Title: DEAD STARS

Author: Paz Marquez- Benitez was born in 1894 in Lucena City, Quezon to the prominent
Marquez family. Being one of the students who learned under American
Education, she wrote the first Filipino modern short story in English. This
achievement put her and her story as one of the best writers and best Filipino short
stories.

Paz went to the Tayabas High School (now Quezon National High School) and
proceeded for college in the University of the Philippines, where she received a
Bachelor of Arts degree in 1912. She then married UP College of Education dean,
Dean Francisco Benitez, two years after her graduation. She had two children.

She then became a teacher in the same university, teaching short story writing. She
is an influential figure to some Filipino writers, such as Loreto Paras-Sulit, Paz M.
Latorena, Arturo Belleza Rotor, Bienvenido N. Santos and Francisco Arcellana.

She wrote one more story, entitled "A Night in the Hills".

Setting: The short story, "Dead Stars" was written during the American Colonization of the
Philippines, a time when the modern short story, critical essay, and free verse
poetry were introduced. English was the medium of learning, and became, as well,
the language of the learned. This was also the time when utilitarian literature was
slowly being overshadowed by the individualistic, modern view of creating "art
for art's sake".

Interpretation:
Dead Stars is a story about the fickleness of Alfredo Salazar, a man in his thirties
who is about to be married to a woman named Esperanza after four years of their
being engaged. It begins with Alfredo staring out from the open window, who is
being talked about by his father and sister regarding his marriage and his love life.
We are told that he was so in love, that "at the beginning he was enthusiastic--
flowers, serenades, notes, and things like that--" towards Esperanza. But his sister
has observed that something has happened to him, that he was no longer
aggressive and perhaps, youthful. Their father then explains that it is normal, that
long-engaged people are "warm now, cool tomorrow", that Alfredo was having
his "last spurt of hot blood".

Alfredo "fell in love" with another woman in just a few weeks of his "neighboring"
to the Martinez Residence, where Julia Salas stayed for her visit. Julia too, seemed
to have fallen for Alfredo, but both knew that what they had was against, perhaps,
morality, and was subject to the scrutiny and judgement of the society. Alfredo,
being an engaged man, should not involve himself with others. But he chose to
live a lie, he believed he found "youth" and "heart's desire" up in the hills with
Julia. He always reasoned that " If a man were married, why, of course, he loved
his wife; if he were engaged, he could not possibly love another woman."
But then he immersed himself in an illusion, in a dream that he can possibly be
with Julia despite hurting Esperanza, and of course, breaking a lot of society's
rules. In the end, in his final encounter with Julia where the girl did not seem to
respond to his last show of love, there he was redeemed from that delusion, that
all along he was holding on to nothing; that all along he was looking at dead stars.

Stars that appear presently to the naked eye on the sky are already dead. They are
light years away from us.