4 - How My Brother Leon Brought Home A Wife

Republic of the Philippines
URDANETA CITY UNIVERSITY

College of Arts and Languages
Urdaneta City, Pangasinan
How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife

Manuel E. Arguilla
Objectives:
At the end of the report, the class will be able to:
1. know the authors background
2. take note of modern and rural landscape as
illustrated in the short story
3. single out the cultural significations embedded in
the short story
The Author
Manuel
Estabillo
writer in English,
Arguilla (1911
patriot,
and
martyr.
1944)
was
He
known
is
an Ilokano
for
his
widely anthologized short story How My Brother Leon Brought Home

a
Wife
and
Other
Short
Stories.
The
main
story
in
the
collection, How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife, won first

prize in the Commonwealth Literary Contest in 1940.
Most
of
Arguilla's
stories
depict
scenes
in Barrio Nagrebcan, Bauang, La Union where he was born. His bond

with his birthplace, forged by his dealings with the peasant folk
of Ilocos, remained strong even after he moved to Manila where he
studied at the University of the Philippines where he finished BS
Education in 1933 and where he became a member and later the
president
of
the
U.P.
Writer's
Club
and
editor
of
the
university's Literary Apprentice.

He
married
Lydia
Villanueva,
another
English, and they lived in Ermita, Manila.
ucuhandout.phillit.hmtabios1stsem
talented
writer
in
He became a creative writing teacher at the University of

Manila and
later
managing
editor
Advocate until
Censors.
He
worked
1943.
of
He
secretly
at
the
the
was
Bureau
of
bureau's
later
organized
Public
as
publication Welfare
appointed
guerrilla
Welfare
to
the
Board
intelligence
of
unit
against the Japanese.

In October 1944, he was captured, tortured and executed by
the Japanese army at Fort Santiago.
The Short Story

Characters
1. Baldo - younger brother of Leon. He fetched Leon and
Maria from the road to their home in Nagrebcan.
2. Leon (or Noel) - older brother of Baldo who studied in
Manila where he met his wife
3. Maria - the beautiful and stunning wife of Leon from
(Ermita) Manila
4. Labang - the bull whom Baldo considers as his pet
Plot
1. Baldo meets his brother Leons wife for the first time.
Baldo fetches his brother Leon and Maria, and takes them
home. They do not pass through the usual route, the camino real.
Instead, they take a shortcut through a field (waig) as was
ordered by their father.
Seeing his brother's wife, Baldo is easily taken away by the
beauty of the woman from city. (Her nails are long. She wears
high heels and skirt. She has a small dimple on her right cheek.
She is fragrant like a morning when papayas are in bloom.)
2. They journey home with conversation and a song.
Along their way home, Maria discovers the peculiarities of

the life in Nagrebcan (sounds of Labang and insects; clean air
free of dust and smoke) as opposed to their life in the city
where she met and fell in love with Leon.
Baldo notices that both his brother and Maria are enjoying
what they see. Leon points on the stars and asks if Maria if she
had seen such from Ermita. The brothers sing Sky Sown with
Stars which their father taught them when they were still young;
Maria sings with them.
3. Leon asks Maria if she is anxious as they near home,
bringing
about
Baldos
own
reaction
about
how the
family will welcome Leon and his wife.

The idea of meeting with Leon's parents for the first time
made Maria a bit anxious. This is true for Leon as well. The
first words that fell on Leons lips when they arrived home were,
Father where is he?.
4. Baldo attends to his father's request while the
family talks.
Father asks about what transpired while they journey home.
When the couple entered the room, father sent Baldo to tend
Labang.
He
left
his
father,
now
with
Leon
and
Maria.
Comments/Analysis
How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife is a story about an
occasion that would be a big day in the life of any family, the
day one of the sons of the family brings hope the woman he
intends to marry.
The story is told in the first person by
Leon's younger brother.

This interesting story tells about a womans struggle as she
tries
to
gain
the
worthiness
needed
to
be
accepted
by
her
husbands family. The story is set in Nacreban, where the husband

lives.
In the story, Leon and Maria, the wife, face many challenges
along the way, including the passing in the so-called Waig
instead of the Camino Real or the paved road. But in the end of
the story, both lovers overcome these trials when they reached
Leons family house.
As a reader, this story shows how true love can surmount all
challenges. And as in the case for some women, this story shows
how to adjust to their husbands rural lifestyle.
As
one
because
Leons
it
of
the
many
accurately
hometown.
It
stories,
describes
also
has
this
Marias
very
story
is
ways
of
powerful
very
unique
adjusting
impact
on
to
the
essences of love because it shows that a person from the urban

area can
be
somehow
compatible
with
partner
from
the rural
area.
Reading
the
story
would
somehow
make
one
feel
Manuel
Arguilla's great love of Nagrebcan. He takes the time to note the

shape of clouds, the sounds made by the rolling wheels or even
the rope near the neck of the bull Labang, and even the scent of
the air. It is as if Arguilla transports you right there, among
Maria and the two brothers.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Arguilla
http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?
title=How_My_Brother_Leon_Brought_ Home_A_Wife
http://www.blurtit.com/q7203086.html
http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/Literature/Short
%20Stories/How%20My%20Brother%20Leon%20Brought%20Home
%20A%20Wife.htm

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Republic of the Philippines

URDANETA CITY UNIVERSITY

How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife

widely anthologized short story How My Brother Leon Brought Home

collection, How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife, won first

in Barrio Nagrebcan, Bauang, La Union where he was born. His bond

university's Literary Apprentice.

English, and they lived in Ermita, Manila.

He became a creative writing teacher at the University of

against the Japanese.

The Short Story

Along their way home, Maria discovers the peculiarities of

family will welcome Leon and his wife.

The story is told in the first person by

Leon's younger brother.

husbands family. The story is set in Nacreban, where the husband

essences of love because it shows that a person from the urban

Arguilla's great love of Nagrebcan. He takes the time to note the

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