Philippine

Literature

Novel

Woman who had Two Navels

by: Nick Joaquin

Woman who had Two Navels

Nick Joaquin Book Cover

• Born May 4. 1917 in Manila• Historian, journalist, short

story writer and novelist in English

• Recognized by Jose Garcia Villa

• Named national artist by Ferdinand Marcos

• Deep admirer of Rizal – translated “Mi Ultimo Adios”

• The Woman Who Had Two Navels – published 1961– Symbolism of two navels? Nick Joaquin

Author(s) Nick JoaquinCountry Philippines

Language EnglishGenre(s) Fiction

Publication date 1961

Woman who had Two Navels

About the Title

Navel- is also called as “belly button”– in Tagalog it is called “pusod”

“The Woman who had Two Navels”

Literally, when a woman has two navels, this means that she has two umbilical cords. The navel is the shortened umbilical cord – usually removed when a person is born. But it is not possible because if a person has two umbilical cords, he is a preternatural being – a mutant.

About the Title

The novel’s odd title is the point of inquiry and fascination of anyone who had either merely read it on the front cover or read the book through, is what excites anyone’s curiosity: how can someone have two navels and what are the reasons concerning it? Is it because of an anatomical or genetic anomaly here unto now unheard of? Or it is an outright lie from someone’s disjointed view of reality?

About the Title

Woman who had Two Navels“The Woman Who Had

Two Navels” is a 1961 novel about a woman who is hallucinating and is preoccupied with the notion that she has two navels be treated as an extraordinary person.

Woman who had Two Navels

This novel by Joaquin is a literary assessment of the influence of the past to the time encompassing events in the Philippines after World War II an examination of an assortment of legacy and heritage and the questions of how can an individual exercise free will and how to deal with the “shock” after experiencing “epiphanic recognition”

Woman who had Two Navels

The Woman Who Had Two Navels is a many-layered, chaotic and less-than-prefect novel that taunts out universal paradoxes of truth and falsehood, illusion and reality, past and present by paralleling it to the characters and reader’s inner turmoil and puts it in the context of the Filipino’s search for identity. In Nick Joaquin’s view, we must look at the past with the consciousness need of engaging the present world in its own terms.

Woman who had Two Navels

It is a novel that every Filipino should be proud of. It is a novel written by a Filipino about Filipinos and for the Filipinos. However, it does not preach. It does not self-deprecate. It does not promote self-interest nor does it encourage us Filipinos to hate ourselves and wish that we were of different nationalities.

Woman who had Two Navels

This novel is part of who we are as it shows a pivotal part in our nation’s history and how our race was formed or came into being by getting sustenance from two colonizers, a kin to two navels: those of Mother Spain’s and Mother USA’s. The two countries that greatly influenced our nation’s psyche and will forever be part of who we are as an Asian race.

Trans-nationaltrans·na·tion·al (adj) - extending or operating

across national boundaries

Trans – nationalSpanish colony unincorporated territory

commonwealth Japanese occupied land independent Republic of the Philippines

Spanish colonial noncitizen national foreign alien Japanese subject Philippine citizen

How does one define one’s identity when one is not only in transit between nations but one’s country is also constantly having its political status transformed by colonialism and war?

Setting

Two major locations:– Post-WWII Manila– Hong Kong – British

possession & location of Aguinaldo’s exiled government

Timeframe:– Early years of independence– Contemporary with

Communist-Nationalist struggle

The setting of this fictional novel is in Hong Kong, after the 2nd World War. This is written in the 1st person view where the author narrates the story. There are also parts in this novel which points to the Philippines, especially in the flashbacks.

The theme of this novel is hallucination done by a woman. It shows how one woman controls the whole story with make-believe information which affected the whole characters in the story.

Characters

Dr. Monson

Pepe Fr. Tony

Rita

Paco Texeira

Mary Texeira

Esteban Borromeo Concha Vidal Manolo Vidal

Connie Escobar

Macho Escobar

Main Characters

• Doctor Monson – a former rebel hiding in Hong Kong to avoid postwar trials.

• Connie Escobar – the lead female character, was described by literary critic Epifanio San Juan as a sufferer of her mother’s estrangement from a world where unconfident males take advantage of women by violating them or by venerating (respect) them. – is married to Macho Escobar

Main Characters

• Macho Escobar – a man who had an affair with Connie’s mother.– is the embodiment of the Filipino nationalistic

bourgeois who were once critical of the theocracy of the Spaniards but became transformed puppets and servants of these colonialists.

– Son of a wealthy farm owner or a haciendero– In the process of arranged marriage, he started

loving Connie.

Main Characters

– is not a revolutionary but a member of the dehumanized clan of hacenderos or landlords of sugar plantations.

• Paco Texeira – was a survivor between the behaviors of the Monson and Vidal families, and also acted as Nick Joaquin’s “conscience”, an observer who could have penetrated the existing rituals and ruses.- had the capacity to apprehend and break the

class barrier depicted in the novel’s society, but refused to do so.

Chapter Titles1st chapter Paco Texeira2nd chapter Macho Escobar3rd chapter Concha Vidal4th chapter5th chapter Doctor Monson

Book chapters

Book ReviewThis novel a very confusing one. The

writer shows the conversation of the actual plot in the first part while showing the flashbacks at the latter part of each chapter. The narration of flashbacks has lots of descriptions which can be confusing to the actual plot. The author also uses old English words in this novel.

AnalysisMost likely, as Joaquin is known for his

realistic masterpieces of novels, poems, and short stories because of his technique in incorporating almost, if not all, his experiences in real life, he writes this novel through his reflection from his real past experience in Hongkong (the setting of almost the entire play.

Joaquin applies the significant events of his life to literature.

“The ever-brilliant Joaquin uses the character, Connie, to portray the ill fated Filipina women, who have suffered heavily from the societal effects of World War II. For Connie it was disastrous, she turned mad, often believing something which is beyond belief.” (Ramos, 2010)

The novel is mainly a story of the Filipino “upper middle class expatriates” (Abalos, 2006) who settle down in Hongkong due to the pressure and intensity of the ambiance set by the Americans during their colonization in the Philippines. It portrayed every character's struggle to maintain their "selves" in a foreign setting like Hongkong.

The novel also contained mixtures of hatred, love, anger, insecurities, and sufferings that manifest in the realities of life making the flow of the story more provocative and appealing to the audience.” (Oppapers.com)

Connie, pretending that she has two navels may refer to the "rebirths" that she underwent. The first rebirth was escaping from her mother's evil clutches since she was an unwanted child - always ostracized and continuously suffered from the ghosts of the past that haunted her. Let us not also forget her inability to deal with her life due to parental constrictions and the love affair of her husband Macho and her mother that made her feel miserable at some points in her life. The second rebirth refers to her awakening, herself realization and emancipation as a woman. She learned to face reality and accepted the truth. In my point of view, her reason why she pretended to have two navels is that she wanted to forget everything about her, to be different so that another personality will reside and dwell on her.

Looking from another perspective, in this case coming from a historical vantage point, the two navels may signify Hongkong and the Philippines. Even if the story was set in Hongkong, still, Filipino culture is present in its context. Furthermore as the novel progressed, it presented the Filipino’s need to bond together and attempted to reestablish their roots; however musch as when they, as exemplified by Paco, were made unaware of the Filipino culture. The novel also portrayed an interlocution between Chinese and Filipino consciousness. An example of this was Rita who “dresses up in dragons and pagan jewels to meditate on the Virgin.”

The novel also contained mixtures of hatred, love, anger, insecurities and sufferings that manifest in the realities of life making the flow of the story more provocative and appealing to the audience.” (Oppapers.com)

Connie Escobar - one who is referred to by the title, the woman who has two navels or belly buttons Her delusion are a product of her

husband, Macho Escobar man who has a past love affair with Connie’s mother, Señora Concha La Vidal

solution for her escape to her father’s issue, who is running as a governor in a city in the Philippines

she hides through Pepe Monson, because she finds out that her husband and her mother are sending letters to each other

since then, Father Tony Monson is looking for her, trying to make her change

Connie Escobar’s character in the story carries the symbolism of the country itself Philippines

sense of nationalism and being Filipino was depicted

The fact that she was born in Hongkong, she still longed for her native land – the Philippines

she tried to laugh at every problem and pretended that everything’s fine

She has the image of being naïve and seemingly innocent on what events are happening around her make her a depiction to the country Philippines

Pepe Monson - who victimized by the lie that Connie Escobar has two navels Husband of Rita Brother of Father Tony Monson

Señora Concha de Vidal – is the mother of Connie Escobar and happens to be the rival of her at the same time. Woman in her mid-forties Glamorous, always adorned by gold and

jewelries (esp. necklaces) Beautiful and charismatic woman. Never in the book can we see a mutual

relationship between her and her daughter in the story.

she is not yet an old looking woman

Her relationship to each other brings out the theme of failure of mother-daughter relationship

Senora Concha de Vidal as the metaphor for the America since the setting is during the American colonization in the Philippines

Concha de Vidal is one of the major factors or elements for Connie Escobar’s situation up to the end. America, on the other hand, has a very big major role in molding the fate of the Philippines.

Macho Escobar - He admits that he had a relationship with Connie Escobar’s mother but it was just a past relationship. confused character whether he is

reliable or not his love for her wife Connie

Escobar is not really justified and even established

he needs to protect Conie from political threats but still, there is still no established proofs for a certain higher emotion than of the fact that he is responsible for his wife.

Father Tony Monson - He is a holy person or character in the story and seeks to arrange the puzzle, along with his younger brother Pepe Monson he is included is his meeting with

Connie Escobar in the convent where stays in

The following passages illustrate and testify the visit of Connie Escobar in the convent although this is not their conversation:

“--But they were corrupt, Father!--They were human, my child. And if we were to reject all worldly authority for that reason, we would have to reject everything: marriage and government and society; the family, the state and the church. We would have to abolish the world.” (140)

Joaquin tries to represent the entire country with just a single woman who is tested with mind and psychological corruption through her relationship with other characters in the story

Each other characters in the story contributes to the progress of Connie Escobar’s identity and as well as the story itself.

In general, the story “depicts the societal collapse brought about by the havoc-wrecking World War II. The story revolves on Connie, a woman, half sane and half crazy, who was indulged into hallucinations of having two belly buttons/navels in order to be admired as a special and extraordinary individual.” (Ramos 2010)

Definition of Terms

Epiphanic recognition

- from the word epiphany that means a literary work or section of a work presenting, usually symbolically, such a moment of revelation and insight.

Definition of Terms

Inquiry– An act of asking for information.– An official investigation.

Preoccupied– engrossed or absorbed in something, especially

one's own thoughts– Synonyms: absorbed, engaged, engrossed,

fascinated oblivious, obsessed, unaware

Definition of Terms

Notion– A conception of or belief about something.– A vague awareness or understanding of the nature

of something.

Legacy– something transmitted by or received from an

ancestor or predecessor or from the past <the legacy of the ancient philosophers>

Definition of Terms

Pivotal– Turning point– vital or critical importance

Sustenance– Food and drink regarded as a source of strength;

nourishment.– The maintaining of someone or something in life

or existence: "the sustenance of democracy".

Definition of Terms

Psyche–Personification of the soul.–the human soul, spirit, or mind.– the mental or psychological structure

of a person, especially as a motive force.

Definition of Terms

Estrangement– alienation: separation resulting from

hostility

Bourgeois–characteristic of the social middle class–marked by a concern for material interests and

respectability and a tendency toward mediocrity–dominated by commercial and industrial interests

Definition of Terms

Dehumanized–Deprive of positive human qualities:

"the dehumanizing effects of war".

Definition of Terms

Turmiol – A state of great disturbance, confusion, or uncertainty

Self Deprecating – conscious of your own shortcomings.

Elite– A group of people considered to be the best in a

particular society or category, especially because of their power, talent, or wealth.

Definition of Terms

Embodiment–A tangible or visible form of an idea, quality,

or feeling.– The representation or expression of

something in such a form.

Theocracy–A system of government in which priests

rule in the name of God or a god

Definition of Terms

Ill-Fated–doomed: marked by or promising bad

fortune

The End