1. A Critical Analysis on Amador Daguio’s Wedding Dance, Gegorio
Brilliantes’ Distance to Andromeda and Nick Joaquin’s May Day Eve
An Occasional Paper
Presented to
Dr. Fulgencio T. Soriano
Department of English and Humanities
College of Arts and Sciences
Central Luzon State University
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements of the Course
Literary Criticism
By:
Catubig, Rona Calderon
March, 2013

2. I. Synopsis
A. The Wedding Dance
The Wedding Dance is a story of Lumnay and Awiyao, who as members
of a tribe in Cordillera, have to conform to the dictates of their culture. After
seven harvests, Lumnay and awiyao are still childless. Not having a child creates
a problem with them. Lumnay, as a woman is expected to be suspected as
infertile. Awiyao has to look for another wife even if he loves Lumnay so much.
At the day of Awiyao’swedding to Malidumay he paid visit to Lumnay for the last
time and invited her to come to her wedding. They are both wretched.
Lumnaytried to fight for her husband. She wanted to defy the unwritten law of the
tribe besides they both love each other. During the course of their conversation
Awiyao explains his opposition to his marriage to other woman but is defeated
with cultural dictates. Awiyao called by the loud sound of the gongs goes back to
the ceremony. Lumnay considered breaking into the ceremony but ends up alone
in the company of bean plants. The love for their tribe reigned over Awiyao.
Lumnay becomes the image of a woman whose qualities as a good wife and the
best dancer among all the other women in their tribe mean nothing if she cannot
bear a child.
B. Distance to Andromeda
Distance to Andromeda is a story about a boy named Ben who went to a
movie house to watch with his friend Pepe. The movie which they watched is
about survivors of the Earth who went to travel or journey in outer space in search

3. of a new place to live in. After the movie they have watched Ben thinks of staying
for one more screening but Pepe his friend stood to leave already in the aisle
waiving at him.
When the two are already outside they still linger before the movie house
looking at the photos tacked on the display board. As Ben looks again at the
pictures he feels again what he has watched. Ben cannot get over it.
The two crossed the street away from the theater to the main street. They
come to the plaza where children are roller-skating around the kiosko.
Tito, another friend comes by. They talked about swimming and
basketball until their conversation shifts to the movie Ben and Pepe have watched.
Tito does not go to that kind of picture, so fantastic he says, so untrue to life.
While the two, especially Ben cannot get rid of the movie on their minds
and cannot help but to think of it and ask questions like “Do you think people will
ever get to the moon?” Tito verbally opposed them thinking that those were crazy
talks since they are unreal.
The three boys part ways. Ben walks home alone. On the bridge he
suddenly feels lonely. He recalls the view of the heaven through the port holes in
the movie.
C. May Day Eve
May Day Eve is a story that involves three generations. The first
generation is the generation of Agueda and Badoy, the second generation is the
generation of Agueda’s daughter and the third generation is the generation of Don

4. Badoy’s grandson, Voltaire. The story revolves on what happened one May day
eve on the year 1847 when Agueda young and stubborn as she was persuaded
Anastacia to tell her the mystic superstition on a May day eve. Carrying a candle
she went downstairs where the mirror is. She insisted on finding out who will her
husband be and there passed her shoulders stands Badoy.
Later on the story Doña Agueda tells her daughter about but denied that it
was her daughter’s father Don Badoy. It was the devil she tells her.
On a May day eve of the year 1890 Don Badoy saw his grand child
holding a candle, facing the mirror and it reminded him of one May day eve of the
year 1847, and of Doña Agueda.He almost forgot that she is long dead already.
When Don Badoy tells Voltaire that he saw a witch in it and it bewitched him
Voltaire tells him that it is a horrible mirror. Don Badoy surprised with it asks him
why and he answers him that his mama once told him that his grandmother, Doña
Agueda, once saw the devil in the mirror.
The story shows how a certain belief of the mystic May day eve changed
their lives forever.

5. II. Interpretation
A. The Wedding Dance
The Wedding Dance tells the reader “that there could be a conflict
between your personal love and love for one’s people (tribe) and culture, and in
some cases culture prevails.”
The story clearly demonstrates how their culture prevents Lumnay and
Awiyao from loving each other and living together as husband and wife.Their
love for each other is revealed through their conversation. Awiyao, no matter how
it pains him to leave Lumnay has to conform to the social dictates. Lumnay, no
matter how much she loves Awiyao chose to give in to their unwritten law.
There could also be an underlying theme of the story that is love as self-
sacrifice. The couple, Lumnay and Awiyao has to give up for their love not only
because of what their culture dictates but alsoto save each other from the scorn of
the society. In Awiyao’s case he had been mocked being childless because a man
to be considered a man should have a child.
B. Distance to Andromeda
The Distance to Andromeda tells the reader “that life is a journey and
therefore it involves of departures and arrivals until we reach the FINAL
DESTINATION.”
The story manifests how life is a journey especially in the movie Ben and
Pepe have watched. The survivors of Earth, the last men and women of this world
ride in a rocket `and travel outerspace in search of another place of air and

6. greenness. As they travel they see through the portholes the planets and stars until
a globe of shining water and green-shadowed land appears through the viewports.
They have found a new world to live in.
There is a journey involved. There is a departure on Earth and there is
arrival as well, arrival in their new-found world. The story shows that if you leave
you will arrive somewhere, the destination. There is always a destination for
every leaving.
In the case of Ben and Pepe, they arrive at the movie house and watched.
After the movie they have to leave, although Ben still wanting to stay for another
screening they really need to leave and so they leave. In life no matter how long
you want to stay if it is already your time to go, you will have to leave.
When the two arrived at the plaza they see Tito and talked for a while. The
three then part ways to go home. Just like in life we meet people but then there
would come a time when we really needed to part. Ben headed home alone and
suddenly he feels lonely. He feels like a tiny boy standing between the dark river
and the lights in the sky. He feels lonely because he does not want to go home just
yet but he needed to leave to arrive to his final destination.
C. May Day Eve
The story May Day Eve tells the reader “that time moves in our life
without stop and as it passes by, the heart and mind forget and distracted but if
reminded “it” remembers.”

7. As Don Badoy Montoya visited his old home, memories of his youth came
back. He recalled how he fell in love with Agueda, a young woman who resisted
him. Agueda learned from Anastaciathat she would be able to know her future
husband by reciting an incantation in front of a mirror. She saw Badoy in the
mirror. They got married.
When Don Badoy saw his grandson, Voltaire, in front of the mirror, he
remembers Agueda. Don Badoy ponders on love that had been wasted.Badoy’s
heart forgot how he loved Agueda in the past. But as he sees Voltaire in front of
the mirror he remembers everything about Agueda, about the mystic Mayday eve
of 1847.
III. Technical Analysis
A. Plot
The plot of TheWedding Dance does not follow the traditional plot
structure. The conflict is already revealed in the beginning of the story.
Nevertheless, the problem is not clear to readers yet. The technique used by the
writer allows a sense of suspense. Knowing the existence of the problem which is
still unclear hooks the reader to continue reading in their pursuit to know what the
problem is. In addition, such technique prevents predictability of the flow of the
story. If the story followed a traditional plot which it could not create the suspense
and emotional intensity it is able to do with the way it is structured. On the other
hand the story Distance to Andromeda followed a traditional plot structure, it used
foreshadowing though. The outcome of the conflict is hinted or foreshadowed

8. before the climax and ending of the story. The description of the movie at the
beginning of the story is a foreshadowing of what is about to happen to Ben in the
end of the story. There is a repetitive designation in the narration of the story.
There is a repetitive references to the movie, to the sky and the stars that make the
readers curious what these has got something to do with the story. While May
Day Evemade use a plot technique of a frame story, there is a single scene or
event in the beginning and ending of the story which is a mystic May day eve.
There is a background narrative that explains the world of the main story. Simply
put, there is a story within the story. The mystic May eve was told in a story by
Agueda to her daughter, and her daughter to her son. These past events told in the
story add meaning to current circumstances in the story. The course of three
generations in the story made its theme.
Although these three short stories made use of different plot
techniques these three are similar with its sense of suspense. There are
elements in the stories that make readers continue reading and read for
more.
B. Setting
The choice of the story’s setting The Wedding Dance fits the story
perfectly. The triumph of culture and tradition over personal love is emphasized
by framing the story in the Cordilleras because the Cordillera region is known for
its richness in culture and its people’s obedience and conformity to their tradition.
Setting the story in the Cordillera region highlights the importance of fertility and

9. gives the events of the story a realistic appeal. On the other hand, the story
Distance to Andromeda took place in a movie house, in the town of Tarlac. The
setting also fits the story perfectly since the movie has got something to do with
the theme of the story. It makes the story realistic. If the writer chose to set the
story outer space and Ben is the one inside the rocket seeing through the portholes
with his very own eyes the story might not seem realistic than it is. While May
Day Evewas set on a mystic May Day Eve of the years 1847 and 1890 in front of
a mirror. The three generations involved in the story intensified the theme of the
story. Assuming there was only two or one generation in the story or it only
happened in just a couple of years or so, the theme of the story would be different
from that of its theme. The duration of time made the theme of the story.
The settings of the three short stories are well crafted that they fit the
stories perfectly.
C. Characterization
The characters in the story The Wedding Dance are Lumnay, Awiyao and
Malidumay. The author greatly used dialogues and actions to reveal his
character’s nature.
Lumnay is the lead woman character in the story. She is allegedly infertile
and her believed inability to bear a child causes her to lose the man she loves, her
husband. The writer effectively used Lumnay’s character to reveal how personal
love is defeated by culture dictates. Lumnay represents what a deep attachment to
tradition could bring to an individual. Her actions and words make the readers feel

10. pity to her situation. On the day of her husband’s wedding with another girl she
bounds herself in their house, not moving in the darkness.
She is not a passive follower of the situation although she is the victim of
the superiority of their culture. She does not easily give in to their culture she
wants to fight back and defy the unwritten law. Her words say so: “I don’t want
any man.”, “I don’t want any other man.”, “Neither can you blame me.” “You
know that I have done my best. I have prayed to Kabunyan much. I have
sacrificed many chickens in my prayers.”, “It is not right. It is not right. How
does she know? How can anybody know? It is not right.” Her actions and words
reflect opposition. In the latter part, she decides to break in to the ceremony, go to
the chief of the village, to the elders and tell them it was not right: …Awiyao was
hers.. Nobody could take him away from her.. Let her the first woman to
complain, to denounce the unwritten rule that a man may take another woman.
There is such strength in Lumnay’s character and it could be the
author’s way of waging an attack against the sovereignty of the culture. There is
much sympathy felt in the character of Lumnay. Making her the victim signifies
the ill effect of the influence of the society.
Although Lumnay is described by her husband as one of the best wives in
the whole village she admits that it done her no good since she still cannot bear a
child. She is even the best dancer in their tribe and is envied by most women and
captures men’s attention: “…Did not the man praise her supple body and the
women envy the way she stretched her hands…Tonight all women who once
danced in her honor, were dancing now in honor of another whose only claim

11. was that perhaps she could give her husband a child.” These lines strongly tell
how her sole deficiency has overshadowed everything.
Lumnay attempts to go to the wedding ceremony and fights for her man.
However, in the end, she did not have the courage to break into the wedding
ceremony. She ends up in the mountain away from the ceremony. She hears the
sound of the gongs that seem to thank her for her sacrifice.
The other character is Awiyao, Lumnay’s husband. Like her wife, his
character represents the defeat of personal love and the victory of culture and
tradition. Awiyao repeatedly expresses his love for Lumnay, but he submits to the
dictates of the culture in the end. Several aspects of culture are depicted in his
character: the superiority of culture, proliferation of his family name and the
concept of machismo.
He is not in favor of what he has done, but he has to do it. His need to
conform to their tradition pains him as much as it pains Lumnay. During his
wedding ceremony he pays visit to Lumnay and asks her to come to his wedding
although it is an emotional blow to himself. He utters words which are against his
wishes. It hurts him to leave Lumnay, but he has to: “…It is taking away half of
his life to leave her like this.” As he leaves her, he laments why a man has to have
a child. Doubtlessly, the fact that he visits Lumnay on his wedding day asserts his
love for Lumnay.

12. Awiyao’s words tell about the superiority of their culture: “..I am very
sorry, but neither of us can help it…You know very well that I don’t want any
woman either.. I do this for the sake of our tribe.”
Awiyao is a depiction of the so-called machismo as well which is proven
by being able to have a child: “..If I did this it is because of my need for a child.
You know that life is not worth living without a child. The men have mocked me
behind my back.
The last character is Malidumay, the woman Awiyao is getting married to.
Nothing more aside from that is said about her. Her character also emphasizes the
function of a woman in the society, to bear children. Her character shows
conformity to tradition as well because even though she knows that Awiyao is
only marrying her for the sole reason of having a childshe still marries him
regardless of Lumnay.
On the other hand, in the Distance to Andromeda there are three characters
as well, Ben, Pepe and Tito. The actions and dialogues also reveal the characters
nature like in The Wedding Dance. Since the author did not make any description
about the characters and did not made use of many exchange of dialogues as well,
just sensible ones.
Ben is a thirteen year old boy who wants to stay for another screening in
the movie house although he had already watch one movie. Meanwhile, even if he
already went out the theater when his friend called him he still stood before the
theater looking at the photos of the movie on the display board. His character

13. portrays a character of wanting to stay a little longer, of not wanting to leave. It is
shown in the lines: “..Ben thinks of staying for one more screening but his friend
Pepe stood up to leave, waving to him from the aisle.” He could not get over with
the movie he and his friend just watched: “…Ben looks up at the pictures, and he
feels again, deep in a silence within him, like the vibration of invisible wires, the
hum of universe, the movement of the planets and stars.” “I wonder if there are
people on Mars- like in the comics.” “Do you think people will ever get to the
moon?”.He wonders of the outerspace. He always looks up to the stars and sky.
Ben’s character believes that life is a journey at a certain point people will end up
to their final destination. This is shown with his frequent looking up at the stars in
the story.
Another character is Pepe, the friend of Ben. His character portrays the
willingness to leave. He is the one calling Ben and waiving at him to leave the
movie house.
The last character is Tito, opposite Ben’s character he does not go to the
kind of picture Ben and Pepe like. His character portrays a realistic being. He
does not believe to fantasy, for him those are crazy talks: “If there are any, says
Tito, they’d look like Mr. Cruz.” “Ahh, nobody’s going to land on the moon, says
Tito, there’s no air up there.” “Moon, rocketship, Mars- what kind ofcrazy talk is
that?”

14. While the story May Day Eve has many characters but the main characters
are Agueda, Badoy, their daughter, and their daughter’s son. Like the two other
stories the actions and dialogues of the characters also reveal their nature.
Agueda was described to be a bold, liberated, and a non-conformist young
woman. These characteristics are depicted in her words: “…I am not afraid, I will
go.” “And I will not lie down!””Stay old woman. Tell me what to do.” “I do not
care. I am not afraid. I will go.” Her character during her youth represents the
youth who are stubborn and persistent. During her old age she turned a bitter old
woman: “I saw the devil, she said bitterly.”
Badoywas characterized in the beginning as a persistent, promiscuous
young man who wanted to prove his machismo. It is depicted in his words:
“…Charms like yours have no need for a candle fair one.” “You are Agueda
whom I left a mere infant and came home to find a tremendous beauty, and I
danced a waltz with you but you would not give me the polka.” “But I want to
dance the polka with you fair one.” “Oh, do not cry little one!” “Oh please
forgive me! Please do not cry! But what a brute I am! I was drunk, little one, and
knew not what I said.” “No, say you forgive me first. Say you forgive me
Agueda.”
He realized that he was “deliriously in love” with Agueda: “..he had fallen
madly inlove with her. He ached intensely to see her again, to touch her hands
and her hair;to hearher harsh voice.”

15. Badoy’s character is the depiction of young men who are persistent to
pursue women they like at any cost.
During his old age, Don Badoy becomes bitter like Doña Agueda as well,
especially in their marriage. He almost forgot that Doña Agueda is long dead. His
heart and mind forgot the memories of Agueda through time: “…But, alas, the
heart forgets; the heart is distracted; and May time passes; summer lends; the
storms break over the rot-tipe orchards and the heart grows old; while the hours,
the days, the months, and the years pile up and pile up, till the mind becomes too
crowded, too confused: dust gathers in it; cobwebs multiply; the walls darken and
fall into ruin and decay; the memory perished...and there came a time when Don
BadoyMontiya walked home through a May Day midnight without remembering,
without even caring to remember; being merely concerned in feeling his way
across the street with his cane; his eyes having grown quite dim and his legs
uncertain--for he was old; he was over sixty..”
Don Badoy and Doña Agueda’s daughter, however she is not named in the
story. She is the one who asked Doña Agueda what she saw in the mirror on a
May day eve of 1847. When Doña Agueda told her it was the devil, she asked her
mother to describe it. Doña agueda described the devil in a way that the girl
noticed that it has resemblance with her father. When she asked Doña Agueda if it
was her father she denied it. The character of the daughter in the story represents
the youth who are curious and always has questions to ask. Doña Agueda, in this
case, represents the typical mother who conceals things to her children to preserve
the good image of their father.

16. Voltaire, Don Badoy’s grandson. His character was used by the writer to
be the instrument to unlock Don Badoy’s memory of Doña Agueda: “…wholly
unconscious of the May night, till on his way down the hall, chancing to glance
into the sala, he shuddered, he stopped, his blood ran cold-- for he had seen a
face in the mirror there---a ghostly candlelight face with the eyes closed and the
lips moving, a face that he suddenly felt he had been there before though it was a
full minutes before the lost memory came flowing, came tiding back, so
overflooding the actual moment and so swiftly washing away the piled hours and
days and months and years that he was left suddenly young again; he was a gay
young buck again, lately came from Europe; he had been dancing all night; he
was very drunk; he s stepped in the doorway; he saw a face in the dark; he called
out...and the lad standing before the mirror (for it was a lad in a night go jumped
with fright and almost dropped his candle, but looking around and seeing the old
man, laughed out with relief and came running.” Voltaire was exactly doing what
Agueda did one May Day Eve of 1847. Don Badoy warned him that he might see
a witch and the boy said it was a horrible mirror since he told him his mother once
told him that his grandmother saw the devil in it. It shows the bitter marriage the
two old couple had shared for Don Badoy was described by his wife a deviul and
Doña Agueda was described by her husband a witch. They were not able to mend
their broken marriage because their love was a “raging passion and nothing
more”.

17. The characters from the three stories were described mostly in
indirect presentation, that is, their true nature is depicted on their actions
and words.
D. Point of View
The three short stories are told from a Third Person Omniscient point of
view. The narrator in each story is able to enter the minds and feelings of
characters. This kind of narration offers a lot of information for the readers to
understand better how the characters exactly think and feel.
E. Symbolism
The common denominator of these three short stories is the use of
symbolism. In fact, it is their best feature, the richness of symbols. Symbols are
used in the stories to effectively point out the message of the stories.
In The Wedding Dance the symbols are: the sound of gongs or gangsas,
the rattan flooring, the beads, the beans, the fire/flame, the dance, the stream or
river and other objects symbolizing abundance such as harvests, jars filled with
water and the field.
The sound of the gong most particularly is the most important symbol in
the short story. The gong signifies the call of culture and its victory over man’s
personal love. It is very dominant in the story since it is mentioned many times.
Nevertheless, what is more important is when the sound of gongs is heard in the
flow of the story.
The rattan flooring: Lumnay is twice described as pulling at the rattan
that keeps the bamboo flooring in place and tugging at the rattan flooring. The

18. bamboo signifies Lumnay and Awiyao as individual person. However, they are
bound by their union as wife and husband. This binding is symbolized by the
rattan as it described to hold the split bamboo together. Lumnay’s pulling at the
rattan represents the breaking of their union.
The beads: The beads are the only objects Lumnay asked from Awiyao to
be in her possession. The beads are very precious since they are said to be worth
twenty fields. The beads stand’s for Awiyao’s love.Before he leaves he put the
beads on her head.
The beans: The beans represent abundance and fertility. Beans or bean
pods contains seeds, which signifies fruitfulness. In the end of the story Lumnay
is seen in the company of the bean plants and there seems to be an envy felt by
Lumnay as she touches the plants for they are oozing with fruitfulness while she
is fruitless.
The flames: It symbolizes the intensity of love Awiyao and Lumnay has
for each other.
The dance: It symbolizes culture because dancing marks any form of
cultural celebration.
The stream or river: It represents the unending flow of life. Lumnay
recalls how she and Awiyao had to pass through the growling waters as he took
her away from her parents. This may signify the troubled life they had because of
being childless. In the end of the story, Lumnay goes to the mountain stream
which is said to be very cold. It represents the continuation of Lumnay’s life
alone.

19. On the other hand Distance to Andromeda used symbols as well and these
are the movie house, the rocket, the outer space, the skaters, the stars, the sky and
the moon.
The movie house: It represents the world people live in. Different movies
screening in it signify the different lives people have, there are drama, comedy,
tragedy and its sort.
The rocketship: In the movie it became the mode of transportation of the
survivors of the earth in the quest to their search of a new world. In life it can
represent the faith of people, the faith of people who believes that they will go
back to their creator and it is their faith that would bring them there. It can also
represent whatever it is that is significant to people to arrive at their final
destination, whatever that final destination is for them.
The outer space: It is where the last people on earth travelled. It is where
they see though the portholes the stars, planets and the moon. These things they
saw represents the multitude of circumstances people face in their journey to
this life. It includes the different people they see, different places they go and
different situations they encounter.
The skaters/ skaters’ rink: “In the white light of the neon lamps, the
continuous rumbling sound of the skaters rises and falls with the quality of the
cemented rink: now hollow and receding, now full and ascending, going around,
seemingly unending.” Life as a journey is not always a smooth ride.
Nevertheless, it is not always a tough ride. The skaters and skaters’ rinks signify
the ups and downs of life. It is not always everyday that we are on top and vice

20. versa. The falls are the trials and challenges while the ups are the joys and
victories of life.
The stars, sky and the moon: In the story Ben always look up to these, so
these symbolize the final destination. In the story it reminded Ben of the movie he
watched, in real life it will also be a reminder that all people will surely be where
they are supposed to be.
While on the story May Day Eve the symbols used are the mirror, the cane
and the candle.
The mirror: It is the most important symbol in the story because the story
revolves around it. The mirror is the symbol of truth since what you see is what
you get. It is through the mirror Doña Agueda saw Don Badoy. Although it was
just a superstition that who she will see will be her husband, in the end it turned
out to be true to her because they got married. She let herself confines to her
belief of the mystic May day eve.The mirror resembles, suggests and associates
something more and something else. For one, the mirror symbolizes the illusory
love between Agueda and Badoy. When they first met, the mutual physical
attraction was strong as may be confirmed in the recollection made by both. On
the part of Agueda, her physical attraction was evident in seeing the young
Badoy’s “very black and elegant” mustaches, “his fine clothes, his flashing eyes,
his curly hair” as they were reflected in the mirror. On the part of Badoy, his
physical attraction was evident in seeing the young Agueda’s “charms,”
“tremendous beauty,” the “eyes she had,” “bare shoulders gold in the candlelight
and delicately furred,” “the mobile insolence of her neck, her taut breast,” her

21. enchanting “fire” and “grace,”“her hair that was like black waters” as they were
reflected in the same mirror. However, their attraction being founded on
something so superficial as physical appearance, their love’s roots are not
anchored deeply so their feelings for each other did not endure. Just a few years
after their chance meeting by the mirror on a May Day Eve, with the product of
their marital union still a very young girl, Agueda is already referring to her
husband as the “devil” and attaches negative descriptions to him like having “a
scar of sin,” mustaches“dirty and greying and smelling horribly of tobacco,” and
horns and tails. Badoy has the similar antagonistic attitude against his wife, whom
he refers to as a“horrible,” “dark, fatal creature” of a “witch” who “tortured” him
and “ate [his] heart and drank [his] blood.” This reversal of Agueda and Badoy’s
initial passionate pronouncements toward each other implies that like a mirror
reflecting analmost-similar yet actually false image, the skin-deep love they had
already disillusioned them.
The cane: In the story the walking cane is used by Don Badoy. It
symbolizes superiority, authority and old age.
The candle: A candle can give a sense of direction especially in darkness;
it can also draw two people together. This is exactly what happened to Badoy and
Agueda. They were drawn to each other because of the candle Agueda lighted and
because of her belief.
IV. Evaluation

22. For me the most effective among the three writers is Amador Daguio because the
symbolism he used in his story is really effective in conveying its message. His story
is rich with symbolism which is relevant and effective. The second most effective
writer is Nick Joaquin. He comes second in my preference since I needed to read his
story May Day Eve over and over again to understand the symbolism he used and to
get the meaning or the message his trying to convey with his short story. Doubtlessly,
his short story is well crafted. The third most effective is Gregorio Brillantes On a
personal note, although I read his short story Distance to Andromeda over and over I
find it hard to figure out the connection of the theme within the story. Although I
believe “life is a journey” is its theme I find it hard to extract from the story how it
became its theme.

23. A Comparative Critical Essay
onDaguio’s “The Wedding Dance”,
Brillantes’ “Distance to Andromeda
And Joaquin’s “May Day Eve
An Occasional Paper
Presented to
Dr. Fulgencio T. Soriano
Department of English and Humanities
College of Arts and Sciences
Central Luzon State University

24. In Partial Fulfilment
Of the Requirements of the Course
Literary Criticism
by:
Catubig, Rona C.
March 19, 2013