Novel Analysis: Killing Time in a Warm Place by Jose Y. Dalisay Jr.

Submitted to the Faculty of the English Department as Requirement for the Third Grading Period

DANSECO, LOYD CHRISTIAN December, 2011

Part 1 SYNOPSIS KILLING TIME IN A WARM PLACE is a novel of growing up in the Philippines during the Marcos years. Told in the voice of its protagonist, Noel Ilustre Bulaong, the narrative travels through familiar social and literary territory: the coconut groves of Bulaongs childhood, Manilas hovels, the Diliman Commune, UG safehouses, martial law prisons, and the homes and offices of the petty-bourgeoisie. It is a story of false horizons, of betrayal, compromise, and guilt and not incidentally of the contemporary middle-class Filipinos migration from the village to the metropolis to the outside world.

Part 2 CHAPTER BY CHAPTER ANALYSIS

Chapter 1: Dream of Lizards A. Vocabulary 1. Estuary that part of the mouth or lower course of a river in which the river's current meets the sea's tide. 2. Baronetcy- lowest form of hereditary titled British order 3. Corpuscular4. Glabrous 5. Cavorting

B. Summary The novel opens up with different flashbacks and musings of the narrator and protagonist of the story Noel Ilustre Bulaong, as he returns home from the States to attend his fathers wake. His recollections started from his childhood in Kangleong, a beachside village in the Visayas, how the coconuts fall during the rains making thudding noises much like the running of horses. Scenes shifted from here and focused on his conversation with his uncle during his first visit from the states and how he remembered different members of his family, from his uncle and his short-lived stint in being mayor of their municipality, and how he got into a US ship that he thought would take him to

the States but instead dropped him off to Japan. Noel also remembered the stories about his grandfather, specifically how his burial place was builtwith a window where one can look inside and see his dead face. This was taken to the test, out of curiosity by Noel. He walked to the cemetery and braved the stories of vampires and local aswangs to quench his curiosity. At last when he found the tomb, he saw what he was looking for: a glass window, and inside, the skull of his dead grandfather. The chapter ends with Noels memory of the campaign visit of Ferdinand Marcos, and how his father was the campaign manager in his town.

C. Reaction I believe the chapter is intended to be flashbacks for it is how the stage is being set on the succeeding events of the story. What the chapter amuses me the most is how the author vividly described the typical province childhood the narrator experienced in the narrative. Peaceful, simple yet memorable nonetheless. The appearance of Ferdinand Marcos at the end of the chapter hints that his persona would have a major role in the development of the story. I find the first chapter slow, dragging, like lying outside in a cloudy day. I have to read more.