Fray Botod is a satirical story written by a Filipino writer and revolutionist during the Spaniard occupation, Graciano Lopez Jaena. The Spanish priest was named as Fray Botod because of his fat and big belly. He uses his authority and religion to exploit and abuse the Filipino people and uses his position to satisfy himself with food, money and especially young girls. He neglects his parish duties, pursues gambling, threatens and punishes college students, treats workers barbarously, and generally conducts business in a wholly corrupt fashion. The titular character is very different to the priests of today's society.
Graciano Lopez Jaena used two literary criticisms to tell his story, the Feminist criticism and Marxist criticism. In the story, it clearly stated the condition of the Filipino women during those time. They were used as an object of sexual desire and treated as pitiful slaves. They were weak, helpless, fragile and vulnerable that led them in a horrendous situation. The writer applied Feminist criticism to give justice to the said part of the story. Marxist criticism was also applied in the story because of how Fray Botod used his power and authority. He overused his position as a priest and do the things that benefits him but causes misery and suffering to others.
Fray Botod used satire to make it catchy and more appealing to the readers. But within its satiric lines lies a powerful and significant message and lesson. It is metaphor of the abuses of the Catholic church to the Filipino people as part of the Spanish rule in the Philippines. This masterpiece can awaken the burning patriotism of the Filipino people.
