7/29/2019 Philippine Literature Paper

1/3

Finals Paper:

Footnote to Youth

by Jose Garcia Villa

Orquia, Patricia Denise Z.

3 PSY 1

Ms. Abigail Deabanico

Philippine Literature

7/29/2019 Philippine Literature Paper

2/3

As people say, love conquers everything. Sometimes, it makes one blind to reality and

deaf to what others are saying. It can overwhelm one's being to the point that love becomesthe main drive of his life, especially if one has been overly in love at such a young age.

Footnote to Youth, published in 1933, is a story written by Jose Garcia Villa, that is

actually part of the first collection of short stories that Garcia has written under the title

Footnote to Youth: Tales of the Philippines and Others. Jose Villa Garcia is National Artistawardee for Literature in 1973. He is a well known Filipino poet, literary critic, short storywriter and painter.

The setting of the story is in a rural area wherein there is vast field of farm land.

Footnote to Youth is a story about a young man Dodong, age of 17, who asked a permissionto marry his girlfriend Teang because of his incomparable love that he felt for her. Despite theindecision of his father to allow his son to marry because they were still too young, he allowedthe couple and did not disagree to what his son's wish. After 9 months, Teang gave birth to

their first child and named him Blas.

In six consecutive years, Teang gave birth to a child for each year. Teang nevercomplained with her life as Dodong's housewife who must do all the house chores and take

care of their children. After six years of marriage and a number of children, she was nowshapeless and thin. She has lost the beauty and healthy body that she had when she was still

young. At times, Teang would cry, regretting her decision to be married, even if it was Dodongthat she loved the most that she married. She had another suitor back then named Lucio who

was nine years older than Dodong. He married a year after her marriage to Dodong, and upuntil now, he never had any child with his wife. Teang wondered if she had married Lucio

instead of Dodong. She will never have any child compared to now, and this made her feelbetter that she married Dodong.

Also, Dodong reflects his mistake of marrying early. Because of his haste decision, lifehad not been good to his family. His dream as a youth was shattered and unfulfilled. He wasnot able to give Teang a good life. An unanswered question lies is his head on why one wasforsaken after love.

When Blas turned 18, he asked his father, Dodong, if he could marry his girl, Tona.Despited knowing the consequences of marrying at an early age, Dodong did not stopped hisson from marrying Tona. Dodong believes that youth and love always prevails, and whathappen after the marriage is life that he must struggle. Deep inside, Dodong felt sorry and sad

for his son.

The theme of the story revolves in the topic of teenage marriage with it'sresponsibilities and realities of a married and family life. Marriage is not something that should

be hurried about. It must take a great span of time to think through the decision of the coupleand prepare themselves to what will happen next once they have said their vow in front of the

altar to each other. As a Filipino saying states, Ang pag-aasawa ay di parang kanin naisusubo at iluluwa pag napaso." Marriage includes responsibilities and realizations that wouldchange one's life.

7/29/2019 Philippine Literature Paper

3/3

As Villa stated in the story, youth and love triumphs at times. Youth is something that

one should cherish because it is only comes once in a lifetime. All the decisions that one willmake during your youth will affect the future that one will have as an adult. Thus, despite the

hunger of fulfilling one's desire, one must be cautious and think twice. Once you have donean act, especially if it's a major decision like marriage, there is no going back. It is imprinted

as part of your history.

Love is an intense feeling that could changes the path that a person will take. Becauseof its intensity, some make hastily decisions and let love overtake their mind and soul.Practicality is lost and love conquers all the right decisions that one must take. Love does notalways distort one's believes and life principles, but there are some instances in which one

becomes overwhelmed with the feeling and lose one's control.

Dodong and Teang was blinded by love and let their youthful urges to dominate amajor decision that was a turning point of their lives. They did not consider the responsibilities

that was attached in starting a family life and the probable consequences of their action. Allthat they thought of was their love for each other. This is one of the reasons on why God put

the brain higher than the heart anatomically. In making decisions, a human must use his brainand do not let his feelings overwhelm his decisions in life. Of course, one must also let his

feelings have a say on what would path will he choose, but he must know the pros and consof his decision.

The repetition of mistake that Blas was about to take as he expressed his desire to

marry Tona is a representation that mistakes are part of life. Honestly, I was not amused ofDodong's inability to prevent the situation because he should have known better. He

experienced the pain that early marriage had brought to him and his wife, yet he did notshared it to his son. It would have been better if Dodong shared his experiences to his son toenlighten him and do not do the same mistake that he had taken.

In conclusion, major life decisions, such as marriage at a young age, are meant to bethink twice, thrice, or even more because it affects what will happen to us in the future.Marriage is great thing for a couple, but there are also setbacks that comes with it. Marriageinvolves building a family in one roof and that means a lot of responsibilities will be

shouldered to the husband and wife. Truly, it is not easy to start a family. It takes a lot of timeto plan on what would the couple want as they start a new life in union of one another.

As a teenager, we must enjoy our time as a youth and never let ourselves to hurry to

step in the adulthood stage. We must spend our time extensively and fruitfully, because oncewe're already done with the youth stage of our lives, there is no going back. The things that

we missed and hasty decisions that we made will all be just be regrets that will haunt us for aslong as we live. In making decisions, one must use his heart and brain at the same time so

that the consequences of the future would be much easier to take and live with. Never let loveoverwhelm you because love is not always a perfect thing that would lead to a perfect ending.