Names: Precious Evora, Kyla Gynell Trono and Nonilon Sapungan

Title: Bringing the Dolls

Author: Merlie Alunan

Bringing the Dolls

For Anya

Two dolls in rags and tatters,

one missing an arm and a leg,

the other blind in one eye—

I grabbed them from her arms,

“No,” I said, “they cannot come.”

Each tight baggage

I had packed

only for the barest need:

no room for sentiment or memory

to clutter with loose ends

my stern resolve. I reasoned,

even a child must learn

she cannot take what must be left behind.

And so the boat turned seaward,

a smart wind blowing dry

the stealthy tears I could not wipe.

Then I saw—rags, tatters and all—

there among the neat trim packs,

 the dolls I ruled to leave behind.

Her silence should have warned me

she knew her burdens

as I knew mine:

her clean white years unlived—

and paid my price.

She battened on a truth

she knew I too must own:

when what’s at stake

is loyalty or love,

hers are the true rights.

Her own faiths she must keep, not I.

CONTEXT

 Background of the Author

Merlie Alunan is a Filipina Poet who was known for winning First Prize for
Poetry in English for her collection entitled Tales of the Spider Woman. Moreover, in
1975, Alunan received her M.A. in Creative Writing from Silliman University while
being a professor at the University of the Philippines in Tacloban, where she resides.
She has received numerous awards for her writing, including the Lillian Jerome
Thornton Award for Nonfiction, Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas, and the
Philippines Free Press Literary Awards. Besides, she wrote books of poetry including
Hearthstone, Sacred Tree (Anvil, 1993) and Amina among the Angels (UP Press,
1997). Her other works also include Kabilin: 100 Years of Negros Oriental and the
anthology Fern Garden: An Anthology of Women Writing in the South (Blog Spot,
2012).

Alunan was born on December 14, 1943, in Dingle, Iloilo. She teaches at the
Creative writing center in the University of the Philippines Visayas Tacloban College

Her awards include: (Alegre, 2019)

 Lillian Jerome Thornton Award for Nonfiction

 Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Literature
 National Book Award
 Sunthorn Phu Literary Awards
 Ani ng Dangal

She has significantly contributed to the growth of Philippine literature

particularly in the Visayas and Mindanao. She also did workshops with her specific
advocacy since she noticed the lack of models for the aspiring Waray writer and the
literal absence of any reading materials in the language. Ma’am Merlie continued to
grace cultural events, conduct seminars and read poetry to young and old audiences
in whatever season of her life.
She stopped writing after starting her family of five children. Alunan had
begun work on a Ph.D. but had lost steam owing to familial pressure. She only began
composing poems again in her early forties, when she was struggling to raise her
children alone. By working as a teacher, she was able to support her five children on
her own. In this way, poetry gave her the strength and sanity to see things clearly.
(Shū, n.d.)
  Background of the Text

The poem “Bringing the Dolls” written by Merlie Alunan is about the
relationship of the mother and her child. In the poem, Alunan used symbolism and
imagery to concretize the difficulties of letting go. (Tayoba, 2009) Moreover, the
poem Bringing the dolls reflects the author’s own experience with her family. Infact,
the poem has a subtitle “for Anya” which directly pertains to her daughter.

 SUMMARY

Merlie Alunan's poem Bringing The Dolls is about a mother's awareness that in
moving on, she doesn't have to bring those that seem unimportant, but only those
that are essential to her. A mother-daughter bond, as well as the daughter’s dolls, are
depicted in the poem.

The mother and her daughter are moving to a new location, since there is no
room for clutter, the mother told her daughter to leave the two shabby dolls behind.
The mother is adamant about leaving the dolls behind, whilst the daughter is
saddened by her mother's decision and appears hesitant to let go.

The poem concludes with the mother's realization that she can't control or
alter what another person considers value or worthless, thus she can't change what
her daughter holds dear and precious - even if it looks tattered and ragged.

CHARACTERS

 I - the persona in the poem “Bringing the Dolls.” She is the mother in the poem who
tries to leave the past (things that are unnecessary) and bring only what seems to be
necessary for her.

 She - the daughter of the persona in the poem. She owns the ‘tattered and ragged
dolls’ and wants to bring them as they leave. She felt deeply sad when they left
because her mother wouldn’t allow her to bring the dolls.
SYMBOLISMS

 Dolls - represent memories - and broken dolls connote negative memories or ugly
past. However, these dolls symbolize happy memories for the child.

 Bringing the Dolls - symbolizes hope.

 Luggage - symbolizes departure.

 Seaward - the denotative meaning of seaward is towards the sea (open). The sea
usually symbolizes freedom and peace - which means that the mother and child are
headed toward freedom and peace as they leave the dolls behind. It also means
turning their back from where they were - “headed towards the sea” or “the boat
turned seaward.”

 Wind - it symbolizes change. The wind means there will be changes in their lives that
will blow away the past. On the other hand, “the wind blowing dry the stealthy tears
in their eyes”, means it is a painful change.

 Boat - in this poem, the boat represents the mother-daughter journey as they leave
behind the past. It also symbolizes the mother who is trying to leave the place.

 Silence - the silence of the child symbolizes her grief and pain that she cannot
express freely. It symbolizes her loneliness in that situation.

MOTIFS

 Rags and Tatters - it emphasizes the undesirable circumstance that is happening in

the characters’ family.
  Leave Behind - the repetition of this word emphasizes the theme letting go.
Something or someone has to let go.

THEMES

 People perceive things differently.

o We choose to select different aspects of a message to focus our attention

based on what interests us, what is familiar to us, or what we consider
important (Saylordotorg, 2010).

The poem depicts the differences in the mother and child’s perception on
what is important and not for each of them. The mother explicitly showed her
view that the broken dolls are no longer important - “Each tight luggage I had
packed only for the barest need; no room for sentiment or memory to clutter
with loose ends,” while the child, in her silence, implicitly showed to the
audience that what her mother thinks insignificant is so much precious and
valuable for her.

 Actions have consequences.

o Newton’s third law of motion says: in every action there is an equal and
opposite reaction. Every action and decision we make has a consequence we
must be prepared to take. Moreover, for ourselves and for others, everything
we think, say, and do has ramifications. Because everything is interrelated, our
activities ripple out like ripples on a pond, affecting others.

This is manifested in the action that the mother decided to take - to leave
behind the dolls (the past) that the daughter holds dear. It affected not just
her child, but also herself.
 Letting go brings up lots of resistance and pain.

o Letting go is never easy. To let go means to become aware of your own

internal resistance. To let go is to experience the grief and anguish that comes
with letting go of everything you once considered useful, worthy, and
precious and that are things that now have no actual value or meaning to you.

This represents the mother and the child who tries to refuse to accept the
deep emotions that they feel. However, even though the mother tries to
resist the feeling of sadness - she cannot hide the fact that she is deeply
affected.

 Life moves on and so should we.

o Moving on entails forgiving and forgetting about the people, things, and
memories from the past. Sometimes we have to surrender everything we
used to have in order to move on to the next chapter of our lives.

The poem portrays two people when facing the challenge of moving on. The
mother accepts the consequences of her decision to move on but the child
chooses to still hold on to the past happy memories that they had (with the
father).

 Broken Family
o The poem also manifests a theme of a broken family. It is shown using the
symbolism of the broken dolls and the mother and child leaving. The poem
shows how families are broken by either violence or infidelity. This also gives
an idea of how greatly affected children are in parents separation.

 Holding On or Faith

o The child in the poem decided to believe and trust that their family will still be
fixed from separation. Despite how hard and depressing it may seem,
 negative thoughts can be overcome if one holds on and keeps his/her faith
that everything will be okay.

Metaphor:

 Doll’s one blind eye- the child is likened to a doll that is blind in one eye. This means
that the child is blind to the truth (the reason behind their departure).

 Doll’s missing arms and legs- is a metaphor for the mother. She is missing an arm
and a leg could also mean that she is missing her other half - which is the father.

Foreshadowing:

 The ‘rags and tatters’, ‘missing of arm and leg’, and the ‘missing of one eye’ in the
first stanza foreshadows the negativities and the sorrows that the characters will
experience in the succeeding lines.

Imagery:

 Visual Imagery

o In the first stanza, lines 1-3, the poet appeals to the reader's sense of sight by
portraying something that the speaker or narrator of the poem sees. This
helps the audience to imagine what the dolls look like as described by the
persona. It contributes to the overall tension, tone, and message of the poem.

o “..stealthy tears I could not wipe…” This visual imagery allows the audience to
deeply feel the emotion of the child and the mother towards the situation
they are in. It shows the pain of moving on.
  Tactile Imagery

o “A smart wind blowing dry the stealthy tears in my eyes” This imagery lets the
audience feel the emotion of the persona in their journey of moving on. The
audience realized that the mother is also affected but she doesn’t want to
show it.

 Auditory Imagery

o “Her silence should have warned me…” This auditory imagery allows the
audience to sense the grief of the child longing to the memories that she
needs to leave behind. She is deeply affected that her grief can’t be described
in words or in action.

Personification:

 Smart wind drying the tears- the wind is given a human quality: smart. As if the wind
is “smart” enough to sympathize with the feeling or the emotion of the two
characters: ‘a smart wind blowing dry the stealthy tears I could not wipe’ wiping
(drying) away the tears that the mother cannot wipe. Aside from that, it is not an
ordinary wind - it is an unusual feeling which one cannot dare to refuse.
 Reader’s Response Criticism

Interpretation:

The poem entitled “Bringing the Dolls” written by Merlie Alunan talks about the pain
of letting go of the things which are dear to a person and the burden of moving on from the
painful past. It is a sad story about a mother and child whose perspectives are different
when it comes to what they believe is important. Alunan uses imagery and symbolisms to
manifest the theme of a broken relationship, letting go, and pain.

Dolls are usually loved, valued and adorned by young girls. However, in the poem, the
dolls are found in rags and tatters. These dolls seem ready to be replaced and thrown away
since they are found or put in "rags and tatters." In this poem, the dolls represent memories
- the memories of their family to be exact. However, why are they found in rags and tatters?

The first doll which is described as "missing an arm and a leg" and the other doll
which "is blind in one eye" shows the theme of brokenness. These memories are already
tainted with negative events. These are no longer the beautiful and happy memories they
once had. This signifies their broken family. However, despite their condition, the child still
embraces and holds the dolls. It represents how she values the dolls despite their poor
condition. In other sense, it is the memories of their family (despite the brokenness) that she
values and holds dear. Her action shows unwillingness to leave them behind or forget these
memories.

However, the persona (mother), shows her authority over the child by grabbing it
from her and makes an irrevocable decision that these two dolls should be left behind. The
mother grabbing the dolls from her hands combined with the words "No" is her strong act
of refusing not to bring the dolls with them. This line also shows that they are going
somewhere ("they cannot come").

The second stanza reveals the concept of letting go. The “Tight luggage I had
packed” shows her strong resolve to leave. Bringing only their “barest need” and leaving
the dolls show that she finds these dolls unnecessary. This means that she is prepared to let
go of all the miseries and unimportant things in her life. In other words, bringing the ugly
memories will just “clutter” or damage her resolve in finding peace and calm if she holds
onto these things. The mother wants her child to realize that in moving on one needs to
learn to let go of things which are no longer necessary and useful.

The third stanza attempts to communicate the concept of progressing in life and
moving away - “the boat turned seaward.” However, as they move on - it is impossible to
escape the pain and burden of letting go of someone or something that is so dear to you -
no matter how you try to hide your agonies. The pain of letting go and moving on is
something both the child and the mother cannot wipe away nor remove. As they leave, she
realizes that the kid brings the doll. This connotes that it is not easy to let go of the past,
especially if you are letting go of something that is very precious to you. This explains that
no matter how far they run away from it, the memories of their family will remain in their
minds. Bringing the dolls, also shows that the kid hopes for her family to be fixed and be
whole again.

The last stanza brings us to the consequences of each characters’ choices: leaving
behind what used to be important and dear to you or hoping for some things that are
broken to be fixed again. The mother realized that her child’s silence conveys a message
that she is more affected by what happened in their family. The mother, herself, is aware
that she will also pay the consequences of her actions.

In the same way, these lines lead us to the idea that both the mother and child sees
the dolls differently. They have their own truth. For the child, she sees the dolls as happy
memories she can’t let go, while for the mother, these dolls are just ‘cluttered’ memories
that must be forgotten. Her daughter is said to be innocent of the reason behind her
decision to leave. This is shown in the line “her clean white years unlived”. This is also what
makes her go on or hope for their family to be whole again.

The child as a metaphor for the doll with blind eye is unaware of the truth that her
mother knows. Thus, “she battens on the truth” means she holds only the truth that she
knows and that is the happy memories of the past. It is her right - of which the mother
cannot deny from her and greatly respect. If the child chooses not to let go and move on, it
is something she cannot change. What is important and dear for the child and her
faithfulness, loyalty, or love towards someone or something depends solely on herself.

We make decisions about what we want to value and maintain in our hearts. We, like
the mother, do not have the authority to reprimand what is important to others based on
our own value system.
 Feminist Criticism

In feminist lens, the poem ‘Bringing the Dolls’ by Merlie Alunan is written in a
perspective of a mother. Alunan writing the poem in free verse shows a mother trying to
leave and forget her ugly past in order to move on in life, find peace, and experience
freedom. It gives the idea that the broken dolls also represent their broken family. This leads
us to the reason behind the broken family. Two of the reasons could be violence and
infidelity.

The doll which is missing an arm and a leg represents the mother missing her other
half- the father. The mother, who is actually looking for peace and so adamant to leave the
past behind, could possibly be a victim of abuse or violence (broken dolls) or the father
cheated on her (when what is at stake is loyalty or love). Her irrevocable decision to leave is
due to the fact that she is no longer happy with her marriage life - and wanted freedom for
her and her child. Even if it means they are no longer going to be the same (whole family) as
before. Her actions show the strength of a mother in making hard decisions. At the same
time, it shows that women don't necessarily need men to progress in life. This shows
women’s independence from men.

In Bringing the Dolls, the mother is able to exercise her right to be independent and
divorce her husband. She is able to regain herself by cutting the ties of marriage. Fighting off
the waves and the currents of brokenness, she is determined to leave what she no longer
finds significant in life - especially if these are the things that cause her to be chained. This
brings us to the Second Wave Feminism which concentrated on male aggression against
women and began to discuss domestic violence and rape. The second wave feminism also
focuses on women's emancipation, the right to take full-time jobs, divorce their husbands,
and go to university (Council of Europe, 2019).
References:

Differences in Perception. (2010). https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_business-

communication-for-success/s07-03-differences-in-perception.html

Merlie M. Alunan. (2012). http://poieinkaiprattein.org/poetry/merlie-m-alunan/

Council of Europe. (2019). Feminism and Women’s Rights

Movements. https://www.coe.int/en/web/gender-matters/feminism-and-women-s-rights-
movements
What does the poem bringing the dolls for anya tell us? (2012). Answers.
https://www.answers.com/Q/What_does_the_poem_bringing_the_dolls_for_anya_tell_us

Shū. (n.d.) Merlie M. Alunan. https://www.scribd.com/document/427726911/Merlie-M-Alunan-

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