A Review of Dead Stars

A Review of Dead Stars

by: Paz Marquez Benitez

About the Author

Paz Marquez Benítez was born in 1894 at Lucena, Tayabas (currently known as Quezon). She wrote the first Filipino modern English language short story entitled "Dead Stars", published in the year 1925. Being born in an eminent family of Quezon, she was given a privilege to learn English as a medium of instruction in the first Filipino generation of American education system training.Paz Benitez was a part of the first freshman class of the University of the Philippines, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1912. She then became a professor at University of the Philippines, and taught short-story writing to her students. Moreover, Paz became an influential figure to many Filipino writers in the English language even up to this day.

Plot

The story revolves around Alfredo and the two women of his life-- Esperanza, his fiancè, and a young beautiful lady named Julia Salas. Alfredo was happy with Esperanza not until he met Julia Salas at Judge Del Valle's house. Unable to control his feelings, he fell in loved with the young lady; not able to foresee what would Esperanza feel.  As time went by, Alfredo's love for Esperanza gradually faded while his feelings for Julia became stronger. Time had come and Julia knew about the upcoming wedding of Alfredo and Esperanza. Being able to know what's best, Julia said her last words to Alfredo and went away. Subsequently, Alfredo and Esperanza got married. After long years, Alfredo went to a business trip and met Julia who was still unmarried. There he realized that his love for Julia was already gone and was compared to a dead star.

Review of the Story

The author used symbolism to describe the main characters in the story. The name "Alfredo" means wise and loyal. However, the author used Alfredo's name ironically. In the story, Alfredo was unwise of his decisions; he let his emotions rule over him and neglect the feelings of the two women involved. Because he was too preoccupied by the judgements he could hear from the people around him, he was more willing to choose what he thought the society wanted. As a result, he married Esperanza even though his love for her was gradually fading. On the other hand, the name of Julia was used to describe her real character in the story. "Julia" is a Latin word that means "youthful". The author narrated her as a young, beautiful lady or a typical Maria Clara that's why most men, including Alfredo, would really fell in loved with her personality. However, Julia's youthfulness didn't hinder her to choose the right decision even though it would hurt her. Furthermore, the name of Esperanza also symbolized her trait in the story (though it was too implied). Esperanza's name means hope. In relation to that in the story, she never lost hope that Alfredo would fall in love with her again even though she knew he was in loved with another woman. Esperanza never gave up until Alfredo would come back to her again.


Dead Stars was used to symbolize Alfredo's love for Julia Salas at the end of the story. After years of not seeing each other, Alfredo realized that he felt no attraction to Julia anymore. Like a dead star, his love was already dead; it already vanished. The only thing that remained was the memories of the past.


The whole story portrayed how complicated love is when it comes to decision-making. One of a person's weaknesses is able to control his/her feelings and that was the case of Alfredo in the story. Love comes in various ways, and it is really hard to control. However, an individual should know his/her limitations and should remember to choose what is best for everyone.


In overall, the story was worth-reading. It has a lot of meaningful messages that would help people not just in deciding things about love, but also deciding things wisely in every aspects of life. So what are you waiting for? Read Dead Stars by Paz Marquez Benitez now! Surely, you won't regret it. :)


That's all for this review. Thank you for reading!