Malevolent Deeds as Captured in Eric Gamalinda's "Empire of Memory"

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Throughout history, philosophers and social thinkers have been preoccupied with investigating the complex manifestations of human conduct and behavior. Man was viewed in terms of the elements that constitute him: his origin, nature and development, and his attributes which distinguish him from other creations. Various perspectives and assumptions regarding the nature of man arose and discussions about the innate goodness of man were noticeable. The conditions and circumstances which make man become vulnerable to evil is another interesting area.Zulueta (2006) emphasizes the doctrine that the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, have sinned. This resulted to the view that man's nature is essentially tainted with evil. Because of this, every man has the tendency to be sinful since he inherited this despicable act. If we are to consider literature's probing function, Eric Gamalinda's novel "Empire of Memory" is a repository of man's tendency to be sinful. This study identified the characters' malevolent deeds and determined the causes and effects of these malevolent deeds.

METHODS

This qualitative research made use of content analysis through psychological and sociological approaches to literary criticism.

RESULTS

Egotism, bribery, deception, infidelity, and murder are the malevolent deeds in the novel.Egotism is shown when the offended Marcos hired a mob against the Beatles, who declined to pay a courtesy call to the first family. Bribery is shown when Jun bribed the room boy to let him bring snacks to the Beatles. When two friends are hired by Marcos to rewrite Philippine history by fabricating facts and documents just to emphasize that Marcos was destined to rule the country in perpetuity clearly depicts deception.Infidelity and betrayal appear through Consuelo who, with Joaquin, cheated on his husband, Elias. How the Makapiligroup betrayed their countrymen who were then carted off to Japanese camps where they would be tortured and killed shows treachery. When the trapped workers under the collapsed cultural center were buried alive just to beat the deadline shows inhumanity due to the absence of warmth and geniality. These malevolent deeds rooted from selfishness, arrogance, excessive desires resulted to threat, conspiracy, misunderstanding, loss of trust, death, anger, rivalry, and war.

DISCUSSIONS

The paper is recommended as reference for researchers doing an investigation about human conduct and behavior. Other angles may further strengthen the result.