Footnote to Youth Themes

Family

The story depicts how the family makes a decision after consultation and deliberation. It speaks about young people discussing their wishes with their elders and asking for permission and guidance. This tradition is also under assault as every individual wants to follow his/her own desire and that happens both in the case of Duding and Blas.

Love and Desire

The characters highlight the strength of l0nging that can alter our perceptions of reality. We all need companionship and love and end up making emotional decisions to acquire the same. Irrespective of age and maturity, we end making decisions governed by our need for love and desire than based on reason.

Responsibilities

The characters learn that discharging oneโ€™s responsibilities at various phases of life is not as easy as it may seem at first. As young people we may overlook this fact but we cannot escape such responsibilities when we become part of a family and have children.

The same happened with Teang and Dudong who realize that their decision was rushed and immature. They both recognize the enormity of a marital decision and that one should reach a particular age to consider taking up such a huge responsibility.

Trust

Even in tough situations what people count upon is the trust of their loved ones. The same is true for Teang and Dudong. They experience a complete transformation of life together as they build a family together.

Both of them carry certain regrets and in the case of Teang, she even considers the prospect of marrying Lucio. However, even when they have doubts, they remain loyal and committed to each other. They always find their way back to each other no matter how trying the situations.

Youth

The central theme of the story is around the excitement of youthful age. Dudong, Teang, Tena and Blas, all are driven by youthful energy and are captivated by such desires. They are oblivious to the serious side of life as they think marriage is all find and play.

The reality is that when we are young we often lack the maturity and patience to think deeply about our decisions. Such haste often ends up becoming regrets which we have to endure for the rest of our lives. Hence, the big lesson is to be patient and reflect on our choices before make life long or long term decisions like marriage etc.


Further Reading

  1. Footnote to Youth Summary
  2. Footnote to Youth Analysis
  3. Footnote to Youth Characters