A Post-Structuralist Analysis of Dead Stars by Paz Marquez-Benitez

Subtle Acquiescence of a Hungry Frustrated Poet

Born in 1894 in Lucena City, Quezon, Paz Marquez Benitez authored the
first Filipino modern English-language short story, Dead Stars, published in the
Philippine Herald in 1925. Born into the prominent Marquez family of Quezon
province, she was among the first generation of Filipinos trained in the American
education system which used English as the medium of instruction. She graduated
high school in Tayabas High School (now, Quezon National High School) and college
from the University of the Philippines with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1912. She
was a member of the first freshman class of the University of the Philippines,
graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1912.

Two years after graduation, she married Francisco Benitez, with whom she had four
children.

Mrquez-Bentez later became a teacher at the University of the Philippines, who

taught short-story writing and had become an influential figure to many Filipino
writers in the English language, such as Loreto Paras-Sulit, Paz M. Latorena, Arturo
B. Rotor, Bienvenido N. Santos and Francisco Arcellana. The annually held Paz
Marquez-Benitez Lectures in the Philippines honors her memory by focusing on the
contribution of Filipino women writers to Philippine Literature in the English
language.

Though she only had one more published short story after Dead Stars this of
which is entitled A Night In The Hills, nevertheless, she made her mark in
Philippine literature because her work is considered the first modern Philippine short
story.

For Marquez-Benitez, writing was a life-long occupation. In 1919 she founded

Womans Home Journal, the first womens magazine in the country. Filipino Love
Stories, reportedly the first anthology of Philippine stories in English by Filipinos,
was compiled in 1928 by Marquez-Benitez from the works of her students.

When her husband died in 1951, she took over as editor of the Philippine Journal of
Education at UP. She held the editorial post for over two decades.

Paz Marquez-Benitezs Dead Stars is my favorite Filipino short stories of all time,
and Blue Blood of the Big Astana by Ibrahim A. Jubaira comes second.

Dead Stars is the 1925 short story that gave birth to modern Philippine writing in
English.

The theme of love is one of the most used and abused, and yet it is still the one that
sells the most. Dead Stars is a story of lovelove gained and love lost.

Six weeks ago that house meant nothing to him save that it was the Martinez
house, rented and occupied by Judge del Valle and his family. Six weeks ago Julia
Salas meant nothing to him; he did not even know her name; but nowthus thinks
Alfredo Salazar. Alfredo Salazar is engaged to Esperanza but is having second
thoughts on marrying the latter after he had met Julia Salas.

It was so easy to forget up there, away from the prying eyes of the world, so easy
and so poignantly sweet. The beloved woman, he standing close to her, the
shadows around, enfolding, thinks Alfredo Salazar. It was also like saying that he
enjoys being with Julia, being in Julias house as it is away form the prying eyes of
the world. This thought is like a rebellion of Alfredo on how society judges or rates
its people. Alfredo Salazar knows that when society finds out that he enjoys being
with Julia Salass company, the society will judge or criticize him for being with
another woman given that he is undeniably engaged to Esperanza.

Was he becoming a poet, or is there a poet lurking in the heart of every man? This
means that Julia Salas brings out the poet in Alfredo Salazar. And upon this
realization, the readers would assume that Alfredo is falling in love with Julia. Isnt it
often said that inlove people are mushy or poetically pathetic if not completely
poetic?

I could study you all my life

So long?

I should like to.

This exchange of conversation between Julia Salas and Alfredo Salazar

validates the readers assumption that Alfredo Salazar is falling or is already in love
with Julia Salas. He subtly stressed that he should like to study Julia all his life,
meaning that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. This is taboo in our
society; turning your back on somebody you first promised yourself. Turning your
back on your engagement.

Mr. Salazar, she broke into his silence, I wish to congratulate you.

Her tone told him that she had learned, at last. That was inevitable.

For what?

For your approaching wedding.

Some explanation was due her, surely. Yet what could he say that would not offend?

I should have offered congratulations long before, but you know mere visitors are
slow about getting the news, she continued.

I hate this part. I can sense some kind of a sarcasm in Julia Salass last statement. I
hate Alfredo Salazar for not telling Julia Salas right away about his engagement. Had

he just told her, Julia would have made a way to limit their chatting, to control
herself and her emotions. Did Afredo Salazar enjoy his Im-single make believe?
Did Alfredo Salazar did not tell Julia of his engagement because he forgot to or did
not really want to?

Julita, he said in his slow, thoughtful manner, did you ever have to choose
between something you wanted to do and something you had to do?

In this line, the readers would understand that Alfredo had no choice but to
marry Esperanzahe had to.

Why do you get angry? I do not understand you at all! I think I know why you have
been indifferent to me lately. I am not blind, or deaf; I see and hear what perhaps
some are trying to keep from me. The blood surged into his very eyes and his
hearing sharpened to points of acute pain. What would she say next?

Why dont you speak out frankly before it is too late? You need not think of me and
of what people will say. Her voice trembled.

Esperanza was giving him a way to run to Julia, a way to cancel their
wedding. Esperanza was saying that he just had to be honest with her and all the
societys rumors and judgment be damned.

If you mean you want to take back your word, if you are tired ofwhy dont you tell
me you are tired of me? she burst out in a storm of weeping that left him
completely shamed and unnerved.

But Alfredo Salazar was a coward or was just egoistic. He did not do what
Esperanza told him to do. He ignored Esperanzas advice. This reflects the society
Alfredo Salazar lives in. In a male dominated society, man is the founding principle
and the woman is the excluded opposite of this; and as long as such distinction is
tightly held in place, the whole system can function effectively.

According to post-structuralists, in deconstruction, oppositions are interrelated.

Oppositions can be partly undermined, or by which they can be shown partly to
undermine each other in the process of textual meaning. Woman is the opposite,
the other of man: she is non-man, defective man, assigned a chiefly negative
value in relation to the male first principle. But equally, man is what he is only by
ceaselessly shutting out this other or opposite; defining himself in antithesis to it,
and his whole identity is therefore caught up and put at risk in the very gesture by
which he seeks to asset his unique, autonomous existence.

Woman is not just an other in the sense of something beyond his knowledge, but an
other intimately related to him as the image of what he is not, a constant reminder
of what he is. Not only is a mans being parasitically dependent upon the woman,
and upon the act of excluding and subordinating her, but one reason why such
exclusion is necessary is because she may not be quite so other after all.

He cares so much about his reputation; it was as if he would be a lesser man if he

turned his back on their wedding.

So all these yearssince when?he had been seeing the light of dead stars, long
extinguished, yet seemingly still in their appointed places in the heavens.

Dead stars refer to Alfredo Salazars loss lost youth and lost love. He missed his
youth and Julia Salas. I miss you. What other message is there? Nothing else,
except exactly just that, I miss you, and everything else is pulled along into it, like
a chain reaction. Unlike I love you and the lies that go along with it, I miss you is
honest and sincere, you only say it when you mean it, and you dont have to mean
it in a big way to really mean it. Unlike I want you and its expectations, I miss
you offers all it has, and waits for nothing in return. Unlike I need you and its
desperate whines, I miss you stands on its own, a whole entity in just three words,
devoid of arms that cling to you for life.

I miss you means everything and nothing, it is unflinching and honest. It is upbeat
and simple, with wisps of longing and clouds of hope. You miss people you used to
love, people you used to want, people you used to need. But most of the time the
missing is all thats left, and thats OK, theres nothing else youd change. The
missing implies a past that remains in its rightful place. Or it implies the reality and
possibilities of the present. It is hope and love and lust and peace all at the same
time. Some people say that when they met that person, it was akin to coming
home. And missing is this manifestation of home-sickness, the way people return
to their homelands to die, the way all the comfort the world has to offer is nothing
compared to the feeling of being in someones arms.

And thats why he misses his youth and Julia you, because theyre not there
anymore, and because every time he think about his youth and Julia, thats all that
he thinks. He misses her, and the world turns for both of them, and he cant wait
until she comes home.

Lovehe seemed to have missed it. Or was the love that others told about a mere
fabrication of perfervid imagination, an exaggeration of the commonplace, a
glorification of insipid monotonies such as made up his love life? Was love a
combination of circumstances, or sheer native capacity of soul? In those days love
was, for him, still the eternal puzzle; for love, as he knew it, was a stranger to love
as he divined it might be. Alfredo Salazar in Dead Stars.

A Night in the Hills by Paz Marquez-Benitez, for me, is less poignant than Dad Stars.
It talks about Gerardo Lunas dream of going to the forest and I find it somehow
philosophical.

No, not Peregrina for him! Not even for his own sake, much less Soteras.

It was stated how he despised the thought of marrying Peregrina but at the end of
the story, we see that he would ask her to marry him.

We see how women are just mens second choiceor last choice when their dreams
go awry.

Summary: Dead Stars by Paz Marquez-Benitez

(In which I transferred and extended.)

***

Oh what a shame! I havent posted anything for a long time. Though I did not want
to blame it to the fact that I was recently buried in a terrible work load and a painful
school schedule made more complicated by tasks and deadlines, I just cant. But
come to think of it, it wont hurt if I post the summaries and reviews that hinder me
from reading and blogging, will it? Besides, theyre still literature!

Dead Stars by Paz Marquez-Benitez

Alfredo Salazar was betrothed to Esperanza, his girlfriend for four years. The start of
their relationship was relatively warm, with Alfredo wooing Esperanza like a man
in dire lovesickness. But as the years went by, the warm loves fire slowly flickered.
And it was because of Julia Salas.

She was charming and gleeful. He shared moments of light but sometimes deep
conversations with her when the lawyer Alfredo visited Julias brother-in-law, who
was a judge. He always went there with his father and since it was his father who
needed to talk to the judge, he was always left to Julias company. He never told her
he was engaged. At first he didnt notice that a change in his heart was taking form.
But then he started keeping details of his activities to his fiance and then the guilty
feeling crept in. when he found out that Julia was about to head back to her distant
hometown, he felt blue and frightened.

He met her in church after the Holy Thursday procession, although he knew that
Esperanza was already waiting for him. He approached her and she conversed with
him with an expression that told him she finally knew. She congratulated him and
said she will be at his wedding. Then they parted.

When he visited Esperanza in her house, he overheard her talking to another

woman about infidelity and immorality, to which he reasoned in favor of the
condemned. The statement caused an intense fury to Esperanza and she told him
that she knew. She dared Alfredo to abandon her, along with morality and reason
and her dignity as a woman as well as her image before the society all for the sake
of his being fair to himself.

Eventually the wedding took place. And after several years, Alfredo was sent to a
distant village due to a legal assignment. It bothered him so much because it was
near Julias hometown. But he still found himself making his way to her house
despite of himself. And he found her there, just as how and where he expected her
to be. She never married. And he wondered how life would be if he ended up with
her. But all was too late and he could never bring things back. He also noticed that
Julia lost something, albeit the fact that he didnt know what that is youth, love,
luster? And when he looked at her he doubted if she ever cared for him, if he has
mistaken the past light in her eyes as manifestations of a possible romance. But
now theyre all gone. And so it was indeed all done.

Notes on "Dead Stars"

Many literary experts believe that Paz Marquez Benitezs story gave birth to modern
Philippine literature in English. In Benitezs time, many writers were still either
trapped by Spanish literary traditions highly dependent on writing and metaphoric
conventions steeped in religious imagery and diction or copying thematically and
stylistically the works of popular American short fictionists such as Anderson,
Saroyan, and Hemingway. English was still a young language in the Philippines, and
many of the writers using the language were still struggling with it.

Although there had been a considerable number of short stories that came before
Dead Stars, it was Benitezs short story that exhibited a Filipino temperament
through the masterful use of English. In addition, it broke away with literary
traditions that established highly romanticized views on love and courtship
.

The storys protagonist is Alfredo, a lawyer engaged to Esperanza. In the very

beginning of the narrative, it is implied that Alfredo is not in a hurry to get married.

Carmen sighed impatiently. "Why is he not a bit more decided, I wonder. He is over
thirty, is he not? And still a bachelor! Esperanza must be tired waiting."
Even though Alfredo admits he pursued Esperanza initially with great hunger, his
feelings seemed to have mellowed and are being replaced with doubt. He asks
himself if he missed true love as he has become bored with the insipid
monotonies of his relationship with Esperanza. Love as viewed by many was
something divine and magical, a puzzle that will forever ensnare a persons fancy.

Was he being cheated by life? Love--he seemed to have missed it. Or was the love
that others told about a mere fabrication of perfervid imagination, an exaggeration
of the commonplace, a glorification of insipid monotonies such as made up his love
life? Was love a combination of circumstances, or sheer native capacity of soul? In
those days love was, for him, still the eternal puzzle; for love, as he knew it, was a
stranger to love as he divined it might be.
For Alfredo, the eternal puzzle was Julia. In one of their conversations, Alfredo
somewhat implies that his relationship with Esperanza was like a road that is too
broad, too trodden by feet, too barren of mystery. He proceeds by comparing his
meeting with Julia as a road, upturned to the stars where the fireflies glimmered,
while an errant breeze strayed in from somewhere, bringing elusive, faraway sounds
as of voices in a dream.

Though Julia was quite verbally coy with her feelings, it was obvious that she had
fallen in love with Alfredo. When Julia tells Alfredo that she was going home and that
this would be their last meeting, she is disappointed by Alfredos subdued reaction.

"I am going home."

The end of an impossible dream!
"When?" after a long silence.
"Tomorrow. I received a letter from Father and Mother yesterday. They want me to
spend Holy Week at home."
She seemed to be waiting for him to speak. "That is why I said this is the last time."

"Can't I come to say good-bye?"

"Oh, you don't need to!"

Julia, at that time, has yet to discover Alfredos engagement to Esperanza. As a

result, Julia felt angry as to why he would not follow her, rebuffing Alfredos attempt
to meet her before she goes home. Alfredo defends his indecisiveness, admitting to
Julia that he could not get rid of old things, mistakes, encumbrances, old baggage.

A few days after, Alfredo meets Julia where he is congratulated by her for his
approaching wedding. Alfredo, noticing Julias nonchalant tone, indirectly implores
for some sympathy. After inviting Julia to come to his wedding, Alfredo asks if
whether she had in the past been forced to choose between something she wanted
to do and something she had to do. Alfredos attempt works.

"Julita," he said in his slow, thoughtful manner, "did you ever have to choose
between something you wanted to do and something you had to do?"
"No!"
"I thought maybe you had had that experience; then you could understand a man
who was in such a situation."
"You are fortunate," he pursued when she did not answer.
"Is--is this man sure of what he should do?"
"I don't know, Julita. Perhaps not. But there is a point where a thing escapes us and
rushes downward of its own weight, dragging us along. Then it is foolish to ask
whether one will or will not, because it no longer depends on him."
"But then why--why--" her muffled voice came. "Oh, what do I know? That is his
problem after all."
"Doesn't it--interest you?"
"Why must it? I--I have to say good-bye, Mr. Salazar; we are at the house."
Without lifting her eyes she quickly turned and walked away.

Alfredo was able to penetrate Julias defenses. Though Julia strongly rebuffed
Alfredo, she could not help but salvage what was left of their relationship. Julia once
again puts her heart on her sleeve and asks Alfredo whether this man was sure of
what he will do. Unfortunately for Julia, all she gets is Alfredos indecisiveness. She
bids him goodbye, and Alfredo is left wondering whether the final word had been
said.

In the next part of the narrative, Alfredo is being confronted by Esperanza. In the
preceding parts of the story, Esperanza has been much maligned by Alfredo,
describing her as no longer young, literal-minded, and intensely acquisitive.
Here, Esperanza breaks from the Maria Clara image that is imposed on her. She
shares to Alfredo that she is not blind or deaf. She challenges Alfredo to speak
out frankly that he does not have to think of what she or other people would say.
Alfredo once again exhibits his characteristic indecisiveness struggling to air his
side. Esperanza storms out before telling Alfredo that if he wants to break off the
engagement because he has grown tired of her, do so. This time Alfredo knows that
the final word had been said.

Eight years later, Alfredo is travelling to Julias town, Sta. Cruz. Although Alfredo was
still thinking of Julia, he was not unhappy being married to Esperanza.

He was not unhappy in his marriage. He felt no rebellion: only the calm of
capitulation to what he recognized as irresistible forces of circumstance and of
character.

In Sta. Cruz, Alfredo unexpectedly met Julia. However it was not long before he
realized that--though Julia has barely changed--something had gone. He analyzes
the situation, trying to point out whether it was him or Julia who lost that
something. He attempts to rekindle his feelings for her but it only reinforces his
conclusion that his love for Julia for the past eight years, he imagined still burning,
has long been extinguished.

So all these years--since when?--he had been seeing the light of dead stars, long
extinguished, yet seemingly still in their appointed places in the heavens.
The story ends with a tinge of sadness. Readers cant help but sympathize with
Alfredo, a man who gave up a dream because he has grown to accept the life that

he has, a life prescribed to him by society. One cant help but pity Julia as well, who
seemed to still harbor some special feelings for Alfredo and to some extent, for
Esperanza who felt at times her husband as immeasurably far away, beyond her
reach. Even with the closure presented in the story, readers are compelled to ask
questions. Will Alfredo become a better husband after realizing that he no longer
has feelings for Julia? Did Alfredos epiphany come from the fact that he is
somewhat satisfied with his marriage with Esperanza? If Alfredo married Julia, would
he be thinking about Esperanza?

The three main characters of the narrative appear to be trapped in a fate not of
their own choosing. Dead Stars is not your typical love story wherein love that is
burning with passion overcomes all the obstacles thrown against it. In the tradition
of romantic tales, people are destined to be with other people. Love is supposed to
be written in the stars, and if a person is meant to be with another person then no
matter what happens that person will always end up with that other person. But
Benitezs story reveals the complicated at the same time humdrum aspect of real
love. For thousands of years, humans have looked up to the night sky and saw their
ancestors, gods, and goddesses. Now these heavenly bodies have been stripped of
their magic and mythology, they have become mere large balls of gas that will
someday expire. In Dead Stars, the same treatment is given to love. It is stripped
of its decorations, hyperboles, and illusions. In the story, love does not choose the
person; it is the person who chooses to love, regardless if it turns out to be an
exaggeration of the commonplace or a glorification of insipid monotonies.
Posted by LiterarX at 11:58 AM
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