Author Topic: “Summer Solstice” by Nick Joaquin  (Read 85059 times)

Joe Carillo

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“Summer Solstice” by Nick Joaquin
« on: April 04, 2009, 11:03:00 PM »
The classic short story by the late Philippine National Artist for Literature, set in the 1850s, portrays the collision between raw instincts and refined culture. Its main character, Doña Lupeng, initially rejects ancient beliefs, but under the spell of the moon, she gets possessed by the spirit of the Tadtarin cult.

The story begins:


The Moretas were spending St. John's Day with the children's grandfather, whose feast day it was. Doña Lupeng awoke feeling faint with the heat, a sound of screaming in her ears. In the dining room the three boys already attired in their holiday suits, were at breakfast, and came crowding around her, talking all at once.

"How long you have slept, Mama!"

"We thought you were never getting up!"

"Do we leave at once, huh? Are we going now?"

"Hush, hush I implore you! Now look: your father has a headache, and so have I. So be quiet this instant—or no one goes to Grandfather."

Though it was only seven by the clock the house was already a furnace, the windows dilating with the harsh light and the air already burning with the immense, intense fever of noon…

Click here to read the full story of "Summer Solstice"

« Last Edit: August 24, 2010, 10:28:57 PM by Joe Carillo »

EmeraldSkylark

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Re: “Summer Solstice” by Nick Joaquin
« Reply #1 on: March 23, 2012, 06:42:38 PM »
As you can see the protagonist in the story is bond by the social norms during that time (they always need to follow their husband and be overpowered by their partner) but Summer Solstice or what they called Tadtarin is a period when wife can master their husband and when female can be free from these social norms



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