that, mats continued to be the chief topic of
conversation among the children.
7. Mr. Angeles travelled to southern Philippines and bought mats
for his wife and children. Each mat has the corresponding
name of all his living offspring, even those who already died.
When he arrived home from his trip, he presented the mats to
his family. As he unfolds one mat after another, he narrated
the emotions, longings and beautiful memories they have had
as a family. The sorrow heightened when the last two mats he
opened are for his dead children who made his wife reacted
with grief, and told Mr. Angeles that there is no need for him to
open those mats for the two were already dead.
At that point, Mr. Angeles cried with pain while telling his wife
that his children must always be in their memory no matter
where they are now.
8. Theme:
The theme of The Mats covers family and Filipino values.
The closeness of family has always been a major Filipino
value - respect for the elders and parents, the stability of
parents' marriage, equality of siblings, so on and so forth.
The Mats dissects these when it paints a picture of the
relationships of the various members of the family. When
Mr. Angeles brings out mats even for his children who are
no longer with them, it shows that the love between
members of a Filipino family transcends even death.
The mats were the ideal archetype to use here because
they are carefully handcrafted and woven, the threads
and strips tied tightly together. A Filipino family is like a
mat or banig, with its members bound tightly together too.
9. Symbolism:
the relationships of the various members of the
family.
the Filipinos have strong family ties and the mats have
bonded that tie till death.
A very sentimental write. Arcellana's story would
indeed capture the Filipino readers by heart for his
brilliant display of emotions by using only one
symbolism-THE MAT.
