Lengua Para Diablo(The Devil Ate My Words)

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

“Unemployment, with its injustice for the man who seeks and thirsts for employment, who begs

for labour and cannot get it, and who is punished for failure he is not responsible for by the

starvation of his children – that torture is something that private enterprise ought to remedy for

its own sake.”.    

BACKGROUND

•Authorial Information

Merlinda Carullo Bobis

•born in 25 November 1959

•A Contemporary Philippine-Australian writer

and academic.

•Born in Legazpi City, in the Philippines

province of Albay (Region V)

•Merlinda Bobis attended Bicol University High School then completed her B.A. at Aquinas

University in Legazpi City.

•She holds post-graduate degrees from the University of Santo Tomas and University of

Wollongong, and now lives in Australia.

•Written in various genres in both Filipino and English, her work integrates elements of the

traditional culture of the Philippines with modern immigrant experience.

•A dancer and visual artist, Bobis currently teaches at Wollongong University.

WORKS

Poetry

•Rituals: Selected poems, 1985-1990. (1990)

•Summer was a Fast Train without Terminals. (Melbourne: Spinifex, 1998) •Usaping Ina at Anak

Short Stories

•White Turtle. (Melbourne: Spinifex, 1999)

•The Kissing (Aunt Lute, 2001)US reissue of White Turtle

Novels

•Banana Heart Summer (Murdoch Books, 2005)

•The Solemn Lantern Maker (Sydney: Murdoch Books, 2008)

•Fish-hair Woman (North Melbourne: Spinifex, 2011)

•Locust Girl: A Lovesong (North Melbourne: Spinifex, 2015)

AWARDS

•Australian Classical Music Award for Best Vocal/Choral Work of the Year for Daragang

Magayon Cantata (2007)

•Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas (National Balagtas Award: a lifetime award for

author's poetry and prose in English, Pilipino, Bikol) from the Unyon ng Manunulat ng Pilipinas

(Union of Philippine Writers) (2006)

•Gintong Aklat Award (Golden Book Award: Philippine publishers' award) for Banana Heart

Summer (2006)

•Australian Literature Society Gold Medal for Banana Heart Summer (2006)

•Nomination: Best in Foreign Language in Fiction from the Manila Critics' Circle for Banana

Heart Summer (2006)

•Judges' Choice Award, Bumbershoot Bookfair, Seattle Arts Festival for The Kissing (collection

of short stories published as White Turtle in Australia and the Philippines) (2001)

•Arts Queensland Steele Rudd Australian Short Story Award (for the Best Published Collection

of Australian Short Stories, joint winner) for White Turtle (2000)

•Philippine National Book Award for Fiction (Joint winner) from the Manila Critics' Circle for

White Turtle (2000)

•NSW Ministry for the Arts Writers' Fellowship for novel in progress, Fish-Hair Woman (2000)

•Canberra Writing Fellowship jointly from the Australian National University, the University of

Canberra, and the Australian Defence Force Academy (2000)

•Prix Italia (international award) for Rita's Lullaby (radio play) (1998)

•Australian Writers' Guild Award (AWGIE) for Rita's Lullaby (1998)

•Pamana Philippine Presidential Award for achievement in the arts (for Filipino expatriates)

(1998)

•Shortlist: The Age Poetry Book of the Year Award for Summer Was a Fast Train Without

Terminals (collection of poems) (1998)

•Winner, Out of the Ashes Trans-Tasman Short Story Competition for White Turtle (short story)

(1998)

•Commended: National Short Story Competition, Society of Women Writers for The Sadness

Collector (short story) (1998)

•Joint winner, ABC Radio National's 'Books & Writing Short Story Competition' for The Tongue

(also known as The Parable of Illawarra Street) (1997)

•Ian Reed Foundation Prize for Radio Drama for Rita's Lullaby (1995)

•Carlos Palanca Memorial Award in Literature (Philippine national award), Honourable Mention

for Ms. Serena Serenata (one-act play) (1995)

•Gawad Cultural Centre of the Philippines (national award for poetry in Filipino) for Mula Dulo

Hanggang Kanto ('From End to Corner', collection of poems) (1990)

•Likhaan Award for Daragang Magayon and other poems, University of the Philippines Writers'

Workshop (1990)

•Carlos Palanca Memorial Award in Literature, Second Prize for Lupang di Hinirang: Kuwento

at Sikreto ('Land Not Dearest: Story and Secret', collection of poems in Filipino) (1989)

•Carlos Palanca Memorial Award in Literature, joint winner, First Prize for Peopleness

(collection of poems in English) (1987)

COPY OF THE LITERARY TEXT

LEGUA PARA DIABLO (The Devil Ate My Words)

I suspected that my father sold his tongue to the devil. He had little to say in our house.

Whenever he felt like disagreeing with my mother, he murmured. ‘The devil ate my words’. This

meant he forgot what he was about to say and Mother was often appeased. There was more need

for appeasement after he lost his job.

The devil ate his words, the devil ate his capacity for words. The devil ate his tongue. But

perhaps only after prior negotiation with its owner what with Mother always complaining, I’m

already taking a peek at hell!’ when it got too hot and stuffy in our tiny house. She seemed to

sweat more that summer, and miserably. She made it sound like Father’s fault, so he cajoled her

with kisses and promises of an electric far; bigger windows, a bigger house, but she pushed him

away, saying, ‘Get off me, I’m hot, at this hellish life!’ Again he was ready to pledge relief, but

something in my mother’s eyes made him mutter only the usual excuse, ‘The devil ate my

words,’ before he shut his mouth. Then he ran to the tap to get more water”

Lengua para diablo: tongue for the devil. Surely he sold his tongue in exchange for those

promises to my mother: comfort, a full stomach life without our wretched want…But the devil

never delivered his side of the bargain. The devil was alien to want. He lived in a Spanish house

and owned several stores in the city. This Spanish mestizo was my father’s employer, but only

for a very short while. He sacked him and our neighbor Tiyo Anding, also a mason after he

found a cheaper hand for the extension of his house.

We never knew the devil’s name. Father was incapable of speaking it, more so after he came

home and sat in the darkest corner of the house, and stared at his hands. It took him two days of

silent staring before he told my mother about his fate.

I wondered how the devil ate my father’s tongue. Perhaps he cooked it in mushroom sauce, in

that special Spanish way that they do ox tongue. First, it was scrupulously cleaned, rubbed with

salt and vinegar, blanched in boiling water, then scraped of his white coating – now imagine

words scraped off the tongue, and even taste, our capacity for pleasure. In all those two days of

silent staring, Father hardly ate. He said he had lost his taste for food, he was not hungry. Junior

and Nilo were more than happy to demolish his share of gruel with fish sauce.

Now, after the thorough clean, the tongue was pricked with a fork to allow the flavors of all the

spices and condiments to penetrate the flesh. Then it was browned in olive oil. How I wished we

could prick my father’s tongue back to speech and even hunger, but of course we couldn’t,

because it had disappeared. It had been served on the devil’s platter with garlic onion tomatoes,

bay leaf, clove, peppercorns, soy sauce, even sherry, butter, and grated Edam cheese, with that

aroma of something rich and foreign. His silent tongue was already luxuriating in a multitude of

essences, pampered into piquant delight.

Perhaps, next he should sell his esophagus, then his stomach. I would if I had the chance to be

that pampered. To know for once what I would never taste. I would be soaked, steamed, sautéed,

basted, baked, boiled, fried and feted with only the perfect seasonings. I would become an

epicure. On a rich man’s plate, I would be initiated to flavors of only the finest quality. In his

stomach, I would be inducted to secrets’ I would be the ‘inside girl,’ and I could tell you the true

nature of sated affluence.

ANALYSIS

A. Literary Genre

The story lengua para diablo is about a father that is unemployed and is said that he did

not contribute to his family. The father until that time was guilty for not being able to fulfill his

duty as a father in his family. In that moment he felt like he was nothing in that house, can't

speak comfortably, and pride. Is it still happening in the Phillipines today? Yes, it is still

happening in the Philippines today. because of lack of education. Education is the most

important thing in life because it can't be removed and forgotten. Food can be digested but

education cannot be removed and will remain in yourself forever. Any jobs that you will apply

requires education In our culture father ?is considered the “haligi ng tahanan”, they are the face

of the family. The father reflects what kind of family you are into. They are the role models of

the family. What if a father loses his able to speak for himself?The story shows how

unemployment and poverty greatly affects the situation of the family, particularly if the father is

the one that is unemployed. The father in the story lost his pride and ability to speak for himself.

He lost it all due to the reason that hem has no work and no longer can support and contribute to

his family financially. He has no more confidence to share his own views and opinions and

looked down by his’ own children.

Lengua Para Diablo is a story about poverty and a family that is suffering because of it.

In the story, a man lost his job and has lost the will to talk to his wife – hence, the title, the devil

ate his words. The story illustrated what kind of struggle a normal family must have, especially if

they live in poverty. The author only wanted to deliver the message that there are problems today

that Filipinos are still facing. Some families are still struggling in life. The excerpt successfully

delivered its message about the situation of families here in our country. Lengua Para Diablo is

an excerpt from Banana Heart Summer.

B. Analysis Guide

The purpose of Literary Analysis is to be closely related , to understand more, and examine

some aspect of a literary work.

Reader Response

Despite the many attempts to eliminate poverty, the problem has never been solved. The way

Merlinda Bobis presents the story invites to participate in the creation. Lending through a young

girl’s perspective helps me think the realities that Philippines is facing today – the poverty and

unemployment, how it affects us. It helps me to appreciate more the life that my parents gave to

me –that I didn’t experience what the young girl had experienced ( eating gruel with fish sauce).

In the end the story shared a peek of what living is all about,Lengua Para Diablo is indeed a story

worth reading for.

Tone

•The author is not actually sad but when she is writing a story about the life of a man during new

society and how his life change.It affects how the author write this literature.It also how she

express the feelings of the characters and how they will react in those situations.

Point of View

First Person Point of View

(Little Girl's Perspective)

•Her daughter was wondering what the devil did to her father’s tongue and also that her father’s

tongue was served on the devil’s platter with spices that gives an aroma of something rich and

foreign. She was thinking that her father’s tongue was cooked in mushroom sauce in the special

Spanish way. She thought that her father’s tongue was luxuriating in a multitude of essences so

she said that maybe he should also sell his esophagus and his stomach for him to be pampered.

Diction and Style

The text is interesting; the author’s techniques cause to be engaged while reading. One example

is when she represented tongue as “words” which is a metaphor. The tongue was also made a

food that is eaten by the devil to better convey the message that the devil gets to experience

much satisfaction in his life because the food is described as pampering .

Images and Symbols

Lengua Para Diablo symbolizes as the father's freedom or right of speech and degradation of

the father's dignity.Lengua is a Spanish dish that is part of the Philippine cuisane,it is basically

cow's tounge cooked until it's very tender. In the story, what the father meant by saying, "the

devil ate my words" is that he can't react about his wife's complains. The word seems to run out

from his mouth because he agrees with his wife about the state of their lives, especially since he

was unemployed and failed to give them a luxurious life.

Theme

The story shows how poverty and unemployment affect the situation of the family. Poverty and

unemployment is the one problem that facing the Philippines right now. The story picture out the

situation among family having a father who has no job. It shows hardship of cooping and dealing

poverty.

C. Contextual Analysis

In Lengua Para Diablo the author write the story of a family who was suffering from

poverty and unemployment like what happen in real life back in 2016. The World Bank had

estimated poverty incidence in the Philippines at 24.5 percent for 2016. The total employed

persons was approximately 40.8 million in 2016 Employed persons are grouped into three major

sectors - agriculture, industry and services sector. Those in the services sector comprised more

than half (55.6 %) of the total employed persons. About 19.6 percent were engaged in wholesale

and retail trade or in the repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles. Workers in the agriculture

made up the second largest sector accounting for 26.9 percent, while those in the industry sector,

17.5 percent. Employed persons are classified as either full-time workers or part-time

workers.Full-time workers are those who work for 40 hours or more in a week, while part-time

workers work for less than 40 hours. Two-thirds (66.6%) of the total employed persons worked

for 40 hours or longer in a week whereas, those who worked for less than 40 hours, 32.5 percent.

Those who did not report for work during the reference week comprised 1.0 percent. The

underemployed persons or those employed persons who express the desire to have additional

hours of work in their present job or to have additional job, or to have a new job with longer

working hours was estimated at 7.5 million persons corresponding to an underemployment rate

of 18.3 percent. The unemployed persons numbered about 2.4 million resulting to an annual

unemployment rate of 5.5 percent. Of this number, 77.7 percent belonged to age group15 to 34

years wherein those in age group 15 to 24 years comprised 48.4 percent and those in the age

group 25 to 34 years, 29.3 percent. There were more unemployed males (62.8%) than

unemployed females (37.2%). One-third of these unemployed persons were high school

graduates (31.2%) and more than one-fifth were college graduates (21.4%)

SUMMARY

The story shows how unemployment and poverty greatly affects the situation of the family,

particularly if the father is the one that is unemployed. The father in the story lost his pride and

ability to speak for himself. He lost it all due to the reason that he has no work and no longer can

support and contribute to his family financially, he has no more confidence to share his own

views and opinions and looked down by his’ own children.The story said “The devil ate his

words” he doesn’t gain respect from his children, his pride and especially his dignity was

lost.The man has a wife who always nag him,she always complain about the life they have.

The wife complains about the food they have, how hot their place she is, how small the house

they have. The man would just only offer her with kisses and promise to give her more luxury

and a bigger house,he is only a mason but sadly got fired. The wife is getting sick of their life,as

she nags, the husband could only murmur, he lost his ability to speak. He would not say anything

however along with their neighbor, the narrator's uncle and her father were fired by their

employer because he found a construction worker with a cheaper labor wage. The situation is

really difficult to the father because he needs to sacrifice all of his pride and ego to stay home

and monitor to their kids.

REFERENCES

This References is for the Authors to acknowledge their contribution in our works, and also a

way of giving credits to the Authors whom we borrowed words and ideas.

Book/s

Uychoco Marikit Tara A. (2016). 21 st Century Literature From the Philippines and the World.

Manila, Philippines

Online Sources

Wikipedia (2016). Melinda Bobis. Retrieved from

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merlinda_Bobis

Angela Rafanan. (2018). Lengua Para Diablo(The Devil Ate My Words).Retrieved from

https://prezi.com/zexageobcu4m/lengua-de-diablo-the-devil-ate-my-words/

Kate Ingrid Calacat(2016). Polanco NHS-Senior High Department. Retrieved from

https://m.facebook.com/PolancoNHSSeniorHigh/posts/341677526208817

Rheymark Roldan.(2018). Lengua Para Diablo(Merlinda Bobis). Retrieved from

http://rheymarkroldan.blogspot.com/2018/08/lengua-para-diablo-bobis-merlinda-

bobis.html?m=1

Romeo S. Recide .(2016).2016 Annual Labor and Employment Status

https://psa.gov.ph/content/2016-annual-labor-and-employment-status

Ben O. De Vera(2019). PH poverty rate seen falling below 20% starting 2020

https://www.google.com/amp/s/business.inquirer.net/281269/ph-poverty-rate-seen-falling-

below-20-starting-2020/amp