Republic of the Philippines

URDANETA CITY UNIVERSITY

College of Arts and Languages
Urdaneta City, Pangasinan

How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife

Manuel E. Arguilla
Objectives:
At the end of the report, the class will be able to:
1. know the authors background
2. take note of modern and rural landscape as
illustrated in the short story
3. single out the cultural significations embedded in
the short story
The Author
Manuel

Estabillo

writer in English,

Arguilla (1911

patriot,

and

martyr.

1944)

was

He

known

is

an Ilokano
for

his

widely anthologized short story How My Brother Leon Brought Home

a

Wife

and

Other

Short

Stories.

The

main

story

in

the

collection, How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife, won first

prize in the Commonwealth Literary Contest in 1940.
Most

of

Arguilla's

stories

depict

scenes

in Barrio Nagrebcan, Bauang, La Union where he was born. His bond

with his birthplace, forged by his dealings with the peasant folk
of Ilocos, remained strong even after he moved to Manila where he
studied at the University of the Philippines where he finished BS
Education in 1933 and where he became a member and later the
president

of

the

U.P.

Writer's

Club

and

editor

of

the

university's Literary Apprentice.

He

married

Lydia

Villanueva,

another

English, and they lived in Ermita, Manila.

ucuhandout.phillit.hmtabios1stsem

talented

writer

in

He became a creative writing teacher at the University of

Manila and

later

managing

editor

Advocate until
Censors.

He

worked

1943.

of
He

secretly

at

the

the
was

Bureau

of

bureau's
later

organized

Public

as

publication Welfare

appointed
guerrilla

Welfare

to

the

Board

intelligence

of

unit

against the Japanese.

In October 1944, he was captured, tortured and executed by
the Japanese army at Fort Santiago.

The Short Story

Characters
1. Baldo - younger brother of Leon. He fetched Leon and
Maria from the road to their home in Nagrebcan.
2. Leon (or Noel) - older brother of Baldo who studied in
Manila where he met his wife
3. Maria - the beautiful and stunning wife of Leon from
(Ermita) Manila
4. Labang - the bull whom Baldo considers as his pet
Plot
1. Baldo meets his brother Leons wife for the first time.
Baldo fetches his brother Leon and Maria, and takes them
home. They do not pass through the usual route, the camino real.
Instead, they take a shortcut through a field (waig) as was
ordered by their father.
Seeing his brother's wife, Baldo is easily taken away by the
beauty of the woman from city. (Her nails are long. She wears
high heels and skirt. She has a small dimple on her right cheek.
She is fragrant like a morning when papayas are in bloom.)
2. They journey home with conversation and a song.

ucuhandout.phillit.hmtabios1stsem

Along their way home, Maria discovers the peculiarities of

the life in Nagrebcan (sounds of Labang and insects; clean air
free of dust and smoke) as opposed to their life in the city
where she met and fell in love with Leon.
Baldo notices that both his brother and Maria are enjoying
what they see. Leon points on the stars and asks if Maria if she
had seen such from Ermita. The brothers sing Sky Sown with
Stars which their father taught them when they were still young;
Maria sings with them.
3. Leon asks Maria if she is anxious as they near home,
bringing

about

Baldos

own

reaction

about

how the

family will welcome Leon and his wife.

The idea of meeting with Leon's parents for the first time
made Maria a bit anxious. This is true for Leon as well. The
first words that fell on Leons lips when they arrived home were,
Father where is he?.
4. Baldo attends to his father's request while the
family talks.
Father asks about what transpired while they journey home.
When the couple entered the room, father sent Baldo to tend
Labang.

He

left

his

father,

now

with

Leon

and

Maria.

Comments/Analysis
How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife is a story about an
occasion that would be a big day in the life of any family, the
day one of the sons of the family brings hope the woman he
intends to marry.

The story is told in the first person by

Leon's younger brother.

This interesting story tells about a womans struggle as she
tries

to

gain

the

worthiness

ucuhandout.phillit.hmtabios1stsem

needed

to

be

accepted

by

her

husbands family. The story is set in Nacreban, where the husband

lives.
In the story, Leon and Maria, the wife, face many challenges
along the way, including the passing in the so-called Waig
instead of the Camino Real or the paved road. But in the end of
the story, both lovers overcome these trials when they reached
Leons family house.
As a reader, this story shows how true love can surmount all
challenges. And as in the case for some women, this story shows
how to adjust to their husbands rural lifestyle.
As

one

because
Leons

it

of

the

many

accurately

hometown.

It

stories,

describes

also

has

this

Marias

very

story

is

ways

of

powerful

very

unique

adjusting

impact

on

to
the

essences of love because it shows that a person from the urban

area can

be

somehow

compatible

with

partner

from

the rural

area.
Reading

the

story

would

somehow

make

one

feel

Manuel

Arguilla's great love of Nagrebcan. He takes the time to note the

shape of clouds, the sounds made by the rolling wheels or even
the rope near the neck of the bull Labang, and even the scent of
the air. It is as if Arguilla transports you right there, among
Maria and the two brothers.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Arguilla
http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?
title=How_My_Brother_Leon_Brought_ Home_A_Wife
http://www.blurtit.com/q7203086.html
http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/Literature/Short
%20Stories/How%20My%20Brother%20Leon%20Brought%20Home
%20A%20Wife.htm

ucuhandout.phillit.hmtabios1stsem