My Brother My Executioner

 

F. Sionil José’s novel,  novel, “My Brother, My Executioner” Executioner”, is set in a period of Philippine history whose international significance is worthy of wider knowledge. The author’s Rosales novels describe the life of a Filipino family over several generations. (The Rosales Saga is a series of five historical and political novels written by Filipino National National Artist F. Sionil José. Chronologically, Chronologically, it is composed of five interconnected novels, namely Po-on (written in 1984), Tree (written in 1978), My Brother, My Executioner (written in 1973), The Pretenders (written in 1962), and Mass (written in 1973). The Rosales Saga traced the five generations of two families, namely the Samsons (poor farmers) and the Asperri (wealthy mestizos) through Spanish and American periods in the history of the Philippines until the period after Philippine Philippin e Independence.)

Rosales is a fictitious town, but its location is quite real, as is the history that unfolds around it. Rosales is in Ilocos, in northern Luzon, whose people are seen by many Filipinos as a race apart. The events that form the backdrop to My Brother, Brother , My Executioner are the Huk rebellion. (The Hukbalahap Rebellion was a rebellion staged by former Hukbalahap or Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon (People's Army against the  Japanese) soldiers soldiers against the Philippine Philippine government. It started started during the Japa Japanese nese occupatio occupation n of the Philippi Philippines nes in 1942 and continued du during ring the presidency of Manuel Roxas and ended in 1954 under the presidency of Ramon Magsaysay.)

Luis writes for a magazine owned by Dantes, a rich businessman with a reputation for ruthlessness. Esther, the boss’s daughter, fancies Luis, but her advances are not reciprocated, exc except ept intellectually. Personal tragedy threatens. Luis is also worshipped by Trining, a teenage cousin who shares some of his roots. When Luis’s L uis’s father notes their affinity and also identifies the convenience that their t heir marriage would facilitate. Luis seems quite happy do is the right thing. Trining has her way with him and promises to bear him a dozen children. Thetofirst soon conceived. But it is when Luis makes a visit to his father’s house, a rare excursion beyond Manila’s city limits, that he also decides to look up his estranged estr anged mother. He visits Sipnget to find his home village levelled and burnt, its inhabitants ‘disappeared’, its crops destroyed. The Huk guerrillas guerr illas have been there and the military, amply aided by local militias have cleansed the area. The militias, of course, course , are controlled by Luis’s father and they have driven his mother from her home.

Luis resolves to publicise the injustice. He researches resear ches the events, writes an article and publishes. But when vested interests question his facts, his motives and allegiances, he finds himself challenged on many fronts. In another twist in the scenario we meet Vic, Luis’s half -brother. -brother. He was a freedom fighter during the Japanese occupation. While collaborators made money, he fought with the resistance that sought liberation from foreign rule. Now he is the commander of a Huk unit, a leader o off a communist insurgency, if I might use a word that would be employed today to describe indigenous resistance. Vic operates near Rosales. I. Background of the Novel

“My Brother, My Executioner”  Executioner”  The conflict in this novel about the Hukbalahap uprising in the fifties is not just the enmity in the guerrilla war. It is the deeper symbolic conflict between two brothers and their t heir vastly different and estranged worlds. Here, too, is the trauma of traditional society undergoing change, and the old refusing to let go. Don Vicente, the landlord who dominates Tree without really appearing in it, now appears in this novel as the central figure, the hierarch who returns to his town to die. Luis is his illegitimate son on whom he pins his last hopes for an heir. Victor is Luis' half-brother - the rebel, unflinching but doomed.

 

  My Brother, My Executioner, the third in the series of Rosales novels, is considered the most dramatic. In 1973, it was banned by the Martial Law regime "for depicting many events" eve nts" that were reminiscent of the times. II. Summary Plot System/Diagram Introduction

It’s the 1950s Don Vicente is a Rosales landowner and he is ill, close to the end of his life. He reminisces, recalling the immense suffering of his wife who presented pre sented him with multiple miscarriages. But he did have a son, yet illegitimate, Luis Aperri, born of a poor woman in a small village called Sipnget, Rosales, Pangasinan. At a young age, Luis was taken by his father from Sipnget, Rosales, Pangasinan. His father gave him all he needs. Luis studied at manila and became a writer and editor of a left-wing magazine owned by Dantes, a rich businessman with a reputation re putation for ruthlessness. Esther, the boss’s daughter, fancies Luis, but her advances are not reciprocated, except intellectually. Personal tragedy threatens. Luis often writes about issues about the peasants and sides to them. He pursued a self-contained,and ultimately selfish life. Rising Action

When Luis returned to Sipnget for vacation after being unable to visit for years because of studying and then now because of work. He originally decided to go back to visit his ailing father Don Vicente, but thought of seeing his estranged mother aswell. He planned to stay for weeks even for a month but then he suddenly changed his mind when he realized that t hat the place had already changed a lot lot.. His home village was levelled and burnt, its inhabitants ‘disappeared’, its crops destroyed. The Huk guerrillas have been there and the military, amply am ply aided by local militias have cleansed the area. The militias, of course, are controlled by Luis’s father and they have driven his mother from her home—believing that his father and all the rich people should give up their t heir wealth to the poor. Luis resolves to publicise the injustice. He researches resear ches the events, writes an article and publishes. But when vested interests question his facts, his motives and allegiances, he finds himself challenged on many fronts. Before leaving first thing in the morning the next day he heard his father shout in surprise and when he ran to look after him he saw the window glass of his father’s room was broken and a stone wrapped in paper was on the floor, when his father picked it up and then read re ad the message it says that “he should give all he has to those who deserves it better--- the poor.” Luis, stunned by what he saw was also wondering who did it. He kept thinking but only one suspect is fitted with the situation. It’s his half brother Victor who is very best at using sling—sling was the best thing to use to throw a stone trough the mansion’s security.  ( Vic, -brother. He was a freedom fighter during the Japanese occupation. While collaborators collaborators made money, he fought with the Vic, Luis’s half -brother. resistance that sought liberation from foreign rule. Now he is the commander of a Huk unit, a leader of a communist insurgency, if I might use a word that would be employed today to describe indigenous resistance. Vic operates near Rosales.)

After that, Luis fled off back to manila and then there was a time that Victor came to him and asks for his support— just the same as to the message his father got, back to Sipnget. Thus, the brothers had different personalities, beliefs, views and status in life. They met again as both friends and foes. These are their misunderstandings as brothers. Luis considers himself liberal. He is

 

against the goals of his brother which is to put down his status as a wealthy landowner for the benefit of the poor. Climax

Luis returned to Rosales. He came home together with Trining, his female cousin, who studies in the convent. ( W When hen Luis’s father notes their affinity and also identifies the convenience that their marriage would facilitate. Luis seems quite happy to do the right thing. Trining has her way with him and promises to bear him a dozen children. The first is soon conceived.)

But in manila, Luis also had an affair with his manager's daughter - Ester - which is also Trining's best friend. But because they quarreled one night, Ester disappeared and was found out to be dead. He then found out from his mother that his half-brother Victor became bec ame the commander of Hukbalahap (hukbong bayan laban sa mga hapon) which is against rich people and feudal landowners. Resolution/Ending

At the end of the story, Vic warned them about the Huks. He told him to leave the place. But they didn’t listen. Trining got shot and died. Luis then revenged and fought for his status and for the death of his wife. V. Themes

"My Brother, My Executioner" emphasizes the interesting personalities of the t he two half-brothers--Luis (a famous magazine writer) and Vic (an activist) regarding their different perceptions in life; their contrasting ideologies of justice and dishonesty that revolve around their community and the people they love. It tackles about politics, family, equality, love, poverty, and more that we may be able to learn or gain information from it. The story is realistic based on the things t hings that are around them on tha thatt time. This novel has molded my political views in our country that gained me knowledge to understand deeply and wider the role of the t he youth in this current society.

IX. Author’s Biography  

F. Sionil José or in full Francisco Sionil José (born December 3, 1924) is one of the most widely-read Filipino writers in the English language. His novels and short stories depict the social underpinnings of class struggles and colonialism in Filipino society. José's works - written in English - have been translated into 22 languages, including Korean, Indonesian, Russian, Latvaian, Ukrainian, Dutch. Childhood

José was born in Rosales, Pangasinan, the setting of many of o f his stories. He spent his childhood in Barrio Cabugawan, Rosales, where he first began to write. Jose was of Ilocano descent whose family had migrated to Pangasinan before his birth. Fleeing poverty, his forefathers traveled from Ilocos towards Cagayan Valley through the Santa Fe Trail. Like many migrant families, they brought their lifetime possessions with them, including uprooted molave posts of their old houses and their alsong, a stone mortar for pounding rice. Life as a writer

José attended the University of Santo Tomas after World War II, but dropped out and plunged into writing and journalism in Manila. In subsequent years, he edited various literary and journalistic jo urnalistic publications, started a publishing house, and founded the Philippine branch of PEN, an international

 

organization for writers. José received numerous awards for his work. The Pretenders is his most popular novel, which is the story of one man's m an's alienation from his poor background and the decadence of his wife's wealthy family. Throughout his career, José's writings espouse social justice and change to better the lives of average Filipino families. He is one of the most critically acclaimed F Filipino ilipino authors internationally, although much underrated in his own country because of his authentic Filipino English and his anti-elite views. Sionil José also owns Solidaridad Bookshop, which is on Padre Faura Street in Ermita, Manila. The bookshop offers mostly hard-to-find books and Filipiniana reading materials. It is said to be one of the t he favorite haunts of many local writers. Works Rosales Saga novels

A five-novel series that spans three ce nturies of Philippine history, widely read around the world and translated into 22 languages * Po-on (Dusk) (English, 1984) * The Pretenders (1962) * My Brother, My Executioner (1973) * Mass (December 31, 1974) * Tree (1978) Original novels containing the Rosales Saga * Dusk (Po-on) (1993) * Don Vicente (1980) - Tree and My Brother, My Executioner combined in one book * The Samsons Other novels * Gagamba (The Spider Man) (1991) * Viajero (1993) * Sin (1994) * Ben Singkol (2001) * Ermita * Vibora! (2007) * Sherds (2008) Short story collection * The God Stealer and Other Short Stories (2001) * Puppy Love and Other Short Stories S tories (March 15, 1998) * Olvidon and Other Stories (1988) * Platinum: Ten Filipino Stories (1983) (now out of print, its stories are added to the new version of Olvidon and Other Stories) * Waywaya: Eleven Filipino Short Stories (1980) * Asian PEN Anthology (as editor) (1966) * Short Story International (SSI): Tales by the t he World's Great Contemporary Writers (Unabridged, Volume 13, Number 75) (co-author, 1989) Children's books • The Molave and The Orchid (November 2004)  Verses * Questions (1988) Essays and non-fiction * In Search of the Word (De La Salle University Press, March 15, 1998) * We Filipinos: Our Moral Malaise, Our Heroic Heritage

 

* Soba, Senbei and Shibuya: A Memoir of Post-War Japan * Heroes in the Attic, Termites in the Sala: Why We are Poor (2005) * This I Believe: Gleanings from a Life L ife in Literature (2006) * Literature and Liberation (co-author) (1988) In translation * Po-on (Tagalog language, De La Salle University Press, 1998) * Anochecer (Littera) (Spanish language, Maeva, October 2003) In anthologies * Tong (a short story from Brown River, R iver, White Ocean: An Anthology of Twentieth-Century Philippine Literature in English by Luis Francia, Rutgers University Press, August 1993 In film documentaries * Francisco Sionil José - A Filipino Odyssey by Art Makosinski, 1996 Awards * Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Awards for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts (1980) * National Artist Award for Literature (2001)[8] * Pablo Neruda Centennial Award (2004) * Palanca Awards