Rona Poblador
Light and Shadow in Estrella Alfon’s “Magnificence”:
A Reader-Response Approach
Introduction
The short story “Magnificence (1939),” by Estrella Alfon at first seemed to be just
another typical Filipino family story where the characters; the husband, the wife and the
children, were all living securely and happily as revealed in the opening sentence
“There was nothing to fear, for the man was always so gentle, so kind.” But as I
continue reading, this was not the case clearly, for this story is an excellent portrayal of
betrayal of one’s trust and of a mother’s impregnable thrust. Moreover, it shows how a
mother becomes a woman who will stand and fight for the protection of her household.
Hence, a mother is not just a house figure of a wife who does household chores but
also of a strong woman who will do everything and anything for the protection of her
love ones.
Body
The story begins with a vivid description of a man who was so gentle and so
kind, thus there is nothing to fear in the side of the mother. Here, Alfon had set the tone
and mood of the story positively, as indicated in the sentences “At night when the little
girl and her brother were bathed in the light of the big shaded bulb that hung over the
big study table in the downstairs hall, the man would knock gently on the door, and
come in. He would stand for a while just beyond the pool of light, his feet in the circle of
illumination, the rest of him in shadow.”, yet it somehow gives the readers a thought that
there is a hidden agenda behind this positive atmosphere. It reminded me of the saying
I have once read that says “Be aware that hidden agendas exist in all situations”. In
addition, Alfon’s used of the words such as “light and shadow” connote that there’s an
enigma that calls for an immediate solution.We know that light symbolizes good and
