A Literary Criticism on Maria Elena Paulma’s "The Bougainvillea"

By: Rhynie Jane Salvaleon

Filipinos grew up believing hundreds and thousands of superstitious beliefs such as Oro, Plata, Mata (Gold, Silver, Death) and crossing path with a black cat is a bad omen. People believe the existence of magic, witchcrafts, invisible forces such as spirits and demons. One of the stories that can open people’s mind when it comes to superstitious belief is the story of The Bougainvillea. It is one of the pieces in Maria Elena Paulma’s Book of Southern Stories and Strays which tells about a tree that is believed to be a home of dili ingon nato (not like us).

The whole story revolves around the point of view of a child. Before he was even conscious, the bougainvillea had already wrapped itself along the wire link fence that separated their house from the two-lane concrete street outside. Everyone who passed by always turned for a second look and awe not just because of its magnificence but because they believe that beneath the brightness of its flowers and vibrant leaves lay a whole different world they could only whisper about. There were whispers though, the bougainvillea dislike being touched. The first time anyone came near with his shears, they say the shears fell from his hands because of the thickness of the stem. Everyone believe that the accident had something to do with the bougainvillea. These theories were proven right when his father’s brother, who doesn’t believe in things like spirits, came to visit. He was too noisy, snipped too fast and had no respect for the bougainvillea. He did finish his job but that night, he was brought to the hospital because of his ring finger, where his wedding band resided, became swollen. The narrator has 2 friends namely – Bansing and Elsa. Bansing is his next-door neighbor while Elsa is just across the street. It came quietly, the day Bansing was possessed. Bansing was to have more several more seizures from the possession. After a week, Bansing went back to the streets again. About two months after Bansing’s possession, Elsa disappeared from the streets and the games. Her mom scolded her, asking her what had possessed her to do such a thing. There were whispers from Elsa’s classmates that she’s one of those who came in late after recess, the trail of sickly sweet smoking following her, the smell was identified in whispers as Mary Jane to hide its real name, marijuana. Two possessions in one summer, and all because of the bougainvillea which continued to bloom on the summer heat.

The story itself shows that the females are really close to troubles than men. The author might want to spread awareness against the abuse among females. As you can read the story, the narrator, which is probably a female, Bansing and Elsa experienced more traumatic experience rather than the male who did something with the bougainvillea. Firstly, in Bansing’s situation, one of the highlights in the story was Bansing’s possession which in reality, she really wasn’t possessed. She explained the whole situation to her childhood friends after a year. “The night before she was possessed, someone had lifted the mosquito net and crawled into the single mat on which she lay.”, which means someone has raped her. According to the Rainn organization, majority of raped victims range from 12-17 and 48% of the crime occurs when the victims are sleeping which is actually matched in Bansing’s happening. Secondly, Elsa smells like marijuana, also shows that women can easily be a victim of such substance but gets weaker compared the men.

In Campbell’s (1996) Theory of Modern Superstition, people view phenomenon as an evolutionary ‘survival’ and to invoke psychological theories which neglect both culture and history. Another theory that may help for this story is Griffiths’ (2014) A Theory of Superstition in which he states that the superstition implicitly or explicitly asserts a particular causal connection without containing any account of how it works. If any explanation were in evidence, the term ‘superstition’ would no longer seem especially apposite.

The story in the end explains what in reality happened but people won’t believe the fact and they stick to their superstitious belief. These superstitious beliefs can affect people’s behavior and state of mind like what happened to the mother’s narrator who believed that the bougainvillea had something to do with the accident which actually doesn’t. In the narrator’s accident, she slipped from the bough. In his uncle’s, his finger accidentally pricked the thorn. In Bansing, she was actually raped. Lastly, Elsa was into marijuana. And the narrator’s mother believes the bougainvillea so she decided to cut it down. As for me, these superstitious beliefs are not really true since I have a pet cat which happened to be all black but I don’t find it to be a bad luck, he’s actually as sweet as the other cats. So in conclusion, these beliefs might cover the reality of what really happened since superstitious beliefs are passed generations to generations that even other can’t explain anymore why is it not allowed to do this or that.