Footnote To Youth Analysis

One of key issues found in the story is repression. Repression is an act whereby a person is blocking memories in the conscious mind. It is also a defense mechanism where a person have the tendency of inhibiting the expression of negative or unpleasant feelings in order to prevent one’s positive self-image being threatened. However, these memories will still continue to influence the person’s behaviour, and it will affect the person’s life. For example, if a person had experienced abuse as a child will repress his/her painful memories, but it will affect his/her life as the person may have difficulties forming relationships with others.

In the literary text “Footnotes to Youth”, Dodong’s father objected to his son’s marriage. This reaction

When Dodong heard of the news, he was surprised and merely stayed still on the mat. It seemed that Dodong was refusing to believe that this was actually happening, and that the history was repeating, as he himself had asked permission from his own father to marry at a very young age. He knew that life would be tough after marriage, and secretly did not want his son to get married so soon. However, Blas, being a hot-blooded youth like his father 18 years ago, resented his father’s opinion and insisted on marrying Tona. Dodong, knowing how life was hard especially for a young couple, could only hope for the best for his young son.

Last, archetypes can be found evident in the chosen short story “Footnotes to Youth”. Archetypes describe original or ideal model phenomena and characters, such as easily recognizable type-roles in drama. For example, the brave hero on quest, or the sage, also known as the wise old man, one who has the profound knowledge. Clues to self-realization in myths, and in many other cultural phenomena, are found in the archetypes. They are also the symbolic elements containing aspects of the workings of human life and mind. In the aspects of drama and literature, such archetypes are usually traceable back to myth and