Conklin’s “Maling, a Hanunoo Girl from the Philippines” Essay

• When Maling comes to tell Conklin of her infant brother Gawid’s death in September of 1953, how much does she actually know about things like birth and death?
  • It seems that Maling does not understand the real meaning of birth and death. When she tells about the death of David, she states that she is sure that her mother is going to have another baby. She hopes it is going to be a boy. She cannot understand that blood ties are really important for her mother and that death is a loss of a person, of a living being.

• When Sukub, Maling’s mother, was pregnant with David, was Maling hoping for a little brother or a little sister? Why did she have a preference? What does this tell you about Hanunoo sibling relations?
  • Maling hoped that her mother was going to give birth to a boy as she said she envied her cousins who had a little brother to take care of. Having read this piece of writing, it may be understood that the family played an important role. The whole discussion of the sibling ties is based on a deep devotion to the family. The opinion of one seems to impact the points of view of others.

• What precautions were to be taken before Gawid’s birth? How would you characterize these? Magical? Religious? Hygenic?
  • The day before the birth was rather strange for us, but it was common for Sukubas we may consider from her specific actions. Her actions may be considered as hygienic ones as she conducted “a brief final weeding of the maturing rice crop in her steep jungle clearing” (Conklin 65).

• At the birth of Gawid what does Panday, Maling’s father, do? What does Hanap, Maling’s older sister do? How is Sukub holding up? What impression does this give you of the Hanunoo family and gender（male – female）relations?
  • Answering this question, I would like to refer to Maling’s reasons for having a boy. She said that he could help their father construct and build things. It becomes obvious that childish and adults’ worlds interact. Children perform many adult responsibilities. Moreover, a several-days-year old boy is left with a seven-year-old child without specific instructions. However, the family feels anxiety.

• What does seven-year-old Maling already know about birth control and why?
  • Maling is aware of the medical side of birth but she has explained it with specific religious direction. Thus, Maling is aware of the fact that the cord should be cut but an iron blade cannot be used because of the infection danger. Maling is told that a child may become cruel if the cord is not cut on time with an arrow shaft with a removed poisoned tip.

• How competent is Maling to explain to Conklin what is going on in the birth of Gawid? How was Gawid named?
  • Being seven years old Maling can explain to the author of the book the specifics of the birth procedure, however, she is not sure about the whole procedure. The choice of the name was a complicated procedure as the names of the recently dead relatives were unacceptable as well as the names used by “the lowland Christians” (Conklin 72).

• What difficulty arises in the birth of Gawid? What errand does Maling go on in hope of rectifying the situation? What, according to all the Hanunoo present, finally does the trick and relieves the situation? How is baby sister, Iyang, implicated? What of Panday’s farming activities may have been in conflict with easy childbirth? What was done at Gawid’s funeral? Would he ever be forgotten?
  • Hanunoo traditions and religious understanding of death are rather complicated for our comprehension. Maling was told to prepare for “a five day religious restriction on agricultural work, bathing, and travel” (Conklin 65). The family was prepared for Gawid’s burial immediately, without specific complications and additional work. Considering Panday’s farming activities, it should be mention that in the year of Gawid’s birth rich rice harvest was expected and Maling told about the celebration of Gawid’s birth apart from the year when her brother died.

• How did life change for Maling at eleven? What art was she cultivating? Where would she soon reside? Maling would be 58 today but how would you compare yourself to her at seven?
  • A life change for Maling at eleven was not that crucial as being able to read and write, she continued to live in accordance with the traditions her hamlet did. Being a seven-year-old girl, Maling was rather clever and ignorant, I would say. She was aware of many customs and traditions of her family, she was ready for hard work, but she did almost nothing about feelings of loss and happiness. The day her brother was born and the day he was dead was considered to be the simple days with some unusual events. Reading Conklin’s story, it may be stated that our generation is not that serious as Maling was and it is impossible to compare our seven-year-old children with Maling, a person who was ready to sustain such an event as brother’s death.

Works Cited

Conklin, Harold C. “Maling, a Hanunoo girl from the Philippines.” Everyday Life in Southeast Asia. Eds. Kathleen M. Adams and Kathleen A. Gillogly. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2011. 65-78. Print.