Portrait of A Great Man

Portrait of A Great Man 

Title:Portrait of A Great Man

Author: Manuel A. Viray

Author's Background: Manuel A. Viray ( 1917 - 1995) has compiled poetry anthologies, essays on Philippine Literature, and was editor-in-chief of archipelago Quarterly. He worked in the foreign service corp of the Philippine government until his retirement. http://www.sushidog.com/bpss/authors.htm#viray

Vocabulary:
  • alacrity - a quick and cheerful readiness to do something.
  • placate - to cause (someone) to feel less angry about something.
  • capricious - given to sudden and unaccountable changes of mood or behavior.
  • pudgy - rather fat.
  • allay - diminish or put at rest.
  • discomfiture - a feeling of unease or embarrassment.
  • snarled - say something in an angry, bad-tempered way.
  • unkempt - not neat or orderly : messy or untidy
  • sleek - smooth or glossy.
  • guile - the use of clever and unusually dishonest methods to achieve something.
  • bureau - an office or department for transacting particular business.
  • Stenotypist - a keyboard machine used to record dictation in shorthand by a series of phonetic symbols. https://www.merriam-webster.com/

Characters: 
  • Dr. Rufino T. Ventanilla - Deputy Commissioner of a Bureau 
  • Mrs. Ventanilla - Wife of Dr. Rufino T. Ventanilla 
  • Serafin - Dr. Ventanilla's Chauffeur 
  • Zabala - Ventanilla's Stenotypist
  • Juan Tuviera y Sibulsibul - Chairman of the Finance Comittee of the Assembly
  • Dr. Adriano Perez - appointed Deputy Commissioners to succeed Dr. Ventanilla
  • Marcos Montalbo II - Deputy Commissioner's Special Assistant
  • Edrosa - Law partner of Ozamis, Graduate of Harvard 
  • Del Mundo and Estabillo - the assistant on mechanization
Settings: Philippines, Dr. Ventanilla's Office building

Exposition: The story starts of with Dr. Rufino Ventanilla and Seraffin. Dr. Ventanilla is the Deputy Commissioner of a Bureau and Seraffin is the Chauffer of Dr. Ventanilla. they are speeding along the street leading to Mabini Avenue. 

Rising Action: When Dr. Ventanilla entered his office and found himself barricaded by the hills of paper which means alot of paperworks on his desk. Being in the highest position in the building, he can feel the pressure, the stress which he has to deal with in his everyday life.

Climax: When Dr. Ventanilla received a message from his superior, firing him and transferring Dr. Ventanilla into another department. We see that Dr. Ventanilla wasn't happy. He went outside his office to absord the bad new that he received.


Falling Action: Perez and Marcos were talking about Dr. Ventanilla in a restaurant. They were talking about how Dr. Ventanilla's unhappy home life, that he might not be happy about his job. They even said that Dr. Ventanilla was given too much work which led him being unhappy. I read what Perez said, that the office needs more integration, proper distribution of work and more trust in the abilities of the lower ranked employees.

Ending: Two weeks after, Perez was appointed Deputy of Commissioner. Now, Dr. Ventanilla is relaxing luxuriously in the car with Seraffin driving him slowly towards Mabini Avenue.

Symbolism: The symbolism i saw was the one stated in the first paragraph which is "To the east, where the sun, intruder of sleep and stolen love, was slowly rising" i think, the sun, described as the "intruder of sleep" pertains to people who are experiencing stress and pressure like Dr. Ventanilla and the sun is interrupting the sleep of those people including Dr. Ventanilla. As for the "stolen love" i think that the sun is stealing couples love because when the sun is rising the couples have to get out of each others arms and get ready for work that is what i think about "stolen love".

Theme: The theme of the story is about stress and pressure in someones everyday life. 

Lesson: The lesson of the story is never be in a hurry. Choose the right path that will make you satisfied with your life. And take time to appreciate the small things.

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