The safe house

by Sandra Nicole roldan

Group 4
Arcillas . Jalil . Liao . Relampagos . Maldisa . Sapii
author’s background
 Sandra Nicole roldan
is a teacher of literature and creative writing at

the University of the Philippines in Diliman,

Quezon City. She earned her degree in

Creative Writing at the same school. Apart

from winning the Philippine Free Press literary

award for essay, she is also recognized by both

local and international writing fellowships.

Definition of terms
 Unfamiliar terms
• Safe House – a house for revolutionaries to hide from the authorities

• terracotta /ˌterəˈkɒtə/ - is a reddish clay that is used for pottery and tiles

• genteel /dʒenˈtil/ - of or relating to people who have high social status

• perpetual /pərˈpetʃuəl/ - happening all the time or very often

• Talahib - is a coarse, erect, perennial grass

• Balasang – in Filipino, is young girl or young lady

• Camp Crame – is the national headquarters for the Philippine National

Police
SettIng
 Setting
The story of The Safe House is set in the 1980’s. It was around the time
when Martial Law was proclaimed by former President Ferdinand Marcos.
The protagonist lives in a house complex for genteel middle classmen that
was a housing project by the First Lady Imelda Marcos. Later in the story,
the child moved to live in her grandparents’ house and at times in the
prison cell of her father in Camp Crame.
Characters
 Characters
Little girl – the whole story revolves about

this little child, only five years of age, who

witnessed the happenings around the safe

house. She saw many relatives come by their

house and they often gathered in groups as

they talked about important things.

 Characters
Visitors – in the story, these visitors are mistaken to

be the relatives of the little girl. Some are wounded,

some are hungry, but all are hiding from the

authorities inside the safe house. They are actually

the rebels who are against the ways of the former

President Ferdinand Marcos. They are very

expressive of their hatred to the president, when he

showed up in the television.

 Characters
President Ferdinand Marcos – Pres.
Marcos declared Martial Law to control
various terrorist groups. Because of this
decision, many revolted, including the people
who stayed at the safe house. He is hated by
every character besides the protagonist for
she is too young to comprehend the things
that are happening.
 Characters
Mother – she is the woman who
entertained the many visitors coming in
and out the safe house. The mother of the
little girl and her brother; she was seen
crying in the corner and she eventually left
her children.
 Characters
Father – considering that the safe house is
owned by the child’s family, it can be
deduced that the father may be the leader of
the rebels. But in the story, the father was
only arrested for the possession of firearms.
Many years later, people still looked for him
in the home of the previously little girl.
 Characters
Imelda Marcos – she is the First Lady of
Pres. Marcos. She is responsible for the
housing project and house complex where
the safe house is located. She is known for
her luxuriousness, and is probably the
reason why the housing project was done
for genteel middleclass men.
P l o t
 ExposItIon
The story started with the author’s effort to let the readers visualize the
setting. The safe house is described as just another simple house found in the
housing project of the First Lady. But it was also said that for the people
who are in need, they all know exactly what to look for - the swinging gate,
the twisting butterfly tree, the cyclone-wire fence. A curtained window glows
with the yellow light of a lamp perpetually left on. The protagonist is also
introduced to be an innocent little child, living in the Martial Law period.
 RIsIng actIon
The rising action was when it was suddenly becoming clear that the visitors
are not relatives of the little girl, and that they are hiding from the authorities.
They could be treated in a hospital but they choose to come to the house. It was
when the visitors were crowding the television as the president’s face is shown
and the people erupted in uproar, cursing him and are clearly furious at him. This
is where we can say that these visitors are revolutionaries or rebels that are
against the government and are fighting for justice and/or to bring down Pres.
Marcos himself.
 C l I m a x
The climax was when more visitors came to the little girls house in the
guise of throwing parties for their children and celebrating other events. The
girl witnesses the adults playing a strange game wherein whoever laughs the
hardest wins, but she notices her mother crying in the corner murmuring
about taxes, bills, and other words the girl does not understand quite yet.
Soon, the mother leaves and never comes back, and a year after the father
gets arrested leaving the children in the care of their grandparents.
FALLING ACTION
The father is now convicted because of owning firearms and he is
held in Camp Crame. On weekends, the little girl sleeps in her father’s
cell. One night she dreamt of war, the little girl saw a blood orange sky
of where her bedroom and living room should’ve been (this shows that
the house was destroyed) and to liven up the place she painted the
moon, the sun, and a star to bring light to her life.
 Denoument
Years later, the little girl is little no more. She then realized that the
visitors that she thought were her relatives, were actually not. Martial
Law has ended but the safe house, she realized, was never safe. People
still looked for her father and she would just say he didn’t live there
anymore and the people would often just smile and walk away.
M e s s a g e
 M e s s a g e
Even privileged people have problems with the former president,
Ferdinand Marcos’s ruling. The safe house is a four-story building in a
housing complex made for middle class citizens of the Philippines, yet
the father of the little girl is an activist against the government. It sends
a message that Martial Law was that bad, that even the middle class
people are opposed to it.
 M e s s a g e
Even in the eyes of an innocent five year old girl, it is very clear how
cruel that time was to Filipinos and to their families. In the case of the
activists, at one point they became so toxic to the family, that the mother
was able to leave her children and never come back. The story basically
depicts the effects of the Martial Law in a home and in a family.
T h e m e
T h e m e
T H A N K Y O U