Summary of the Story Ang Paglilitis ni Mang Serapio
Answers
Ang Paglilitis ni Mang Serapio is a play about a poor man named Mang Serapio who was accused of an irrational crime which led to his suffering throughout the play. Mang Serapio is a member of a syndicate of beggars spearheaded by two men who serves as their master and judge. This syndicate assembles a group of beggars who experiences disabilities in life such as blindness, missing limbs, etc., to beg for money and at the end of the day gives back all of the earnings to the syndicate. For Mang Serapio he was tasked to portray a man who carries his sick daughter while begging for money. This act was modified by Mang Serapio as the child he was supposed to carry was replaced by a doll.
Mang Serapio’s situation in life that time was very miserable as his whole family is in ruins (his wife and daughter had died in an accident) leaving him hopeless outside the street. Inside the syndicate, people are ridiculing Serapio as an insane person because of the way he treated the doll. He treats it is as if it was his daughter who died in a car accident. Mang Serapio treated the doll like a person; giving it food, clothes, etc. This then alarmed the syndicate of the foolishness of Serapio as to why he is using his money for the doll; giving less of the funds to the syndicate and more to Sol, the doll. The judges then put Serapio into trial because of the crime he has committed, taking care of the doll, which is very unreasonable thus giving Mang Serapio a trial which he can’t defend or win in any way.
The play Ang Paglilitis ni Mang Serapio includes the Greek form of play Angorsis. This is because the protagonist does not realize at all throughout the play why he was being judged in trial. He was persecuted without him knowing the reason why.
While the form of play Peripeteia was not portrayed in this play because the protagonist could not find, in any way, an escape route on which he can change his fate. There are no holes in the walls of accusation being thrown upon Mang Serapio. If he tries to make a point wherein he proves himself as not guilty, there will always be something to counter that.
After further discussion about the play, I have realized that Mang Serapio was actually not a mentally insane guy. This was because he can still distinguish fantasy from reality. He treated his doll Sol as if it was his daughter but not entirely because his mind is still of this world; knowing that his daughter was already dead thus the doll for him only serves as a thing to ease his mind of the situation which he is in. For me, the insane ones here in the play are the people of the syndicate because why consider taking care of a child a crime? They were all mentally insane because they were being dragged on by the leader not realizing the situation they are in except for Mang Serapio who wants change in the way he lives. People of the syndicate judge people according to the degree of hurt the person is in thus the more injury the more you are respected in the syndicate. Mang Serapio just merely sits there taking care of his child-like doll Sol. Most of the time, living outside the box let people think of bad things over you but sometimes people will appreciate you more; that does not apply in this story but in real life it will.