THE MATS

FRANCISCO ARCELLANA
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Francisco "Franz“ Arcellana, a National

Artist in Literature, was a Filipino writer,
poet, essayist, critic, journalist and teacher.
He was born in Sta. Cruz, Manila.  He is
the fourth of 18 children of Jose Arcellana
y Cabaneiro and Epifania Quino. He was
married to Emerenciana Yuvienco with
whom he has six children, one of whom,
Juaniyo is an essayist, poet, and fictionist.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

He received his first schooling in Tondo, but it was

at the Torres High School that he took up writing
actively as staff member of The Torres Torch, the
school organ. He entered at the University of the
Philippines (UP) as a pre-medicine student and
graduated in 1939 with the degree of Bachelor of
Philosophy.
 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

He joined the UP Department of English and

Comparative Literature and served as adviser of the
Philippine Collegian and director of the UP Creative
Writing Center, 1979-1982. Under a Rockefeller
Foundation grant he became a fellow in creative
writing, 1956-1957, at the University of Iowa and
Breadloaf Writers' Conference.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

He is considered an important progenitor of the

modern Filipino short story in English. Arcellana
pioneered the development of the short story as a
lyrical prose-poetic form within Filipino literature.
His works are now often taught in tertiary-level-
syllabi in the Philippines.
 SETTING
Place
Nana Emilia’s House, this is where the
Angeles family lived.
 
Time
The time setting for the action is in the
afternoon. This story happened
somewhat between 1950’s up to the
present time. There is no specific
season for the said story but the story
evolves in the evening.
 CHARACTERS
• Mr. Angeles - the head of Angeles family,
a
kind-hearted, affectionate and sensitive
man
who always thinks of his wife and children
• Nana Emilia - wife of Mr. Angeles
• Marcelina, Jose, Antonio, Juan, Jesus,
Susanna,
and Alfonso - children of Mr. Angeles
• Josefina , Victoria , and Concepcion - dead
family members
 SYNOPSIS
The short story "The Mats" is about the Angeles family. As the
title suggests, their story unfolds like the unfolding of a sleeping
mat. It begins with Emilia and her children waiting excitedly for
Mr. Jaime Angeles’s return from a business trip. In a letter, Mr.
Angeles told his wife that he had asked a mat weaver to make
decorative sleeping mats for each one in the family. To some
degree, the children knew what those mats would look like
because their mother kept one herself. This mat was a gift from
Emilia’s mother. It had been a witness to the couple’s wedding
night as well as to the illnesses and even deaths in the family.
 SYNOPSIS
Then the day came when Mr. Angeles arrived home at last. The
family had a long dinner. The table was cleared right after, and Mr.
Angeles had a cigar. When it was time to untie the mats, Mr.
Angeles cut the cord that held the bundle with scissors. He began
unfolding the mats one by one. He handed the first one to Emilia;
the second one to himself; the third one to his eldest, Marcelina;
the fourth one to his son, Jose; and three more to his children
Antonia, Juan, and Jesus.
 SYNOPSIS
Each mat had the name of the family member on it as well as
something special like the cadena de amor on Emilia’s mat, a lyre
on Marcelina’s, and the symbol of Aesculapius on Jose’s. Then
Emilia noticed the other three mats that were not yet unfolded. In a
different voice, Mr. Angeles told her that they were for those who
were not there. Emilia was speechless, and the children fell silent.
Mr. Angeles unfolded the first of three remaining mats; it revealed
a name that the children knew, but it seemed strange to them.
 SYNOPSIS
Nana Emilia told her husband, "You know, Jaime, you didn’t have
to. You didn’t have to." To this Mr. Angeles only said, "Do you
think I’d forgotten? Do you think I had forgotten them? Do you
think I could forget them?" Then he called out the names of his
dead children, namely, Josefina, Victoria, and Concepcion, as if
they were there to get the mats themselves. Emilia pleaded with
him to stop. To this he only said, "Is it fair to forget them? Would
it be just to disregard them?" The children wanted to turn away
from their father, but they did not. Emilia held back her frustration.
Mr. Angeles unfolded the remaining mats in silence.
 PLOT
Exposition
The story’s expositions is when Mr.
Angeles arrived from his inspection
trip. On his way home, he send a letter
to Nana Emilia (his wife), telling her
that he had met an artistic craftsman
whom he ordered to make mats for
him.
 PLOT
Rising Action
The rising action is when Mr. Angeles arrives
home, his children and wife were all eager to
see the mats that were made for them. Because
for them mats are only used during special
occasion. They were all excited to have their
mats, each of the mats have different color that
suits their own personalities. And one by one
Mr. Angeles gave the children their own
mats, and the lighted part of the house
was filled with excitement and joy because
of the gift given to them.
 PLOT
Climax
The climax of the story is when all of them
receive their own mats, and there are still three
remaining mats that are left unfolded. Mr.
Angeles soon unfold it, and he announced that
the three remaining mats are for their three
dead siblings named Josefina, Victoria, and
Concepcion. All of them are in deep silence
because they can’t with stand the topic.
 PLOT
Falling Action
The falling action is when Nana Emilia
and Mr. Angeles argue that the topic is
too sensitive for them to talk about.
But Mr. Angeles is too stubborn to
listen to his wife. He even told his
children that they should not forget
their siblings that were gone.
 PLOT
Denouement
The denouement is when lighted part
of the house was in silence for about a
couple of minutes, all of them were
eager to turn their faces just to avoid to
see the face of their father and mother.
Nana Emilia also bowed her head and
gripped her clasped hand on her thighs.
 PLOT
Ending
At the end of the story there was a total
silence on the house. Then the mats
were unfolded and each name was
slowly revealed. And the mats for the
three dead siblings were
described.
 CONFLICT
Man vs. Himself
 
The conflict in this story is when Mr.
Angeles opened up the topic about
their dead daughters and suddenly he
gets mad after reminding himself and
his family about it.
 POINT VIEW
Omniscient Point of View
The story uses omniscient point of
view since a third person narrator who
knows everything about all the
characters is all-knowing. The reader
knows
about the thoughts and feelings of all
the characters in the story.
 THEME
Filipino Values
The story talks about a typical Filipino
family culture, that portrays the close
family relationship, respect for the
elders, and remembering the family
members who passed away. The
closeness of family has always been a
major Filipino value.
 SYMBOLS
The mat
The mat symbolizes beauty and
elegance because of its intricate design
and embroideries. It also symbolizes
tranquility and good health and a
refuge from being sick. Further, it
symbolizes agony and sorrow as some
of the children who took refuge on that
particular mat died.
 SYMBOLS
The silence
The silence brought about by the topic
symbolizes respect for their lost
siblings.

The slow unfolding of the mats

The slow unfolding of the mats
symbolizes that Mr. Angeles is
treasuring the moment.
 LITERARY DEVICE
Parallelism

The paragraph which follows is a masterpiece,of parallelism.

The whole paragraph consists of three sentences.
The children knew what they were talking about: they knew just
what a decorative mat was like; it was not anything new or
strange in
their experience. That was why they were so excited about the
matter.They had such a mat in the house, one they seldom used,
a mat older than any of them.
 LITERARY APPROACH
Sociocultural Context

"The Mats", is a picturesque of a sincere Filipino father and a

husband who used the mat as the family's symbol of love for
one another and whose obvious leanings are toward the
upholding of the Filipino's culture and tradition.
It also capsulized the Filipino family's way of life--their
entanglement and disillusionment for each other but still
steadfast in preserving good old memories with the young and
even for the departed members of the family.
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