The short story “Rice” (1938) by Manuel Arguilla presents readers with a meandering of facts that reflects two literary approaches. One is from a psychoanalytic perspective in which the three divisions of the psyche are those that dominate or interact in the evolution of history. One division is the id, which is part of the psyche that is completely unconscious and is the source of psychic energy derived from instinctual needs and drives. The second division is the ego, which is the organized conscious mediator between the person and reality, especially in functioning both in perception and in adaptation to reality. Finally, it is the superego that is the part of the psyche that is only partially conscious, that represents the internalization of paternal consciousness and the rules of society, and that functions to reward and punish through a system of moral attitudes, consciousness and sense of consciousness. guilt. The other literary approach could be a Marxist perspective that states that a literary work can comprise a lesson about the impact on our lives of the common immorality and indecency of the well-to-do classes who are given the right to direct and control our system. economic.
The story begins with Mang Pablo, an elderly farmer from Hacienda Consuelo who is on his way home, looking for his family to report his antics for that day’s harvest. Osiang, the wife of his good friend, Andrés, meets him when he comes out of his hut. Mang Pablo, due to her old age, struggles to inform Osiang of that day’s harvest because she is caught hitting her mortar. Meanwhile, Osiang rants about the immorality of the people of Hacienda Consuelo so that they, the lower class people who settle in the place, pay a fine of five 1cavans of rice for a handful of snails that they would get in the stream. Mang Pablo, once again, struggles to inform Osiang that there is no rice for that day.
The story changes to a flashback of what happened in the morning when he, Mang Pablo, along with the other tenants of Hacienda Consuelo drove to the Lady’s house to borrow grain. Unfortunately for him and his fellow farmers, an announcement arrives from 2in charge of rice sacks. The ad says that five bags of rice to be borrowed that day will turn into ten at harvest time. This news terribly surprises Mang Pablo and the rest of the farmers, ranting that they have always borrowed 3tersiohan ie oven cavans of rice for six. After which, the Ms He comes out with his cane striking the polished floor while threatening the peasants with the news that each sack of rice harvested that day will be loaded onto trucks and delivered to the city; therefore, the tenants will definitely starve.
The story returns to the present with Osiang, who still does not realize that there is no rice for that day, and offers Mang Pablo coal from his stove. Mang Pablo tries once more to inform Osiang of the terrible news, but she again hits her little stone mortar.
After a while, Osiang’s husband arrives and meets Mang Pablo. Mang Pablo insists on stopping Andrés and his fellow farmers’ plan to steal rice and kill truck loaders, but Andrés is determined. They argue about the consequences of their plan. Mang Pablo comments on going to 4Bilibid if they continue with their plan. Andrés responds, saying that there will be rice in the Bilibid. Mang Pablo once again insists on what they would gain if they fulfilled their plan. Andrés responds to this, stating that the rice is for his wives and children.
After the departure of Andrés and Osiang, his family arrives together with a security guard. The watchman approaches Mang Pablo and informs him of the offense – collecting snails from the stream – that his family committed and the fine they must pay. Then they walk home. Sabel, the daughter of Mang Pablo, repeatedly cries for her father from hunger. After contemplating what to do with his desperate situation, Mang Pablo grabs his skittle, leaves his cabin, and walks over to Andrés, who is standing silently waiting for him by the broken fence.
As mentioned above, the story of “Rice” could be seen in two literary perspectives. One is from a Marxist perspective. In history, the Ms in Hacienda Consuelo he represents the wealthy people who oppressed the powerless people represented by Mang Pablo, his family and his fellow farmers. Tea MsThe representation of a wealthy oppressor is implied when he leaves his mansion with his cane striking the porch floor. A cane has both a positive and negative connotation. In the story, however, the cane symbolizes negativity: it was a tool used to hit or inflict pain.
The Lady had come out his cane hitting a quick tattoo on the polished porch floor…
The story also reflects a situation of repression and manipulation of workers by their owners. It is evident when the announcement of five borrowed rice sacks that turn into ten at harvest time arrives. Mang Pablo and his fellow farmers repeated over and over again that they had always borrowed tersiohan that is, four bags of rice become six. They insisted that 5takipan – five bags times ten – is too much.
“Five becomes ten,” said the manager.Either that or you don’t get rice. “
“Do you see those trucks?” she had finished, pointing to three big red trucks under the mango tree in the yard. “If you don’t carry the rice today, tonight the trucks will carry every sack in sight to the city.. So I hope they all starveungrateful beasts! “
History also describes the value of things for their usefulness in society. For the oppressed (Mang Pablo and the other farmers), rice is something that they, the humble people, value and use to satisfy their hunger for food. For the oppressors (Lady and authority), they value rice because it symbolizes that they are of high social status and have the power to dominate lower class people. The context of this literary work remains consistent with the ideology that rice is a staple food for all to satisfy hunger and symbolizes one’s social status and power in society.
A literary approach superimposed on this story, in addition to a Marxist approach, would be a psychoanalytic perspective. As discussed, the psychoanalytic approach involves the roles of the three divisions of the psyche – id, ego, and superego – in a literary work. In Arguilla’s “Rice,” an interplay of these three divisions is implied in how he narrates each event in the story. It begins with Mang Pablo submitting to his ego as he accepts the fact that he will always be a humble man destined to serve the people in power.
Although it is not said, Osiang’s continuous and unconscious contempt for Mang Pablo’s news that there will be no rice could suggest Mang Pablo’s acceptance of his current situation of living in a place dominated by people of superiority, that is, the complete ignorance of the upper social class for people of lower social class like them.
“Andrés is talking to some of the men at Elis’s house. Osiang, do you know where Sebia and the children are?”
“Why don’t you come home? He knows I’ve been waiting all day for the rice he brings home! I am very hungry. I can’t even drag my bones away from the stove. What is he doing at Elis’s house, the shameless and useless son of a bitch?“
Pablo backed away from the fence, stumbling a bit, because the long blades of grass got in his way. “There is no rice, Osiang,” he replied with difficulty over his shoulder. but evidently the woman did not listen to him because she kept talking: “Mang Pablo, how many cavans of rice did you borrow?”.. “
“There is no rice, Osiang,” he whispered. He felt too tired and weak to raise his voice …
The following sentence extracted from the selection implies that Mang Pablo succumbs to being a humble servant of the people of Hacienda Consuelo when he could no longer approach Osiang to tell the bad announcement.
Pablo looked at her and wanted to tell her again that there was no rice, but he did not dare to do it …
In the middle of the story, Mang Pablo is being dominated by his superego of contradicting his fellow farmers’ plan to steal the bags of rice they carefully harvested and the likely possibility of killing the truck loaders. It is evident in the story when his compatriot, Andrés, comes home with his wife, Osiang.
“Are you coming with us?” he asked Pablo, his voice grating harshly in his throat as he struggled to speak softly. In her small eyes there was a fierce and desperate look that Pablo found it difficult to find.
“Don’t be silly, Andres“he said, coughing to clear his throat and trying to sound calm …
“What can you do, Andrés?” he said. “He says he will stop the trucks that bring the rice to the city. That will be a robbery.“
In the end, what dominated Mang Pablo’s psyche is his identification. After the vigilante, along with his wife and children, approach him and inform him of the rape of his family, Mang Pablo contemplates how to find payment for the rape of his family and how to find food to feed his family. His daughter, Sabel, comes repeatedly and mutters her hunger for food. Until that night, he decides to succumb to his identification: he decides to go with Andrés and the plan of his fellow farmers to rob and kill the carriers of the rice they harvested in the morning.
The piece of wood finally broke and Pablo was left with a short piece in his hands. She looked at him, sobbing with rage and weakness, then ran to the cabin crying: “Give me my gig, Sebia, give me my gig. We will have food tonight.“
After this scene, Sebia tries to prevent Mang Pablo from succumbing to his plan. Mang Pablo’s superego at some point, interacted with his id, leading him to his indecision.
“God save me,” said Pablo, broken. He raised his knees and dropped his face between them, he cried like a child…
Outside, the darkness had thickened. Pablo made his way through the tall grass of the garden. He stopped to look back at his house…
Mang Pablo’s latest action shows that he has finally allowed himself to be dominated by his id.
He tightened the belt of the heavy skittle around his waist.. He pulled the old buri firmly over his head and joined Andrew, who was waiting by the broken fence. Silent, they walked together…
“Rice” is a narrative, written by Manuel Arguilla, that describes the way of life of the peasants who are under the authority of the superiors in Hacienda Consuelo. It tells how rice makes the difference between the two classes, since having rice means having a high social status and power. The oppressors (represented by Ms) use their authority (to reclaim rice harvested by farmers) to win over humble people (the oppressed, Mang Pablo and his fellow farmers). It also tells how a problem can lead a person to commit a heinous crime caused by the despair that became evident when Mang Pablo joined his fellow farmers in committing the crime for their survival and that of their families.
1cavanes – a cavanes of rice is equivalent to a sack of rice (fifty kilos of rice)
twomanager – someone who carries loads or sacks of rice from sleds to trucks
3tersiohan: a loan system among Filipinos in which four bags of rice are paid for six
4Bilibid – a Filipino term for “jail” or “prison”
5takipan: a loan system among Filipinos in which five sacks of rice pay ten (the amount to borrow doubles at harvest time)
Reference:
Arguilla, ME 1998. How my brother Leon brought home a wife and other stories. Manila: De La Salle University Press, Inc.