How My Brother Leon Brought Home A Wife 4g6036

How My Brother Leon Brought Home A Wife How My Brother Leon Brought Home A Wife is a story written by Manuel Arguilla about a man who comes home to his province to introduce his wife from the city to his family. This short story won first prize in the Commonwealth Literary Contest in 1940. Characters 

Baldo - younger brother of Leon, fetched Leon and Maria from the road to Nagrebcan

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Leon (or Noel) - older brother of Baldo who studied in Manila where he met his wife

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Maria - the beautiful and stunning wife of Leon from Manila

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Labang - the bull whom Baldo considers as his “pet”

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Norman Tabios - Maria's ex-boyfriend who happened to be a loro

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Gagambino - Leon's favorite fictional character who gave him lots of guts to study in Manila

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Churita - Labang's girlfriend/fiance

Synopsis Baldo and his older brother Leon were both waiting for the arrival of their visitor riding the carretela. Seeing his brother's wife, Baldo was easily taken away by the beauty of the woman from city as he narrates their journey to Nagrebcan. The idea of meeting with Leon's parents for the first time made Maria a bit anxious. But along their way home, Maria discovered the peculiarities of the life in Nagrebcan as opposed to their life in the city where she met and fell in love with Leon.

Summary Baldo and his older brother Leon were both waiting for their visitor riding a carratela. When Baldo sa his older brother's wife, who is Maria, he was amazed by her beauty as he narrates their journey to their home in Nagrebcan. Maria was felt a bit anxious because of meeting Leon and Baldo's parents for the first time, but along their way home, she discovered the differences of the life of the people lived there and the life in the city where she met and fell in love with Leon.

Characters:   

Leon/Noel - Maria's husband, older brother of Baldo Maria - Leon's wife Baldo - Leon's younger brother, also the narrator of this story

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Mother and Father of Leon and Baldo Aurelia - Leon and Baldo's younger sister Labang - the carabao

Setting: Nagrebcan, Bauang La Union

Plot:     

Leon and Baldo waited for the arrival of Maria at the barrio. Maria was afraid that she won't be accepted by Leon's father because she may not able to adapt their way of living in the province. Baldo was ignoring to his older brother's question about why did they have to go to Waig instead of Camino Real. (The reason is that their father wanted to test Maria if she is worthy to be Leon's wife.) Baldo discussed their travel to his father. Leon's entire family talked to Maria. his Father's voice became livelier than before when he talked to her (which means he accepted her wholeheartedly.)

Moral Lesson:    

We should respect and accept one's life. Social status is not a hindrance if you truly love each other. Meeting your special someone to your family is the right thing to do. One may have to sacrifice small part of his/her life in order to have a happy life.

A Critical Analysis on

“How my Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife”

By: Manuel Estabillo Arguilla

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Prof. Bernadette Yap Araula

Acas Arnel M.

Litt. 114\ 8:30-10 AM

How my brother Leon brought home a wife: A critical analysis

Characters:

Baldo  - He was one of the main characters in the short story. He was Leon’s younger brother. Baldo was unperturbed man, and he was quiet. He was the narrator of the story.

Leon  - He was the oldest brother of Baldo. He was the husband of Maria. Maria called him Noel.

Maria  - She was a beautiful and lovely. Her forehead was on a level with his mouth, her nails were long, but they were not painted, and have a small dimple

appeared momentarily high up on her right cheek. She was tall and very still. Her fragrance was like a morning when papayas are in bloom.

Labang  – The bull of Leon and Baldo. Father  – He was mildest – tempered, gentlest man. He was the father of Baldo and Leon.

Mother  – He was the mother of Baldo and Leon. Aurelia  – She was the sister of Baldo and Leon.

Summary / Synopsis:

Maria was a wife of Leon. She was lovely and beautiful. Her fragrant like a morning when papayas are in bloom. Leon was lived in far place of Nagrebcan. Leon brought Maria to Nagrebcan to introduce to his father. The couple enjoys talking while in traveled riding in the cart hitch to Labang. Baldo who is quiet and observing his brother and spouse. When they arrived home, Baldo went to the room of his father. The room is quiet and dark. His father was smoking while sat in the big armchair by the western window. And they talk about Maria. Afterwards the door opened, and Leon and Maria came in. Baldo looked to Maria and went out to watered Labang which his father told to him.

Characterization:

Baldo is the narrator of the story because he is the one who relates us what happened to the story. Were Baldo is the younger brother of Leon. Baldo is a quiet person. It is very detectable that Baldo is observing his brother Leon and spouse how is Maria. When his father asks him “Was she afraid of Labang?” Baldo lied and says “No, Father, she was not afraid.” Even though Maria afraid. It means that Baldo like Maria as a wife of Leon but inside, he also ires the beauty of Maria. In here, the main characters were the couple Leon and Maria. Leon has a strong

personality because he did not afraid to present Maria to his father as her wife. He was very proud of Maria as her wife. Maria truly love Leon because she fight for what she believe was right, it doesn’t matter if the world told her that it’s wrong. I could say that Maria and the mother of Leon plays and represent the Filipino women. The father of Baldo has a deep personality. He was a responsibly father because he use his righteous way as a head of the family. It only means that the father or the man is the authority. He doesn’t want Leon to go to the wrong way. So, he makes some trials to Maria trying to test Maria’s characteristic, her attitude, her looks, how she talks and the way she handle the situation. His mother was a responsibly mother. She does the light of the family and represents the Filipino women.

Settings:

The setting of the story was in Nagrebcan, Leon’s hometown. This story takes place in a farm where people would usually ride in carabao. The place was in the local province. In the story, Maria who was Leon’s wife described physically and with her posture as a conservative and traditionalist which would probably described as a Filipino woman. As an alternative, they took a shortcut in a field. In my opinion, one can visualize that there is some kind of a test for the two of them. Maria must sur that trial. It was as there family of Leon is trying to test Maria’s characteristic, her attitude, her looks, how she talks and the way she handle the situation.

Plot:

The plot is compose of inciting action, rising action, climax, falling action, and conclusion. The inciting action was when “She stepped down to the Carretela of Ca Celin with a quick, delicate grace. She look lovely, she was tall. She looked up to my brother with a smile, and her forehead was on level with his mouth.” The rising action was when they took the dry bed of Waig as a substitute of ing the Camino Real and it was the wish of there father to go by Waig. The climax of the story was when Maria told Leon that she was afraid of his father in law maybe his father thinking of not liking her. The falling action came when Leon was searching for their father and her mother told them that his leg is bothering him again. The conclusion was when Baldo

cross the threshold of his father and ask him about Maria. Afterwards the door opened and Leon and Maria came in. Baldo looked to Maria so lovely and went out to watered Labang which his father told him.

Themes:

The theme of the story is Love makes Maria and Leon go straight whatever struggles come will be ignore to them. I don’t know if there relationship will last long because Maria is a city girl while Leon is a barrio boy.

Reactions of the story:

My reaction of the story is the story is good and it reflects to the modern youth even if the story is very old. I describe Maria as an example of Filipino women and also her attitude as a “mahinhin”. The couple Leon and Maria faces many trials while in traveled to Nagrebcan. Even though, Maria ed those trials. So, therefore Maria is very understanding kind of girl. The story talks about the characteristic of Maria, her attitude, her looks, how she talks and the way she handle the situation that riding a bull and ed through Waig. Therefore, basically a woman creates for men.

Manuel Arguilla (1911 to 1944) was from the big island of Luzon, in the north in Barrio Nagrebcan, Bauang, La Union. He grew up speaking Ilokano, the third most spoken language in the Philippines. Most of his stories are about the common people in the small town he grew up in. After finishing high school he moved to the Manila area (this had to have been a two or three day at least commute in those days) to attend the University of the Philippines, not far from where I live, in fact. He received a B.S. in education, was president of the University literary club and married Lydia Villaneuva, another talented writer we hope to post on one day. After graduation he taught creative writing at the University of Manila and also worked for the government at the Bureau of Public Welfare as the editor of their publication. He was a dedicated patriot and during the Japanese occupation he organized and led a secret intelligence organization against the Japanese and ended up being tortured to death by them. "How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife" is a story about an occasion that would be a big day in the life of any family, the day one of the sons of the family brings hope the woman he intends to marry. The story is told in the first person by Leon's younger brother. The opening of the story is just so lovely I feel a need to quote from it a bit to give you a feel for Arquilla's elegant prose

She stepped down from the carretela of Ca Celin with a quick, delicate grace. She was lovely. She was tall. She looked up to my brother with a smile, and her forehead was on a level with his mouth. "You are Baldo," she said and placed her hand lightly on my shoulder. Her nails were long, but they were not painted. She was fragrant like a morning when papayas are in bloom. And a small dimple appeared momently high on her right cheek. "And this is Labang of whom I have heard so much." She held the wrist of one hand with the other and looked at Labang, and Labang never stopped chewing his cud. He swallowed and brought up to his mouth more cud and the sound of his insides was like a drum. I laid a hand on Labang's massive neck and said to her: "You may scratch his forehead now." She hesitated and I saw that her eyes were on the long, curving horns. But she came and touched Labang's forehead with her long fingers, and Labang never stopped chewing his cud except that his big eyes half closed. And by and by she was scratching his forehead very daintily. How can you not love a sister in law or daughter in law that the famiy water buffalo likes as soon as he meets her. Everybody gets n a cart and Labang takes them for a ride around the small town they live in. It is the first visit of the wife to the town. She is a lady Leon met when he went to Manila to to school. As I read this age toward the close of the story you can really feel the love and the picture of the community makes me wish I could live there. I looked back and they were sitting side by side, leaning against the trunks, hands clasped across knees. Seemingly, but a man's height above the tops of the steep banks of the Wait, hung the stars. But in the deep gorge the shadows had fallen heavily, and even the white of Labang's coat was merely a dim, grayish blur. Crickets chirped from their homes in the cracks in the banks. The thick, unpleasant smell of dangla bushes and cooling sun-heated earth mingled with the clean, sharp scent of arrais roots exposed to the night air and of the hay inside the cart. "Look, Noel, yonder is our star!" Deep surprise and gladness were in her voice. Very low in the west, almost touching the ragged edge of the bank, was the star, the biggest and brightest in the sky. "I have been looking at it," my brother Leon said. "Do you how I would tell you that when you want to see stars you must come to Nagrebcan?" "Yes, Noel," she said. "Look at it," she murmured, half to herself. "It is so many times bigger and brighter than it was at Ermita beach." "The air here is clean, free of dust and smoke." "So it is, Noel," she said, drawing a long breath. "Making fun of me, Maria?" She laughed then and they laughed together and she took my brother Leon's hand and put it against her face.