Critique Paper of The Puppy Love

Critique Paper

            In Francisco Sionil Jose’s Puppy Love, he executed the first part of the plot in flashback, describing the days of the protagonist Jacobo Salcedo also called as Jake, where in his childhood life in the province that she had met with her childhood friend, Gina. As the story goes by, the young characters Jacobo and Gina had separated because of the World War II. After the war, Jacobo went to Manila and became a lawyer. Jacobo and Gina were in Manila but both know where to find each other. Until one night, where Jacobo with his Japanese companions went to the one of the clubs in the Bayside. There he met his long-lost love, Gina who works in the club, trying to talk to her in a way that she will not get embarrassed. Jacobo who is a bachelor, a man who is fitting to get married tried to convince Gina, who pretends to be not what Jacobo thinks planned to have a lunch in a hotel. In this pinnacle of the story, Jacobo did not appeared in the lunch because of some business appointments that caused another separation between them. Jacobo returned to Manila and find no trace of Gina at all. This is crucial for Jacobo because it happened again that they were separated by circumstances. It is like they are not meant to each other it is because Jacobo had been married to another lady, one like Gina named Jenny. They had three children and he realized of what having family is in life. Until, Jenny informed Jacobo that there is a woman who got into jail for such a cruel crime. When Jacobo went to jail to see Gina, the denouement really revealed the mystery of what was happened to Gina after that lunch. In the end, Jacobo finally revealed his identity as Gina repeats his name and start to weep. 

             The character of Jacobo Salcedo interests me most, not because he is the protagonist in the short story but because of his characteristics that gave color to the story. His perseverance to achieve his goals in life like to become a lawyer and his nostalgia in his long-lost puppy love Gina is what that I like. The shifting of the life of Jacobo, from ashes to gold and the life of Gina from riches to dust gave me a realization that the one who is steadfast, even if he is rich or poor, will succeed in life. The setting which was happened during the early 20th Century and especially during the Japanese occupation gave the short story the environment of the province and the war-torn city of Manila. Even if the setting was in the early 20th century, it was like a year ago that the story was happened. The plot of the entire short story focuses on the life of Jacobo Salcedo, and that gives a first-person point of view story. The use of the word ‘I’ in the narration part gives a clue on the point of view of the story. In the theme of the short story, Puppy Love can be analogous to the song Ang Huling El Bimbo of Eraserheads or the song of Gloc-9 Magda. They all share a common factor that is poverty, that leads to the working of women in nightclubs that greatly affects the behavior of them. Another theme may be added is the portrayal of love. A love that will last in one’s heart even though they did not become married. The love for someone even if there are circumstances that divides the two lovers, in the end the two will meet again somewhere in time.