2nd Literary Piece

Let us now consider another imaginary speaker in Ma. Luisa B. Aguilar Cariño's
"The Secret Language" (1990).(Aguilar-Carino is now Luisa Igloria):

I have learnt your speech, I cook for tourists at an inn;

Fair stranger; for you They praise my lemon pie
I have oiled my hair And my English, which they say
And coiled it tight Is faultless. I smile
Into a braid as thick And look past the window,
And beautiful as the serpent Imagining my father's and
In your story of Eden. grandfather's cattle
Grazing by the smoke trees.
For you, I have covered But it is evening, and these
My breasts and hidden, Are ghosts.
Among the folds of my surrendered
Inheritance, the beads In the night.
I have worn since girlhood. When I am alone at last.
I lie uncorseted
It is fifty years now Upon the iron bed.
Since the day my father Composing my lost beads
Took me to the school in Bua, Over my chest, dreaming back
Each flecked and opalescent
A headman's terrified
Color, crooning the names,
Peace-gift. In the doorway,
Along with mine:
The teacher stood, her hair Binaay, Binaay
The bleached color of corn,
Watching with bird-eyes.

Now, I am Christina.
I am told I can make lace
Fine enough to lay upon the altar
Of a cathedral in Europe.
But this is a place
That I will never see.
Of a cathedral in Europe.
But this is a place
That I will never see.
1. Fill up a bio-data form for the poem's speaker: name, sex, age, birthplace, occupation,
highest educational attainment.
Name: Christina (formerly known as Binaay)
Sex: Female
Age: 50
Birthplace: Bua
Occupation: Cook at a tourist inn
Highest educational attainment: Studied in Bua, learned English, and skilled
lacemaker

2. Who is she talking to? (The poem, of course, may only be an apostrophe, an imaginary
address; she may only be imagining a monologue with a stranger.)
In this poem, the speaker is talking to a stranger. It can also be possible that
the speaker is having a monologue with a stranger reflecting on her own experience.

3. Why is it significant that the first thing she says she had learned was foreign speech,
English?
The line where she says she had learned was foreign speech, English,
signifies that she has left her native land, Bua, and her embracing the Western
culture. This also signifies the influence of colonialism on her upbringing and
education, where English becomes the medium of education.

4. Specify the things she has been constrained to do since her school days.
Since Binaay's school day, she has been constrained to oiling and braiding
her hair, to cover her breasts, and to hide her beads.

5.Why did she hide her beads that she had "worn since girlhood"? Explain the full
significance of this hiding "Among the folds of my surrendered / Inheritance." Note that later
in the poem, she says that every night she is "Composing my lost beads / Over my chest,
dreaming back / Each flecked and opalescent / Color, crooning the names, / Along with
mine:/Binaay, Binaay." Look up the word "opalescent."
The act of Binnay surrendering the beads she inherited and had worn since
girlhood is for me a form of submission. This act symbolizes the suppression of her
culture as she confides in Western culture. Her composing of her lost beads over her
chest every night signifies her act of longing for her culture as she remembers the
colors, and names including hers, Binaay. For me, the word opalescent means color
opal.

6. Regarding the reference to"the serpent/ In your story of Eden,"

(a) What is implied by, or what is the force of, the pronoun in "your story"?
The pronoun your in the line In your story of Eden signifies that the story
belongs to someone else, someone which have a great influence to Binaay’ life.

(b) Are the allusions to "serpent" and "Eden" ironic?

The use of biblical allusion to “serpent” and “Eden” is an irony. In the bible,
the serpent represents temptation, which indicates the constraints that Binaay has
 to follow, and the Eden, which in the bible is a paradise contradicts the experience
Binaay has.

7. Why did Binaay's father bring her to "the school in Bua"? Who is "terrified" by what?
Binaay’s father took her to school as a peace-gift. The headman is terrified
that Binnay’s father might not bring her to the school.

8. (a) Was Binaay's teacher a foreign woman? How do you know?

Yes, Binaay’s teacher is a foreign woman as suggested in the line, “The
teacher stood, her hair The bleached color of corn”.

(b)What is suggested by Binaay's recollection of her as “Watching with bird-eyes"?

Binaay’s recollection of her as “Watching with bird-eyes” suggests the
scrutiny the teacher gives to Binaay.

9. (a) What is significant about Binaay's new name, "Christina" in contrast to her native
name," Binaay"?
Binaay’s new name, Christina, signifies that she is embracing Western
culture and slowly departing from her native culture.

(c) Is there anything ironic about her new skill in making such "fine lace"?
Yes, irony is laced in her new skill in making “fine lace” as this symbolizes that she is
adapting to Western culture however she is still longing for her culture as suggested by
her hidden beads.

10. (a) Why does Binaay smile when tourists praise her lemon pie or her "faultless" English?
She smiles when tourists praise her lemon pie or her English as it gives
validation to her effort to learn the Western culture and to adapt to her new
environment.

(b.) How do you read or interpret Binaay's "father's and grandfather’s cattle" as
"ghosts"?
For me, this suggests the fading memories of her father and grandfather
including the culture they have taught and passed to her.

11. (a) In the final epiphany or revelation about Binaay's "secret language," how meaningful
are such details as night-time and Binaay being "alone" and "uncorseted," and lying upon an
"iron bed"?
In the final epiphany, these lines add emotional detail as these lines indicate
how vulnerable and sad Binaay was.

(b) What really is Binaay’s “secret language"

Binaay’ s secret language is her lost cultural identity that she longed for and
cherished in private. This is represented by memories that reconnect her to her true
self.