Lola Narcisas character represents tradition, that part of Filipino history and culture that is fast disappearing in a country that idolizes everything American. For all of Babys life, she has been a detached, indifferent mother. She is not always sure where she belongs and complains of having to reconstruct her genealogy. In this sense, her character is symbolic of the uncertainty of the postcolonial Philippine national identity. You like to mix things up on purpose, she accuses Rio. After the coronation, Daisy plunges into depression. Andres Perlita Alacran: Black sheep of the Alacran family; a distant relative; drag queen and owner of the club, CocoRico, where Joey Sands works as a DJ. He has been politically passive. He is shot by the police and then charged with the murder of Senator Avila. General Nicasio Ledesma: He is a powerful army general who runs a camp where people opposed to the dictator are kept and often tortured. Miguel Mikey Gonzaga: Puchas older brother. He has always wanted sons and has several illegitimate ones that worship him, love him, plot against him. His only legitimate child is a girl named Rosario whom everyone calls Baby. Boomboom Alacran is his nephew. Senator Domingo Avila: A popular, left-leaning Philippine senator, leader of the opposition movement against the government; Daisys father; he is assassinated. The novel Dogeaters is set in the Philippines and first published in 1990. Benigno Aquino was assassinated as he returned to the Philippines for political elections. Jessica Hagedorn 's Dogeaters is a tale of corruption and violence. The second is the date of He controls interests in Mabuhay Movie Studios. She perpetuates the myth that women are valuable national symbols when they participate in beauty pageants. Pucha acknowledges that Boomboom is a bit gordito (chubby), but he is rich, and that makes him cute enough for [her].. The radio is playing the popular Filipino soap opera Love Letters during the rape. used speakers for sale craigslist; pioneer woman carne guisada; characters in dogeaters; By . Pucha Gonzaga She's Rio's cousin and the life of the party. Leonor Ledesma: Deeply religious wife of General Ledesma; she is forced to marry the general by her elderly parents and her parish priest; constantly performs acts of penance hoping to absolve her husband of his sins. Last Updated on February 28, 2022, by eNotes Editorial. Another narrator is an all-seeing third person, who introduces other Filipino families. She is a stunning, selfish beauty with a caustic tongue. Like Delores Gonzaga, she represents the oppressed 1950s Filipina, trapped by her gender and her marriage. She describes the shock of seeing her homeland from such a mature perspective. She becomes another spectator in a country of spectators, using the unreality of movies to remove her from the pain of her life. Senator Avila is assassinated. Pucha is fourteen when Rios narrative begins. Severo Alacran He is an aristocrat, a self-made businessman who owns several companies. His wife, Leonor, has devoted herself to a sacrificial life of praying on the cold cement floor of her tiny bedroom, fasting on water, and on good days doing charity work for the Sisters of Mercy orphanage. Baby is not sure she really wants to marry Pepe, but she will, mostly to spite her parents. Neil: An American serviceman who has a brief affair with Joey Sands. Not affiliated with Harvard College. He is patterned after Benigno Aquino, a popular leftist leader who challenged the authority of the Marcos Regime. . Pucha assures Rio that when she is Mrs. I will render the walls another coat of paint, after the first coat dries. She is a commodity that can be bought and sold at the whim of those in charge. Moving to San Francisco in 1963, Hagedorn received her education at the American Conservatory Theater training program. Senator Domingo Avila (doh-MEEN-goh a-VEE-lah) is the opposition party leader and father of Daisy Consuelo Avila. Joey is a survivor, however. Ed. Pepe has planned the whole thing. She is yet another woman trapped by gender oppression and violence. Rio enjoys eating the traditional Filipino food that her grandmother and the servants eat with their hands in the tiny incense-filled room. Jessica Hagedorn is a performance artist, poet, novelist and playwright, born and raised in the Philippines. Word Count: 483. It is one of her goals in life, Rio complains. Perhaps she has fashioned her own mental movie with her family as the actors. General Nicasio Ledesma (nee-KAH-see-oh leh-DEHS-mah) is an army chief who runs torture camps for subversives. During the assassination scandal, Boy Boy helps Joey escape from Uncle and the police. Lola Narcisa Divino: Rios maternal grandmother; a Filipina; married to American Whitman Logan. Dogeaters study guide contains a biography of Jessica Hagedorn, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. The first main character is Rio Gonzaga. She is tired of being a movie star, although she cannot explain why. The postcolonial deformities are illustrated by Babys various bodily evils. Pepe Carreon: A lieutenant in the army, and General Ledesmas protg; marries Baby Alacran. He claims to like things off-balance, but in the next breath he explains that he loves it when everything falls into place. In CocoRico, the bar where he works, he is at times the spectacle and at other times a spectator. She marriesBoomboom Alacran but the marriage falls apart. By subverting the referentiality of fiction, Dogeaters completely undermines "the . With her background, a Scots-Irish-French-Filipino mother and a Filipino-Spanish father with one Chinese ancestor, Hagedorn adds a unique perspective to Asian American performance and literature. Educators go through a rigorous application process, and every answer they submit is reviewed by our in-house editorial team. He is the son of a Black GI and a desperate, half-crazy whore of a mother who sold him to a pimp named Uncle for fifty pesos when she could no longer feed him or herself. General Ledesma is hungry for food and sex, and Lolita Luna is hungry for drugs. Socorro Pertierra Gonzaga: Rios paternal grandmother and a widow; she is a Filipina but lives in Spain; her deceased husband Don Carlos Jose Maria Gonzaga was also Filipino but, like his wife, considered himself Spanish. After winning a national beauty pageant, Daisy promptly becomes a recluse suffering from protracted crying spells. During the assassination scandal, Boy Boy helps Joey escape from Uncle and the police. Chiquiting Moreno: Gay hairdresser to Delores Gonzaga. She enjoys being the center of attention and craves a glamorous life. A small-time pimp and drug pusher, Uncle, pays for the mothers funeral expenses and takes Joey into his shack in the slum district of Tondo. With 15 actors portraying more than 30 characters, simultaneous scenes, a multilayered set and a tone that repeatedly shifts between high camp and melodrama, "Dogeaters" boasts more variety than . She engages in a relationship with Santos Tirador, a known leftists conspirator. When her father, the senator, is assassinated during the contest for Miss Philippines, she loses faith in the integrity of the contest. Set in Manila, the lives of a couple prestigious Filipino families as well as some relatively anonymous lower class citizens are randomly intertwined through a seeming conspiracy of political consequences. Pucha would never be caught eating Filipino food with her hands. Dogeaters Hagedorn, Jessica Tarahata, 1949- "An original, raw, and wild novel that has held its power and demands to be read." Lorenza: Rios maid and sometimes chaperone. 1998 eNotes.com Doa Pucha Alacran she will be able to afford a Chiquiting Moreno hairdo whenever she feels like it. In an interview in last part of the book, the First Lady discusses her shoes, likely a direct reference to Imelda Marcos's extensive shoe collection. She spends her time shopping, jetting around the world, and perfecting her English. While Rio belongs to the upper class, she has compassion for the lower class. She has designed it herself. Rainer: a famous German director. Hagedorn creates many such marginalized Filipino characters to illustrate the hypocrisy of the Marcos regime, which was a time of not only political corruption but also of the worst moral decay. In an interview, she explains that during this period, pornography was part of life even though you had this regime that was trying to present itself as being squeaky clean. Characters like Joey Sands are the people who nobody cared about and nobody thought about because they were too easily dismissed, she explains. She is a precocious young Filipina girl, a mestiza whose ancestors include American, Spanish, Chinese, and native Filipino people. Last Updated on March 1, 2022, by eNotes Editorial. Pepe Carreon (PEH-peh kah-rreh-OHN) is an ambitious man with a bad complexion who elopes with Baby Alacran, daughter of the wealthy Severo and Isabel Alacran. Daisy has just been crowned the most beautiful woman in the Philippines. eNotes.com Not affiliated with Harvard College. She is not conflicted and knows what she wants out of life, although Rio believes her goals are shallow. He beats her and accuses her of being unfaithful. Lola Narcisa is a quiet woman who rarely speaks. Daisy Avila: Senator Avilas twenty-year old daughter, a beauty queen who wins the Junior Miss Philippines contest; becomes part of the resistance movement. Hagedorn (b. She is a vacuous but conniving woman obsessed with beauty and keeping up appearances. Whitman Logan: Rios American maternal grandfather, married to Lola Narcisa. Analysis of Dogeaters Jessica Hagedorn 1990 pastiche novel is written against the backdrop of postcolonial Philippines, during the years of building the nation and military decree under the regime of Marcos, who ruled Philippines from 1965 to 1986. The general does not seem to mind, perhaps because he keeps a mistress, film actress Lolita Luna, who is always out of money and usually high on drugs. What are the main themes in the novel Miguel Street? This Study Guide consists of approximately 30 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of Dogeaters. Beauty pageants are a farce, she announces, a giant step backward for all women. She quotes her father and mother. His army career is marked by rapid advancement to the position of aide to General Ledesma. When Delores looks at herself in one of the many mirrors, it is always night. Last updated by Cat on 31 May 04:52 Answers: 1. Agustin Gonzaga: Puchas father; Rios uncle, Freddies older brother; Freddie gets Agustin a job working for Severo Alacran. Madame is the first lady of the Philippines, modeled after Imelda Marcos. She belongs to the upper class because of her ancestry, but she's got a heart for the oppressed peoples.