HOW MY BROTHER LEON BROUGHT HOME A WIFE: A Symbol Hunting Activity

Characters

Issues/Problems

Images/actions

Maria

-Culture clash/ immigration issues

-Meeting the parents

Will they like me?

Leon/Noel

-Culture clash

Leon/Noel (Change of name)

Baldo

-Culture shock

He was questioning why Maria

called his brother Noel

Father

-Culture shock

Was she afraid of Labang

How is this image/action

symbolic?
This message symbolizes the fear
of being introduced to the parents
and fear for change
This change of name is symbolic
because this represents the culture
change. Leon representing the
barrio while Noel represents the
bayan
This represents the awe and
reverence of the taga-barrios to the
taga-bayans werein the taga-bayans
are seen to be superior to the bagabarrios.
This message has a double
meaning which really is Can
Maria survive here in the province
and since the answer is yes, then it
means that Maria can and will
survive in the province.

Table 1
Table 2
Image/scene

Symbolic? y/n

Carretela

Yes
-this symbolizes rural life or life in the barrio.

Labang

Yes
-Labang represents people in the barrios who
are doing mostly blue collar jobs which are
mostly farming and agriculture.
Yes
As a married person, I would say this is a
symbol that proves that settling into a married
life is not always easy. They always say

Pebbly road/hay in the cart

Camonayan, Josephine | Dacumos, Darmax | Gajes, Ma. Julie Anne

If yes, cite textual evidence to prove your

point
She stepped down from the carretela of Ca
Celin with a quick, delicate grace.
I have yet to hear another bull call like Labang

The wind whistled against my cheeks and the

rattling of the wheels on the pebbly road
echoed in my ears.
MAT - English

HOW MY BROTHER LEON BROUGHT HOME A WIFE: A Symbol Hunting Activity

marriage is not always a bed of roses. There
are rough times, and that is inevitable.
Yes

Nagrebcan

Nagrebcan itself is a representation of rural life

because of its rustic surroundings and
somewhat lagging behind in terms of progress

Table 3
Specific points in the narrative
Look at the stars. It is so many times bigger
and brighter than it was at Ermita beach. The
air is clean, free of dust and smoke. So it is,
Noel

Action/image
Maria was beginning to appreciate the place

Mother stood in the doorway..

The act of waiting

Father insisted they follow the waig instead of

choosing to pass through camino real

Reality of the hard life in the barrio

Interpretation
Marias appreciating what she saw at
Nagrebcan is a manifestation that loving a
person means loving and appreciating
everything about him, not only his body but
also his way of life of life, his family and
everything.
Noels mother displayed an excitement in the
coming of his sons wife. As a mother, it brings
joy when another member of the family is
coming
The father wanted Maria to see the reality that
she will be living in a different place and he
wanted to test whether or not she can survive
living in a humble place such as the province

Table 4
Recurring image/action
She was lovely. She was tall. She was fragrant
like a morning when papayas are in bloom

Paragraph in which these images/actions

appear
First paragraph and last paragraph

Camonayan, Josephine | Dacumos, Darmax | Gajes, Ma. Julie Anne

Interpretation
First impression lasts it is probably an
admiration of Baldo to Maria and that makes it
possible for him thinking about finding also a
wife like Maria
This impression also represents the admiration
of the taga-barrios for the taga-bayans and
Maria smelling like papayas meant that Maria
can survive in the barrios.

MAT - English

HOW MY BROTHER LEON BROUGHT HOME A WIFE: A Symbol Hunting Activity

Table 6
Concrete image
lighted the lantern that hung from the cart

Becomes symbolic of
Symbolic of hope that Maria could adapt
herself to rural life

..watched the smoke waver faintly upward

from the lighter end vanish slowly into the
night outside..

Symbolic of the emerging of the problem of

acceptance of both Maria and the family and
then the way of life in the province and the
solution of the problem

Camonayan, Josephine | Dacumos, Darmax | Gajes, Ma. Julie Anne

Abstract concept/situation
The understanding that sparked from Leon
when he was questioning Baldo why do they
have to follow the waig and not camino real.
Fears of Maria in meeting the family of Leon
and at the same time the tension of the whole
family in having Maria, the city girl, as part of
the family.. all these fears and tensions faded
away like the smoke that vanished slowly into
the outside

MAT - English