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Lengua de Diablo
By: Merlinda Bobis

One of the most perplexing and bizarre excerpts that roams until today is Lengua de
Diablo from Banana Heart Summer. This was written by an award-winning Bicol-pride,
Merlinda Bobis, a Filipino-British writer who was acclaimed for writing novels that were later
translated in three languages. Lengua de Diablo is about a girl who suspected a devil took her
father’s tongue because he barely speaks in their house. Etymologically, “Lengua de Diablo”
basically means “The Devil Ate My Words,” metaphorically speaking, it makes a lot of sense
since “lengua” in Spanish means “tongue.” The excerpt aims to tackle the socio-economic
situation of the author’s birthland, the Philippines. Bobis showed an applaudable and intensive
description of Philippine society in early 2000’s. Times had been hard in the Philippines in those
days; many has been laid off from their jobs. Lengua de Diablo is an effective literature that
reflects the hardships of the Filipinos during the depletion of the country’s socio-economic
competence.

Aside from the aforementioned gist of the story, the literature features a typical Filipino
family. It takes off after a girl noticed that her father is not saying a thing when her mother is
complaining. The head of the family here has just recently terminated, hence, his wife often
nagged him about the hardships she is experiencing. Every time this happens, the father bothers
not to put up a fight; he would rather reply to his wife calmly with these words, “The devil ate
my words.” Their child noticed this and suspects that her father’s tongue has been eaten by a
devil. She believed that her father traded his tongue in exchange of her mother’s comfort;
however, the devil has a nature to deceive that is why it does not stand on its word. It was later
revealed that the devil she had been talking about is her father’s employer who ceased his father
from his job as a mason. The father’s job gives the readers a hint that the father was denied of
education because he is stuck only in one field. At the end, the child wonders how the devil
scrumptiously ate her father’s tongue.

The context of the story is Philippines of early 2000’s when patriarchy was still the only
system that Filipino families can only accept. Patriarchy is a traditional structure where males
have more privilege than females. [ CITATION Lin20 \l 13321 ] It has been passed down from
generations to generations which was transmitted to Filipinos when it was colonized by
Spaniards, stated by [ CITATION Noe15 \l 13321 ] In layman’s term, males are the ones responsible
for providing everything in exchange of their dominance. In the story, since the father was not
able to provide for the family due to his dismissal from work, every time his wife complains, he
would simply say that the devil ate his words because as a man, he is expected to work for his
family. The father feels that he does not have the right to counterattack his wife’s argument
because he does not have anything to be proud of at the moment. The story also reflects the
Marxism in the country. Marxism is a theory related to society, economy, and politics,
introduced by an acclaimed theorist, Karl Marx. [CITATION His09 \l 13321 ] It is stated that the
father has been recently laid off from his masonry work which we all know that it is under blue
collar jobs. Here, poverty and abuse of power is reflected by the family and the father’s employer
respectively. Early 2000’s has increased its poverty rate plus capitalists often used their power to
step down on people in the lower class; that scenario is clearly stated in the story where average
people cannot even afford electric fans plus the employer removed the girl’s father for a cheaper
rate worker to save money even though he can definitely afford it.

The story was narrated in the little girl’s point of view which signifies her innocence. The
girl has no idea that his father’s silence is because of his bruised ego and not because he traded
his tongue to the devil. Her ignorance gives the story an impactful message. Bobis used the girl
to show an unbiased viewpoint of the country’s socio-economic status. The author also used
different structures to artistically deliver the story. Since the speaker is a child, the diction used
are primarily mediocre. Bobis also used tons of adjectives to engage the reader’s minds and to
give them a picture of what their life is, of how the devil devour her father’s tongue, and the
grievance of his father from being incapable of fulfilling his promises. Overall, the structure has
been deeply conceptualized.

Lengua de Diablo is a literature that mirrors the socio-economic situation of the

Philippines in early 2000’s. It clearly shows that poverty and unemployment impact mainly the
lower class to average family. Albeit many people are suffering from this system, there are also
capitalists who chose to prey on poor to secure their wealth. The story is effective enough to
deliver the message to debunk capitalism and Marxism in the country. It serves as a gateway to
Filipinos to open their minds to new system that will greatly benefit both skilled and office
workers. The literature also provides tumultuous messages that the author imparted to the story:
family must help each other to eradicate small problems, education is important, transcend
compassion to everyone because not all has the same privilege. All in all, the story was
scrutinized to perfection to create a statement that is loud enough to be heard. There is no doubt
that, Bobis, an award-winning author will use her voice to address these problems in the mode
that she is accustomed to.

References:

History.com Editors. (2009, November 9). Karl Marx. Retrieved from HISTORY:
https://www.history.com/topics/germany/karl-marx

Napikoski, L. (2020, January 24). Patriarchal Society According to Feminism. Retrieved from
https://www.thoughtco.com/: https://www.thoughtco.com/patriarchal-society-feminism-
definition-3528978

Noemi Medina, e. a. (2015, September). The Culture of Patriarchy and Its Effects on the Human Rights of
Girl-Children in Cagayan de Oro and Claveria, Misamis Oriental: Implications to Policy
Formulation. Retrieved from https://dirp3.pids.gov.ph/:
https://dirp3.pids.gov.ph/webportal/CDN/PUBLICATIONS/pidsdps1544_rev.pdf