Footnote to Youth

By: Jose Garcia Villa

(Story Analysis)
Footnote to Youth is a story written by Jose Garcia Villa. The story revolves at the main
character Dodong, who had faced a lot of circumstances after being married at a young age. They
say that being married is always beautiful yet difficult if you are not ready to face all the
consequences and responsibilities that it has. In the Story Footnote to Youth Dodong being
young at age had struggled a lot on his married life, being emotionally mature, financially stable
and marrying someone you truly love could lead to a happily married life.
In the beginning of the story, Dodong was waiting for the arrival of his father for him to say
and ask for his father permission to marry Teang. One of the points that I wanted to signify is
that age has no limit in love as long as you are mature enough to make your own decision in life.
Marrying someone you love at a young age is indeed a blessing in disguise since you would have
more time to be with each other even if you are going to face more hardships that may trigger
your relationship but in the contrary this hardships can help you in building a stronger
relationship with one another. Just like how Dodong arrives with a decision to marry Teang at the
age of 17 despite not having anything to offer to her but his love. We could simply see how
strong his youthful love is for Teang for he was able to make a decision in his life where he could
truly be happy and proud of himself. Coming up with a decision of marrying someone at a young
age is difficult since we could see that he or she is mature enough to make take responsibilities
for his/her actions. Marrying some one that is mature is essential but we all know that there are
this people who are already old enough to get married but are still immature on the other hand
there are some other people who may be young at age but are matured by heart and that can
make decision in life even if it hold a great responsibility in ones future self. The second point
that I want to indicate is that you should be financially stable to support your future family in
your married life. Being financially stable depicts a huge responsibility that you should think of
before being married. In the story the family of Dodong to begin with is not financially stable
and is barely surviving. Since this is an old story and at this time Filipinos who are working on
the field and who can satisfy their daily consumption of food can be describe as a stable family.
But in our generation today all the things that we need requires money and without money it is
difficult for us to survive in this kind of world. That is why being financially stable is a must
since marriage comes with a lot of obligations not only for yourself but also your family. The last
thing that I want to point out is that, marrying someone your truly in love is indeed essential. You
should marry someone that you truly love since this is a decision that you could be happy for and
for you should not put the blame to anyone if something goes wrong for making this decision. In
this time of our life we had already heard or encounter stories of Fix Marriage in which the
parents are the one who are choosing the partners of their children without asking for the consent
of their children. Some say that even if you dont love someone but you are married to him or her
your love would eventually grow or develop but I think that thing to begin with which is being
developed is not really love since at the very start of your relationship you are strangers to ones
other life to begin with.

Just like in the story Footnote to Youth I think that Dodongs parents had made the right decision
for giving their consent to Dodong to marry Teang same goes for Dodong when he sent off Blas
his eldest son who is just 18 years old to get married to Tona when he had seek permission to his
father.
Footnote to Youth is an eye opener for most of the Filipino youths. It gives us a glimpse on
what is the true essence of marriage and on how could married life be. Life is enjoyable if we do
not make things complicated, we just need to enjoy taking steps towards our wonderful journey.
Make a right decision; do not enter the kingdom of marriage at a very young age unless you have
these characteristics; mature enough to take responsibilities for your actions, financially stable to
support your family and you should marry someone you truly love. We should always think
before we act for you not to face any regret before making a decision in life.

Gaynor, Janica Teresa P.

BSMA-III / LIT 101-H
July 27, 2016