Portrait of A Great Man

Title: Portrait of A Great Man

Author: Manuel A. Viray

Author’s Background: 

Manuel A. Viray (1917-1995?) has compiled poetry anthologies, essays on Philippine literature, and was editor-in-chief of Archipelago Quarterly. He worked in the foreign service corp. of the Philippine government until his retirement.

Source: http://www.sushidog.com/bpss/authors.htm#viray

Vocabulary:

capricious - given to sudden and unaccountable changes of mood or behavior chauffeur
unkempt - having an untidy or disheveled appearance:
snarled -  entangle or impede (something)
stern - serious and unrelenting, especially in the assertion of authority and exercise of discipline
yank - pull with a jerk
guile - pull with a jerk
protégée - a person who is guided and supported by an older and more experienced or influential person
stenography - the action or process of writing in shorthand or taking dictation.
pudgy - slightly fat
meticulous - showing great attention to detail; very careful and precise:
memorandum - a note or record made for future use
treatise - a written work dealing formally and systematically with a subject
placate - make (someone) less angry or hostile
jurisprudence - the theory or philosophy of law
thither - to or toward that place
yon - yonder; that
acceded - assent or agree to a demand, request, or treaty
confidant - a person with whom one shares a secret or private matter, trusting them not to repeat it to others
musicale - a musical gathering or concert, typically small and informal.
furioso - furiously and wildly
atrocious - horrifyingly wicked
curt - rudely brief

Source: Oxford Dictionaries © Oxford University Press

Characters:

Dr. Rufino T. Ventanilla – An old man that has a position of deputy commissioner. He has a poor attitude towards work, therefore, hampering his progress in fulfilling his tasks.
Serafin – Chauffeur of Dr. Ventanilla.

Lita – Wife of Dr. Ventanilla. She is sometimes the cause of Dr. Ventanilla’s distress at work.
Zabala – Stenographer of Dr. Ventanilla.
Adriano Perez – Co-worker of Dr. Ventanilla. Has a bad opinion of Dr. Ventanilla especially on how he does his work. In the latter part of the story, he replaces Dr. Ventanilla as deputy commissioner.
Marcos Montalbo II – Special Assistant, co-worker of Dr. Ventanilla. Similar to Perez, he has a bad opinion of Dr. Ventanilla.
Personnel clerk – A worker in Dr. Ventanilla’s company. He was refused to be given a partial salary by Adriano Perez.

Setting:
Geographic Location: Philippines

Setting 1: (Exposition, Rising Action)
Location: Deputy Commissioner Office

Setting 2: (Climax)
Location: Restaurant

Setting 3: (Falling Action, Ending)
Location: Deputy Commissioner Office

Exposition:

The main character, location was introduced to the readers as Dr. Ventanilla was on his way to work with his chauffeur Serafin. As the story progresses, we learn more about the place of his work, the people he works with, and his daily routines in his office.

Rising Action:

More characters were introduced that will have a big role in the story such as Perez, Montalbo, etc. We also start to learn more about Dr. Ventanilla’s daily routines and his unfavorable habits that keep him from efficiently complete his tasks, such as feeling discomfort from typographical errors.

Climax:

The setting changes to the restaurant where Perez and Montalbo will have their meal. While they were waiting for their meal to be served they talk about Dr. Ventanilla’s situation as the deputy commissioner. In here we learn more of their opinion about Dr. Ventanilla and more information about him.

Falling Action:

Two weeks have past and Perez succeeded Dr. Ventanilla to be deputy commissioner. As he succeeded Dr. Ventanilla, he filled one’s shoes as he experiences the same struggle as Dr. Ventanilla, papers piling up, typographical errors, etc.

Ending:

Now, having been promoted to deputy commissioner, Perez appears to have changed due to his new position. He seemingly became like Dr. Ventanilla who gets bothered with errors and he shows disinterest to the issues of his coworkers because he is occupied by his position such as when a Personnel clerk asked for a partial salary due to his sickly wife.

Symbolisms:

Sun – “intruder of sleep and stolen love was slowly rising” The sun was described with such negativity because for the Dr. Ventanilla this just meant that his time to rest is over and it’s another day of work.

Lita - The wife of Dr. Ventanilla symbolizes in this story is that women bring stress to men. That they are one of the reasons that men have problems.

Hill of Papers – The hill of papers symbolizes the amount of problems that Dr. Ventanilla faces, because of his improper attitude towards his work, his problems start piling up.

Commissioner – The commissioner’s character was not fully detailed in the story, but the way his employees saw him was like a divine being that does not accept faults, therefore, everything they have to offer must be near-perfect.

Theme:

The story takes place in the office of a person with a high ranking in the office. Basing on the situation of the character, it is about a job in the office that is quite stressful as it involves the handling of papers that are crucial to the company.

Lesson:

Although it is necessary to fix as many mistakes as possible, this should not be the main cause of why we cannot finish work. “No man is an island” and doing work alone is not very efficient. If possible, we should deal with things with the help of others whenever we can and accept that not everything is in our control. And rather than badmouthing someone on their backs, we should assess their situation first and lend a helping hand to fix the problem the person is experiencing.