A Critical Analysis on
“How my Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife”
By: Manuel Estabillo Arguilla

How my brother Leon brought home a wife: A critical analysis

Characters:
Baldo - He was one of the main characters in the short story. He was Leon’s younger brother. Baldo was unperturbed man, and he was quiet. He was the narrator of the story.

Leon - He was the oldest brother of Baldo. He was the husband of Maria. Maria called him Noel.

Maria - She was a beautiful and lovely. Her forehead was on a level with his mouth, her nails were long, but they were not painted, and have a small dimple appeared momentarily high up on her right cheek. She was tall and very still. Her fragrance was like a morning when papayas are in bloom.

Labang – The bull of Leon and Baldo.

Father – He was mildest – tempered, gentlest man. He was the father of Baldo and Leon.

Mother – He was the mother of Baldo and Leon.

Aurelia – She was the sister of Baldo and Leon.


Summary / Synopsis:
Maria was a wife of Leon. She was lovely and beautiful. Her fragrant like a morning when papayas are in bloom. Leon was lived in far place of Nagrebcan. Leon brought Maria to Nagrebcan to introduce to his father. The couple enjoys talking while in traveled riding in the cart hitch to Labang. Baldo who is quiet and observing his brother and spouse. When they arrived home, Baldo went to the room of his father. The room is quiet and dark. His father was smoking while sat in the big armchair by the western window. And they talk about Maria. Afterwards the door opened, and Leon and Maria came in. Baldo looked to Maria and went out to watered Labang which his father told to him.


Characterization:
Baldo is the narrator of the story because he is the one who relates us what happened to the story. Were Baldo is the younger brother of Leon. Baldo is a quiet person. It is very detectable that Baldo is observing his brother Leon and spouse how is Maria. When his father asks him “Was she afraid of Labang?” Baldo lied and says “No, Father, she was not afraid.” Even though Maria afraid. It means that Baldo like Maria as a wife of Leon but inside, he also admires the beauty of Maria. In here, the main characters were the couple Leon and Maria. Leon has a strong personality because he did not afraid to present Maria to his father as her wife. He was very proud of Maria as her wife. Maria truly love Leon because she fight for what she believe was right, it doesn’t matter if the world told her that it’s wrong. I could say that Maria and the mother of Leon plays and represent the Filipino women. The father of Baldo has a deep personality. He was a responsibly father because he use his righteous way as a head of the family. It only means that the father or the man is the authority. He doesn’t want Leon to go to the wrong way. So, he makes some trials to Maria trying to test Maria’s characteristic, her attitude, her looks, how she talks and the way she handle the situation. His mother was a responsibly mother. She does the light of the family and represents the Filipino women.


Settings:
The setting of the story was in Nagrebcan, Leon’s hometown. This story takes place in a farm where people would usually ride in carabao. The place was in the local province. In the story, Maria who was Leon’s wife described physically and with her posture as a conservative and traditionalist which would probably described as a Filipino woman. As an alternative, they took a shortcut in a field. In my opinion, one can visualize that there is some kind of a test for the two of them. Maria must surpass that trial. It was as there family of Leon is trying to test Maria’s characteristic, her attitude, her looks, how she talks and the way she handle the situation.


Plot:
The plot is compose of inciting action, rising action, climax, falling action, and conclusion. The inciting action was when “She stepped down to the Carretela of Ca Celin with a quick, delicate grace. She look lovely, she was tall. She looked up to my brother with a smile, and her forehead was on level with his mouth.” The rising action was when they took the dry bed of Waig as a substitute of passing the Camino Real and it was the wish of there father to go by Waig. The climax of the story was when Maria told Leon that she was afraid of his father in law maybe his father thinking of not liking her. The falling action came when Leon was searching for their father and her mother told them that his leg is bothering him again. The conclusion was when Baldo cross the threshold of his father and ask him about Maria. Afterwards the door opened and Leon and Maria came in. Baldo looked to Maria so lovely and went out to watered Labang which his father told him.


Themes:
The theme of the story is Love makes Maria and Leon go straight whatever struggles come will be ignore to them. I don’t know if there relationship will last long because Maria is a city girl while Leon is a barrio boy.


Reactions of the story:
My reaction of the story is, the story is good and it reflects to the modern youth even if the story is very old. I describe Maria as an example of Filipino women and also her attitude as a “mahinhin”. The couple Leon and Maria faces many trials while in traveled to Nagrebcan. Even though, Maria passed those trials. So, therefore Maria is very understanding kind of girl. The story talks about the characteristic of Maria, her attitude, her looks, how she talks and the way she handle the situation that riding a bull and passed through Waig. Therefore, basically a woman creates for men.