Short Stories The Fence Summary by Jose Garcia Villa
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The Fence Summary by Jose Garcia Villa
Setting
The story is set is a desolate place where two nipa huts are the only visible houses. The occupants of both the houses are distant and cold towards each other. Their attitudes reflect the remoteness and emptiness of their location.
They have an unyielding fence between them to stay at arm's length from each other. But the bamboo fence was not always there. The parched soil between the two houses was once rich and fertile as the neighbors used to share a bond of warmth and care. But it all changed one night.
The Hate
The husband of Aling Biang left after his misdemeanor was caught and his wife did not bother to pursue after him. The betrayal, the hurt, and the memory had hardened her heart.
Both the women were left with a festering dislike for each other, so much so that they refused to even water the vegetable rows between the two houses, lest the water replenished their neighbor's plants.
Children
As the story unfolds, we read about Aling Sebia's pregnancy and the only person who could help her was Aling Biang. And she did but even that did not end the bitterness which goes on unabated. The children of the two women,
Sebia's daughter and Biang's son Iking grow up oblivious to each other's existence. They are innocent victims of their family feud. They, too, are sentenced to desolation on either side of the merciless bamboo fence. They both are not gifted physically but in their loneliness, long for company and even friendship.
One day Iking sneaks a peek at the girl through the withering fence and his heart is captivated by her. Even though she seems uglier than him, the need for companionship makes him fall for the only girl he has ever seen.
Then he hears her play the guitar. She does not complete her notes and Iking is desperate to hear her complete. Aling Biang tries to instil hatred in Iking’s in Iking's heart but he shows signs of quiet resistance.
Gradually but surely he gets drawn to the music coming from the house next to his. He even starts sleeping by the door where he is able to hear the guitar being played by the girl. He feels the urge to destroy the fence but his mother bolsters the decaying fence and eventually even the guitar stops playing.
Tragic End
Then the story moves for three years and we arrive on Christmas day. Iking is emaciated and weak having being deprived of the girl's sight and music. His mother Aling Biang asks him to rest while she prays to God.
But Iking only yearns to hear the guitar and goes to the fence. Through the slits in the fence, he whispers to the girl. He wants her to play the guitar and she looks at him, seemingly in agreement.
He waits for the girl to honor his muted request. But there is no music. He is afraid that the girl might have a fence in her against him even though he does not. Unfortunately, at 2 in the morning, the boy dies before the girl could answer his wishes.
At 2:03 am, guitar music comes. But it is too late and Iking's last wish goes unanswered. Even though the musical notes are now complete, they have lost their patron. Aling Biang scoffs at the guitar music as she considers it disrespectful to his son's death.
In the end, even his death fails to soften her heart and bring the modicum of sensitivity and forgiveness. The fence remains as formidable as before. The story leaves the reader with many questions.
Where is the man who was as guilty as Aling Sebia? Why can not the two victims, the two neighbors, show compassion to each other? Why does the flame of hate be more powerful than the winds of empathy and forgiveness?
Key Thoughts
The prime teaching of the story is the importance of forgiveness. Forgiveness offers a chance to reconcile our differences. The lesson highlighted is that our actions have consequences and it is unhealthy to carry grudges when those consequences are adverse.
Human beings are liable to make mistakes and errors but it is higher human quality to forgive mistakes and make room for repentance. If we learn to forgive each other then we can help foster mutual trust and confidence.
Summary: The Fence by Jose Garcia Villa (Short)
The setting is reflective of the kind of characters and the situation they would be in.
The nipa huts look desolate and empty, reflective of how their occupants behave and feel for each other.
They have no neighbors and yet the need for each other seems remote and distant. Hatred overrules. They are most afraid one of them would give way.
The building of the fence seems necessary to protect themselves from each other. Hatred comes from a betrayal-- when Aling Biang caught her husband with Aling Sebia, the childless widow.
Aling Biang could not forgive.
Aling Sebia seems not remorseful as she matches the anger and hatred of Aling Biang. Thehusband left without a word and never came back. He is part of the mess, but left it unsettled.
The vegetable rows that used to separate the nipa huts are slowly dying. The owners are afraid that if they watered the vegetables, they would also at the same time nurture the plants of the other.
This seems reflective of their unwillingness to forgive and live again.
Aling Sebia is going to deliver a child. Aling Biang is the only person who could help her.
This could have been an opportunity for reconciliation, but after Aling Biang helps her there is complete silence.
The hatred goes on like a curse.
The children of the two women grow unhealthy and ugly. Aling Biang implants hatred inIking's heart, although Iking feels otherwise.
It is the very first music in his life.
Although the notes are not complete, Iking likes to hear it.When he reaches fifteen, he stops sleeping beside his mother. He wants to sleep by the door where he could hear the guitar being played.
He is beginning to show signs of protest, but he is physically weak.
This time he knows it is the girl who plays the guitar. He wants to destroy the fence that is starting to decay.
But his mother reinforces the decaying stakes which had been weathered by time.
The guitar stops playing.
It is Christmas. They pray and yet Iking doubts if his mother could really pray.
Again, Iking wants the girl to play the guitar -- and he tells her this as he whispers through the bamboo fence.
He is happy when the girl appears to have heard and understood him.
Iking waits, but he is afraid the fence has reached her heart. Nevertheless, he waits because there is no fence in his heart.
Then he died.
The guitar plays a few minutes after Iking died.
Now, the musical notes are completed. Alling Biang, on theother hand, finds the playing of the guitar a mockery.His death does not soften her heart. The fence remains strengthened.
Short Stories Summary The Fence by Jose Garcia Villa\