The short story entitled "How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife" is wirtten by an Ilokano writer in English, patriot, and martyr named Manuel Estabillo Arguilla. He was born on June 17, 1911 in Nagrebcan, Bauang, La Union to parents Crisanto Arguilla, a farmer, and Margarita Estabillo a potter. He studied at University of the Philippines where he finished BS Education in 1993. He married Lydia Villanueva, another talented writer in English. Manuel died August 30, 1944 at the age of 33. His said short story won first prize in the Commonwealth Literary contest in 1940.
The anthologized short story entitled "How my Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife" revolves around the character, Baldo, his brother Leon, and Leon's wife, Maria. The story begins with baldo awaiting the arrival of his brother Leon and his new wife at their home in the province. Throughout the story Baldo narrates everything that is happening including his observations about maria. Maria lives in the city so, Baldo and his parents observes how maria will handles herself in the rural environment. Maria was afraid that she won't be accepted by Leon's father because she may not able to adopt their way of living in the province.
The short story shows the cultural differences between Maria and Leon. It explores Maria's experiences as she encountered Leon's traditional household and community. It cannot be denied that there are big differences between the city and province when it comes to lifestyle, traditions, and culture. Despite this, Maria still manage to adopt the lifestyle in rural community she showed her resilience and ability to appreciate the simplicity in life in the province.
Social status is not a hindrance if you truly love each other one may have to sacrifice small part of his or her life in order to have a happy life.
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