“Not Your Cliché Love Story”

Critique Paper

Puppy Love by Francisco Sionil Jose

Photo by: Kids love images and wallpaper WUPFUN.BIZ

            A good story does not always have to end with the usual boy gets girl and they lived happily ever after. Some of the best stories have unexpected ending and comes with the greatest plot twist. An example of this is the story written by Francisco Sionil Jose, “Puppy Love”. The author started the story by introducing the main character, Jacobo Salcedo, the background of the character, and what the character has been through. Sionil Jose used the flashback method in writing this story. This kind of technique helps readers know the characters more, and helps understand how the characters behave in the story. He also used the first-person point of view which is Jacobo, the main character’s point of view, to narrate the story. This makes the story thrilling for the reader because it does not reveal too much about the other characters and what the other characters really feel and think. This is a good technique to engage readers to read the story actively to know what is really happening in the story. Another element that I loved about this story is that Sionil Jose took the time to describe the scenes and the settings in the story. This help readers picture out and imagine the scenes in the story. The author also describes the image of the character which helps readers imagine how the character look like and the attitude that their looks project in the story.

As flashbacks continue, the author introduces other characters that plays a good role in Jacobo’s life and also in the story. The childhood memory of Jacobo introduced Gina, a childhood sweetheart of Jacobo, in the story. This is a good way of introducing a character because it started when the characters are young which helps supports the succeeding flow of the story. What I like about this story is that it does not have the cliché plot of a love story. Readers might think that they really will end up being together and the story might end soon with a happy ending because Jacobo and Gina meet again in a club.

“So there we were that evening at the bayside. The manager whom I personally knew - in the Philippines, personal acquaintances are attributes in almost every undertaking - led us to the hostess booth. The Bayside girls were known to be well trained in the art of conversation and entertaining. My guests and I examined the luscious array of pulchritude. And, right in the middle, in a green dress, was Gina. How could I make a mistake with that face, those eyes that sparkled!” (6)

But when the author put the twist where Jacobo had to leave for a business trip and he cannot meet Gina at the restaurant, that is where the reader can say that the story is not over yet. Tragic it is that Jacobo and Gina did not end up being together. But that is just how things may end up if we do not grab our chances in life. The story leaves a good wake up call for people that are dependent on second chances and how destiny work. And Sionil Jose’s Puppy Love is a good story that anyone may read and relate to because all of us had that puppy love. And it is within us if we will end up like Jacobo or we will make the difference. The story Puppy Love does not only reminds us that we should not forget about our childhood infatuation that may be our true love, it also leaves the lesson that chances are not always infinite and there is no such thing as right time because it is we who make the time right.