Name: Flor Danielle O.

Malingin Date: January 28, 2020

Program: BSA 4 Subject: LIT 3

We Filipinos are Mild Drinkers

1. Who is the author?

“We Filipinos are Mild Drinkers”, written by Alejandro R. Roces

Alejandro Reyes Roces was a Filipino author, essayist, dramatist and a National
Artist of the Philippines for literature . He was better known for his humorous short
stories in English. During his freshman year in the University of Arizona, Roces won
Best Short Story for “We Filipinos are Mild Drinkers”.

2. When was this published?

“We Filipinos are Mild Drinkers” is dated back to the 1940s.

Year of launching: 1940

3. What is the theme of the story?

Simplicity and Humility

This is possessed by one of the characters in the story, the Filipino farmer, who
has the ability to give up his pride and still retain his dignity when he was being
offered to drink by the American soldier’s friend and said, “No, thanks. We Filipinos
are mild drinkers.” The lofty characterization that the American soldier enjoyed -
wine expert, devourer, and all, suddenly collapsed, downed by the humble lambanog
of the “mild” drinker. The humble “lambanog” then succeeds in representing the
soft-spoken Filipino and his identity in general.

The characters understood that they had diverging roles played — one being
superior, and the other being inferior. A competition therefore between the two is
established. They themselves could somewhat sense they were into it. One was to
maintain, or even augment, his reputation of being a wine devourer, even claiming to
have drunk medical alcohol and lotion without feeling their toxic effects. The other
was to stick to being a mild drinker using his mild drink.

In addition, same goes to the coconut tree that symbolizes the Philippines. Even
though it stands high to the sky, its leaves still sway down to earth as if remembering
the land that gave it life. We, Filipinos just like the coconut tree, wherever we might
be in this world and be successful in life, we don’t forget and tend to go back to the
home where we came from.

4. Outline/Summarize

Characters of the story:

Farmer - the humble Filipino who invited the American soldier for a drink.

Joe- the American soldier who was proud and confident regarding his
experiences with alcoholic beverages.

Setting:

Its setting is in the Philippines during the Filipino-Japanese war in 1945.

Plot of the story:

Introduction

When the Americans recaptured the Philippines, it was a common sight to

see American soldiers almost everywhere. They built an air base a few miles from
a barrio of a Filipino farmer. One afternoon, Joe, an American soldier was
walking on the highway and asked the Filipino farmer if there are bars in the
town.

Beginning of the action

Finally, this wine-devouring American soldier met with the Filipino farmer
to whom he offered a half-filled bottle of whiskey. The farmer refused, though,
saying that Filipinos do not drink it as they are but mild drinkers. Since there
 were no bars in the barrio, he invited the soldier to his nipa house and offered
some “lambanog”, the local liquor of the barrio.

Conflict

The Filipinos have a mild wine to drink, the “lambanog”, mocked by

American soldiers as jungle juice for its primitive and inferior quality. The
farmer thought that Joe might not like the jungle juice but the soldier told the
farmer to not worry about it as he have drunk everything. He boasted the
different kinds of alcoholic beverages he drinks —whiskey, rum, brandy, tequila,
gin, champagne, saki, vodka.. when he found out that Filipinos are mild drinkers.

Climax

Joe started to feel a mind blowing sensation after taking a shot of

“lambanog” while the farmer is still sober. After 3 shots, the american soldier
shows signs that he was drunk and started to hallucinate things. After
hallucinating, the soldier passed out laying on the floor flat as a starfish and fell
asleep.

Conclusion

The farmer knew that the soldiers had to be back in their barracks at a
certain time. So he brought Joe back at the air field because he was so drunk.
Joe’s friends were glad to see him back and thanked the farmer for taking him
home. After that, one of Joe’s friends asked the farmer if he wanted to have a can
of beer before leaving, then he replied, “No thanks, we Filipinos are mild
drinkers.”

5. Identify what type of literary criticism, why?

Socio-cultural: Post-Colonial Criticism

“We Filipinos are Mild Drinkers” was the author’s post-colonial work.

To define post-colonial criticism, it is a field of intellectual inquiry that explores

and interrogates the situation of colonized people both during and after colonization.
It may involve military conquest but extends to the imposition of the dominant
power’s values and customs on those conquered people. One can readily see that
Roces was into getting some message across, especially to the Westerners who are
known for their tendency to discriminate and belittle Filipinos in many ways. The
message is clear, unfolding in the arena where the ridiculed race has been
traditionally bullied by the above.

The story’s setting is patterned after the typical sights in Philippine countryside
during the war. We Filipinos are Mild Drinkers yields the writer’s presence mentally
and physically, recreates the reality that was extant during the World War II years,
uses “lambanog” as a symbol of Filipino identity.