Submitted by: Christine Pedery Brief Analysis of This Miss Phatuphats The brief story is about a Kapampangan named

Miss Phatuphats who was originally called Yeyeng. She used to be a vendor but things change when an American teacher-soldier who is her regular customer convinced her to study for them to better understand each other. Miss Yeyeng then studied in school and after few months she began speaking English. Eight months later, with the aid of the teacher-soldier she went to a town and started teaching there. She was respected by her students and then the biggest change in her occurred. Yeyeng stopped speaking Capampangan. Soon the people began calling her Miss Phatuphats which described her wide waist. One time at a fiesta in the town of X when the newspaper Ing Emangabiran was being read, Miss Phatuphats approached a group of readers and said that she does not understand Pampango. The people who were there began smiling and eventually laughed out loud after hearing Miss Phatuphats hilarious intonation. Miss Phatuphats confronted the people and she was enraged by their mocking remarks so she began cursing in Capampangan. She cried until her makeup faded revealing her darker than the duhat complexion. The people laughed harder while calling her in different insulting names and then she left. Miss Phatuphats is a round character because from being a simple, sweet Yeyeng she changed into a trying hard, pretentious woman. She was at first a vendor but when she learned and managed to speak English, her means of living also was elevated into a higher form which is teaching. It was evident how Miss Phatuphats became too full of herself when she rejected her own vernacular language. She had the idea that speaking English is a great edge that is why she

tried so much even though her English has a Capampangan intonation. Her own arrogance was also the reason why the people or her fellow Kapampangans made her their laughing stock. At the end of the story, it was said that there are many Miss Phatuphats these days. I think that the character of Yeyeng can be a symbol for the trusting and innocent Filipinos during the American colonization. The teacher-soldier who nicely influenced Yeyeng to receive education and to speak in English might be a representation of the American colonizers. Moreover, the people who poked fun at Yeyeng can be the nationalistic Filipino who opposed the powers and influences of the American colonizers. Of course, Miss Phatuphats is the product of the Americanization of the Filipinos. In addition, Miss Phatuphats may also be a symbol for any Filipinos who treat non-English speakers as subordinates. The theme of the story can be nationalism or being humble of ones achievement. The theme can be nationalism because the story itself aimed to deride the Filipinos who behaved like the character of Miss Phatuphats. The story used a character to make the Filipino readers realize how pathetic one can be from being untrue, arrogant and disloyal to his or her country. Juan Crisostomo Soto was also known as a leading figure in incorporating Filipino features in the Zarzuela so nationalism as a theme is not far-fetched. Another possible theme is that one must maintain or at least have the sense of humility. One should not be haughty whenever good things come to his or her way. Instead of being looked up to by her fellow Kapampangans, Miss Phatuphats became popular in a negative way and her value as an individual was lowered down by her own pretentiousness. Achievements are something which we can be proud of especially if we earned it through perseverance and hard work but then, too much of anything is also not good.

I accept it as true that nowadays, Miss Phatuphats is everywhere but in varying extents and degrees. The character of Miss Phatuphats was presented as someone who assumed to be something. Some Filipinos who have had a taste of the finer things in life tend to be discriminating and they act as if they are of different world and are unreachable. In most simple cases, there are also some of us who force themselves to speak in English because they think that it would make them appear smarter. Some are even ashamed of speaking in their regional dialect because they are afraid that they might not fit in the modern society or they might be perceived as rustic or primitive. Indeed, the story of Miss Phatuphats is laden with historical ideas regarding the colonization of the Filipinos by the Americans as well as the influences they have brought upon us. The story also tackled humility as an important aspect of a truly successful person.