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    I Cries of Children

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    Mars
    The short story "The Cries of Children on an April Afternoon in the Year 1957" by Gregorio Brilliantes uses drastic time jumps in the protagonist Ricky's life to illustrate how susceptible the future is to change. The story connects the past and future through descriptions of light on an April afternoon. Ricky's thoughts and plans for the future, such as marrying his girlfriend Leny, constantly change throughout the story due to shifts in his perceptions, showing how unpredictable the future can be. Major changes in Ricky's love life and decisions emphasize that the future is open to endless possibilities rather than set, since perspectives and consequences may alter it in unexpected ways.

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    I Cries of Children

    Uploaded by

    Mars
    211 views2 pages
    The short story "The Cries of Children on an April Afternoon in the Year 1957" by Gregorio Brilliantes uses drastic time jumps in the protagonist Ricky's life to illustrate how susceptible the future is to change. The story connects the past and future through descriptions of light on an April afternoon. Ricky's thoughts and plans for the future, such as marrying his girlfriend Leny, constantly change throughout the story due to shifts in his perceptions, showing how unpredictable the future can be. Major changes in Ricky's love life and decisions emphasize that the future is open to endless possibilities rather than set, since perspectives and consequences may alter it in unexpected ways.

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    The short story "The Cries of Children on an April Afternoon in the Year 1957" by Gregorio Brilliantes uses drastic time jumps in the protagonist Ricky's life to illustrate how susceptible the future is to change. The story connects the past and future through descriptions of light on an April afternoon. Ricky's thoughts and plans for the future, such as marrying his girlfriend Leny, constantly change throughout the story due to shifts in his perceptions, showing how unpredictable the future can be. Major changes in Ricky's love life and decisions emphasize that the future is open to endless possibilities rather than set, since perspectives and consequences may alter it in unexpected ways.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    211 views2 pages

    I Cries of Children

    Uploaded by

    Mars
    The short story "The Cries of Children on an April Afternoon in the Year 1957" by Gregorio Brilliantes uses drastic time jumps in the protagonist Ricky's life to illustrate how susceptible the future is to change. The story connects the past and future through descriptions of light on an April afternoon. Ricky's thoughts and plans for the future, such as marrying his girlfriend Leny, constantly change throughout the story due to shifts in his perceptions, showing how unpredictable the future can be. Major changes in Ricky's love life and decisions emphasize that the future is open to endless possibilities rather than set, since perspectives and consequences may alter it in unexpected ways.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    In Gregorio Brilliantes’ short story, “The Cries of Children on an April Afternoon in the

    Year 1957”, the plot arrangement and its extreme time leaps in the life of the protagonist, Ricky,
    highlight the endless possibilities of the future and its susceptibility to change. The story is
    opened and concluded with the concept of time, discreetly illustrated through light, while the
    constant flashbacks and flash-forwards serve to portray sudden and evident changes in Ricky’s
    life.
    The author implies a connection between the past and the future through the use of light
    in a setting of an April afternoon. Illustrating the bright and serene opening scene, Brilliantes
    writes, “In its clarity the vertical light is as flawless, abstract, and infinite as the future.” This
    beautifully written description of light depicts the future as something abstract and limitless.
    Similarly, after all events have taken place in the story, the evening light of the same April day is
    described as “imperfect and irrevocable as the past”. This direct correlation between light, the
    past and future calls the reader’s attention to the concept of time itself. These brief illustrations
    emphasize the future’s boundlessness as compared to the “irrevocable” and irreversible past.
    Through the drastic changes in time within the plot, it can be seen that Ricky’s current
    thoughts, especially of his love life, are insignificant to the future’s tendency to change.
    Brilliantes emphasizes Ricky’s attraction to Leny, his current girlfriend, through his constant
    fantasies of her. In one particular fantasy, he dreams about her “small upturned breasts”.
    Although Ricky seems quite infatuated with her and even vows to marry her in the future, he
    realizes he doesn’t love her a mere four months later. This inconsistency shows how insignificant
    a thought can be, and how it can change drastically, yielding alterations in future events. As
    Ricky does not continue his relationship with Leny, he marries a girl named Mila Narciso. She is
    someone he considers a “snooty, empty-headed bitch” and the type of girl that has “little appeal
    for him” after being introduced to her. Although Ricky holds disdain towards Mila in the present,
    he gets married to her a few years later. His initial decision to make Leny his wife is discarded
    and exchanged with his desire for Mila. As illustrated in his love life, Ricky’s desires and
    intentions are unpredictable, and therefore any consequences of his actions are open to change as
    well. The future Ricky plans for himself is not set, for his perceptions on life may change, and as
    a result, his future.
    Beginning and ending the story with the concept of time compared to light, the future is
    defined as boundless in Brilliantes’ story of an April afternoon in 1957. The drastic flash
    forwards, flashbacks, and changes in Ricky’s life portray the future as mutable, as it can change
    from the slightest alteration in perception or thought. Ultimately, the future is intangible and full
    of endless possibilities, as seen in the plot of “The Cries of Children on an April Afternoon in the
    Year 1957”.

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