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An Analysis of Pasilyo 8

The story takes place in Pasilyo 8, an area described as a slum where basic necessities are scarce. It follows Bianong, a father living there with his wife Estella and their children - twins Tenteng and Minian, baby Biik. Bianong struggles to provide for his family as they fall ill and need medicine and food. Estella works to support the family. The story explores the conflicts Bianong faces within himself and with society as he tries to survive in extremely difficult conditions. In the end, the harsh realities of living in poverty take their toll on Bianong in an unexpected way.

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Jayvel De Guzman
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2K views2 pages

An Analysis of Pasilyo 8

The story takes place in Pasilyo 8, an area described as a slum where basic necessities are scarce. It follows Bianong, a father living there with his wife Estella and their children - twins Tenteng and Minian, baby Biik. Bianong struggles to provide for his family as they fall ill and need medicine and food. Estella works to support the family. The story explores the conflicts Bianong faces within himself and with society as he tries to survive in extremely difficult conditions. In the end, the harsh realities of living in poverty take their toll on Bianong in an unexpected way.

Uploaded by

Jayvel De Guzman
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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AN ANALYSIS OF ANTONIO MAVIERA’S PASILYO 8

Jayvel B. De Guzman

The story begins at a place called Pasilyo 8. It is a place described to be related in


an area of slums; a dwelling of deprived and informal settlers. The descriptions written by
the author perfectly pictures a place where basic human necessities such as food, shelter,
water, medicines, and more are not met considerably. The setting represents the harsh
counterpart of life which could be taken as a symbolism for the daily challenges
underprivileged families face just to survive and to sustain their life.

Narrated from a third person standpoint, the story uses flashbacks and recollections
which serves as tiny bits of pieces that sums up a big puzzle piece. The flashbacks
provided from the perspective of protagonist Bianong links with the things that are
happening in the present. Even though the actions are simple described for the readers, the
readers still need to read between the lines to fully grasp what the author intends. The story
revolves around a man named Bianong, and his journey as a father living in Pasilyo 8. The
other characters are Estella, Bianong’s wife, the twins Tenteng and Minian, the baby named
Biik, and the acquaintance Pareng Isko. The plot mainly circles around their family, and
their experience living with scarcity in terms of food and medicine. The story mentioned that
Bianong was lazy, comparing him to a “lazy carabao.” While Estela was the one obliged to
work hard, yet the phrase “was not wearing anything under her cotton shift” implies that her
job involves her physique sexually.

The man versus society conflict, as well as the indirect man versus self can be seen
in the short story as the protagonist embarks on his quest of survival, doubt, and internal
misery. Bianong’s shortcomings and mishaps when it comes to properly sustaining his sons
and daughters, with the two being ailing twins and the other one being a mere infant, serves
as a societal conflict. The need for drug prescriptions for treatment, milk for the baby, and
the everyday needs of him and his wife are battling the protagonist must face in a day-to-
day basis. Another conflict he has was regarding the suspicious affair between his friend
Isko and his wife. The sentence ‘his gaze transfixed upon her swaying buttocks” implies a
hidden agenda. Though it was not directly portrayed, the conflict between Bianong and
himself is also ongoing all throughout the story. As the story progresses, and as certain
scenes were revealed, Bianong tries to reunite with his inner self, solving the internal
desolation he himself is facing.

The words used by the author is simple, yet complex from time to time. The way the
author structured the story is intricate and needs to be read more than twice to be digested.
The mixture of direct language and jargons makes the story a bit colloquial and informal.
This could be regarded as a satirical approach on underprivilege people, on the stereotype
that intelligence is somewhat related with the capability of an individual to study at an
academia. The use of informal wordings can be regarded as intentional since the story talks
about poverty and life struggles.

It can also be mentioned that the story did not used a lot of dialogues throughout the
story. There is barely any dialogue, the author purely used narration in executing the story.
The story is perfectly suited with pure narration since most of the plot involves inner
perspectives and dialogues. It is a great way to execute viewpoints and ideas, rather than
dialogue which promotes characterization. In this way, the readers immediately picture a
whole body of character objectively, with a few elements contributing subjectively.

The title of the story is simple, it directly pertains to the milieu of the story. All the
events mentioned in the story happened on the said place. The dirty, narrow, and dusky
corners of Pasilyo 8 became a witness of Bianong’s trials as a father, a husband, and a
person, as well as his struggle on mentally maintaining his morals and values as a person.
Pasilyo 8 represents the areas where poverty and deprivation exist. A place where simple
necessities such as food, water, and shelter are a big problem to some.

Overall, I personally enjoyed reading the story. Even though the wording and the
sentence structure may be complex and hard to understand sometimes, the author still
managed to get the message across. I really like the ending, it’s tragic but the author
executed it very well and made it something evocative. The ending is dark and unexpected,
but the events leading up to that buildup made the protagonist’s action understandable. I
also like how the author managed to make some kind of cycle on the story, the story starts
with a certain scenario and ends with it in the same way. The message is very timely and
depicts the harsh reality of life nowadays. Some people live in an underprivilege manner, it
bothers me that some individuals get to experience that, but that’s life and I will just take this
story as something like a reminder to strive harder to have a better life for my family.

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