A Critical Approach on Nick Joaquins Cave and Shadows Introduction Faith and trust, love and lust, greed

and power, will these make a human being happy? What are the things humans could do to achieve these? Cave and Shadows of Nick Joaquin showed the capabilities of human beings enable to achieve happiness. The novel clashed different institutions of the societies, together with their beliefs and traditions. Here, ups and downs of males and females could be seen. No gender is above the other. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. Although it is a fact that the main protagonist is male, it is also a fact that his story revolved around the life (and death) of the female characters of the novel. Other male characters too, though exerting authority in most aspects, are submissive to female characters in one way or the other. But still, other women characters were shown to be directly submissive to men, in some cases they were shown only as a tool for sex and lust, the notable scene for this would be the live show in one of the bars in the novel. The novel too indicated that females had equal power with men during the Pre-Hispanic and even during the Spanish Era. Notable female characters from the past gave great deal for the justification of some of the beliefs and traditions sighted by the novel. In religion, the continuing struggle of Paganism and Christianity was symbolized by both beliefs struggle for the control of the cave. Both beliefs wanted the cave for their own, both using history as their tool to gain advantage over the other. Thus various historical sightings in the world of the story were necessary. The immortal conflict between beliefs in politics was also shown in the novel. To quote one line, For one to love his/her country, he/she must hate anyone else. Thus, being nationalistic solely depends on how one believes a country should be run. The church-state conflict is also notable. It influenced some characters in what to believe and what would they do. Some characters were once in the side of the state, totally shutting out the church, yet made their change of heart and vice versa. In a way or another, Cave and Shadows unmasked the real face of the society, humanizing it, with out the traditions and beliefs that cover its being. Chapter I: Characters Jack Henson The main protagonist of the novel, Jack was asked by his ex-wife to investigate the strange death of his stepdaughter. Although Jack keeps on saying he would never want to do anything else for his ex-wife, Alfreda needed only to lift a finger for him to leave his home in Davao and investigate Nenitas, the stepdaughter, death as stated by another character Pocholo Gatmaitan. Jack could be said as a natural detective, he asks the right questions at the right time, though he keeps involving himself with trouble whenever he get close into

something. An example would be when he found out regarding the secret passage from the village chapel to the cave, which he suspected to exist believes the way used to get Nenita inside the cave without the guard outside knowing. He was locked inside the passage by a character not wanting him to get even closer. With high regard for women, Jacks character acted with women character with rather fluidity.He could shift his characteristics from one woman to the other. Though she contested some of their ideas (specially the ones of Ginoong Ina), he never went as far as abusing them emotionally and even physically. His sexual urge cold also not be denied, it seems at first sex is nothing to him when he got no reaction when he watched a live show in a bar, yet this was falsified when he felt sexually aroused when he danced with Chedeng knowing the woman was also in the mood for sex. Pocholo Gatmaitan Cholo is the mayor of the city and was a boy once with Jack. He was said to be the Holy Joe of their group, making excuses that he can not join for lunch because he had a heavy date only to get caught by his peers that he was pulling the caroza of the Blessed Virgin Mary for a procession. He became a typical politician who was able to mingle with his supporters and critics. Several demonstrations were set up against him because of his decision to lock down the cave to prevent further riots between the faction who all wanted control over it. Alex Manzano A senator who once was an altar boy, Alex is the son of Don Andong who was once a great politician and critic. Alex is closely connected to the youth, especially to the militant sector. He was said to be the once who let in a group of demonstrators inside the congress. Alex is separated with his wife Chedeng because of the fact that Alex hired assassins as his new set of bodyguards. He wants to be always in control of things, especially to women. This was justified when he demanded Chedeng to return and serve him as his wife, yet this demand was stopped by his father. Another instance was when a hooker named Yvette admitted to Jack that she slept with Alex. Alex is hinted through out (until chapter the novel as the brain behind the murders that had happened. His trademark car, a white Camaro, is always seen to places where an event that lead to a murder or the murder itself took place. He considers women more dangerous than men; he said this after the funeral of his son Andrei. Only shes a woman (Chedeng); therefore she is more dangerous. His sons death took him away from believing on anything. He blames himself for his sons death resulting to his suicide. Andrei Manzano Andrei was torn between his parents claim for his custody. He had great respect for his grandfather Don Andong until

his father told him that his grandfather allowed a hoax to happen and did not do anything about it. He was going to leave with his mother, Chedeng, to America until he found out that she was in league with his grandfather in the hoax. He was one of the so called KK boys, a group of militant youth which he led to march to the cave and force it to be reopened. The demonstration happened during a typhoon and ended with a tragic landslide which took Andreis life. Don Andong Manzano Don Andong was the father of Alex. He allowed a hoax to happen in the cave resulting to Andries disrespect to him. After the death of his son and grandson, he decided to enter a monastery. He shows great deal of authority in the novel yet frequently blames himself as the source of all the trouble that was happening to the people that surrounds him. He was said to be anti church during his younger days but is now a devoted Christian. Chedeng Manzano (Merceds Manzano) The wife of Alex and is planning to leave the country with his son. She frequently states that she betrays her husband and doesnt want it to happen again and running away would be her only choice. She blamed her husband for their sons death and postponed her trip because of it. Chedeng flirted with Jack in various situations; the most clear among these is her dance with Jack showing that she wanted to have sex with him. Alfreda Coogan Alfreda was the ex-wife of Jack, although did not really appear in the novel and is minor character, Jacks motives would never be justified without her. She was hinted through out the novel as a woman with authority especially over Jack. Her demand for Jack to investigate made him fly back to Manila and left his so called island refuge in Davao. Nenita Coogan The source of all the fuzz in the story, Nenita was found dead in the cave.Her death and how she got inside the cave were total mysteries until Jack uncovered them one at a time. She was mentioned to be a typical teenager in reverse.She does not want to be involved with the showbiz icons;rather she wants to remove the masks of all the people around her.She believes all are not who really they are saying. Everybody was surprised that she found out a virgin during the autopsy of her body given her reputation as a pakawala in town. Monica Manzano The daughter of Don Adong who leaves with him after she got separated from her husband, Monica is sort of an all around helper in her fathers house. Yet she could see that has authority over her father for he always follows the wills of her daughter regarding his health and the house.

Ginoong Ina A leader of a cult that claims the cave as their holy place, she informed Jack that Nanita returned to life as the goddess of the cave. Chapter II: Plot Summary The plot of the novel revolves mainly on Jack Hensons struggle to uncover the truth regarding the strange death of her stepdaughter Nenita Coogan. The girl was found in the cave (which was claimed by Christians and pagans, with Ginoong Ina as the leader, to be their place of worship) as if that she was just sleeping smelling sweet. Jack investigated how body got inside the cave even though the caves mouth was locked down as ordered by the town mayor. He later discovers a secret passage inside the chapel of the village on top of the hill where the cave is located. His investigation made him conclude that his old friend Alex Manzano was behind the murder and treats on his life. But as situations began to build up, Alex and his son Andrei died. Alex left a letter for Jack but Jack decided to let Pocholo burn it. Pocholo eagerly did giving Jack the evidence that it was Pocholo who was really behind all the troubles, including the setting up of Alex. Pocholo ran away after he was exposed and Jack confronted Ginoong Ina who informed Jack that Nenita came back to life for her to touch the life of Jack as a goddess. Jack decided to return to Davao with Chedeng but Monica disagreed and told Chedeng that Jack wanted to go back to Davao with her, not Chedeng. Chedeng left for New York and Jack returned to Davao a lonely man. Chapter III: Society The society of Cave and Shadows is being influenced by the different institutions found in the novel, mainly the church and the government, family ties in contrary to Philippine tradition seems to be not strong in the novel. The society was then seen as a Gemini with two faces for women in it, one good bad. It could be said that women became representations of the two sides of the society. In one aspect, women became a source of labor force in terms of their physical attributes. An example would be the live show held in one of the bars in the novel. Men needed only to pay five pesos, although this could be said already a huge amount of money during the time setting of the novel, to see the show. Seeing a woman having sex is not the end of the privileges of the audience, they could also demand the performers to have sex with them, thus establishing the fact of capitalists control over the women who engaged in such work. The labor force in these works could also be said abused (although it could be said they are already sexually abused) in terms of working hours. Yvette for instance never slept in one straight day in the novel

because she had to be an a-go-go dancer for VIPs for a whole night, then a GRO the following morning and a live sex performer at lunch. She was only able to take a simple nap for a few minutes when Jack tabled her (her job for the afternoon) for some questions. The labor force too could also be said as expendable anytime, justified by the fact that Yvette was gunned down easily when she tried to warn Jack. Sighting the history sighted by the novel, it was sad that women became a part of the labor force when they were the ones who forage for crops for a particular tribe. A sort of promotion was given to them when they started to grow crops on their own, yet still it could be said they are still under the capitalist society. Although, it was stated that because of this so called promotion, women started to have voice in the society, which was symbolized by the gradual growth of power of the goddess of the cave who started as a simple cave anito. In another view, women in the novel became a huge voice in the society in terms of their authority over specific men. In some cases, women became the capitalists. An example would be the Ginoong Ina who hires people in able to research whether people are believes in her cult or not. A capitalist attitude of the character was clearly seen when she insisted of claiming the cave as a place of worship, this could said as and action to claim a territory in competition. Chedeng too is a boss of her own. She owns her own shop and has her own employees. Still, she is another the capitalists rule for her shop is finance by her husband Alex. Giving the later a say on what she has to do. She was also influence by her father-in-law. Though he was seen as the protector of Chedeng against the husband, his Don Andongs influence over her gave way for the lost of respect of Andrei to his mother. In another concept, women became also a source of oppression to other women. An example would be Chedengs statement that why should Jack believe Yvette given her reputation as a hoar, thus, justifying the fact that women too view other women of other class status as lower than them. Another example would be Ginoong Inas beliefs that enable to become a dalagang banal, one must first become a true Filipino, thus an half American girl like Nenita must first tan herself, discrimination to some women. Perversion by women, on the other hand, could be said is accepted only by men in the society. Yet the acceptance is only another way of abusing the women of the society. It was seen in the example of the live show. Other women thus not accept this fact and consider them immoral (Chedengs discrimination to Yvette). Being vulgar by women is also only accepted by a portion of the society. Nenitas attitude was only accepted by the cult of Ginoong Ina and some members of the militant group, while others

(especially other major characters) discriminate her because of this. All in all, the society of the novel could be considered as a society which both treats women on the same level with men and as subordinates. Authority is given to some women although they also used the power to oppress other women not in the same class as theirs. Chapter IV: Issues An issue found in the novel that is worth mentioning is the discrimination of women to other women. The examples sated in Chapter III justify this fact. Here, what Audre Lorde said was clearly seen, The masters tools could not destroy the masters house. Thus, discrimination to women then could not be erased from the society if women themselves discriminate each other. Women shout for equality from their oppressors, the men. Yet within their ranks, they became oppressors themselves to other women. Another issue would be traffic of women as shown in the novel. Abuse of women were shown in the scene where a live show was stated where men were the audience. Indeed the woman (Yvette) allowed herself to be abused, yet it could not be denied that that act of perversion is a clear harassment to the female sexuality. Prostitution too was seen, yet still the woman aloud the abuse to happen to her. An example is the orgy where Yvette was paid to go. Even the fact of being tan first before being a Dalagang Banal is already a discrimination to other races that the character Nenita aloud. Therefore it could be said that in the novel, some issues of oppression against women were aloud by women themselves. Chapter V: Conclusion Finally, it could be said that the oppression of women by the society in the novel is aloud by women themselves. Even though for a fact that they do exert authority in the society, only a few of them do so and thus applying it to demand equal rights with men. It could also be seen in the novel that men are also threatened by the authority of women and are deliberately submissive though it is also a fact that some may find a way not to submit such as Pocholo who was the cause of Nenitas death. The novel then showed both sides of the Gemini society that praises women and at the same time oppresses them. Cave and Shadows (Nick Joaqun) The most mystical Filipino writer is probably Nick Joaqun (1917-2004). In his books characters are seized by visions, the faithless become converts, and the faithful turn into seers. Nick Joaqun was a novelist, poet, dramatist, historian, journalist, and biographer. His significant contribution to Philippine literature in

English led to his conferment of the title National Artist for Literature. He was, as he wrote in his dedication, a "man who has two novels," alluding to his first novel, The Woman Who Had Two Navels. His second novel, Cave and Shadows, dealt with a literal cave and some metaphorical shadows. Yet the reference to Plato's cave was not lost. From its first surreal sentence ("The visiona crab on a string being walked by a naked girloccurred in deep-hotel corridor twilight and moreover when he, Jack Henson, was feeling himself in a swoon.") the novel was propelled by the mysterious death of a girl found in a cave that was practically sealed from the outside. The girl was naked, had no sign of any injury or violation on her body, and a scent of flowers seemed to emanate from her. Was she the same crab-walking girl that Jack saw in the hotel corridor? If yes, why was she haunting him? Jack Henson, 42, divorced, and an American expatriate living in an island in southern Philippines, was asked by his former wife to get to the bottom of the unexplained death of her daughter, Nenita Coogan, the girl found in the cave. A possible explanation for her death, as "folk memory" would have it, would be the sacrificing of youth at planting time so that the harvest of the fields will be more fruitful and abundant. The sweet-smelling body of a "saint" will appease the gods. But then it could also be a crime of passion. Or some other primal offense. No neat explanation was at hand. As Henson investigates, Joaqun traced the increasingly surreal and mysterious circumstances surrounding the girl. He came to interview a number of quirky characters that were associated with her while still alive. As the story progressed, the present started to play against the insistent echoes of the distant past. Forgotten incidents were projected onto the pages of history, becoming more and more pronounced as they filled narrative gaps. Amid the reverent themes of religious fanaticism and the search for an authentic native god, Joaqun used the genres of the detective story and historical documentary as creative vehicles for exploring the intersection of various spheres of Philippine life: history, politics, religion, activism, and colonialism. The main thread of the detective story was alternated with chapters that fore grounded the mythical and superstitious elements of the story. These include: a discourse on the origin of the cult of the cave; a documentary investigation into the rise of the religious figures known as the Hermana, the Beatas, and the cave goddess; and an exposition of events sometime in the 17th century, events that go back to the roots of religion and could rewrite the official history on paper and the articles of faith etched in stone. Yet again, as in Joaqun's short stories and his first novel, readers were privy to a subtle battle of the sexes in

the book, wherein a feminist revisionist approach to history was enacted. Joaqun situated the "present" of the story in August of 1972, a month before the declaration of martial law in the country. This avoidance of an important political turning point in history is significant in terms of Joaqun's deliberate gloss over an event that is still shaping the course of the present. In any case, the novelist did not completely detach himself from the political sphere since major characters in the story are either public officials or have direct connection to people in power. As Henson said in one conversation, "politics is what we have to have instead of love; its how we arrange for safety and justice in a society where people don't really care much for one another." The cave in question was subject to previous worship and ritual ceremonies as early as the 16th century before being literally obstructed by the Spanish clergy - it was covered by an embankment twice over. Out of sight, its existence gradually vanished from memory. The obstruction was meant to suppress the practice of pagan rites by the villagers who were threatening to eclipse the Catholic faith that was then being aggressively spread by Spanish colonists. In 1970 the cave was uncovered by an earthquake which brought down the paved scaffold and revealed the gaping entrance. What was once buried from memory was unearthed from memory. The rediscovery of the cave became a sort of trigger that invaded people's consciousness, eventually excavating folk memories lying in the recesses of the mind. The process was aided by researchers who reconstructed the events in history. At least two versions came out of submerged history: the native and the colonial religious histories and their associated customs. Culture, Joaqun seemed to be implying, is not forever dormant even if systematically suppressed. It is very like strands of DNA that remain intact even after several millennia. It only takes a blunt force of nature for it to uncoil itself and spread its contagious doctrine. With the cave once again "in place," it was thus inevitable that the cultural DNA will be resurrected by its modern-day adherents, the neo-pagans. The vestiges of anito - old faith of the forefathers, sticks and stones ready for worship - can survive in the new and can reclaim its once strong foothold in people's hearts and souls. Naturally, in the reorientation of belief systems, there was bound to be a clash of beliefs, an overt war, between introduced Christianity and home-grown paganism. Each of the two sides had proponents who will go to such length as to form new cults and recruit followers to protect the interest of their gods. The all-out war on faith and the unchecked ceremonies of the faithful could turn deceptive, violent, and deadly, as they in fact did. The cave was ordered closed to the public before Nenita Coogan was

found dead in it. I will hazard a guess as to what the cave probably signified in the novel. It may be a stand-in for memory, particularly that of cultural memory. Its reopening allowed paganism, a recessive trait, to be reborn in contemporary times, brought out again to the light for everyone to inhabit and cultivate. It would only take a well-timed stimulus, a natural calamity, or perhaps a demagogue's fiery speech during a demonstration rally, to trigger a crisis of faith. The objective histories told in books and in official documents belied the deep-set motives and desires of the characters. Everyone was capable of compassion; everyone was capable of murder and machination. The novel was so opaque and tangible that it can harbor many interpretations, many individual readings and telling, of fortune and literary meanings. As a variation of the Socratic allegory, the philosophy proceeded to its dark conclusions. Along the walls of the cave, the shadows conjured confusion and mystery such that the viewers of these dark images could not distinguish the shadows from the objects that cast them. The cave became the canvas in which the novelist projected his own portraits of shadows, characters like trapped animals, darkened by their savage capabilities and blinded by their own appetites and desires. Shadows that were like figments of one's susceptible beliefs, readily accepted as rock-hard beliefs, but ultimately hollow and easily ground. They were fooled by perverse forms reality takes, the objects dissolving into their petty projections. The characters' shadowy attitudes reflect our own inherited failings, our national defects. This is the un-reality we cannot face and yet we must do so to escape it. As the dying words of a female mystic in the novel put it: "All only shadows in a cave ... Oh, fly me outside!" A note on the prose. Joaqun was a poet and he wrote in beautifully observed sentences ("The kneeling light was also examining the purple thread in their plaid, the curl of bead or shell, the jewelry of white buds in dark hair, the throb of gold in the flesh."). He was one of the best Filipino stylists in the English language. Even with descriptions that were somehow excessive or accessorized with bourgeois accoutrement, he was an original at the level of the sentence. His writing breathed and throbbed in quick flashes, like gold in the flesh.

The story is all about the mysterious death of a girl Named Nenita Coogan. The American girl who had been hated by many because of being so talkative and she often tell story or secrets of a person to the world, others call her a compulsive liar. (Why was her death considered mysterious?) It is because she had been found dead in a cave which had been closed to the public and guarded by the mayor's guards so that nobody could enter into that cave she's bare naked when found and so fragrant which caught the of attention of Mr. Pocholo Gatmaitan that's why her body was found. Mr. Jack Henson, former husband of Alfreda was told by the latter to investigate about the case of her daughter because she cannot get easily encourage that her daughter only died in cardiac arrest and not been murdered nor raped. So, Jack, fromDavao planned to Manila and there Nenitas ghost haunted him, as if for him, Nenita wanted to say something. He investigate it all his might, he went to Nenita's whereabouts and interviewed her friends and even ask the oldest person in Barrio Bato because in his mind, there's a secret passage in the cave where Nenita has been found, that might be the passage where Nenita entered to be able to enter the cave, non might been used by the murderer. After all the information's he got and the persons he met, he found out the killer and how he planned to do the killing but all that he guessed where just conclusions and some of it were true and definitely true yet at the end when he went to the Hermana, the priestess of the cult there. He found the answers though mystically told or unbelievable but Hermana has point and proved it to him. According to Hermana, Pocholo is whom Jack found out to be the murderer because of the plan Pocholo admit to him,but the ghost of Nenita herself talked to the Hermana saying that she died with love which she found out inside the cave where in the goddesses of the cave gave her, she has been awake when Pocholo carried her in the cave and she found the cave bright and fragrant and the goddess spoke to her that if she wanted to stay she could stay forever in the cave with the goddess or she could also went out to the world where she always run away and hurt by the people around her and Nenita just decided to stay, the fragrance of Nenitas body is not because of the car full of flowers where Nenita has laid >>Set within the time of activists frequent demonstrations in Manila, inside Pocholo's car compartment because he fragrance wont last specifically the August of 72 before the declaration of martial law. A overnight, the fragrance was from the goddess of the cave Jack was sort of whodunit with excursions into the esoteric and historical, cults puzzled because Pocholo admitted that he staged Nenitas apparition, and beatas, little known caves for example withinMetro Manila where he is the one who paid Yvette in order to act as Nenita and Hermana some of the strange happenings occur. It is also loves and attempted told Jack that Yvette was miles and miles away when Jack saw Nenits reconciliations, friendship and politics the tyrannies of family and love. ghost, it means that Yvette didn't do the instruction of Pocholo, the ghost is Nenita herself and the goddesses planed it because of

reason. Why was Pocholo wanted to kill Nenita? Because Nenita found out the secrets of Pocholo and then he just tried to stop her but actually Pocholo only slapped Nenita because she was hysterical that time, maybe because she has gone in pot orgy and very exhausted that time, then, Nenita fe fell from a deep sleep and didn't wake up anymore, even when she was carried inside the cave.