MENDACITY

 

An Analysis of a 21^st Century Philippine Literature entitled

Justice

by: Ralph SeminoGalán

 

INTRODUCTION

Justice is all about fairness, moral rightness and a scheme or system of law in which every person receives his/ her/its due from the system, including all rights, both natural and legal. One problem is that attorneys, judges and legislatures often get caught up more in procedure than in achieving justice for all. Do you trust the justice system here in the Philippines? Or you categorized it as unpredictable, biased, corrupt and slow? In short, the failure of the legal system.

 

BACKGROUND

●      Authorial information:

o   Name of the author

·        Ralph Semino Galán

o   His/her region and province

·        Lanao, Del Norte Region X

o   Educational and Family background

•He graduated as magna cum laude in AB English (major in Literature) degree from the Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology.
•Studied Literary and Cultural Theory at University of Santo Tomas
•Studied Poetry at University of the Philippines Diliman
•Studied to Philippine Science High School

o   List of Awards and Year

•His poems in English and Filipino have won prizes in the Philippine (1993) and Home Life Magazine (1998) poetry contests.

o   List of Works and Year Published

•From the Major Arcana (2013)
•Discernments: literary essays, cultural critiques, and book reviews by Ralph Semino Galán (2013)
•Sa Mga Pagitan ng Buhay at Iba Pang Pagtutulay (2018)
•The southern cross, and other poems (2005)
•Bongga ka 'day!: Pinoy gay quotes to live by(2003)

o   Textual information:

o   Justice was published in year 2014.

 

JUSTICE

By: Ralph Semino Galán

These are the accoutrements of her office

The blindfold symbolizing impartiality;

A golden pair of scales measuring the validity

Of evidence given, both pro and con;

The double edged sword that pierces through

The thick fabric of lies; thot’s feather

Of truth which ultimately determines whether

The defendants life is worth saving.

In J. Elizalde Navarro’s oil painting titled

Is this Philippine Justice? The figure

Of the Roman goddess Justitia slowly fades

Into thin air, swallowed by pigments

Cloud as doubts. In my uncertain country

Where right and wrong are cards

That can be shuffled like a pile of money bills,

Even the land’s chief magistrate

Is not immune from culpability; found guilty

He has to face the music of derision.

 

ANALYSIS

A.   Literary Genre

Poetry is kind of literature that evokes a concentrated imaginative awareness according through experience or a specific emotional response. It is arranged in stanzas and has rhyme and meter.

          As seen in the poem, it is composed of 6 tercets and consists of symbolisms that enhances the feelings or emotions of the readers towards the poem. With this, we could clearly understand and comprehend correctly the message of the poem.

B.  Analysis Guides

The following are our analysis for the elements the author used, as well as he constructed the poem.

Reader Response

            Our view on the entire poem is centered on the various symbolisms present in the poem. While the poem is short and concise, there are many important message or perspectives present. It is an interpretation of a painting showing Lady Justice. The poem also tackles or questions about the state of justice in the Philippines. It is known that the Philippines has very slow justice organization. Court trials are delayed for years and years.

Tone

            The tone of the poem is serious since the topic is serious itself.. He talked about how Justice is being applied in the Philippines. It increases their focus because the concepts being offered in this poem are important to the audience.

Point of View

            The poet uses Objective Viewpoint as he narrates some of the facts on the Philippine's justice system. He tells that Justitia looks like she is fading in the painting because as we can see in the justice system today, fairness and equality withdraw, lies are utterly believed to be the truth, and the treatment towards everyone is different. But after all, he didn't give such an emotion to it.

 

Diction and Style

            The diction and the style of the poem is formal. The language of the poem is sophisticated and there isn’t a use of slang language. The words are descriptive and are precise and polite throughout the poem, making the text or the poem creative.

Images and Symbols

“Blindfold” symbolizes impartiality, “golden pair of scales” symbolizes” equality or balance, the “double-edged sword” symbolizes power, protection, authority, vigilance and might. In the other lines, “Thoth's feather of truth” symbolizes justice between good and bad, the phrase “figure Roman goddess Justitia slowly fades” means that Justice is just a word, “right and wrong are cards that can be shuffled like a pile of money bills” means that the lie can be the truth and the truth can be the lie, and the “face the music of derision” talks about the judgement given by the judge. These are the symbols that the author used in his poem.

 

Sound Effects

            The poet used "assonance" as a sound device since it follows a repetition of vowel sounds within words or phrases. In lines 4-6, you can see words with vowel letters paired between their consonants. The words are also near enough to each other that some vowel sounds are noticeable.

Structure of the Text

            The poem is made of 6 stanzas with tercet on each. The meter used in the poem is free verse because it is not possible to identify what exactly is the meter used by the author in writing the poem Justice.

 

Theme

            Justice is supposed to be objective. It is without having bias and never favoring the strong nor the weak, the rich nor the poor, the righteous nor the wicked. But it is different from what it really has to be.

 

C.  Contextual Analysis

LINGUISTIC CONTEXT

In Ralph Semino Galán’s “Justice” the words "blindfold” symbolizes impartiality. " Golden pair of scales" that suggests equality, balance (fairness) and the astute weighing of evidence. "Double-edged sword which means the active force, a symbol of power, protection, authority, vigilance and might. "Thoth's feather of truth" that tackles the justice between good and bad." "The figure Roman goddess Justitia slowly fades" that means Justice is just merely a word. Nothing more, nothing less. "…the right and wrong are cards that can be shuffled like a pile of money bills…” this is the evaluating or analyzing the testimony of the accused with fairness and distinguishing the truth and the lies by assorting or classifying it. “…face the music of derision…” it is a judgment given by the judge which means that it is simply facing or accepting the cruel and contemptuous reality of the world of imprisonment. These words are figurative that enhances the reader's emotions towards the poem.

 SOCIOCULTURAL CONTEXT

In Ralph Semino Galan's Justice, there are inequalities that the Philippine society is facing. It includes other problems with the Philippine government like those corrupt officials. Given the example, of what happened in December 2011 to Chief Justice Renato Corona.

SUMMARY

The poem Justice explores the concept of justice and how it is applied in Philippine society. Although it is about the Supreme Court, in particular it also reflects other problems of the Philippine government and the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona was used as an example in the poem.

 

REFERENCES

Below are the indication of sources or websites we’ve searched up for the background analysis of the poem as well as the author.

Book/s:

 Uychoco Marikit Tara A.(2016). 21st CENTURY LITERATURE FROM THE PHILIPPINES AND THE WORLD. Rex Book Store Inc. 84-86 P Florentino St. Sta. Mesa Heights, Quezon City

Online Sources

Galán, Ralph Selmino.Ralph Semino Galán’s Author Page.Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/ralphseminogalan1972/

Galán,Ralph Selmino. Ralph Semino Galán’s Facebook Profile. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/ralph.galan

WorldCat Identities.  Galán, Ralph Semino Overview. Retrieved from http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-nb2010009146/

Kat Sts. Justice by Ralph Semino Galán. Retrieved from https://prezi.com/p/vyzfs0_kq59r/justice-by-ralph-semino-galan/

Del Prado, John Andrew M. , Valencia, Sooey. ‘Discernments’ gives critical writing a poetic language. Retrieved from https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/121983/discernments-gives-critical-writing-a-poetic-language/

K. Joy. 21^st Century Literature. Retrieved from https://ballenaskjoystem2017.blogspot.com/2016/08/answer-about-justice.html

Essay Bot. Summary of justice by ralph semino galan.  Retrieved from https://www.essaybot.com/sample/essays/detail?id=237229