How my Brother Leon Brought a Wife

Title: How my Brother Leon Brought a Wife

Author: Manuel E. Arguilla

Author’s Background:

Manuel E. Arguilla was born on June 17, 1911 in Nagrebcan, Bauang, La Union to parents Crisanto Arguilla, a farmer, and Margarita Estabillo, a potter. Their mediocre living was not a hindrance for Manuel to attain his dreams especially in literature.

He finished his elementary school in his hometown and his high school in San Fernando where he became the editor-in-chief of his school's newsletter, the La Union Tab. He was also an athlete where he became champion in swimming events he joined. He entered the University of the Philippines where he joined the UP Writers Club and later became the president and the editor of the UP Literary Apprentice. He finished Education in 1933. He married Lydia Villanueva, a fellow artist and writer and lived in Ermita, Manila. Upon graduation, he practiced his profession in University of Manila. He later joined the Bureau of Public welfare where he was the editor of Welfare Advocate, the bureau's publication. As a writer, his famous works were compiled in a book entitled How my Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife (And Other Stories) published by Philippine Book Guild in 1940. These stories were written when he was 22-29 years old. This collection of stories won first prize in short story category during the first Commonwealth Literary Contest in 1940.

Source: http://ilocanopride.blogspot.com/2008/02/manuel-e.html

Vocabulary:

spoke - each of the bars or wire rods connecting the center of a wheel to its outer edge.
jolt - push or shake (someone or something) abruptly and roughly.
dikes -  a ditch or watercourse.
windowsill - a ledge or sill forming the bottom part of a window.
surmise – suppose that something is true without having evidence to confirm it.

Source: Oxford Dictionaries © Oxford University Press

Characters:

Baldo – Narrator of the story and the younger brother of Leon.
Leon -  Maria’s husband. He cares deeply for Maria. Before they went to their house, he assured Maria that his father will accept her.
Maria – Leon’s wife, she is a city girl for she lives in Manila. Visiting Leon’s hometown gave her new experience as she is unfamiliar with the things around Nagrecban.
Labang – A bull owned by the family of Baldo and Leon
Baldo and Leon’s Father – A very concerned father. He wants to make sure that Maria is the right person for Leon.
Baldo and Leon’s Mother
Aurelia – Baldo and Leon’s sister.

Setting:
Geographic Location: Nagrecban, Bauang, La Union, Philippines

Setting 1:
Location: Edge of Nagrecban

Setting 2:
Location: Waig

Setting 3:
Location: Baldo and Leon’s family house

Exposition:

Baldo was with his bull Labang waiting for his Brother Leon and his wife. They arrived at the edge of Nagrecban. Baldo finds out that the wife of Leon is named Maria and that Maria calls Leon, Noel.

Rising Action:

They go on their way to their house with Labang pulling the cart. As they go on their way to the house Leon and Maria would have their romantic moments and Baldo would just observe them.

As the sun sets, Leon asks Baldo who told him to drive Labang. When they finally arrived in Waig, Leon asked Baldo again who asked him to drive Labang. Finally, he had to say that their father asked him to do so. “Why do you think father should do that, now?” asked Leon to Maria. But they set it aside for now and look at the stars. “Have you ever seen so many stars before?”

Again, as they ride on the cart they admire the clear night skies where they can see countless bright stars and the air that is free of smoke and dust. As they continue to travel Maria asked Leon if are they near yet but Leon tosses the question to Baldo. "Soon we will get out of the Wait and pass into the fields. After the fields is home---Manong." "So near already." Baldo was unsure as to what to say. Maria’s voice seemed to have trembled and lost its’ laughter. Suddenly, Leon sang ‘Sky Sown with Stars’ a song that Leon and his father would sing when they cut the hay in the fields at night, and Maria would join Leon in singing.

Leon asked if Maria misses the house, the cars, the noise and the people, but she misses it in a different way, she is glad they are not here.

Maria called Leon. “Yes, Maria”. says Leon. Maria was afraid that Leon’s father would not like her but Leon assures her that his father is the mildest-tempered, gentlest man he knows.

Baldo stop Labang near their house but Leon takes the rope and drives Labang into their yard.
There was light in the kitchen and their mother stood in the doorway, smiling shily.

Climax:

Leon helped Maria over the wheel. Then he asks his mother. “Father… where is he?” “He is in his room upstairs” said his mother with a serious face. “His leg is bothering him again”.

Baldo went back to Labang to unhitch her from the cart. As he was about to tie Labang under the barn he heard his father calling him. He goes inside and see his mother, sister, and Maria that seemed to like they were crying.

He enters the room of his father and he sees him smoking. But soon after his father saw him, he dropped down his tobacco and asked “Did you meet anybody on the way?” “No, Father” said Baldo. “Nobody passes through Waig at night”. His father asked if Maria was afraid of Labang and Baldo answered no and complimented her beauty. He told his father that they looked at the stars and sang a song. “What did he sing?” his father asked. “---Sky Sown with Stars… She sang with him”.

Falling Action:

His father was silent once again. Baldo could hear his family and Maria downstairs. Then his father started smoking and laid it down on the windowsill once more. The door finally opened, it was Leon and Maria. Then his father finally spoke, “Have you watered Labang?”. Baldo told him that Labang was still resting under the barn. “It is time you watered him, my son”.

Ending:

Before Baldo left the room, he looked at Maria and found her to very lovely. Beside his brother, she stood tall and very still. Then he left the room and he caught the fragrance of her that was like a morning papaya when papayas are in bloom.

Symbolisms:

Labang and the passage on Waig – In the story Leon asked Baldo as to why did he drive Labang and why did they pass through Waig. We find out that it was his father who told him to do so. We also find out that their father asked how was Maria when she saw Labang and if there was anyone on their way to their house when they passed through Waig. This implies that their father intended to do so because he wants to test Maria. If Maria truly loves Leon that she won’t back down when she meets Labang or when she passes through the scary, rocky, and lonely passage in Waig. They served as a challenge.

“Beside my brother, she was tall and very still” – When Leon together with Maria entered his father’s room Maria stood tall and very still. This signifies that she was very serious of her relationship between her and Leon and that she was willing to fight her love for Leon no matter what.

Theme:

The story takes place in the Philippines in La Union which is found in the Ilocos Region. We can see the culture of the Filipinos where a partner would bring his significant other to his/her own family to get the permission and recognition of their parents for their relationship.

Lesson:

Love is one of the greatest emotions we can ever experience. It is hard to find the right person that will love you no matter what will happen that even if you grow old that love that you once had in your youth, that spark, Is still there despite the wrinkles your forehead start to have, the once beautiful body that you had have gone old. If you finally found someone whom you truly believe that is best for you and one that you truly love, cherish it, and, fight for it. In this story we see that Maria was afraid of Leon’s impression of her. But once she stood on the room, she stood firm. She knew that Leon is someone she will definitely love and care for and he would do the same to her. Try to achieve the same resolve like her, fight for it.