The Mats by Francisco Arcellana

One fine day, Miling receives a letter from her husband Jaime. Jaime came from an inspection
trip around the country. During his stay on the place, he met an artistic craftsman. He then asked the
craftsman to make mats for his family. Miling and their children were excited knowing that their
father brought with him mats. As soon as Mr. Angeles arrived home, he had dinner with his family.
Then all of them stayed on their living room, waiting for Mr. Angeles to unpack his pack and give
them their mats. Mr. Angeles then open the bag where the mats are. Each one of them receives a
mat with their names in it. Each of the mats was designed according to their own personality. After
receiving their mats, they realize that there are still three remaining mats inside the bag. They asked
Mr. Angeles for whom the mats are. Mr. Angeles then unfolded the mats slowly while telling them that
the mats are for their lost children. After this scene, there was a deep silent on the lighted part of the
house. All of them want to turn their back and to avoid the conversation, because for them the
conversation is too sensitive and too emotional. Upon reading the title, many thoughts come to my
mind about what is the story all about, but the first thing that came up to me is that the story is all
about fiction. But as I read the story Ive realized that it is a story about family. The storys setting
was on Nana Emilias House, this is where the Angeles family lived. The story was characterized by
Mr. Jaime Angles which is the father of the family who came from an inspection trip somewhere in the
country. Mr. Angles has a wife named Miling(Emilia Angeles), and has seven children namely
Marcelina, Jose, Antonio, Juan, Jesus, Susanna, and Alfonso. But a surprising revelation came up as
the story progress. The storys expositions is when Mr. Angeles arrived from his inspection trip. On his
way home, he send a letter to Miling(his wife), telling her that he had met an artistic craftsman and
he ordered it to make mats for him. This is the exposition of the story because it opens the readers
mind to what will be the story would be. It tells about who are the characters of the story. So in this
case, we now know that Mr. Angeles is far from his family, and Miling was his wife. The rising action is
when Mr. Angeles arrives home, his children and wife were all eager to see the mats that was made
for them. Because for them mats are only used during special occasion. They were all excited to have
their mats, each mats have different color that suits their own personalities. And one by one Mr.
Angeles gave the children their own mats, and the lighted part of the house was filled with
excitement and joy because of the gift given to him. In this part of the story shows the storys great
interest, and the bridge towards the climax, which is Mr. Angeles letting out 3 more mats. The climax
of the story is when all of them receive their own mats, and there are still three remaining mats that
are left unfolded. Mr. Angeles soon unfold it, and he announced that the three remaining mats are for
his three other siblings named Josefina, Victoria and Concepcion. This is the climax of the story
because it shows that the characters clash with each other. All of them are in deep silence because
they cant with stand the topic. Miling and Mr. Angeles argue that the topic is too sensitive for them
to talk about. But Mr. Angeles is too stubborn to listen to his wife. He even told his children that they
should not forget their siblings that were gone. This part is the falling action because it happens after
the climax. It resolves the climax; it is not the usual resolution of the climax because it doesnt
resolve the problem. The lighted part of the house was in silence for about a couple of minutes, all of
them were eager to turn their faces just to avoid to see the face of their father and mother. Miling
also bowed her head and gripped her clasped hand on her thighs. Ive came up with a conclusion that
the conflict of the story is Man vs. Self because Mr. Angeles wants to give the three remaining mats
to the three siblings who died; he was so emotional that moment. He doesnt care if the topic is too
emotional for them. It is seen in his face that he is too emotional, and the only way to burst out his
hidden emotion is to share it to his family. The story was uses omniscient point of view is used since a
third person narrator who knows everything about all the characters is all-knowing. The reader knows
about the thoughts and feelings of all the characters in the story. The story has a beautiful theme
which is the love of a parent for his children. We can see that Mr. Angeles loves all his children. He
doesnt care if they are still alive or not, whats important is that they have been a part of him, and
they will always be in his heart. Along the story we can see many things that symbolizes many things
in real life the mats in the story symbolize the characters of the story. It also shows the unconditional
love of Mr. Angeles to his children. It also symbolizes the tradition of their family that the mats are
passing on through generation. The silence brought about by the topic also symbolizes respect for
their lost siblings. The slow unfolding of the mats symbolizes that Mr. Angeles is treasuring the
moment. After reading the story I came up with this interpretation. The mats is one of those stories
that themed about family. We all know that love is the easiest thing to write but the unconditional
love that a parent has for his children is a tough one. Writers need a lot of experience for them to

relate and to clearly describe the feelings of this lost. The mats is trying to tell us that the value of
a person doesnt measure on how long it stayed in our side, but it is measured on what impact they
had made on us. This is what Mr. Angeles feels, even though the topic is so emotional, he still
pursues the topic.