Analysis — Bob Ong and RJ Ledesma
RJ Ledesma’s “I do or I die” was written in a very RJ Ledesma way. Although I am not personally acquainted with him, the short piece manages to encapsulate his voice and personality. It might be significantly due to the nature of using first-person point of views. Similar to Diary of a Wimpy Kid, there is a certain closeness we feel to the author after reading through their experiences from a firsthand perspective. Especially so in this piece as we are taken to a journey across the significant moments leading up to his married life. We are given the luxury of knowing their love story from the start, we are introduced to their relationship at a very crucial point: the engagement. After the engagement, logically, we are then taken to the setting amidst their wedding preparations. What would seem hectic and stressful from the eyes of the bride is painted in a humorous light by RJ. The tone comes through as exasperated but doting nonetheless, no doubt a hen-pecked husband. The next in the event in the sequence, I am guilty of not being all-too-familiar with. Although I had certainly heard the term before, and know it has something to do with the groom coming over to the bride’s family home, I still required the help of a trusty search engine to find out what exactly I was reading about. A few videos into my research, and many tension-filled dinner tables later, I can only say congratulations to RJ and to every married male out there that triumphed over this trial. After a successful (round of) facing off with the in-laws, it’s finally time for the wedding day. What would be a solemnly beautiful and graceful affair was depicted in a rather comical way by RJ. It was short and indeed funny, a testament to the author’s character and personality, his voice very much present in the writing. The events were presented in a chronological structure, but the humor allowed it to remain exciting and weirdly enough, mysterious. Not because the readers do not know what’s happening next, rather, the readers do not know what RJ was about to share. If the engagement arc was taken out, I’d believe this was meant to be purely comical. However RJ’s tone and subjective approach really belies his affection for his wife. As especially seen in candid notes usually enclosed in parenthesis, RJ cares a lot about his Vanessa, and this, second only to his humor, is what allowed his voice to especially shine in this piece.
As for the next piece, an excerpt from “Stainless Longganisa” by Bob Ong, I was much less in-the-know about what I was reading. Due to the chronological structure of “I do or I die”, during the story I generally knew where I was going, I simply didn’t know exactly where RJ was taking me. For a collage structure like this chapter of “Stainless Longganisa”, I had to wait until I finished reading to finally see the big picture. Each excerpt was short, and while seeming related, they were often not directly connected to each other. It was similar to the way the mind tends to wander when reminiscing. Taking a turn here and a twist there, but ultimately going back on topic and somehow drawing a picture of what happened. It’s a very much unique way of writing, and requires segments that can keep the reader’s interest sustained until the end. There’s really no big reveal, at least in this piece. Finishing an excerpt and moving to the next gradually reveals the message, each segment building up. In this work, it’s the use of humor that adds an interesting factor to the excerpts. Bob also used a great amount of differing writing styles, and structures that excite the eye. Some parts have lists, some have a great amount of numbers, and one is even written in a way that copies a conversation held over chat, or maybe text. Through context, we found out that this was an online interview through Bob’s blog identity. All of these are things that sustain reader interest. Although Bob Ong displayed a variety of writing styles, his voice was somehow present in all of them, a very distinct Bob Ong presence. I suspect this is somehow connected to tone. He keeps his tone consistent across all the segments, a humorous person that is ridiculously proud yet humble at the same time. Rather, the “mayabang” part of his personality as part of his humor. As part of a first-person point of view, as well as a subjective approach, we are given close-ups into the writer’s mind. In addition to his constant voice and tone, each segment takes a concept or term from the previous one as a main topic for the next one, so oftentimes the shift is not too jarring. In the end, despite the many jokes I unfortunately found funny, I managed to arrive at a message the chapter was trying to talk about, which from what I understood was writing and becoming a writer. After reading I am surprisingly left with a greater impression of his opinions on writing rather than his humor, which I can take as the writing style being effective.
