Worst nightmare: MACARTHUR

            We have many young inspired writers here in Philippines. They used the easiest way to write a story with the help for we all known WATTPAD.  The site which provide the user to create her/him story to publish online and shared to read of all the readers. Before that there is a lot of famous novelist and writers that most of us might know like Dr. Jose Rizal. But here is a writer which we know that he is a writer but we don’t know if he/she really exists.  This author is a low-profile writer.  Most of readers know him as Robert Ong or simply Bob Ong. From his name, we figure it out that he is a man but some rumors tell that he just  uses this identity to hide the true identity he/she have. Because of his style of writing and the concept it has. He wrote the famous novels like ABNKKBSNPLAko?! It publishes in the year 2001. This story that he wrote is from his own story. He wrote his experience, story of his life and his own Love story.   This is the great start for his career as a writer. After that great start, in the year 2002,  Bakit Baligtad Magbasa ng Libro ang mga Pilipino? was publish.  I don’t know exactly what is inside of this book but if we examine from its title, this book represents the reader’s way of reading that they started at the end.  In the year 2003, 2 books was been publish Ang Paboritong Libro ni Hudas and Alamat ng Gubat. Ang Paboritong Libro ni Hudas tells different drab facts in the society we have while Alamat ng Gubat is an animal inspired book that represent also our society. Year 2005, one year ago from his 2 novels that marks the writes mind. He wrote a book that titled as Stainless Longganisa. Semi-autobiographical book written by Bob Ong it mainly deals with literature. 2 years after, the book titled Macarthur publishes on the year 2007. This is the book I review and read a couple of times recently.

            Macarthur or the Red Book is a 2007 novel by Filipino author Bob Ong. It is the sixth published work from Ong. As with all Bob Ong's published novels, it is notable for its use of contemporary street Filipino words. It is also notable for its departure from the usual Bob Ong formula of using humor to comment on the various ironies of Filipino culture. Instead, it offers a gritty, realistic look at life in a Philippine slum community.

The title is derived from a slang term for difficult-to-flush faeces — a reference to Douglas MacArthur's famous promise, "I shall return".[citation needed] The cover's background, mostly obscured by the bold typeset of the title and by the red colour, depicts a toilet bowl. ©Wikipedia.

This book has 4 main characters. Noel, Cyrus, Voltron and Jim. This 4 young men that has a common doing which is using banned drugs. In short, they have a problem regarding to a drug addiction. This book has a very reviling story which is defines the problem of our society regards to drugs and its causes and effects specially to those who uses this particular drugs. The story of 4 main characters was ironic facts we have here in society.

·         Noel. Their family was once rich until a sudden slow down of business. He first appeared in the place on where Cyrus, Voltron and Jim were talking. It was indicated that Noel was just a typical college student who eventually stopped studying because he lacks the money to afford his college test paper. After a quarrel with her sister, Lyla, he was asked by his own father to leave his house, calling him a "good for nothing". He develops a good friendship with Cyrus' grandfather, Mang Justo, until he is shot (mistook for a monster) by Cyrus. In the end, he returns to his family and, although with doubt, is welcomed by his father, along with the rest of the family.

·         Cyrus. The youngest member of their group. Known for his habit of swallowing objects after stealing them. Cyrus lives with his grandfather, Mang Justo, to whom he donated his own kidney. Months after the operation, he accidentally killed his grandfather

·         Voltron. Also known as Denver and Amadeus. His siblings are Stephen, Brooke, Joshua, Kurt,and Gwyneth. Voltron is skinny and has a big chest, small head, big hands and feet and looks like a robot that rains saliva when talking. He gets beheaded by a gangster.

·         Jim. 23 years old, oldest in the group, has a big body which can lift a sack of rice and a small brain which is enough to carry a foil that will burn crystal meth. He has a wife and son, and is persuaded to leave Manila for the province because of his family's needs.

            They have different problems but with the use of drugs, they forgot all of the things that they worried about. But this is not the answers they looking after all of this time. This attitude that they have be the worst thing may happened after all of this. Even though, they look for a good business to start a new life with. They failed because this business is also a illegal. They sell a pirated cd’s and dvd’s. Because of failure, it triggers them to do the same thing they do. But they badly need to change these hobbies to support their families. They decided to make their own. Noel run-away from his family because of the treatment they do to Noel. He decided to go in Cyrus house to stay for a while. Cyrus was finding solution to earn money to support the medical assistance of his grandfather. Meanwhile, Voltron is also seeking for easy money so he decided to join a gang but this gang ordered him to rob someone’s house. I don’t know the specific cause of death of him but it tells that this is cause of the gang he joined. Jim has a family and his wife suggested to him to go to her province to start a new life.

            This ending is very controversial because of the terms and imaginative way of describing the situation. Mang Justo (Cyrus grandfather) was threated. Noel and Mang Justo have their conversation. Mang Justo knew that they use illegal drugs but he just ignored it. That night, they talked about Noel’s dream. Mang Justo’s cough is too badly to hear. So Noel decided to buy his medicine in the near Pharmacy. When Noel gone, Mang Justo hear a sound that’s from Cyrus that seems have a bad nightmare. This nightmare was a product of using drugs. In Cyrus nightmare, the wild beast attacked him again and seems his grandfather is the first target that the beast aiming to eat. When the beast handed his grandfather to eat, Cyrus grab the revolver that he hide in his pillow and pulls the trigger. This nightmare was a product of drugs. He doesn’t know that the one he shoot is not the beast but his grandfather. After that tragedy, Jim and his family went to their province to start a new life and Noel went back to his family. That’s the reason why Bob Ong entitled it as a MACARTHUR because of the famous term that Gen.McArthur said “I shall return.”