Evans Shannon Evans 11/11/11 ENG 270: Asian American Literature Paper 2

It really isnt about me personally. You can tell your readers Madame is simply fulfilling her destiny. There is nothing she wants for herself. Absolutely nothing. The Scheme of the Artificial and the Representation of Putok in Jessica Hagedorns Dogeaters Many who are lucky enough to attend college can often nod their head in agreement that concepts of imperialism and colonialism are nothing new. However Jessica Hagedorn gives readers a hands-on, heart pacing, multifaceted account of how these seemingly innocent history class terms can be so much more. In her novel Dogeaters, the reader is thrust into a post-colonial Manila and one must adjust faster than an episode of Love Letters. This city revolves around Americanized culture, half-kept traditions, and a seemingly glamorous hierarchy that holds all the cards. Often a concurrent partner to power, corruption, easily finds a home in post-colonial Manila. There are of course the good, the bad, and the in-between but all the characters still find themselves dangling, touching, or submerging their feet in the pool that is inauthenticity. This dominant and reoccurring theme in the novel is first spoken of at the Gonzagas after dinner Tsismis (gossip). Rios Mother asks What is the difference between putok and sprikitik? Dont they both mean fake? and her father answers You might say Congressman Abad sprikitiks when he plays golf but General Ledesma his army with cases of putok liquor (64). At first this is a confusing concept, especially for a foreigner of the Philippines but in her book Immigrant Acts, Lisa Lowe unveils this perplexity by claiming Yet as Rios father Freddie differentiates between the uses of the informal Tagalog terms sprikitik and putok, the distinction between different orders of inauthenticity

Evans becomes crucial: on the one hand, acceptable acts of apparition or seeming and, on the other, the unacceptable counterfeit or the bogus. Whereas sprikitik is associated with magic or spiritualism, putok connotes illegitimacy and scandal; Freddies comparison established putok as a lower order of deception than the abracadabra magic of sprikitik (Lowe 117). As the novel continues it is clear to see putok is everywhere, the people, the government and the culture partake and suffer in a bubble of superficiality and drama. The deception that results has a multitude of different effects but it especially possesses the power to make even the most reliable characters anything but, blindfolding one to the very end. Alacran, the last name that can simultaneously make people look in awe and silently shudder. The family, holding more power then is viable, is untouchable. So much so that even distant relatives will tout the name as a prize (32). automatically making them a more worthy individual. The governments alignment with the Alacrans is a two-sided understanding that keeps them both in constant power. The singular family basically controls all of Manilas business endeavors. The survival of the Alacran legacy weighs all on the infinite oppressive dictatorship and its army. This is the cause of Girlie Alacrans paranoid cries of Its my brother you want and Not me! Not Me! (180). All too knowingly their power is only as strong as the legs it stands on. Baby Alacran, a refreshing opposite to Girlie, doesnt care about her familys wealth or power; she has no respect for her superficial parents and their fake personas. Please dont call me a visionaryIm really just a businessman (21). her father says in feigned modesty. They are so artificial that her parents even accuse each other of being fake She dares him to hit her; he never does, calling her a real phony instead. He is aware it is the worst possible thing he could say to her (19). Baby easily recognizes the corruption, even from inside her

Evans fishbowl, she sympathisize's with the government rival antagonist family, The Avilas. When Senator Avila is assassinated she thinks They must mourn the dead senator, and wonders if he is their hero. She is ashamed of feeling connected to them and somehow feels unworthy. (157). Baby recognize as the Avilas as one of the only shots The Philippines had for change and at an uprising. She loathes her family so much that she confines herself in spite of them. She is probably the most unexpected listener to Senator Avilas speeches claiming of the Philippines toxic mix of Spanish religion, colonization and Americas thirst for glamour. What Baby acquired in wealth, Senator Avilas daughter, Daisy, has in Beauty. As the rebels daughter Daisy was an underdog but somehow still managed to win the national Philippines beauty pageant. This is more an example of sprikitik than putok; she is lucky but not deceptive. At first Daisy is overcome with grief but by working through her grief she realizes she can make good through her superficial win. Her interview with Cora Camacho shows her growth from girl into a woman, a woman who fiercely joins her familys fight against all things debauched. Daisys last line marks her full transformation; she utters I claim responsibility for everything I do (233). This finality shows the contrast between the Avilas honesty and the governments deceptive cover up of her fathers murder. Even though it is never explicably put, corruption could underlie why Freddie Gonzaga (Rios father) denounces his Filipino citizenship. He even refers to himself as a guest in his own country (7). The Gonzagas are not people one would feel sorry for, they are upper middle-class after all and live comfortable lives, but they are a family many can relate too. Not good, not bad, but pretty normal. Rio one of the most relatable and reliable characters in the book gives both an overview of Filipino culture (her love for the movies and Love Letters) while offering personal family diary entries. She is the one thing the reader can count on. She

Evans has no reason to lie, yet she does. The foreshadow of her deceit is hinted in her explanation of the beloved Filipino soap Without fail, someone dies on Love Letters. Theres always a lesson to be learned, and its always a painful one (12). Her lies are not of the intentional vicious kind but more so fabrications to elicit interest, just as dramas like love letters do. Her memory is subjective to an underlying storyline she has in her head. The reader finds out they have been duped all along at the end of the novel through Puchas accusation of Rio. One might ask how we can trust what Pucha says. She is much like Rio except even more superficial. These people will overlook the fact that Pucha, like Rio, has no reason to lie. Yet she also lacks the need for a story, she is not investigative in nature like Rio. Rio remains to keep many opinions and thoughts to herself, but Pucha always lays everything out on the table. As hard as it is to see Rio mistelling the story it is even more impossible to picture Pucha making a counterfeit memoir. In the end the reader finds advantage in Puchas lack of depth. Her constant shallowness makes it hard to contest her accusation of Nothing is impossible, I suppose, with that crazy imagination of yours. Im not surprised by anything you do or say, but if I were you, Prima, Id leave well enough alone (249). The last detail that is especially daunting and adds to Puchas credibility is that Rio never responds to any letters, she doesnt even try to vouch for herself or claim her innocence. The realizations of Rios inauthentic memories make the reader question everything. Myra Mendible expands on this in her article Desiring Images: Representation and Spectacle in Dogeaters. She writes As it exposes the shifting and unstable foundations of all representation, her text deauthorizes itself. By implicating the narrative in a postmodern game of indeterminacy and duplicity, Hagedorn dramatizes the paradoxical nature of the postmodern stance (Mendible). She also says Reconfigured as spectators, colonized subjects consent to another's vision of reality

Evans (Mendible). Mendible makes one realize how much the colonization of the Philippines altered ones reality. Through the hybridity of American-Filipino culture normal, relatable and reliable girls can become just as deceptive as their environment. As Putok is an imitation of real Spanish Brandy Rios memory is an imitation of real American dramas. Unlike Rio, Joey Sands or Mister Heartbreaks treachery is much more expected. His Uncle taught him everything he knows about being a cheat and a whore. As sad as it is, his Uncle was his only father figure, a fact he cannot shake even though he knows of his Uncles imminent and unavoidable betrayal. Joey is a fighter and does whatever he has to in order to live how he wants. He uses every advantage of his good looks and has a plan. So I can say the right thing, collect my money, and say goodbye (37). He likes to steal, and makes bragging remarks like Let him look all he wants- hes paying for every second (149). He is so cool and practiced at his art that any form of innocence and unprofessionalism makes him irate. When he sees a little girl on a singing competition he thinks I cant bear to watch her, its too painful. Her awkwardness makes me angry. Look at her- how stupid! (76). This little girls rawness shows how Joey must calculate his every move. He cant let his act falter everything must be devised. Although the audience will not ever see Joey a completely changed person, they do catch a glimpse of his hopeful transformation at the end when he makes his own confession Father, my name is Joey Sands. Im a whore and the son of a whore. I just saw Senator Avila murdered. How come I feel guilty? (191). Joey doesnt swear to give up his ways but he makes definite strides in becoming a hopefully more honest, decent person.

Dogeaters characters represent all measures of fake but by far the epitome is the Presidents wife, or Madame. Even the lack of a name is all in essence of her act, nothing can blow her cover. Her stereotypical portrayal of an innocent saint-like woman is almost sickening

Evans to endure. She is the face of the governments deception. She insists There are no real issues. Issues are conflicts made up by the opposition to further tear my country apart. The opposition is envious and greedy and impatient (221). Mendible again has similar findings, she exposes that During her spectacular and ludicrous display, the journalist finds it difficult to ignore "a whirl of images" in his mind that contradict Madame's representation: "grainy black and white footage of sobbing women, women kneeling over open graves, graves piled high with the corpses of mutilated men and children" (222). Although the disparity between Madame's images of national harmony and prosperity radically conflict with other representations depicting images of mass poverty, despair, and repression, the journalist opts to play by the rules of the spectacle (Mendible).

She feigns intelligence but stupidly remarks how she would be ugly on the outside if she was a wicked person Dorian Gray, Diba, (220). She acts selfless but has an obsession with shoes and the finer things in life, and she too is obsessed with the movies. On a deeper note her responses are clearly scripted when questioned about Senator Avilas death. She is more than ready to spew her completely manufactured story of Romeo Rosales as a brutal rebel, and Trinidad as his accomplice. Romeo and Trinidad two of the most down-to-earth, innocent people are perfect suspects for the governments twisted regime. They both are not Manila natives and have no real importance so it easy for the government to brainwash the country of their guilt. Innocent bystanders caught up in its countries lies. In her article, Female Embodiment and the Politics of Representation in Jessica Hagedorns Dogeaters Maria Zamora recognizes this Hagedorn's novel also dramatizes the recollection of history as spasmodic hearsay and as an ongoing process of partial, imperfect recollection (169). The examples of Romeo, Trinidad and Joey show how it is not only people who stick their neck out like The Avilas who can get swept up in the

Evans governments (dictatorships) web of corruption. This corruption even extends to the Philippines military. General Ledesma is the right hand man to the president and forcefully enforces fear into the civilians. The antithesis to the general is his wife Leonor. Leonor is extremely religious and cant stand the general, yet she lives her life in her desired solitude, keeping herself as far away from him as possible. She represents all things holy and right where the general represents everything immoral and wrong. One would think she might act as his conscience but the General remains to be at the same end of the spectrum as the Alacrans, The President and the Presidents Wife.

President McKinleys interpretation of the colonization of the Philippines was very different than many civilians. He spoke in a very fairytale-esque tone. America was the hero the Philippines were waiting for. He just assumed it would be for the better. In one of his speeches he says there was nothing left for us to do but to take them all, and to educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize and Christianize them (71). He never imagined what kind of world he would leave behind after the colonization. Maybe he assumed it would be a place where a fair, regimented government, like the U.S, would easily manifest, if so he was clearly not thinking very rationally. Colonialism can be bad but often the effects left in its wake can be even worse. All of Americas emphasis on culture, money, fame, power, and social standing played a definite role in the rise of the corrupted dictatorship following the colonization. It turned Manila into a city with generic, superficial wants and ideals, all with a distinct American finish. Leaving almost nothing and no one untouched. It was a simplistic but intelligent move that Hagedorn made by using Putok. One word, one authentic, genuine Filipino word, represents everyone and everything in the Philippines that

Evans is not. Putoks foil is sprikitik, and almost every character in Dogeaters possess an ironic counterpart (Girlie/Baby, Rio/Pucha, Joey/Uncle, Alacrans/Avilas, etc) as well. The different variances of the acts of fraudulence range on a continuum from fake memories all the way to lies to cover a murder, all stemming from similar influences. Zamora vouches that deception is a main theme in the novel by stating From its inception, the text is riddled with the question of what is real and authentic and what is false and artificial. This question lies at the heart of the text yet takes on different dimensions and ultimately offers itself as unanswerable (168). The tagalong term Putok remains to be simple enough to translate, but hard to fully grasp. One of the most telling passages of the novel (extracted from Jean Mallats The Phillipines) talks of the innocence that is acknowledged when a child dies. He notes The part of the cemetery especially consecrated to them is called, at least in Paco, the Angerlorio, that is to say the place where the angels are buried. Instead of crying, the family makes great rejoicings, because they are considered as enjoying a privilege that no man can share with them, that of their children dying without sin. The Filipinos celebrate the innocence and righteousness of children because they represent all things good. If they die as a child they die without learning the inevitable sins and shortcomings of adulthood. They never have to fully see the unfiltered corrupt world. To an American this tradition seems odd but when thinking it begins to make perfect sense. Imperialism could make these beautiful customs disappear because a superior country arrogantly believes their customs are better, more educated, more right. In reality their influences can aid in the destruction of something beautiful, something innocent. This passage represents how even an excerpt from outside the novels internal context can predict what will happen, it already knows the ending.

Evans

Works Cited

Hagedorn, Jessica Tarahata. Dogeaters. New York, NY: Penguin, 1991. Lowe, Lisa. Immigrant Acts. Durham:Duke. UP, 1996. Mendible, Myra. "Desiring Images: Representation and Spectacle in Dogeaters." Washington 43.3 (2002). Literature Online. Web. 9 Nov. 2011. <http://lion.chadwyck.com.gate.lib.buffalo.edu/searchFulltext.do?id=R03343787&divLe vel=0&queryId=../session/1321045526_9966&trailId=132F9F44132&area=mla&forwar d=critref_ft>.

Zamora, Maria. "Female Embodiment and The Politics Of Representation In Jessica Hagedorn's Dogeaters." Atenea 26.2 (2006): 167-182. Academic Search Alumni Edition. Web. 9 Nov. 2011.