"Be thankful of the blessings of dead stars, because for quite a time, it gave sparkle and light to your night"
Dead Stars made me love Philippine Literature; it’s such a wonderful work by Paz Marquez Benitez I came to realize that Filipino authors are as good as the foreign authors I love. In some ways, they are more deep, symbolic and meaningful. Dead Stars is written by Paz Marquez-Benitez published in 1925, it is considered as the first Filipino modern English-language short story. Dead Stars is also in the book “The Best Filipino Short Stories of the Twentieth Century”. After Dead Stars, she had one more published story, “A Night in the Hills”. Paz Marquez-Benitez is a Filipina Short Story writer from the University of the Philippines, Diliman. She was a member of the first batch of freshmen in UP, graduating with the Bachelor of Arts degree. She was also one of the first generation of Filipinos trained in the American education system which used the English language as a medium. She founded the “Woman’s Home journal”, the first women’s magazine in the Philippines. She also compiled the “ Filipino Love Stories”, reported as the first anthology of the Philippine love stories in English by Filipinos. And she succeeded her husband as the editor of the Philippine Journal of Education at UP.
Take a glimpse...
Dead Stars is a love story that occurred on the first quarter of the year, specifically February- March during the post-colonial era. The setting is a province in the Philippines where the Salazars live across the Martinez house, occupied by the Family of Judge Dionisio del Valle, his wife Adela and his sister-in-law, Julia Salas. The Salazars is composed of Don Julian, the Father, Alfredo, son of Don Julian and a young lawyer and Carmen, Alfredo’s sister. Alfredo’s relatives, especially his father and sister is speculating about his marriage because he is engaged to Esperanza for four years and yet they are still not decided when will the actual marriage be. Alfredo and Don Julian had gone neighboring to the del Valles. This is a rare occurrence because Alfredo made it a point to avoid any visits to the judge because he doesn’t want to be mistaken as seeking favors to him. On his visit, he met Julia Salas whom he taught as the Judge’s Sister. While Don Julian and Judge del Valle is busy playing chess, Alfredo and Julia had a little conversation, that’s the time when he knew that Julia is the judge’s sister-in-law and not his sister. Unconsciously, Alfredo enjoyed their Sunday afternoon visits to the del Valle’s wherein he and Julia would chat. It is when Esperanza asked about his visits there that he realized that instead of waiting for Esperanza to come out after mass, he would look forward to their visit at the del Valle’s to chat with Julia. Before Holy Week, Don Julian invited the judge and his family to Tanda, where he had a coconut plantation and house on the beach. As Don Julian showed to the Judge the plantation, Julia and Alfredo were having a sweet conversation at the beach. There, the wind blows and the breeze from the water revealed a different Julia. Her tantalizing charm awakens and had shaken Alfredo’s emotion. He saw her in a different perspective; more than the usual Julia whom he used to chat with. Julia also informed Alfredo that she’ll be spending her Holy Week at their hometown. Alfredo felt uncertain of his feelings and confused. The arrival of Don Julian ended their conversation. Alfredo is walking the busy street on Holy Thursday. The establishments, people and bells ringing have caused Alfredo to develop inner thoughts, as a light mesmerized his vision, Ezperanza and her Mother emerged, as if telling him to come back to reality. But at the end of the road, he saw Julia whom he taught to have already left. He learned that she will be leaving for good; she’s just waiting for her sister because the judge will be assigned elsewhere since the provincial docket has already been cleared. In their conversation, Julia showed Alfredo that she already knew about his engagement with Esperanza. Alfredo also asked Julia a questioned that slightly showed his feelings but limited his actions. He asked Julia if there was a time in her life that she has to choose between something she has to do and something she wants to do. Then, the open ended question served as their last goodbye. Because of his issue with Julia, He and Esperanza argued. Esperanza questioned his willingness to marry her. But in the end, they got married but the thought of Julia is still bothering him every now and then. He would often think of the possibilities if he had chosen Julia. After eight years, Alfredo is going to Sta. Cruz to search for a witness. Since the place is just near Julia’s hometown, he thought of visiting her but there is also a part of him that resist. He couldn’t fight the temptation so he decided to visit her. When he saw Julia, a sight of the same Julia appeared in front of his eyes. But he felt that there is something missing; it’s like there’s no magic anymore. That’s when he realized that all these years, he had been seeing the light of the dead stars, long extinguished, yet seemingly still in their appointed places in the heavens.
stargazing in the night
jan
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