From a National Artist for Literature and one of the famous Filipino writers not only known in the country but globally, Francisco Sionil Jose who was not born with a silver spoon in Pangasinan on December 1924. He has experienced political and economic activities in different countries. With his experience, he put it into a story which he titled ‘The God Stealer’, consisting of two friends with the nationalities Filipino and an American, which represents the relationship between a ‘colonizer’ and ‘colonized’.
‘The God Stealer’ starts from two officemates named Sam Cristie, an American who will return to Boston in a few days, and his companion Philip Latak, an Ifugao, working in a big city that has lost some cultural identity and customs. They decided to go to Ifugao, the home town of Philip, as Sam wanted to buy an ‘Ifugao god’, as he is fond of collecting souvenirs. With this in mind, Philip would try to help him get that souvenir by using his local connections. As the grandfather heard the news that his nephew was going to visit, he wanted to throw a party in honor of his return. Regardless of what happened in the past, the grandfather was willing to give his share of the famous rice terraces just so his nephew would stay in the province. Upon the arrival of the gathering, Sam and Philip found out that no one was willing to sell their god. Thus, Philip proposed that he would steal his grandfather’s god as a final resort. Consequently, the grandfather died after the day his god was stolen. Philip expresses his guilt and insisted to stay in the province. Lastly, he returned to his real self - not a city boy, but an Ifugao. It is evident in the story that the mix of Marxism and post-colonial greatly shapes the story as it portrays the harsh reality of colonialism.
According to Claveria (n.d.), “Marxist criticism follows the material dialect, wherein they believe that what drives historical change are the material realities of the economic base of society, rather than the ideological superstructure of politics, law, philosophy, religion, and art, that is built upon that economic base”. In this story, Sam is treated better than Philip. For instance, on their way to Philip’s hometown, Sam gets to be seated next to the driver which the seat is classified as the ‘seat of honor’. Furthermore, as Philip was offering candies to his nephews, the nephew reacted in a way that they did not recognize Philip. It was truly saddening for Philip to be rejected by his nephews. Because of the situation, he suggested that Sam gives the candy as they would most probably like him compared to Philip. Following this, the pair toured around the village as they offer confections and matches to the people. In this point, the individuals treat Sam affably, and Philip with bleak quietness.
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According to Mambrol (2014), “Post-colonialism analyses the metaphysical, ethical and political concerns about cultural identity, gender, nationality, race, ethnicity, subjectivity, language and power”. Philip's demonstration of robbery spoke to the Filipinos' surrendering of their past innate starting points and customs, just to be supplanted by an 'unnatural' culture brought by imperialism. At once ever, imperialism brought to the Filipinos a mess, disturbing feelings, weakness, torment, humiliation, and the powerlessness to grasp the past.
The story brings readers to a whole new world. It’s as if the readers were with them throughout their journey.
With the mix of social classes and the representation of each character as the colonizers/colonized, it makes the story more of a message of the reality which is why the story makes an impact to the lives of the Filipino. Moreover, the story is well-written, as it depicts the harsh reality of the world. Those people would treat the foreigners/upper class better than our own people/nationality. In fact, the Filipinos look up to them.
“You are lucky to have someone who loves you so much. And you did him wrong”. This is the line that outstands from the rest. It is as if it was specifically made for the readers to relate. The lesson that one may learn from the said line is that one should appreciate the people who give that person love and care and shall not take it for granted. As another quote states, “Learn to appreciate what you have, before time makes you appreciate what you had”. With all of this said, this leaves one question in mind, does the purpose of the author for writing this story fulfilled? Overall, the rating of the story would be eight out of ten.
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