When I first read the Ninotchka Rosca's Generations, I have to say that while I do not agree with the girl's decisions, I admire her guts.

I would like to clarify that I was appalled by her actions because I am a pacifist and I do believe that violence is never the answer and it cannot resolve anything, especially when the result of such rage is any fatality (not to mention if the victim is a member of your family). However, I still thought that it was brave of her to bail her father out at the expense of her integrity and reclaim it when her father didn't even seem to acknowledge that sacrifice. I personally don't have the balls to fight for something that I want or strike back when I am treated poorly.

However, upon discussing the story in class, I began to wonder if she really was as "fierce" as she seemed. I thought about the mother in one of the other stories we read that was called Magnificence. She did not scream at the top of her lungs and go on a rampage but she did not just let the unmentionable happen without defending her daughter either. Her movement was a balance between not doing anything and taking it to far. Perhaps that is the essence and embodiment of true strength and that is CONTROL.

The girl may have been able to put her self-interest aside for the sake of her father's well-being and her mother's peace of mind but she snapped when her father took that gesture for granted. I know that I can't blame her because her father wasn't exactly a good man because he beat their mother and then let her take the fall for him but that doesn't justify what she did. It's all about learning how to deal with your emotions and never letting it get in the way of rational thought.

Coming from someone who has the habit of falling head over heels flat in her face, but I digress. :)

Labels: Litfili week 7, Rosca