Critique Paper (Puppy Love)

REMINISCE

Francisco Sionil José, is a writer known for his skills in writing in English and for his famous works, and one of the most widely known Filipino writers. Francisco’s novels, short stories and non-fictions works always highlights or always has the class struggles or the hierarchy between the rich and the poor, or the colonized and the one who colonized them. As for this critique paper, it will only tackle Francisco Sionil José’s short story, Puppy Love. Puppy Love is a romance short story with a pinch of dark genre which portrays the struggles or the class level of Filipinos after being colonized and how love is always unpredictable. The story always revolves around the reminiscing long gone memories which could never once again, happen, which leads to the main point of the story; Love always gives long-lasting memories.

 Throughout the story, Jacobo always reminisce or remembers his time with the one he loved and the one he had been looking for, Gina. Jacobo was always chasing after Gina, or to be more specific, his time or memories with Gina that he would very much would like to go back to. But nevertheless, Jacobo never forgot or strayed from his path and climbed the hierarchy ladder though sheer hard work and through a series of connections. He managed to have business relation with a top brass company all to find and help Gina and her brother whom suffered from the after-effects of colonization.

Puppy love was a good short story. It is not the usual cliché type of story which ends in a happy ending for the main characters. First, it will have a happy atmosphere and then suddenly, there is death, war, and separation of love ones. Usually, it will end with a happily ever after that we always know in the Disney princess fairytales. But in this story, it took a real take on the situation and showed how cruel the world can be for the unfortunate and to those bound by unavoidable circumstances. An example of this is how Gina’s family was in a huge debt leading for the downfall of her family and this it is not the typical story that I read. It gives a new feeling that makes you want more of it because of its unique plot or storyline.

Despite the story being short, it shows a good character development for the two main characters in the story which I think is very important when making a story. Character development has always been a must in a story that has a tragic beginning because it shows how the character grows from that experience and gives a sense of thrill. Going back to puppy love, the main characters both had a tragic event which led to them being separated and further develop their selves. Jacobo, a poor boy, always following on the tracks of Lito had developed into an independent man. Gina, an easy-going, literature-loving, girl had developed into a poor girl exposed to the cruelty of the world. These developments had always been one to look forward to because it begs the question as to what happened and why it happened making audience curious and gives satisfaction after that curiosity is sated.

For the plot of the story. At first, this story might seem like it will be a love story between Gina and Jacobo, but while progressing further in the story, it will change from a happy love story, into a tragic event happening after one another, for Gina that is. Personally, I liked how the author gives a dark plot in the story because it mirrors how cruel and unforgiving it was back in the days of colonization that shows how much information the author has on this certain topic making it relatable for people who experienced the so called “puppy love” which I think is great because it will be relatable for both the old and the young generations. The last thing to point out in the plot is that the ending of the story will leave you hanging as to what will happen next. It is like a cliffhanger which will not have a sequel which for me is very disappointing because I really liked the story and I atleast want to see a proper ending in such a beautiful story and not end when the one we were waiting for finally happened e.g. Gina finally recognizing Jacobo. The style used in the story is a narrative style with a First-Person perspective. Narrative style was used because it is narrating a story about how Jacobo’s life went and his relation with Gina and Lito. For Puppy Love, the story revolves around Jacobo and his search for a long-lost memory and how he progress through a series of events in his life. As to how it was told, or narrated, it used a first person point of view. First person gives the audience to know what the characters feel making the story more dramatic or comedic depending on what type of character it is.

The author has done great in portraying what Puppy love is. It gives an understanding on this topic because the story revolved around Jacobo following an intense feeling to do certain things only to realize that it was just puppy love in the end. This story will be useful to people who still has no idea what love is and might give pointers as to how they should react when they are in this phase of love.

For me I like the story of “Puppy Love” because like I said earlier, has a unique plot which keeps you wanting more and more and because of its unpredictability keeping you at the edge of your seat wanting to know what will happen next and the surprise you’ll get from not expecting the outcome which gives you a plethora of emotions that is always welcome when making the audience feel the characters as you want them to be. Next, is the development of the main characters, making you curious as to how the events will affect the mentality of the characters which had always been one to look forward to. Lastly, the fact that it tackles the struggle Filipinos went to after the colonization gives it another point for me because I love how the author perfectly blended it with the topic “Puppy Love” making the story accessible for all ages be it old or young, this story will be relatable. And that ending, makes me curious as to what will happen next. Any ending will be better than ending it at what seemed like a climax of a story. I think how Francisco ended his story is quit satisfying for the reader when they read his story.