We make it seem like we care.

Arcellana's stories, The Mats and Divide by Two seem to have both talked about how Filipinos value property. Though first story showed how the characters cared for their own belongings, and the second how the husband and wife wanted others to respect them, they give sense in the importance of ownership - be it material or something deeper. The two are also very different in terms of the tone and mood it created.

As for which is more realistic in dealing with Filipino nature, though it appears less sane and more surreal, if not a little disturbing, The Mats shows this by once again flowing into family (which in present times need not be the traditional definition; it may now refer to people who have a relationship deeper than companionship) and how closely-knitted the ties we have are (whether we like each member or not), compared to Divide by Two, which has a more realistic feel to the flow (though the plot may seem as incoherent) but has a more Western tang to how confrontation was dealt with and how material space had strung it.

Both stories, though, strike well our desire to constantly save face, to give people the idea that we should be commended, to feel like we are important. Filipinos live not in, freely, but on good cheer. A struggle to always keep a smile on our faces, and consequently to bring smiles to others (lest they ruin the mood we worked up so hard) to tell people that despite the poverty and instability, we have one great thing to be proud of.