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from DLSC Litfili edu20 site:
LITFILI blog #3
One of the shared characteristics of the first few stories we have taken up in class is the prevailing sense of community among the characters. The emphasis placed on relationships within the family and close ties with the immediate
community are themes we focused on in analyzing "My Father Goes to Court," "How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife" and "The Mats."
On the other hand, the last two stories (both post-war) have elements that seem to signal, a shift from a collective mindset to a more individualistic one. In your blog entry:
1) Identify and explain thoroughly what aspects or elements in both "Divide by Two" and "The Bread of Salt" demonstrate this seeming shift from collective culture to a more individualistic one.
2) Analyze whether the modern Philippine society (or Asian, Korean, etc., i.e. your native culture) is collective or individualistic. Cite concrete situations, practices, events, etc. and support these with sources. What do you think are the causes of this? Is it a necessary change?
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In "Divide by Two", the main couple don't seem to have a strong relationship due to individual differences in interests and personality. Also, the woman is very aggressive with her opinions, imposing them on the man nonstop until he settles her demands. This is different from the first three stories which had couples with few differences and were usually harmonious. The women were also a little blank, and at a lesser rank with little influence compared to the men.
In the Bread of Salt the boy seemed to be thinking (for himself) a little more than kids his age. He also might have transitioned from "the boy who unquestionably obeys his guardians" to the "boy who unquestionably obeys himself"; independence and individualism--The strong point here is when the boy makes money on his own by working, then buying something for himself. Unlike the first three stories which had kids who didn't display much thinking for themselves, just doing what their parents wanted them to do.
Majority of the inhabitants of the "modern" Philippines may be collective. Since majority of the inhabitants of the Philippines are in poverty and have poor education, they probably have a limited ability to really think for themselves.
"Modern" because poverty and poor education is already embedded into Philippine culture that giving a cellphone to a poor kid who will keep it and learn how to use it, will make him, and others like him, classify himself as "modern" Filipino--they probably won't start using green technology, blogging, or getting worldly jobs any time soon so that's as modern as they can get for now. I suppose I could call the middle-to-upper-class youth who use the internet a lot, prefer new media, are aware of their individual rights, aren't easily swayed by religious things etc., "modern" Filipinos, but they are a minority and cannot be used to represent the Philippines' real populous.
Collective, since most of their behavior and how they see reality is dictated to them through media, usually television. Things like fiestas (with lots of the locals--usually kids--dancing traditional dances in sync), protests (with MOST of the protesters joining in for money, free food, a chance to be seen on TV, because their peers are there(crowd mentality), because of a belief/cause they didn't have the ability to analyze well (most Philippine public schools have poor ratings) or because their religious leaders said so (Philippine politics isn't that separated from the Church, unlike other modern political structures).
A change is needed because with individuality comes intelligence. The ability to think for oneself, knowing one's talents and limits, seeing the truth. This has the potential to decrease the number of unemployed, unmotivated, "unmindful of their actions(long-term)", people. Which in turn might help elevate the Philippines.
Supporting Info:
1. Philippine education poor ratings (ABS-CBN News): http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/06/14/11/philippine-education-ranked-poor
2. Possible solutions for education's poor ratings met with more problems, related to "unmindful of their actions(long-term)", people due to mention of more births: http://www.fnf.org.ph/liberalopinion/crisis-public-education-philippines.htm
3. About Mob/Crowd Mentality: http://pcij.org/stories/mob-mentality/
4. Philippine politics and the Church (Inquirer News): http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20080725-150482/Separating-Church-and-State-fact-from-fiction
5. More opinions about #4: http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2009/11/11/philippine-politics-and-the-church/
