- As with all great storytelling, Japanese manga, movies and literature are infused with tales of revenge. Name one. Give us a brief outline of the story; who gets their revenge on who, and for what? If you are not Japanese, tell us about a book or movie from your country where a protagonist seeks or receives his or her revenge.
- Did you like this story? Why?
- In the news, retaliation is a common theme. This may be between politicians, companies, sports personalities (or clubs), nations or celebrity spouses. Tell me about a real world act of retaliation or revenge.
- Did you feel in this case that the retaliation was reasonable? Why?
- Tell us about a time when you or someone you know has felt the need to retaliate against a spouse, sibling, parent, friend, boss, colleague or stranger. What happened? Your story can be serious or funny.
- Do you feel in this case that you, or the person you know, struck a balance, or simply made the situation worse?
Question 1
The most famous Filipino, and our national hero, is Jose Rizal. His two masterpieces, Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, helped spark the revolution which led to the war that kicked out the Spaniards from the Philippines. El Filibusterismo is primarily about revenge. The main character is Simoun, he is a mysterious, wealthy and extremely intelligent Filipino gentleman that came back to the Philippines after being abroad in Spain for many years. The big twist is that he is actually Chrisostomo Ibarra, believed to have been murdered by the Spaniards from the previous book, Noli Me Tangere, and he has come back to exact his revenge on the Spaniards. After slowly getting close the most powerful Spaniards in Manila, he throws a huge party in his house where he secertly planted bombs all over the place to kill all the evil Spaniards. His plan fails and he dies miserably.Question 2
I really liked this story, because it so accurately depicted the terrible situation Filipinos were facing at the time. I think it was very important for Simoun to fail in the end. If he had succeeded, the Filipinos reading the story would have felt satisfied and maybe wouldn't become angry enough to start the revolution. Also, the Spanish goverment would probably ban the books sooner if Simoun was successful with his mission, thinking that the book was treason against Spain.Question 3
The famous romantic poet, Lord Byron, used to love animals and had many pets. His favorite was a Newfoundland dog named Boatswain. While attending the Cambridge Trinity College, Lord Byron liked to bring his dog with him too, but the campus has a "no dogs allowed" rule. When he reviewed the rules, he discovered that it only applied to dogs, but there no rules against bringing any other type of animal. So, one day, Lord Byron brought a bear to the school and they couldn't tell him no because there no rules against it!Question 4
I think it was funny. People come up with all sorts of silly rules and Lord Byron showed how silly the "no dogs allowed" rule was. Dogs clearly aren't as dangerous as bears, maybe they should just make rules about how to ensure bringing your pet won't cause trouble in school.Question 5
My brother and I have never gotten along, especially when we were kids. We would get into fights a lot, as far as I remember, it's always him that's starting the fights. I never really understood what his problem with me was so you can imagine I would get really upset sometimes. There was a time when I was so angry that I really wanted to do something bad to him, which only I would know about. I dipped his toothbrush into the toilet. But, I felt really guilty aftwerwards and ended up cleaning the toothbrush as best as I could and then put it back.Question 6
My brother and I still don't talk to each other much but we don't fight anymore. He gave me a huge amount of money as a wedding gift, and that really surprised me. So I think, even if we aren't close, we have at least stopped being enemies. I would even do him favors every now and then!Tough Vocabulary
| - English - | - Japanese - |
|---|---|
| treason | 外患罪, 反逆 |