Technological University of the Philippines College of Liberal Arts English Department

Short Story Analysis

THE MATS
(Francisco Arcellana)

I.

SETTINGS: a. Place: Nana Emilias House b. Time: The time setting for the action is in the afternoon. This story happened somewhat between 1950s up to the present time. There is no specific season for the said story but the story evolves in the evening.

II. CHARACTERS: a. Protagonist: Mr. Angeles b. Antagonist: Himself III. PLOT: a. Exposition: The story is started by Mr. Angeles who is coming home for his periodic inspection trip. Then he had written in Mariveles to Nana Emilia that he has a surprise to him that he bought mats that are made by an artistic craftsman at this area. These mats have colorful designs with their own distinguish weaves, design, and colors. He is excited to give it to them all. . b. Rising Action The rising action is when Mr. Angeles is giving his surprised gift to the whole family. And the siblings were very excited to get their gifts. And one by one, on the lighted area of the house, he gave the mats with distinguish names and symbolism on it. c. Climax The highest part of the story is wherein they all get the mats but there are 3 remaining mats that must be unfolded. And Mr. Angeles unfold it one by one and he speaks in a loud voice that he offers this simple mats to his 3 dead siblings which are Josefina, Victoria, and Concepcion d. Falling Action The falling action of the story is where Nana Emilia and Mr. Angeles argues about this sensitive issue that they must forget already because they are dead but Mr. Angeles is so stubborn that he emphasized that these children must not be taken for granted

e. Denouement The denouement of this story is when the cihildren heard the word exploding in the silence. They wanted to turn away and not to see the face of their father and also when Nana Emila shivered once and twice, bowed her head, gripped her clapsed hands between her thighs. f. Ending At the end of the story there was a total silence on the house. Then the mats were unfolded and each name was slowly revealed. And the mats for the 3 dead siblings were described. IV. CONFLICT: Man vs. Himself Because Mr. Angeles wants to commemorate his 3 siblings and he was so emotional that this sensitive issue must not be talked about and also the emotion was look before in himself and he find the way out to burst that emotion by offering mats to the 3 siblings V. THEME: We must not forget and take for granted the people whom passed away because they contributed to our life and we must respect them by commemorating them.