Firewalkers: A Book Review

CHAPTER I

A. INTRODUCTION

Philippines, being an archipelago is a home to numerous folks and cultures, each different from the other, separated by bodies of water, language and beliefs. The fact that we, Filipinos have been under the ---- of different countries, our ancestors have had their share of the stories. Today, during our modern times, such stories are now considered a mere folklore.

In this book "The Firewalkers", the first chapter presents us with a character, Gabriel Diego, who is a relative of warlords and shamans, who "could will themselves into creatures of splendor, (they) could pass unsinged through the flames". It was claimed that the shamans, Gabriel Diego's maternal uncles, 'in their young manhood, (they) knew the locations and usage of all ancient vulneraries, plant and animal, and that from leaf and bark, from gristle and bone, they fashioned unguents, salves, brews and powders that caused death or healing, and made them masters over ordinary men, over horses and women. In fighting, they seemed invulnerable, proof against blades and bullets, tempting hellfire and lightning by entering the pillaged churches in their gorgeous powershirts and amulets to impale the friar on their spears."(p.5) Hence, this presents us with questions like "Did shamans really exist?" or "Are they what we call mangkukulam these days?" "Can we associate them (shamans) to our modern way of living?"

One quiet day, a dead boy was discovered by Lakambaga people and called upon the attention of Gabriel Diego, their sergeant of police, their only police in town. "His servants were holding back the dogs straining to get to the crowd outside. A dead boy, they were shouting. In the gorge below the town. Mauled. Mangled. Cut into pieces." (p.7). Upon examining the dead boy, Gabriel Diego came into conclusion that a big dog-like creature - a beast, killed the lad. "...but when the sergeant moved the head to feel for wounds, the lifeless eyes caught sun, startled briefly, and caught him breathless by surprise...A dog, he thought. A large, very large, hunting dog."p.8

After a few days, as he was talking with the Augustinian priest, the priest told him about an experience he had with a beast. "I was there in the fight for Silang...I ran to flee, but the roots of the tree rose up and bound my feet. So I crawled under it... until it was evening and the moon rose, and the dogs, the pigs, the rats, the giant lizards came out of the woods to feed upon the corpses." "He stood there, waist deep in the torrent of offal, nonchalant as a bather or a laundrywoman. I could hear his teeth tear flesh, crack bones, hear his mouth and tongue click-cluck, suckling for marrow, teasing for brain, bits of delicate meat..."And in the night of the boy?" "The teeth marks of the beast."

The inauguration of the new school building is coming up soon, signifying the arrival of entertainment and goods. Gabriel Diego was in-charge of assigning and measuring the booth areas of the entertainment. Actors, clowns, adventurers, and clowns came. The earliest entertainer who came was the El Boging Secundo, also from Cavite, followed by the Apache Kid Wild World.

Then, another dead child turned up, a girl as seen by Gabriel Diego himself. The series of children killings created chaos among the townspeople. They reacted the same way we do when we hear about a serial killer on the loose. The constabulary had set up a checkpoint. A boy wounded by the beast was among the family attempting to go to the priest. There a bloody encounter ended with people dead but the boy was able to be brought to the Augustinian priest by the soldiers. Next, they were ambush by a family living in a hut. Luckily, they came through unharmed.

They also came across Silongan, someone from the house of Solomon. They faced his twelve knights. They almost lost the battle, badly injured and wounded. Some are dead. Gabriel Diego badly wounded, fell into the woods where the mountain nymphs took care of him. "The mountain nymphs had laid him on a flat, white rock mattress of grass, and decorated his bed with flowers... they had painted his face with ash and ochre and left a jar of water, a basket of fruit, and dolls of red cloth riding on horses. "

The twist came when Gabriel Diego was instructed to arrest his uncle Apollo Olfato. He staged a situation where he let Apollo fly out of the window. He pretended to shoot and follow after general Apollo. "I have him. He is dressing. I'm watching him. Just wait a while.", said Gabriel to the scouts. "I'll take care of it. I'll make a diversion and you run...", he told his uncle.

When the civil process was suspended, the kinsmen arranged for a revolution. The living and the dead, together, marching. "Amidst the vanishing procession, Gabriel Diego, though the darkness and the heedless tears, glimpsed his dear wife and his small, very brave son."

The concluding part is to watch for. It will intensify the very first question you will come to think when you read the story. "Are firewalkers for real?"

B. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

* What does the beast in the story depicts?

* What does the character Littlefeather symbolizes at present time?

* Name the moral, social, and political issues tackled in the story that is applicable today?

* How did you perceived the character Gabriel Diego? Why?

* What are the elements of the novel that touches the reader?

C. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

* To entertain the reader

* To relate the moral issues in the story to present time

* To relate the social issues and its continuity today

* To depict the present day problems in a subtle but effective way

* To excite the reader with the story's fast pace

* To expose the readers to the Filipino culture and spirit

* To keep the reader thinking even after the end

D. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The people who would