Love in The Cornhusks

LOVE IN THE CORNHUSKS
By: Aida Rivera Ford

Characters:
Constantina "Tinang" Tirol
Seora (the former employer of Tinang )
Tito (son of Seora)
Seorito (Father of Tito and the boss of Amado)
Amado Galuran (Tinang's boyfriend)
A Bagobo (Tinangs husband)
Bagobito (Tinangs baby boy)
Setting: The story happens in a Barrio
Climax: Tinang discovers after reading the love letter from her first love, Amado, that she is still
loved by him. However, by then, she isalready married to a Bagobo and has a son with him.
SUMMARY
One day, Constantina Tirol, also called as Tinang, visits her former master, Seora,whom she was
working for before she got married. While carrying her baby boy, she walksthrough the entrance of
the house of her former Seora and meet his former young master,Tito,and the Seora.
Upon getting inside the house, Seora asks her some questions how her marriedlife is together with
his Bagobo husband and also how is it to be a mother of a baby boy. Theirconversation continues and
they reach to the point of talking about the tractor drivers of Seora,especially the one who was good,
Amado.
After that, Tinang finally tells her former Seora about her intention of being there. Thebaptism of her
baby is about to come and she wants Seora to be a Madrina or a Ninang to herchild. The relationship
between Tinang and her former Seora with her family remains good. And so, Seora hastily agreed
to be so and yet wants to provide baptismal clothes for the babyand the fee for the Priest.
Before she left from Seoras house, she was told by her that there is a letter for her in the drugstore,
which also serves as the post office of the barrio. By that moment,she thought that someone might be
dead or maybe that letter comes from her sister. So she hurriedly takes her way home and passes by
that drugstore to get the letter.
As she continues walking in a muddy road to her way home, she tries to look for a placewhere she
could lay down her baby, hoping that she could read the letter before she arriveshome. Finally, she
finds a good place where she can stop for a while. There is a Kamansi treeand under of it are scattered
cornhusks. So, she prepares a heap of it using her foot and laid herbaby upon it. Then, she starts
reading the letter.
After doing so, she finds out that the letter is alove letter, her first love letter, which comes from
Amado, her boyfriend, saying that he does not want to break up with her when he left from the field
of Seora without telling the reason why hedid so. Time cannot be back anymore. It is already too late
that she discovers that Amado stillloves her. However, she was not informed that his mothers worst
illness made him gone forsome time.
Instead, Tinang marry a Bagobo man, whom owns 2 hectares of land. After all, whatshe does is only
to remember her past with Amado until the time comes when she has to leave upon noticing that a
snake is sneaking towards her baby boy. In the end, she leaves the place without noticing that her first
love letter fell down among the cornhusks.
REACTION
Aida Rivera Ford, according to my research, has lived with her husband in their largefarm in Davao,
the place where I live as well. In connection to this, the short story of Love inthe Cornhusks is
somehow related with her life like its barrio-setting and the characteristics of the Characters as well.
Perhaps, the main character is a woman based on the fact that the writer of this short story is a woman
too.
The story is very simple, easy to understand and yet realistic. It begins in a situation where the main
character, Tinang, starts her day as she visits her Seora with a good vibe that shifted to a different
one lately. With a little similarity with the Telenovelas shown in television, this story shows that a
lowly one, a nanny and a barrio girl, can be its main character, whom is experiencing twists in her life.
However, compared to Telenovelas, she did not experience some kinds of abuses nor having an enemy
in her life because the story is stressing not on these matters but on how decisions a person does could
affect his or her entire life. The author made the life of Tinang centered between two men. The
Bagobo, her husband, and Amado do not speak in the story but they are characterized differently with
each other. Itappears that her husband, the Bagobo, is a simple man, whom is satisfied of being a
farmer with the 2 hectares of land for his family.
On one hand, Amado, the one she loved before her husband,is portrayed as a tractor driver, whom
wears formal clothes every Saturday and a yet man whogives importance to his future as he wants to
study mechanical engineering someday. I see in thestory that in life, choices are given to us and yet
what we have to do is to discern and stand in thedecision we may select.
Hence, marrying is not a joke and to marry the Bagobo is not just a coincidence in Tinangs life but it
is her decision when she did so, even if she did not know yetthe reason why Amado had suddenly
gone.The last part of the story has some symbolic figures. Tinang still loves Amado even aftershe got
married to her husband. Reading the letter is a moment when Tinangs feeling for Amadohas
reawakened.
To cry is the first thing she does, then, she tries to recollect her first experienceswith him. A snake
comes in the scene sneaking towards her baby. As I analyze it, I see that snakeis the representation of
such discovery and poses threat towards her relationship with her family.Why the snake is going to
her baby? It is because that snake, if Tinang lets herself be taken byher emotion, can destroy her
relationship with her Bagobo husband. Indeed, the snake is about toattack her son for he is the symbol
and the fruit of the love that she and her husband sharedtogether.In the end of the story, the author
s symbolisms are saying that Tinang chooses to acceptthe consequences in the decision she made in
her life.
First, she stands up from her sittingposition telling that life must go on; then she embraced the
baby telling that she has toembrace her own consequences and situatedness and especially the people
whom God has givento her; next, she prayed and beg the almighty not to punish her after thinking
other things outsidefrom her married life saying that she realizes that her thoughts are wrong;
afterwards, shechecks the skin of the baby searching for some marks showing the possible scars in her
marriedlife after reincarnating the feelings she once had with Amado; and the last one, the letter
fellunnoticed among the cornhusk saying that she leaves that momentum without knowing that her
very strong feeling and longing to Amado, if is not totally gone yet, is at least eased and is left among
the cornhusks, which is meant to be consider as only a past of her life.
REFLECTION
Destiny is not a matter of chance, but of choice. This is a famous saying I have been
hearing since my early teenage years. After reading the story, I am affirmed that a relationship
tantamount to what Tinang and Amado had is not always certain.
Life is full of twisting events and human beings have to understand that decisions done in every
moment must be discernedwell and its consequences should be accepted. If I were Tinang, I would
surely find myself too thinking about the other possibilities thatcould happen in my life if I did not
marry the Bagobo.
However, though it is a little bit painful, Iknow that I cannot rewind anymore the time and what I have
to is to accept that life is like that.We tend to experience the excruciating consequences of our hasty or
even faulty decisions inorder for us to become a better and mature person someday in making
decisions once again inour life.
Hence, love in the cornhusk, as it is portraying that life has to be dealt with acceptance, Ilearn that at
the end of the day, I must reserve a part of myself a chance of being able to move onand cope with the
excruciating moments I may face in the future.
Who has the greater love than the other?
For me, it does not make any sense to talk about this question. I believe that both Tinangand Amado
equally love each other. However, life has a lot of uncertainties and we cannot besure what are we
someday and who are those people we will be living with in the future. Yet, forthe two of them, it just
simply means that they are not destined with each other not becausedestiny itself decided if, but rather
because they themselves are the ones decided for their owndestinies

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LOVE IN THE CORNHUSKS

By: Aida Rivera Ford

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