Direction and Purpose Essay

Metaphors provide notional advert to its for readers. They give flavor to literature and allow unaffixed interpretation of a piece thitherby do a conversation in a story, an cypher in a numbers, a symbolism in the plot and such, to a greater extent interesting. Through the use of such a figure of speech, the images are laid simple(a) and presented fresh. This creates an interaction between the reader, the author and the piece as readers are made to analyze the images presented and the idea that the parable is trying to introduce. It manipulatems the poem, manilla, efficiently develops the parable that is the Philippines bon ton during the compound era, through a eonline.It motors the problem of colonial Manila into the modern Filipino mindset. The poem begins with an institution Lines 1-3, which gives us the first glimpse of the similarities between the urban center of Manila and the troglodyte grouse. The succeeding stanzas 4-8 elaborate the material conditions o f the spheres capital and finally, the poem concludes l9-14 with the brain upheld by the nation. To appreciate how metaphors lay bare Espinos Manila, let us analyze the mental imagery create in the poem, line by line. distant most poems, Manila begins with an epigraph from Nick Joaquin, which reads form and crabs, splosh and crabs. We eject assume that this quote gives a foreview of what Federico Espinos poem will highlight. Though very small(a) is conveyed in this line, we are able to suppose that the metaphor will hold signifi endce to the poem proper. Dust may be described as all something that depicts age or some remains of an explosion. We besides k at a time of crabs as an animal that crawls and has claws. guide are a similar able to survive on land for short periods of time and back literally live on dust.Manila begins with the line A hermit crab beside the tide of times, if we look at the cin one casept of the hermit crabs as a description of Manila, the line pl ainly tells us that time has passed. It tells us that Manila has an old history and that it has bunkd some(prenominal). The adjoining line She bears the traces of her former homes/ the shells of foreign cultures and the slime, tells us that the countrys history contributes overmuch to its identity. The city has withs excessivelyd much to the point that it is now isolated and delayed in comparison to the developments of other countries.The former homes are the shells that the crab has already left behind. The foreign cultures such as that of the Spanish, British, Japanese and Americans confound all freed the country, only their influences dating back to colonial times still linger. and as hermit crabs changes its shell, Manila now looks for a new shell of nurseion as she enters another era whilst trying to retain its identity. stock-still with the passing of time, the mix of culture is still saved and preserved, which the narrator describes as both positive and shun im plying that though the foreigners have given us a rich culture, they have made us endure much slime and shit (considering that slime is a gastropods mucus secretion) in order to take what was rightly ours freedom.In the succeeding lines Now she looks for provender as small waves comb/Upon the shore where bits of driftwood perch, we now percolate a direction in the poem. Again it highlights how the hermit crab countes for something and we now see she looks for food. Keeping in mind that food is gibe to life since it is necessary in sustaining life the hermit crab looks for nourishment in a mystify which seemingly has very little to give. From Nick Joaquins Sa Loob ng Maynila, we understand the devastation in the city when it served as the center of the revolution, and we see that starting afresh is difficult when one is left on what is beingness portrayed as a deserted island.As expected, she finds nothing in her hungry quest/ alternatively she hears the raucous seagulls c ry/ Which is a shriek beyond the rock-ribbed nest. In these lines, the seagulls graphic predators of the hermit crab are foreign countries. We can assume that not only are we tone up at the seagulls but that they are also in a position to take expediency of us. In relation to the Philippines history, foreign countries are soaring. early(a) countries progress and it is a mockery when ironically the countries we disappointed fighting for our independence are now more stable than we are they still rise in a higher place us. We are still beneath them in a sense to the point we have to crawl in order to get anywhere. These lines are merely creating the image of a third world country. All seems futile, particularly when you have nowhere else to go.It mocks her as she crawls upon the sand The side dour movement of the hermit crab/ Which Dylan saw on a deserted strand/ And used as a metaphor in runes that throb It is contingent that Dylan represents a foreigner (since it is a t ypical produce for an American boy) and he saw our aimless roam and toke advantage of it however, this is more of a hunch than a legitimate argument. What is nett though, is the point of our sideways movement, which is the immanent direction a hermit crab follows. By this we can concur that the movement has become innate. We are not moving forward. We want so much, yet work so little. Perhaps, these lines also imply that we search in all the wrong places.With life. Yes, this city is a pair of claws/ Creeping, crabbing with all its tragic flaws. These last lines of the poem summarize the intent of the correct poem. Here it is implied that the nation of the Philippines are aware of the damage in their society. Slowly, virtually lifelessly, the Filipinos attempt to move through the things we dislike in our country. We complain so much yet we do very little and perhaps that is our downfall. True there is no prefect nation, but in most nations you see a progression.In reference to Nick Joaquins opening epigraph, perhaps the dust is the remains of those countries that once colonized us. We never bothered to clean up what was left to us good and bad. Espino hints that perhaps that is wherefore we are not moving forward, there is too much to fix all at once. And this can be related to what we call crab outlook or the Filipinos attitude of clawing at those who have gotten onwards to pull them back again. We creep and crawl in our own flaws in our own mistakes instead of option ourselves and walking. It is our own claws that hold us back.The generalizations made by Espino are obvious. Though the title is Manila is it clear that the city, being the heart of colonial Philippines, is a synecdoche for the entire country. And when all aspects of Espinos Manila are examined, we see that the metaphor is in the intricate, descriptive design of the Philippines as a hermit crab trapped on a deserted island. Though she is attempting to escape, she is crawling blind ly in no particularly direction. It seems not much has change.Though Manila was written a long time ago, it is relatively surprising that the text paints Manila in a sad, accurate manner. We fought for our freedom. Now we merely struggle with it. It seems our nation cannot decide independently like a hermit crab, we depend on our dependent relationships. We cannot survive alone and we rely on what can be give to us by those who protect us. The dependence relayed in the poem explains why we have no direction, no purpose, and no resources. We are genuinely stuck.