“ARMOR” by John Bengan

GALLARDE, CHARLES JOYCE L.

PEPON, CRIS DEVONNE P.
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John Bengan is a writer translator who's currently residing

in Davao City, Philippines. He earned his Bachelor of Arts
in English in University of the Philippines Mindanao,
where He also teaches literature and writing. His works
was featured in The Brooklyn Rail, Likhaan 6: the Journal
of Contemporary Literature, Hoard of Thunder, LIT, and
World Literature Today. He also holds an MFA in Creative
Writing from The New School, through a fellowship from
the Ford Foundation. John won several prizes from the
Philippine Free Press Literary Awards and his short story
"Armor" won first place at the 2013 Carlos Palanca
Memorial Awards for Literature.
 SUMMARY

The short story "Armor" written by John Bengan, revolves around the life of a talented gay
individual named Ronnie, who happen to be a shabu user at the same time. He was about
to end his life after all the unfortunate things that had happened in his life, but then
decided to just do it after the Miss Gay Pageant ends.
 SUMMARY

In order to make a living and prepare for the upcoming pageant, he has done several door
to door jobs offering makeup, hairstyling, as well as manicure and pedicure. Oliver, an
acquaintance, warned Ronnie that the Death Squad was after him. He started being more
conscious of his surroundings for the fear of dying in such a way. The Death Squad was a
group of hired men tasked to go after drug pushers. Unfortunately, Ronnie was on the list.
One day, he met Biboy, one of Tiago's former drug runners. The young man was looking
for a place to stay and Ronnie refused to let him in, but the second time he met Biboy he
took him after realizing he really need some help with his costume for the pageant.
Luckily, Biboy was an industrial artist back then so in exchange of staying in Ronnie's
place Biboy helped him.
 SUMMARY

Despite the suspicious men eyeing him, Ronnie continued his day. He would go on with
his jobs then gather materials for his costume. The day of the pageant has come and they
had already finished all the costume and gowns needed all that was left to do was to boost
Ronnie's self confidence. He then took a resealable packet out of his pillowcase and held it
closer as if he was about to smell it. After his own ritual, he felt like he was the most
attractive creature he once knew. Everybody was busy preparing at the backstage when
Ronnie and Biboy arrived. Along with the other contestants, Ronnie begun wearing his
gown with the help of the young man.
 SUMMARY

After that, Biboy said some encouragement to dismiss the other contestants on
Ronnie's mind but Oliver suddenly showed up as one of the contestants which
shocked him so bad. Since, Oliver was not actually worried about Ronnie being on
the list it was about the pageant after all. After Biboy calmed the atmosphere, he left
and decided to wait outside for Ronnie instead.
 SUMMARY

The pageant started with the introductions of different contestants, when it was
Ronnie's turn he gracefully dominated the entire stage. Since, it was his final purpose
and way he had come for. Ronnie stood at the back with other contestants after his
last pose. At the sea of crowd, he noticed a familliar bald man getting up from his
seat. He was getting closer and closer, which left Ronnie thinking that there'll be a lot
of witnesses in his death. But, instead of aiming a gun towards Ronnie, the bald man
took Biboy and dragged him out of the place. Without hesitation, Ronnie forcefully
ripped out his costume and ran across the crowd to chase after the two, but he was
too late. Biboy was gone.
 PLOT
STRUCTURE
 EXPOSTITION:

"The week Ronnie was planning to die, one

of his neighbors paid him a visit. Ronnie had
just come back from the seamstress, bringing
home a newly mended sheath dress he would
wear at the pageant, when Oliver showed
up."
 RISING ACTION:

"Ronnie was about to shut the gate when it

occurred to him. He could really use some
help after all. “Quick. Before I change my
mind.” Taking the bags from Ronnie’s hands,
the boy followed him to the house."
 CLIMAX:

"Ronnie was about to shut the gate when it

occurred to him. He could really use some
help after all. “Quick. Before I change my
mind.” Taking the bags from Ronnie’s hands,
the boy followed him to the house."
 FALLING ACTION:

"At 4:30 p.m., he prepared for battle. He strapped

the first layer of tape over his stomach, rolling it
tight around his waist, folds of excess flesh inching
up his torso. He donned two feminine panties, deftly
inserting pads over his behind. Carefully, he cupped
his soft penis and testicles, folding deep to reach the
hollow between his buttocks."
 DENOUEMENT:

"The crowd roared. Sweeping the hem of his gown,

Ronnie waved his golden arm at them. This was
what he had come here for, the chance to tower in
heels, look down with unbending grace at a crowd
filled with awe, to glide as though life were just as
easy. After striking a last pose, he walked back to
where the other candidates stood."
CONFLICT
Conflict with others and inner self. He have feared that
he will die in such a way just like the criminals because
he is also a drug user. Having the affiliation on drugs
activities, it have a negative feedback on community as
well being gay and queer have its own critic. Now
haunted by the stigma around death squad, he decided
to choose suicide instead.
 Gender and sexuality is the dominating theme. The short story
involves the life of a man, Ronnie, who is gay, or rather, as it is
revealed to him later, bisexual, as is evidenced by the affection
he holds Biboy in, and the loss he feels when the boy is taken
away.

THEME
 SETTING
Somewhere 2016 and 2020 where the drug war related
accidents were rampant. Somewhere on the urban in the
Philippines.
 Ronnie – main character. A drug user and having contemplating for a suicide
after few misfortune in his life but somehow postponed for upcoming Miss Gay
beauty pageant in the neighborhood.
Oliver – a main characters’ friend that told him that he was on the list and one
of Ronnie’s frenemy in the upcoming Miss Gay beauty pageant.
Tiago – a dead man killed by the Death Squad
Biboy – one of Tiago’s drug runners, he has a long nimble body and long
wingspan, and resembled a field bird with a handsome face. Helped Ronnie
create a costume inspired by medieval suit of armor.

CHARACTERS
 ANALYSIS

Understanding of the life of Ronnie

- The pressure and the misconception of being gay
- Drug abuse
- Poverty and stress
- Talents and sheer hard-work for pageantry