Theme Of America In The Heart By Carlos Bulosan

1240 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Filipino culture in america essay

Why do you think people decided they wanted to come to America? Maybe your own family has traveled a far to come to America, but do you question how their journey was or their first impression of America when they first came? In the novel, “America in the Heart” by Carlos Bulosan, a native Filipino, describes his own journey of traveling from the Philippines to America and the mental and physical challenges he had faced. These physical and mental challenges also affected the well being and financial situation of his own family members in which tested their critical thinking and ability to adapt to certain situations. Throughout the novel, the idea of the American dream and the Filipino dream are also brought to light as to how living in the …show more content…

The moment he stepped off the boat that carried him along with thousands of other immigrants, he was completely alone and unprepared. Since his time being in America, he has traveled from state to state joining different groups of immigrants looking for work such as himself. During this time of nonstop travel, the author states, “We jumped off in Fresno where Filipinos told us that trouble was brewing… wanted to proceed to Alaska for the fishing season, but conditions there were intolerable. The east was still an unexplored world, so we agreed to take a freight train to Chicago.” (Bulosan, 148) The given quote describes Carlos’ endless journey for work has not settled as he continues to look for some kind of paying job that would provide him sufficient amount of money for himself to live off in America including money to send back to his family in the Philippines. While traveling with numerous times around America, he moves from one occupation to another with other Filipino workers who share the same goal as him. While finding work has become a constant obstacle for him, he soon realizes that he faces a more serious issue to …show more content…

During his time in America, Carlos along with other travelers have encountered many challenges along their way. There were times where he was successful at finding work but that opportunity quickly ended when their would be conflicts between workers and boss, experiencing and witnessing abuse, and peer pressured into uncomfortable situations. The result would always be the same, end up homeless and sharing shelter with companions and constant starving. To show a deep understanding of his struggles the author

Show More
Related

  • Theme Of Soldier's Heart By Gary Paulsen

    438 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the book Soldier's Heart By Gary Paulsen the main theme is how war changes a person.

    Read More

  • And The Earth Did Not Devour Him Summary

    1491 Words  | 3 Pages

    As you read you can picture his settings and characters. For the purpose of this book review, the reader will discuss how a migrant community in search of the “American Dream” encounters the “American Nightmare” as described by Tomás Rivera in his novel, “ …And the Earth Did Not Devour Him.”

    Read More

  • Kevin Villanueva Summary

    350 Words  | 1 Pages

    In this piece, the author, Luke Mogelson, uses a great deal of pathos. In one instance, Mogelson describes when Villanueva crossed the border for the first time when he initially entered

    Read More

  • The Land Of Opportunity And Dreams In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

    1875 Words  | 4 Pages

    The United States of America is known as the land of opportunity and dreams. People dream of migrating to this nation for a chance of a better a life. This belief has been around for many years, ever since the birth of the United States; therefore it’s a factor in which motivate many people migrate to the United States. Upton Sinclair, author of the Jungle, narrates the life of a Lithuanian family and there struggles with work, crime, family loss, and survival in the city of Packingtown. Sinclair expresses her disgust as well as the unbelievable truth of life in the United States involving politics, corruption, and daily struggle that many suffered through in the 19th and 20th century.

    Read More

  • Sonia Nazario’s Enrique’s Journey

    788 Words  | 2 Pages

    The push-and-pull factors in Enrique’s yearn for the U.S not only allows him to rediscover himself as an individual in a world of uncertainty, it also eliminates his constant fear of failing as a promising human being; in addition exhibits the undying hope of a desperate man found in hopeful migrants. In Sonia Nazario’s “Enrique’s Journey,” his mother’s trip streamed “emptiness” into the heart of a once comfortable child and left him to “struggle” to hold memories they shared. Enrique’s life after Lourdes’ departure triggered the traumatizing demise of his identity. He threw this broken identity away while facing many obstacles, nevertheless each endea...

    Read More

  • Pursuit of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby and in Wilson's Fences

    878 Words  | 2 Pages

    Time and time again, the society has put in force political and social ideals of America greatly affecting the American Dream for many. Every American resident has his or her own definition of “achieving the American Dream”. However, all American Dreams are common, in part, that all believers are drawn to the desire to go above their current social class and improve their way of life. Although many people try to achieve their own American Dream, the society possess ideals that negatively affect the American Dream for both Americans and immigrants.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Into The Beautiful North By Luis Alberto Urrea

    606 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Life of Two Different Worlds In “Into the Beautiful North,” Luis Alberto Urrea tells a well-known story of life for thousands of Mexican people who seek a better future. He presents his novel through the experiences of the lives of his main characters that have different personalities but share a common goal. Through the main characters we are presented with different situations and problems that the characters encounter during their journey from Mexico to the United States. Urrea’s main theme in this novel is the border that separates both the U.S. and Mexico, and the difficulties that people face in the journey to cross.

    Read More

  • After coming to America

    1651 Words  | 4 Pages

    During the course of America's lifetime, million upon millions of people left their homes and families in other countries and traveled to America in the hope of securing a better life -- the American Dream. What they often found was an unwillingness on the part of those already established in America to share society's benefits with them. For many segments of our American society, people substituted a reliance on family, or friends, or even faith alone, to secure these benefits for themselves and their children that was denied them by those possessing economic and political power.

    Read More

  • The Death of Artemio Cruz by Carlos Fuentes

    1212 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Death of Artemio Cruz by Carlos Fuentes Carlos Fuentes, author of The Death of Artemio Cruz, has used his novel to show how Mexico has been transformed and molded into its present state through the use of his character Artemio Cruz. Fuentes uses Cruz to bring together a historical truth about the greedy capital seekers, robber barons, if you will, who after the revolution brought Mexico directly back into the situation it was in before and during the Revolution. Fuentes wrote the novel in nineteen sixty-two, shortly after the Cuban Revolution. Fuentes is able to express his disappointment from the Mexican Revolution, the revolution by the people of his native land. The revolution seemed to change nothing for the average person in Mexico; the change that took place was merely a shift in power.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Book ' Of The Unknown Americans '

    1069 Words  | 3 Pages

    After reading The Book of the Unknown Americans, I realized how difficult immigrating to the United States can be. I am an immigrant also, so just reading the story makes me relate to many problems immigrants experience relocating to a different country. Immigrants often face many issues and difficulties, but for some it is all worth it, but for others there comes a point in time where they have to go back to their hometown. Alma and Arturo Rivera came to the United States to better their life, but also so that Maribel could attend a special education school. While Arturo had a job things had gone well for the family, but once Arturo lost the job and passed away the two of them had to go back because they felt that that was the best option for them. Reading this book made me realize how strong an individual has to be to leave their own country and relocate somewhere else not knowing if this will better your life or cause one to suffer.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Other Side Of Immigration

    1047 Words  | 3 Pages

    The American dream, as some may call it, is a cherished idea by those who may lack opportunities. For those in Mexico, it is something that is sure to have crossed their minds sometime in their life. The United States, to foreigners, has been looked at as a sign of opportunity and freedom from oppressive governments or unfortunate living conditions. The Other Side of Immigration takes a look at the Mexican nation and provides thought-provoking interview segments about the people still living in the nation who experience and observe the effects of immigration to the United States.

    Read More

  • Differences Between Spare Parts Book And Movie

    1061 Words  | 3 Pages

    Like any other family, they immigrated to the U.S. thinking about the American Dream, a better future for their kids and the generations to come. The parents wanted to provide the life they did not have to their children. One example is Carlos mother deciding she was willing to leave Mexico for her son. The book says, “Manuela was hesitant to return to the United States but felt there would be more opportunity for her younger son there… In the United States, school was free…and more demanding” (Davis 43). Manuela did not want to leave, but she knew her son would have a brighter education in the U.S. Later on it also shows the struggles of achieving what they desire because they were illegal. Another example is Oscar himself. Goins, the ROTC commander told Carlos, “you gotta be a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident” (Davis 51). Oscar was trying to enroll in the Army, but unfortunately he could not serve his country like he wished because he had du that he was not legal in the country and would be taking a privilege from U.S.

    Read More

  • The American Dream

    673 Words  | 2 Pages

    The American Dream can obliterate any prospect of satisfaction and does not show its own unfeasibility. The American dream is combine and intensely implanted in every structure of American life. During the previous years, a very significant number of immigrants had crossed the frontier of the United States of America to hunt the most useful thing in life, the dream, which every American human being thinks about the American dream. Many of those immigrants sacrificed their employments, their associations and connections, their educational levels, and their languages at their homelands to start their new life in America and prosper in reaching their dream.

    Read More

  • Farmworker's Daughter

    1605 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...ups. Throughout her childhood, Rose Castillo Guilbault struggled to achieve her own American dream, to attend college. Her story, while similar to immigrants who had come before her, was still uniquely her own. Her success can be attributed to the many experiences she had as a Mexican immigrant trying to assimilate in American culture. She recalls this lesson, “Somehow Luz had learned something I hadn’t—that one had to assimilate in order to progress” (Guilbault, 2005, p. 65).

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay About Illegal Immigration

    890 Words  | 2 Pages

    Resolved to join the American way of life a large number of outsiders have ventured to this extraordinary land to have an existence based upon “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

    Read More

More about Theme Of America In The Heart By Carlos Bulosan

Open Document