Marhiz Joanna C.

Quino BSED-3

The Dead Stars

By: Paz Marquez Benitez

The Dead Stars is the masterpiece of Paz Marquez Benitez. She writes this love story in rich
prose with a heart-warming message. However, it doesn’t only talk about love and forbidden love but it
gives us an idea to understand how courtship, marriage, and fidelity were viewed during the early
twentieth century. This literary work serves us the mode to compare the past and the present on how
we do the process from courting to marriage and it helps us to see the fading traditional culture placed
by the predominant modern culture that we have now. Benitez wants to convey the theme that pertains
to forbidden love. It says that forbidden love is only apparent, curses, and disturbs the person; its banes
haunted the person until such time realized his faults. Also, the underlying theme is responsibility.
Alfredo is engaged to his fiancée yet, he distracts himself with another woman named Julia. He forgot
his responsibility towards his soon-to-be wife and the people around their town expected him to be
married to Esperanza.

This short story is entitled The Dead Stars because when the stars die their glow slowly
diminishes then eventually vanishes, just like the feelings of Alfredo to Julia. When they see each other
after long years it was then Alfredo realized that the feelings he had for Julia were already gone like the
sparks that died shortly afterward. Before it is burning strongly and intensely but as the earth keeps
routing they eventually burn out, fades away like a dead star. Moreover, if we see the story from
another angle The Dead Star also means memories of the past. That people sometimes look at it for a
while and realize that it has already been gone, dead and already vanished.

This short story also mirrors how women were represented as meek and dependent on men as
it was part of the tradition of our country at that time. Men are considered to be superior to women
and women are faithful to their partners. The author also used a lot of unfamiliar words and gave the
whole story a flowery tone. However, it also shows a sad tone to the whole story itself as the story
symbolizes things that are present but are left unspoken. It basically compiles everything about the
complex circumstances that every man has to go through in life. It emphasizes how men fall in love and
at the same time fall for lust and pleasure for another woman that they have just met. Alfredo Salazar
the main character was torn between doing what is right and what he wanted. And for being in that
shoe it’s really hard to choose, it's either you will hurt the first woman you love or the woman you’ve
just met for a short period of time. This love triangle between Esperanza, Alfredo, and Julia is rampant in
today’s life. But unlike in the story Alfredo chose to marry Esperanza and left with no choice but to let go
of Julia. In real life context, men will choose the women they fall in love with within just a short period of
time because in their logic if they truly love their first woman then basically they won’t fall in love with
another woman. Yes, it is indeed that men are a bunch of pleasure seekers. They like challenges when
they are in a relationship, it is like that they are looking for thrill and when they feel that there’s no thrill
anymore they will eventually abandon you, drop like trash and go back to its basic, to their first woman.
However, that will only happen if Cupid missed hitting his arrow to that certain man’s heart. But in this
game of love, nobody will win. Though, yes, men go back to their first woman or first love but it doesn’t
guarantee them that their first love will accept them with all her heart. That’s the consequence of not
being responsible for your relationship and being involved in a love triangle.

This story reminds me that when you love someone you need to stay committed to her/him. Fix
your eyes to that person only and do not fall for your earthly desires and to the temptations. Don’t
imitate what Alfredo did to his relationship with Esperanza. He fell for temptations and lust. And it’s
sad, really. So many relationships, marriages, and years are wasted and broken because of this. Some
men just cannot get enough. They find another woman or mistress, meaning, another world, another
adventure, and a new kind of experience. The legal woman has to find ways and be a fool just to make
her man stay. Isn’t it frustrating and sad? This has been a problem for centuries, and this 20th-century
short story proves that cheating is rampant in any era, place, and culture.

Don’t let yourself be trapped in a love triangle because you will only lose at the end of it. This
story gives me the idea that I should limit myself when I love someone or if love knocks on the door of
my heart. If you fall in love don’t give your heart and trust wholeheartedly, you should always give space
for yourself; to love yourself first before giving it back to the person you will love in the future. Choose
the right man you want to be with for the rest of your life and don’t rush marriage. Marriage is a serious
thing that you shouldn’t just decide on what you feel at that moment because marriage is a life-long
commitment. After reading this short story I realized that being in love is not as easy as I think it is.
Loving someone means that you need to prepare yourself to get hurt. Love until it hurts because you
can only say that you are in love when you are hurting because of that love. You cannot love someone
without having an idea of what pain is. For love comes with pain. But since I am a novice in this world of
love, I need to be extra careful for my young heart, be wise, and don’t let love make you the person who
is not you. Don’t be a martyr like Esperanza who already knows that his fiancée is cheating on her but
still endured the pain and be like a fool girl for accepting Alfredo back in her life again. However, that’s
love in action right there but for me, I won’t let myself fall in the trap of love. Don’t be fooled just
because you fall in love.