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Touch by Lakambini Sitoy Analysis

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Moral-Philosophical Analysis on Lakambini Sitoy’s Touch But she knew it was too late; it no longer mattered; she and her father—they were beyond all help. There was only her life, and a sense of regret, for never having known him… Relationships are built through shared experiences with loved ones. They are often tested by separation and silence; you are divided by physical distance or you are unable to talk. In the story, Tio Tinong, like most OFWs, had to leave his family in search for greener pastures. He was presented as an authority figure as established and expected by society. “No one talked about his life, the years aboard ship…not once did they ask him how he felt. After all he was a man. Men endured.” He loved his children …show more content…

Sitoy used symbolism to concretize the scene where Dora and her father exchanged glances and subconsciously looked into the each other’s soul, for the first time. “He looked instead of Dora eyes black hollows under the ridge of his brow bone…Dora matched the stare…His face never looked so unguarded, so content.” It was during this time that worst experiences flashed back and Dora, as one daughter who only longed for a father’s tender touch, could not contain the emotions she felt. Running from a problem or conflict, pretending it doesn’t exist, or being afraid of talking about it would not untangle someone from the very roots of it. She knew she had to witness that moment and that she had to understand or at least, dig into her father’s being. Sitoy perfectly presented the core of the story through the portrayal of the different definitions of touch— mananambal’s touch (hilot) that temporarily healed Tio Tinong’s illness, the touch (bunal) that Dora and his brothers experienced during their childhood days when their father would punish them in a violent way for their foolishness. On a deeper sense, “touch” also pertained to the connection of the very souls of two individuals who longed for each other’s company but failed to because things were just different then and there is no chance for things to work out

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