Author: Manuel A. Viray
Author's Background: Manuel A. Viray(1917-1995) has compiled poetry anthologies, essays on Philippine Literature, and was editor-in-chief of Archipelago Quarterly. He worked in the foreign service corp of the Philippine government until his retirement.
Vocabulary:
- Capricious - given to sudden and unaccountable changes of mood or behavior.
- Snarled - say something in an angry, bad-tempered voice.
- grumbled - complain about something in a bad-tempered way.
- pudgy - rather fat.
- placated - make (someone) less angry or hostile.
- fawning - displaying exaggerated flattery or affection; obsequious.
- jurisprudence - the theory or philosophy of law.
- scowled - frown in an angry or bad-tempered way.
- allay - diminish or put at rest.
- decry - publicly denounce.
- discomfiture - a feeling of unease or embarrassment; awkwardness.
source: https://www.google.com.sa/
Characters:
- Dr. Rufino T. Ventanilla – Deputy Commissioner of a Bureau
- Serafin - Dr. Ventanilla's Chauffeur
- Zabala – Ventilla’s Sternotypist
- Juan Tuviera y Sibulsibul - Chairman of the Finance Committee of the Assembly
- Dr. Adriano Perez - was appointed Deputy Commissioner to succeed Dr. Ventanilla
- Marcos Montablo II – Depduty Commisioner’s Special Assistant
- Edrosa - Law partner of Ozamis, Graduate of Harvard
- Lita - Dr. Ventanilla's employee
- Del Mundo and Estabillo - the assistants on mechanization
Exposition: The story starts off with Dr.Rufino Ventanilla, the Deputy Commissioner of a Bureau, and Seraffin, his chauffeur, as they are speeding along the street leading to Mabini Avenue where the main location of the story unfolds which is the Office Building. The story goes on as we know more about the characters that are included in this story, we can already see that the character of Dr.Ventanilla is grumpy and easily annoyed, he is irritated to his co-workers and employees.
Rising Action: The conflict of the story was introduced when Dr.Ventanilla entered his office and found himself barricaded by the hills of papers on his desk, being the highest position in the building he can feel all the stress and pressure he has to deal with in his everyday life.
Climax: The problem was introduced when Dr.Ventanilla received a message from his superior, the Commissioner, firing him and being transferred to another department, we can see there that he wasn't that happy because he went outside his office to absorb the bad news that he recieved.
Falling Action: It would be the scene where Perez and Marcos were conversing about Dr.Ventanilla in a restaurant. They talked about how Dr.Ventanilla has an unhappy home life that he might not be happy about his job or how he could've done his job properly. they even stated that Dr.Ventanilla has been given too big to chew what it means is that he took too much work on his hands which led him in an unhappy life.i also read that perez said that the office needs more integration, proper distribution of work and have more trust in the abilities of his subordinates.
Ending: After two weeks, Perez was appointed Deputy of Commissioner to succeed Dr. Ventanilla. Now he was relaxing luxuriously in the car as Serafin drove him slowly towards Mabini Avenue.
Symbolism: the first symbolism that i noticed was stated at the first paragraph which is the sun, it was described as intruder of sleep and stolen love, I think this could pertain to Dr.Ventanilla or even to other people who are experiencing stress and pressure, because the only time that we feel relaxed and stress free is when we are sleeping, that is why it is considered as intruder of sleep and, stolen love because some people love sleeping and that includes Dr.Ventanilla. Another Symbolism that i have noticed was the title itself "Portrait of a Great Man" it is kinda ironic how the story revolves around a grumpy and easily annoyed man when the title is about a great man, I think this symbolizes the past personality of Dr.Ventanilla, because at the end of the story we saw that Perez was announced as the new Deputy Commissioner of the Building, before he was talking about how someone could run the office more efficiently, but as time pass by of becoming the new Deputy Commissioner he became somewhat similar to Dr.Ventanilla a grumpy and easily annoyed man.
Theme: The Theme of the story is about how someone can handle the stress and pressure in his/her daily life because of a poor life decision.
Lesson: The lesson of the story is about choosing the right path and deciding the career path that you will be happy with, because poor life choices can lead to depression and an unhappy life, that is why we should look for a job that will make us happy and contented not a job that will make us rich but stressed.
