“The Summer Solstice” by Nick Joaquin introduces the main character, Doña Lupeng, in the Spanish colonial period. Doña Lupeng starts out as the typical woman of her time. Typical, as in being submissive and ignorant. Nick Joaquin uses the Christian traditions together with the pagans’, to give way to Doña Lupeng’s transition. He creates Guido, a humorous (to me) and absurd (to Doña Lupeng) man. He seems absurd to Doña Lupeng because his ideas about women are in contrast to what she knows. In Guido, she realizes that women are to be adored as Guido states, “They do not talk to women, they pray to them – as men did in the dawn of the world.” In her subconscious min

A woman trapped in the monotony of her life is the main character of “The Chrysanthemums”. Elisa Allen lives on a farm and does best in gardening, specifically, the chrysanthemums. She feels trapped, and wishes that she could free herself: “The high grey flannel fog closed off the Salinas Valley from the sky and from the all the rest of the world.” The line “On every side it sat like a lid on the mountains and made of the great valley a closed pot” reflects Elisa’s isolation. She is strong yet vulnerable. Her vulnerability is shown through her experience with the peddler. Thinking the peddler was really interested in the chrysanthemums, she gave him a pot. When this man showed interest in her, she felt excited and hopeful. She came out of her shell, and released an individuality she came to know. “She tightened her stomach and threw out her chest...she put on her newest under clothing and her nicest stockings and the dress which was the symbol of her prettiness.” Her self-confidence was boosted by the peddler. This encounter with him made her at ease with herself. And all of a sudden, something new happened to her life. The chain of monotony was altered, and this delighted her. From an unsocial housewife, she transformed into a confident woman because of her connection with the peddler. Unfortunately, she snapped back to reality when she realized that the peddler dumped the seeds of the chrysanthemums and kept the pot for his own benefit. In just a flash her self-confidence withered away. She succumbed to crying in the end. She then returns to her old self – her self confined in the fence of her garden.

Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” talks about woman in a different sense. Aside from being colored, the main character is a mother without a husband. This makes her different from the other two female protagonists. The reason behind

Some topics in this essay:
Doña Lupeng, Alice Walker’s, Salinas Valley, Amada Entoy, Maybe Dee, Elisa Allen, Probably Dee, John Steinbeck’s, Doña Lupeng’s, Don Paeng’s, doña lupeng, “everyday use”, main character, alice walker’s “everyday, mother “everyday use”, connection peddler, nick joaquin, walker’s “everyday, alice walker’s, “the summer solstice”, “the summer, absurd doña lupeng, mother “everyday, walker’s “everyday use”, summer solstice”,