Ma. Elissa A. Pagulayan Dr.

Isabelita Celestino
OFA31

PROJECT IN SOCIETY AND CULTURE:

Reaction for
“Alitaptap sa Gabing Mailap”

Summary:

The play which we have watched last February 25, 2010 had the setting of a mental
institution where mentally incapable individuals reside for them to be cured or regain their
normal thinking capability. These institutions use different scientific practices in trying to cure
mentally ill individuals. The story was about a girl named Carandang, who was accused of being
mentally ill due to the series of killings that the police believe to be her liability. This includes
the fact that she killed her own boyfriend, and because of this, she was sent to a mental
institution headed by a very stern doctor, Dr. Santiago. There, she met other patients namely,
Capistrano, Julie, Big Mama, Nanay Ising, and the others. She was already accepted well by the
inhabitants right after coming in. There, she did a lot of unruly behavior violating the norms of
the institution including talking back to Dr. Salvador and even using cigarettes inside the ward.
Corresponding sanctions was then given to her by Dr. Salvador. She learned the reasons why the
other patients were brought inside the ward. After sometime, she finally got sick of the
implementations of the ward that does no good in making them become better but only makes
them worse. She got really angry thus, getting herself seriously drugged by the doctors to restrain
her. But then, Big Mama, her closest companion in the ward, suffocated her with a pillow so she
can rest in eternal peacefulness.

Reaction:

The out-of-the-ordinary play was quite a shock to me when I watched it. It was the first
time that I saw a play with such a tragic ending. But then I realized, it has a deep meaning when
you try to relate it to our society. The strict implementations of rules in the institution by Dr.
Salvador represent the unruly governance of our leaders today. They try to maintain a society
wherein they will be the ones who will make the decisions and use the people just to further
increase their power. Carandang’s fierce attitude on trying to stand up for other inhabitants of the
ward, represent some of our countrymen who try to fight for what is right and just for the
Filipinos.
In relation to Deviance, Carandang’s behavior of violating the rules of the ward can be
considered a Deviance. Since one nature of Deviance states that it is a socially bestowed label,
the rules that she violated are actually what the group defined as rules which are not to be
violated. Thus, violating it makes her a “deviant”. On the other hand, the reason why Carandang
did all these violations maybe because of the strain that she experienced. Her success goal is only
to have a simple life with her boyfriend. But after seeing him cheat on her, she killed him. The
strain of knowing that her boyfriend cheated on her made her deviate. The same thing also
applies to the other inhabitants of the ward. Since almost all of them experienced strain from the
society, they deviate and ended up in the mental institution. The sanctions given by Dr. Salvador
to Carandang and the other inhabitants, represent the Social Control to ensure that all residents of
the ward follow the custom. It is a concrete example of a Formal Social Control since the one
who implements it is a Doctor, which is considered an authority.