The Sky Over

Dimas
By: Vicente Garcia Groyon

Philippine Literature

Critical Analysis

Submitted by: Submitted to:

Miguel A. Martinez Ms. Karen Padilla

From the very first line of the story “The fact is: George Torrecarion went crazy” (Ch.1 P1) it
was stated as a fact and there are several evidence to support it, First is when George have shown
interest on bizarre stuff like the Holy Grail, UFO sightings, Tarot cards, and many other strange things
to be interested in. (Ch.1 P.4) Second is when George Torrecarion acted somewhat childish as he burst
out on the scene on a restaurant, strikes a pose and claims that he in the Bacolod’s defender against evil.
(Ch.1 P.8) Those are clearly not the things a sane person would actually do.

There must be a reason on how and why George has gone into that pitiful state. One reason could
be the most horrible sin he has done, which is he killed the father of who he thought was his own son.
(Ch.12 P.193) Another reason could be when he discovered the darkest secrets or sins of his ancestors.
As far as I know, a normal person wouldn’t be able to handle all that horrible stuff; explains why George
turned out to be insane.

Besides the wealth and social status, one significant thing that George Torrecarion inherited from
his ancestor Faustino was his trait of being overly insecure. One cause was that he was claimed as
troublemaker or the “Black Sheep” of the Torrecarion family. (Ch.1 P.2) Another is his jealousy on the
close relationship of his son Rodel to his biological father who is also named Rodel, (Ch.1 p.4) just like
in Faustinos case his grandchildren. (Ch.10 P.163) George’s and Faustino’s insecurities led both of them
into doing heinous crimes, murdering people in order to feel secure.
 Even the marriage of George Torrecarion and Magie Jarabas is a disaster. In fact, Rodel is the
one Margie truly loves and not George. Margie said “I treated Rodel like my own, my very own” (Ch.3
P.46) this supports the fact that Margie doesn’t really even care for George and that Rodel is whom she
truly care for. Just like Margie, George doesn’t even love her either; he stated “Did I love her? The real
answers are hard to swallow. Thirty years spent trying to build a life with someone you care nothing for;
the reality of that time, the realization of all that time, wasted is too much to swallow.” (Ch.3 P.47) The
both of them are just forced to marry each other since Margie got pregnant and George thought that he
was responsible for the child, George only felt sympathy to the child whom he thought was his own. In
fact, George wasn’t even into Margie at that time when they slept together; it was actually Bernie whom
George was attracted to. They just went on a double date at that time and George and Margie got carried
away while they’re both trying to escape their own problems. (Ch.3)

George wrote journals about his family including the past generations. The purpose of these
journals is to reveal the dark secrets of his family; it was intended to express how horrible the history of
his family was. George Torrecarion probably made these journals to have an excuse for the horrible
thing s that he has done, he probably wanted to say that those disastrous things that he did was not really
his intention but because it is in the nature of their family of his ancestors like it is an inheritance to be
passed down to the next generation just to prove his name clean. In the journals, George made use of the
word “truth” too much, it is probably to emphasize to those who would read his journals that he is really
telling the truth and make the people believe in what he is saying. George was fully of everything so he
could have just controlled himself and prevented doing those foolish acts rather than make journals to or
his excuses to get away with his wrong doings. On page 195, George said “I acted only according to
what my blood expected of me.” This dialog totally sounded like a lame excuse to me.

It wasn’t only George that went crazy, Margie also went crazy. There are instances that Margie
claims that she is Isadora Duncan and twirl in the rooms like she owns the worlds, she was also caught
stealing religious medallions even though she could just buy them considering her wealth, another
evidence is “she could be bright and perky one moment, then will suddenly collapse into tears at the
memory of long-dead relatives or friends.” (Ch.1 P.3) She even tried kissing a priest, that action alone
can prove one’s insanity. Other than being insane, Margie wasn’t even acting like a proper woman. She
has been engaged in different intimate relationships with several men. (Ch.5 P.81) She doesn’t even hold
back on doing such shameful acts like when she tried kissing Father Tony (Ch.9 P.134) She also even
had feelings with Ansing before. (Ch.4 P.64) Margie only engaged in a relationship with George
because she was depressed over her relationship with Rodel. (Ch.9 P.139) It’s not only Margie but her
entire Jarabas family is sort of twisted, Sally being a lesbian, Bernie engaging to a pre-marital affair, and
Ansing having an affair with a teacher. In short, they’re a family of a sexually aggressive people.

The Torrecarion and Jarabas were very respected and famous family in Bacolod. This
probably is one of the factors of their unnecessary behavior. They were too much pressured on how they
should act according to their family’s nature, specifically George and Margie. George being Black
Sheep and the only child, he was pressured to continue the business of his family even if he is not
interested with it. (Ch.1 P.4). The problem is people in their place look up to them so the pressure was
being carried by them.

The son of George, Rafael Torrecarion possesses strong personality he had gotten from his
grandfather Raul who has a serious personality which he got from early exposure from brutality and
cruelness. (Ch.1 P.5) Rafael was already aware of the dark secrets that their family has to offer from the
beginning that is why he probably chose to move to Manila and pursue his college degree there. Every
time his girlfriend asks him about his family of hometown, Rafael always gets hesitant or tries to dodge
the topic at times, this gesture probably shows that Rafael is really ashamed of the place where he came
from. He leaving Bacolod to find his own comfort only exposed his similarities with his loathed
ancestors. When they left their home town to settle to a place where they are feel safe and have a peace
of mind just like how George went to Hacienda Dimas to hide himself.

Rodel and Rafael, Margie’s sons, have different personalities. Rodel was interested in the
agricultural business of the family while Rafael left Negros for good and lived his life in Manila after
graduating from high school. They also have different ways of dealing with things specifically when
they heard bad things about their mother. (Ch.1 P.3) Rodel arrogantly responded with violence to defend
his mother while Rafael only kept quiet and just accepted what the others had to say. What’s the same
about them is that is that they both have strong personalities and fortunately, none of them both showed
signs of insanity.

The elements used in different chapters like fire, number six or the number of satan (Ch.6),
flame, burning can, flare, curtains of fire as it demonstrates destruction. It represents destruction of their
bloodline by the sins they have committed. These images also represent hell which is very contradictory
with the title. Hell is the place where sinful people go when they die. Murder and adultery were the main
sin, killing other people in the case of Torrecarions, and having a forbidden affair in the case of Jarabas,
to satisfy their own needs.

The background and environment of individual may be adopted but it never the exact actions,
particularly the sins. They may inherit the personality and the behavior but still, they have their own
minds to think and decide for their own. George’s repentant of his sins were not that sincere for he
always blames his ancestor’s sins. He always convinces himself that it is his bloodline’s fault but the
truth is he has the choice. George, Margie and Rafael were thirsty of freedom. They wanted to be free
from what is keeping them to be free. They wanted to escape from their reality.

I personally find Sky Over Dimas disturbing to read. I don’t know what the author went through
that led him into writing this book. The story is just drastically twisted to the core just like how it gets
darker and darker without even a single resolution as you go farther into the story.