DOGEATERS

BY JESSICA HAGEDORN

When I heard that we will going to read a book consist of 500 pages, I was so

shocked and cannot believe that we need to analyze it all in 4-5 weeks only. Back then, when I

saw the title of the book for the first time by Jessica Hagedorn, Dogeaters I was so confused

and my mind blows because it was very very very deep. But when I searched it on the internet,

there, I realizes that it also has deep meaning and theres a purpose why the writer choses the title

of her book. This novel is written by Jessica Hagedorn and published in 1990, it addresses

several social, political and cultural issues present in the Philippines during the 1950s. The novel

discusses about Dictatorship vs Anarchy, Marriage, Beauty, Religion, American

Influence, Role of women and Homosexuality. The novel is a mixture of the history,

memories, and images of life in Manila during the Marcos regime. For me, based on my own

understanding on this novel, it was very realistic, angry, sad, emotional, gross, violent, rambling,

and funny, but what I have observed, it was also very sexual and thats the reason why its not

preferable for the children to read, it was only for adults. Based on this site

(https://www.enotes.com/topics/dogeaters) Hagedorn turned the novel into a play that was

performed first at the La Jolla Playhouse and then at the Joseph Papp Public Theatre in 2001.

Jessica Hagedorn was born and raised in the Philippines and came to the United States in her

early teens. Her novels include Toxicology, Dream Jungle, The Gangster Of Love,

and Dogeaters, winner of the American Book Award and a finalist for the National Book Award,

she is a novelist, poet, multimedia and performance artist, she won Guggenheim Fellowship for

Creative Arts, US & Canada on 2001.

 When I saw the title page of this book, it was so

creepy but it also has deep meaning into it. Im

not sure at my own interpretation on the picture

but this is my first reaction:

GRAY: FATHER

RED: SON

WHITE: HOLY SPIRIT

This picture looks so strange and weird at the same time, thats why I didnt appreciate it when I

saw this book for the first time. But dont judge the book by its cover so I just continue

reading it and so far, it was so good but the story is random, it suddenly changing into another

story, the timeline is disorganized and unstable, making use of flashbacks and flash forwards. I

have a favorite line on this book by Mallat, The Philippines was totally unexpected. Gods

surprise, if you will. The Spaniards never fully appreciated this melancholy paradise, but I did.

Such mystifying, hallucinogenic beauty. On Act I, scene 2, page 19. Because Mallat knows the

worth of our country, he really appreciates the beauty of the Philippines.

 The first main character is Rio Gonzaga. Rio is the narrator of the first part.

In her narration, she recalls her early life up until she was fifteen years old. Joey Sands is the

next main character; he is also a narrator, he is a gay prostitute who works as a DJ at CocoRico.

After he witnesses the assassination of Senator Avila, he hides out at Uncle's shack and

eventually has help from Boy-Boy to escape the law. Its characters include mothers, fathers,

grandparents, children, political leaders, movie stars, porn stars, pimps, prostitutes, generals, and

guerrillas. The President and The First Lady are also included in this book, but their names are

never obviously mentioned. Some characters really disturbed me, especially the porn stars and

some prostitutes. The novel also involved sex and not just an ordinary sex but homosexuality,

and it also included some disturbing descriptions about sex. But this novel also amazed me

because the story gives me some ideas on what happened on the Marcos administration. But then

again, sometimes the story bothers me because its very hard to understand because the timeline

is rambling and messy. Jessica Hagedorn somehow states her ideas experienced by Filipinos at

the Marcos regime, but the center on this story is Rio, a lively schoolgirl who will grow up to

live in America and look back with longing on the land of her youth. For me this novel is a good

choice to read for adults because it describes how simple the person outside but have an

extraordinary heart inside. But of course, I will not gonna recommend this book to children

because some descriptions there are very confusing and somewhat unclear and also some words

there and some actions are only for adults like sex and others.
 At first, I was stunned when I heard that this book won an American Book

Award in 1990 and was nominated for the National Book Award in 1991 because I thought that

this novel is nonsense and it dont give meaning for the readers, when I saw the book, I just

laughed at it because I expected that this is just a joke and it will not gonna give a lesson for us

because the picture is very fantasy, so I just laughed at it all, actually my first reaction at this

book is very funny, I thought that this is just another book that I will gonna hate, and I talked to

myself and judged this book ANG CORNY NAMAN NITO, ANG SAGWA NG TITLE TAPOS

PICTURE PALANG OA ISANG KALOKOHAN NA NAMAN ITO then I chuckled so hard,

but then I was wrong because this novel shocked me in a good way because it was really a good

book. It gives meaning especially about life and also about history. Truly, the saying Dont

judge the book by its cover is very very true, this book really amazed me, though sometimes

its boring and not worthy to read. Then afterwards, I started appreciating the picture of the title

page of Dogeaters. Yes, it has a deep meaning into it, back then I thought that this is just a joke

and just an ordinary image but I was wrong again. I was also mistaken on saying that the title is

nonsense and garbage because I recognized then after reading this book that the title has double

meaning.
 For me, this is the first book that I will gonna find at the bookstore, this

book will be my another favorite book even though there are some parts of this book that only

adults can appreciate but of course it depends on the reader. And also it discusses how America

influence our country through radio, televisions and movie theatre. But what I like at this book is

you will get some lesson in life that you can pass on the next generation.The author of this book

is amazing, she write this book with heart and with pure emotions that gives the story a very

good effect. I really appreciate the passion of Jessica Hagedorn in writing, its not a surprise if

this writer is included at the best writer in the world, just look at her background, she won a lot

of medals and her books are blockbuster. I can say now that literature is very fit for women

because women has amazing imaginations that men cant have, women have emotions that men

cant express, women is good at writing, designing, painting, making songs or poem than men.

And because of Jessica Hagedorn, I started appreciating the works of women in writing and other

literatures. Jessica Hagedorn is not just a writer, she is also an American playwright, writer, poet,

and multimedia performance artist. According at Wikipedia, she was born in Manila a Scots-

Irish-French-Filipino mother and a Filipino-Spanish father with one Chinese ancestor. After its

publication in 1990, her novel earned a 1990 National Book Award nomination and an American

Book Award.