Christine S.

Tabaco Philippine Novel

Thematic Analysis of “The Last Time I Saw Mother” and “Eating Fire,

Drinking Water” by Arlene Chai

Before the Spaniards entered the land, literature in the Philippines was

largely oral tradition. Gradual changes started to occur as the colonial regime got

established in the country. For instance, the Roman alphabet slowly replaced the

native script—religious and homiletic continued to be disseminated orally.

However, remarkable changes happened in the “content” of indigenous and oral

literary traditions. Christian morals and values began to permeate the ancient

literary forms of the Filipinos such as the salawikain, the lagda, and the epics

(Alburo, 485).

The establishment of the printing press by Tomas Pinpin sparked a radical

event in the level of literacy in the Philippines. His publications created a

consciousness among Filipinos of the real happenings during the colonial period.

Also, with the increase of journalistic publications was the rise of the native

middleclass whose influence affected the economic life in the country. Then came

the rise of peninsulars or coming from the middleclass being ordained as priests.

These priests used literature as instrument for their politics. The position of the

middleclass in relation to the colonial authority also forms the central concern of

Rizal. His two novels, Noli Me Tangere and El Felibusterismo, became powerful
tools in opening the consciousness of the people regarding the oppressive

regimes and the kindling of the Filipinos’ nationalism. As time progresses,

Filipinos continue to write novels that are expressive of their present conditions

and the way they interpret these important events in their lives. A novel becomes

instrumental in influencing perspectives and spurring the people to act in their

personal lives and in the society where they are a part of (Alburo, 490).

Over the years, the Philippines has had promising writers who were able to

write about Filipinos’ stories which are all reflective of both painful and beautiful

experiences lived through time. One of these is Arlene Chai. She, together with

her parents and her sisters, migrated to Australia because of political turmoil in

her country the Philippines. She worked as an advertising copywriter at George

Patterson’s Advertising Agency and has been working there since. There she met

her mentor Bryce Courtney, who inspires her to improve her work.

Quite common among contemporary Filipino fictionists in the post-

independence literary setting, her writing, especially her fiction, is saturated with

perspectives on the struggle of her people especially during the Marcos regime.

This self-reflexive kind of a novel is what Linda Hutcheon has termed as

historiographic metafiction. This kind of writing stands within historical

discourse but does not relinquish its identity as a work of fiction. In the Philippine

setting, some narratives are categorized as historiographic metafiction because

of their critiquing of the past which challenge official history or mainstream

historical knowledge. One way to achieve this is the delegation of a central role

to the main character or narrator which is similar to the position of a historian.

In Eating Fire and Drinking Water, the narrator Clara writes the story by

reconstructing history in her memory (Faunillan).

Chai’s narratives are a retelling of history in her perspective. The characters

of her writings are expressions of her own struggle in the country where there is

abuse of power. How the events unfurl in her narrative shows the lens through

which she views this precarious event in history.

This paper will present the themes of Chai’s works: The Last Time I Saw

Mother and Eating Fire, Drinking Water. These notable works have beautifully told

stories of women who have discovered the truth behind their past and identity.

Arlene Chai’s The Last Time I Saw Mother tells the story of a woman who

learns the truth about her past. It is an unexpected journey of Caridad, a wife and

a mother, a native of the Philippines living in Sydney, Australia. Learning about

the beauty of her past, she has found the courage to face her now. The story

speaks of the thoughts and reveals the hearts of four women who walk the path

of self-discovery and liberation. Discovering the truth enables one to understand

his/her self, gives freedom from the past, and allows one to live the present

better. In this novel, the theme can be taken based on the words spoken by

Caridad, especially during the last few chapters of the novel (“The Last Time I Saw

Mother” Synopsis).

“Pain has its uses.”

 Often people do away with pain. They shun what is hurtful. When life closes

in, that is almost often the only time we are forced to deal with it. What Caridad

learns is that pain often is the truth’s way of giving freedom. Although she

initially fears the truth of her past, she eventually learns to embrace it. A journey

into the truth of her yesteryears enables her to gather the missing pieces of her

life. Unearthing the secrets gives her a better understanding of her self and her

relationship with the most significant people in her life. Pain heals her.

“There are too many things. Feelings. They are difficult to

describe.”

The truth can be overwhelming. When she is confronted with the truth,

Caridad finds herself in a tide of emotions. What she feels is beyond words, and

it feels like it is swallowing her up. The truth can be menacing, and some people

just can’t find the courage to deal with it. They would rather live in the comfort

of lies than accept the painful truth. Denial becomes a safe place for them. Yet

for some, the truth is the only way. They understand pretty well that the truth

exacts a price, and they are willing to pay it. They understand that what they get

in the end is far greater than the comfort of lies. Often, they do not regret that

they braved through it.

“I have learned that the telling of the truth—that act—is

where the answer lies.”
 The truth does not only liberate the one who hears it but also the one who

speaks of it. As they say, it is often easier to tell a lie. It feels safe to manufacture

one’s own version of the truth. The truth scares. The truth hurts. What the

characters learn in the story is that you can only hold the truth long enough.

Eventually it will find its way out. Like a smoke, it escapes. The truth that is kept

hidden haunting. Although some can manage to hide it in a box, others find

themselves in a torment. Soon one has to decide to bring the secrets out in the

open. Telling the truth is freedom, both for the one who tells it and for the one

who hears it.

“I just understand things better. But it hasn’t changed

things…how I feel about people.”

People are the ones who decide how much of things they will allow to

change after learning the truth. For Caridad, she chooses to allow the truth to

heal her. To her, there is no point in resenting the person who kept the secrets

of her past. At some point, it probably will put a strain in the relationship, but

one has to decide he/she how it will define his/her relationships. It is however

true that some of those truths can wound greatly, and it will need time to heal.

Do we choose to love or hate, resent or forgive, hurt or

heal, run or be brave?

In the end, life is a choice. Life is a series of choices. Whatever people

choose will determine the kind of life they live. Caridad knows fully well that

learning the truth is only the beginning. It opens many doors for her to choose

from, and each leads to a path that will define her and the life she lives. Will she
continue to love, or will she give in to hatred? Will she choose to forgive despite

the tempting feeling of betrayal? Will she find the courage to journey towards

healing? Those are difficult life choices, but one has to face them.

Therefore, the novel just brings about a general truth. Knowing the truth

liberates and leads to a better knowledge and appreciation of oneself.

Eating Fire, Drinking Water

The story is told in the point-of-view of Clara Perez. She is an orphan and is raised
by nuns. Much of her origin is shrouded by mystery. The narrative opens with a
chapter that tells of her budding career as a journalist in the Chronicle. Her work
affords her some advantages in scooping the latest news and happenings in the
socio-political scene of her city. She is always a woman of high ambition, which
leads to her discontent in the trivial assignments she’s given at the daily paper.
She longs to write stories with depth, with substance. When the tiny street of
Calle de Leon bursts into flames after a student demonstration–and a soldier kills
an unarmed man–Clara unhesitatingly grabs the opportunity to explore the story.
In her search, she discovers haunting truths about her past. Her family secrets
also begin to unravel with the tumultuous backdrop of a country wracked by
revolution (Reyes in “Arlene J Chai’s Eating Fire and Drinking Water: The Identity
Search in Historical Context)
.
Following is a descriptive account of the two most prominent characters in

her narrative: El Presidente and Madam. The physical sketch of El Presidente

resembles that of Marcos, the sixth president of the Philippines: “small man of

solid build… eyes… small and slanted, betraying an Oriental strain in his blood”

(40). Madam on the other hand bears striking similarities to the First Lady Imelda

Marcos: “a statuesque woman, nearly half a head taller than her husband… walks

with the bearing of a queen” (Eating Fire and Drinking Water 42).

The narrator believes that the universe has order, that it is not just a

random collocation of events, but that everything has innate sense, meaning, and
purpose. It is with this conviction that she begins her search for the truth and

how things should be. She knows the struggle of her people. She sees the unrest

in the nation.

"I sought to find a pattern, a deeper purpose, for, at the time, the events I

am about to recount seemed random and arbitrary. The reporter in me, you see,

insists there is order in the universe. And my own life attests to this. Besides, to

deny the existence or order means to believe in a world of permanent chaos. And

I find such a concept unacceptable."

Her own life has become a symbol of the internal and external order that

she wants to see. She longs to see a more humane world, the kind that she wants

children of the next generation to inherit. It is a world where people live in

harmony and close companionship with one another, a world where reverence to

the divine is evident.

In her involvement with the increasingly violent student demonstrations,

she starts to unearth truths that run parallel to her own history. As she delves

deeper into the facts, she also discovers more of her story.

"How was I to know that this fire in a street I had never been to would

somehow eat away at my life's invisible boundaries so that into it would come

rushing names and faces which until then were unknown to me?"

As shown in the novel, Perez’ connected/disconnected physical/social

relationships with other characters in the novel becomes a strong symbolism of

her life’s essence. Her growing world also seems to shrink her as she involves

herself with the lives of other people, but each place and event drops clues to

her own identity. Like a puzzle, she collects bits and pieces until she finally

completes the picture.

When she meets her mother Socorro, she confronts her with questions of

the choice she made. I am Clara, the child you gave away, she said. Why did you

choose to do this? What drove you to it? I want to know your mind at the moment

of choosing. She wants to know the truth behind the decision in order to make

sense of her life. She hopes to find her identity, which she was denied of by her

mother. This is comparative to the larger demand of the students to be given

what is rightfully for the people, the right to rule their own country, which was

usurped by the government. Her search also leads her to her absentee father, the

Don, the man who leaves her a “bastard” as he prioritizes family obligations and

prestige over his attachment to a loved one being the first in the family.

Her story and the country’s continue. In the end she somehow manages to

make peace with her past, but the quest is never over. Her storytelling touches a

larger social dimension of struggling with the essence of human existence. She

holds on to the worldview that one’s knowledge of her parental lineage gives an

individual a greater understanding of the “totality” of his being. History evolves

as humanity evolves. Change happens and one can hope that in the end, things

will eventually fall into their proper places. People continue to fight for what they

believe is true and just. Some persevere despite the tremendous opposition.
Balance must be reclaimed. The truth must prevail. Justice should be exercised

on all levels. Until then, some will continue the arduous battle to establish the

order of things. However, it also comes with the understanding that one must

continue to fight despite the odds that one must continue to search for the truth

despite the overwhelming lies. Soon, everything will make sense. Despite the

present turmoil and discord, peace shall find its place. Humanity succumbs the

moment people give up on the ideals of peace, harmony, and camaraderie. In

contrast, greed for power, selfish ambitions, and personal gains are some of the

parasites of the nation.

Just like the first novel discussed in this paper, Eating Fire and Drinking

Water also expresses the importance of knowing one’s past and story. Similarly,

since the story reflects the country’s quest for truth and identity, a nation will

forever walk through hazy paths once her identity is veiled with deceptions and

oppression.

Works Cited:

Alburo, Erlinda K. Philippine Studies .“History and the Prewar Cebuano Novel”. No. 4.
2007.

Faunillan Aimee. “Her-story as History: Counter-Memory to Philippine Marcosian History

in Arlene J Chai’s Eating Fire and Drinking Water”. Vol 2, 2016. Web page. 1 May
2017. 10 Dec 2015. Carayan Journal. <carayan.xu.edu>.
Reyes, Mercedita. “Arlene J Chai’s Eating Fire and Drinking Water: The Identity Search
in Historical Context”. Web page. 28 Apr. 2017. 03 Mar. 2011.<ezinearticles.com/?
Arlene-J- Chais-Eating-Fire-and-Drinking-Water-The-Identity-Search-in Historical-
Context&id=6033565>.

“The Last Time I Saw Mother”. 28 Apr 2017.

https://www.buffalolib.org/vufind/Record/874325/Reviews>.