“America is in the Heart”

By Carlos Bulosan

America is mentioned all over the world to be considered as the greatest country in the world where one can be given the opportunity to the American Dream and be able to have success in life. In the book, “America is in the Heart” by Carlos Bulosan, is about a Filipino immigrant that immigrates to the United States at the young teen age of seventeen. He is faced with difficulties such as discrimination, having a secure job and overall having success during his time, living in America.

At first the book brings a brief description of the Filipino immigration and population at the time. How all immigrants viewed America where they were to be treated equal, have freedom, and most of all be given the opportunity to succeed in life. As the part autobiography of a man by the name of Carlos begins he quickly states how it is written about experiences Filipinos encountered during their time in America as well as some accounts in his life.

When I first took a glance to the name of the book and read the name of the author, I quickly thought, “ I bet this author is Mexican and this book is about Mexicans and their life in America.” On the contrary, the book was not exactly what I wanted to read and right away thought in my head that the book was going to be extremely boring. Little did I expect myself to actually enjoy the book and be able to somehow relate it to people in my life.

As the book begins, its setting is in the Fillipines. Carlos lived as a poor Filipino and was the youngest of four siblings three brothers and a sister. They all lived in a home with much land that was used to pay the tuition of the oldest brother. Unfortunately the family encountered many dilemmas. One was the illness of their only sister that later led to a death. Another was the loss of their land that was used to pay the brothers tuition that later led them to extreme poverty, where they could no longer pay for the brothers education. The family encountered many problems and that led the young men to immigrate to America. Due to their immigration, Carlos was determined to follow his brothers and go to America.

Carlos came over to America over sea on a boat. He was placed at the very bottom of the boat as the other Filipinos and they were fed a petite amount of food. When he arrived to America he only had 20 cents in his pocket with a background of three years of schooling. When he first landed he felt as an outsider right away. He felt as if he were a criminal running away from a crime he had not even committed. He was discriminated by many people, but more increasingly discriminated by the high class Japanese and Chinese. Anywhere he went this was encountered and made Carlos uncomfortable.

Aside from the discrimination, Carlos was lucky enough to find a job. Although he could not hold an important job right away, he was able to start off slowly. Carlos’ first job was as a dishwasher. He held that job for a while and was able to rent a small room for fifteen cents a month, but later upgraded as his job did as well. He later began to work as a labor worker out in the fields. Unfortunately his job was never secure and he did a great amount of traveling. Some traveling was done at California, Michigan, Seattle, and even Alaska.

Throughout his time living in America, Carlos did not necessarily succeed in the way he had desired. He never became the doctor he wished to be, when he was in the Filippines. He did not accomplish the “American Dream,” where he was wealthy and had everything he had wished for. There was a part in the book where he mentioned his disappointment and says, ”I went to bed resolved to change the courses of my life forever. Where was I to begin? Where did the rootless men begin their lives? Who were the men that contributed something positive to society? Show me the books about them! I would read them all! I would educate myself to be like them!” This was exactly what he felt because he knew he had not succeeded and it was never too late to begin a better life.

When Carlos tells the story of his life he always seems to set an optimistic tone of voice. He states the harsh discrimination due to racial and economic statuses but that still keeps him on America’s side. He also contradicts himself at times like some false advertising on the view of America. One was how it was not all it was said to be. One example was how not everyone was given a job, or not everyone achieved what they had set their goal to be.

As the book comes to an end, Carlos views America as a great place to live. After all his discrimination, lack of jobs, sickness and overall unsuccessful life. He still views America in a positive aspect and says, “I knew that no man could destroy my faith in America that had sprung from all our hopes and aspirations, ever.” Carlos says this because even though he did not succeed in life and was not the man he wished he could have become, he always had the opportunity to it. By being in America he had the open path to hold a decent job and be able to live a better life than in the Filippines. He makes the reader view America as a place where anyone can have a successful life as long as the person takes the correct path and keeps their head towards the grand prize.

Once I came to an ending in the book, I had a completely opposite view on it. I realized that every race in America faced discrimination and had a hard living in America. Nothing was ever easy for anyone and everyone had to work extremely hard to become “SUCCESSFUL.” One point in the book that made me realize this was when Carlos was living off donuts and coffee for a whole year, and on top off that he was in the hospital for two years on a life or death situation. Even though he went through all these problems in America he never gave up on having a better life and kept his positive view on America. This made me realize that no matter what happens in life no one should give up; they should always try their best until nothing else can be done.