Themes
The themes of this story are:
- The Drug War
- Rich vs. Poor
- Toxic Masculinity
One of the issues that the story talks about is the war against drugs—which may have happened on 2016 or just the past drug war in Davao. It says that the drug war is one-sided by challenging the stereotypes used against drug users. In addition, it combines this with its commentary on poverty.
The drug war typically view drug users and dealers as immoral and evil people. However, the story tries to challenge this by introducing characters which contradicts with this view (i.e., Ronnie and Biboy). It argues that drug use are a product of circumstance—poor people face countless of difficult problems that rich people do not assist in solving. For this reason, it asserts that the drug war is one-sided considering that they just exacerbate the problem by murdering those who are in hopeless situations.
The whole town would watch him compete again, hundreds of his neighbors—who’d already written him off as a cautionary tale
We learn from this quote that the town looks down on Ronnie. It is ironic, however, that he is kindhearted when compared to the people around him, as seen in this exchange
“What you have there?” a bayot asked him. He had long, ironed hair touching his bare shoulders. “Secret,” Ronnie said. “You’ll have to see for yourself.” “Chos!” sneered another one, frail and much younger, with unusually pale skin that was almost gray. “When was the last time you joined? The 1960s?” Ronnie was going to say something lighthearted when he noticed the way the youngsters were looking at him.
Unlike the other contestants, Ronnie was not vulgar and carried himself with poise: We can see that he was planning to say something nice even after the other contestant sneered at him. Besides this, Ronnie was also resilient and resourceful; he lost everything but still chose to compete with everything he has left
Three weeks earlier, his assistant had emptied the cash register and split, taking boxes of expensive hair coloring products on the way out. The betrayal came on the heels of a huge blow. Ronnie’s straight male lover, whom he’d supported through college, had left to marry a girl he’d gotten pregnant.
We can observe three important things in this quote: Ronnie lost his items, assistant, and salon; Ronnie lost his male lover to a woman. The former sheds light on Ronnie’s resilience for being able to persevere even after losing his source of income, while the latter depicts a symbol of toxic masculinity—where it seems like homosexuality was rejected and looked down on for a heterosexual relationship. Nevertheless, Ronnie was still able to survive through his resourcefulness, as seen in this quote
Ronnie had to close down the salon and move to a boarding house in a compound used mainly as an automobile workshop. To pay rent, he started going door-to-door, offering makeup, hair styling, even manicures and pedicures. Occasionally he would choreograph dance numbers for local government employees who needed “intermission numbers” for their parties.
We can see that despite losing his primary source of income, he was able to manage and navigate through difficult life situations by working multiple jobs.
Besides Ronnie, Biboy also served as a good counterexample to drug users/dealers being bad people. Initially Biboy would act kind towards Ronnie because he needed a place to stay after losing the person he was working for (Tiago).
At the tricycle cab terminal, he saw Biboy again. The way the boy beamed at him, it was as if he’d been waiting for Ronnie to appear.
When they reached the compound, the boy got off and followed him to the gate. “Let me carry that,” he offered, grasping at the plastic bags in Ronnie’s hands.
The boy skipped in front of him, blocking his way. He was so tall that the top of his head almost cleared the iron spikes on the hollow block wall. The grooves of his ribs showed through the jersey’s large armholes. “Promise you I’ll be good,” said Biboy. “Sige na, gwaps. If you want we can arrange something.
“Maybe I can clean your house,” the boy prodded. “Pick up your groceries. I only need a place to stay. Please, gwaps?” Ronnie was about to shut the gate when it occurred to him. He could really use some help after all.
This quote showed us that Biboy was desperate for a place to stay. He was making numerous offers and being very helpful just so that he could enter Ronnie’s house. Nevertheless, we could see Biboy being a genuinely good person who actually cares about Ronnie as the story progresses.
“You know, gwaps, I can help you with that,” said Biboy. “That’s what you’re here for.” Biboy tossed the sketches. “I got a high mark in industrial arts. For my project, I made an iron garden set. Compared to that, your arm plate is peanuts.”
Although he did not need to, he offered to help Ronnie with making the costume. Furthermore, Biboy would also provide emotional support for Ronnie.
“Don’t mind them, gwaps,” Biboy said. “Next to you, they look like clowns.”
Ronnie gamely aimed his golden forearm at Oliver’s face, but somebody tugged at his elbow. “Gwaps, calm down,” Biboy said.
In the second quote, we see Biboy protect and calm down Ronnie. He wanted to Ronnie to be ready for the competition and also not be humiliated.
His face lit up when he spotted, near the edge of the second row, Biboy raising both thumbs up. Ronnie posed before the microphone, and lifting his golden arm, addressed the audience.
Even after helping him, Biboy stayed to cheer for Ronnie. These two characters highlights how the drug use is not necessarily a predictor for being a bad person. It just something someone gets into due to the situation they are in. In contrast to rich non-drug user characters—Oliver and the other contestants—Ronnie and Biboy seem very empathetic and kind.
Symbolism
- The metal arm might symbolize the way Duterte handled the drug war. He acted like he had an iron fist or like a dictator who could do whatever he wanted on people involved with drugs.
- The metal arm and the dress might be a juxtaposition that shows how masculine and feminine traits can coexist (not exclusive). It challenges gender roles by showing that one can posses both roles and not have to strictly adhere to it.