Carlos Bulosan "America is in the Heart" English Term Paper, FIlipino Discrimination

"We who came to the United States as immigrants are Americans too. All of us were immigrants- all the way down the line. We are Americans all who have toiled for this land, who have made it rich and free. But we must not demand from America, because she is still our unfinished dream…we must give our lives that she might grow unencumbered." (Bulosan 312)

In his semi-autobiographical novel America is in the Heart, Carlos Bulosan makes this statement to a group of immigrant workers following his tumultuous first years in America as a Filipino immigrant. This pronouncement functions as a major realization for him, as he makes the decision to view America not from the perspective of one who has been wronged and abused, and sees this country as something static and unchanging, and so becomes bitter and disillusioned; Carlos concludes that America is an unfinished ideal in which everyone must invest their time and energy, and this outlook leaves us with a feeling of hope for the future instead of bitter defeat. Carlos and the other Filipinos come in search of the ideal America with which we are very familiar - the America of freedom, equality, social justice, and, most importantly, opportunities to work and have a good life.

Upon arrival, however, Carlos and other Filipinos find exploitation, racism, and every conceivable temptation- women, gambling, alcohol, crime, just waiting to either destroy them or help them destroy themselves. The America that they find is certainly not the one that they had envisioned, and we see many of Carlos' companions, as well as Carlos himself for a time, fall into the trap of despair, alcoholism, and violence that can so easily destroy lives. Bulosan himself once said, "I feel like a criminal running away from a crime that I did not commit. And that crime is that I am a Filipino in America" (San Juan).
We also see, however, that many of these men, including Carlos, are working to change their environment, through union organizing, education, and advocating for their rights as citizens, to make things better for themselves as well as for those who will come after them. Taking this into consideration, a question can be posed as to whether this work should be perceived as primarily realistic or naturalistic, as we certainly see aspects of both present here.

A main tenet of naturalism is that the character is ultimately at the mercy of his environment, which always has the final say, and we can see this at work here, as this oppressive environment is the catalyst for most of this novel's events, but one can also observe realism's belief in the individual's choice as important above all as Carlos ultimately extricates himself from the trap of marginalization and alcoholism that so many fall into. Again, depending on the individual's particular viewpoint, this can be spun either way. To answer this question in a definitive way we must deconstruct Bulosan's novel systematically, applying relevant features of both genres as well as examining ways that this novel can be read, as this can certainly alter one's ultimate impression, to come to an informed conclusion as to whether this work more accurately represents a work in the naturalist or realist tradition.

To accomplish this task in a cohesive manner, we will first take six important features of both genres, and compare Bulosan's novel to each of these in order to orient ourselves in the right direction; we will begin with realism, the features are taken from The American Novel and its Tradition by Richard Chase. Perhaps the most pertinent feature of the genre of realism is that it "renders reality closely and in detail" (Chase), with vivid and specific descriptions of people and scenery. While Bulosan certainly fills his book with realistic descriptions meant to accurately represent the world in which this story takes place, it is not in the very close, descriptive detail with which realism is usually associated. What he does describe in rich detail, though, are his own thoughts and feelings, as one would expect in an autobiography, but this is not a representation of the physical world, and so we will have to say that Bulosan's novel does not meet the first requirement of realism.

A second feature is that, to paraphrase Chase, the characters must be in explicable relation to their environment, each other, their social class, and their own past (Chase). In this regard we can see that Bulosan certainly fulfills these criteria quite well, as this small circle of Filipinos that we see Carlos interacting with is certainly in an explicable relation to one another; they are all part of a persecuted, still relatively small minority group, and so they live, eat, and work in close proximity to one another, and so they all come into contact with one another through relatives, friends, and the realities of daily life. The people Carlos knows are mostly people he has met directly or indirectly through his brother Macario and his friends.

While there are elements of the story that appear a bit exaggerated, such as Carlos' fortuitous encounter with Marian after being beaten by the police, this can be attributed to the fact that sometimes things such as this happen in real life, serendipitous encounters and suchlike, and it appears to be events such as this that keep Carlos' faith alive. Either way, the existence of an explicable relation between the characters themselves, as well as between them and their environment, class, and their common past are certainly not exaggerated or sensational in any way, and in this regard the novel is a realistic one.

A third characteristic of realism is that class is very important, which is certainly the case with this novel. Just as our main example of realism, Howells' The Rise of Silas Lapham, deals much with class differences and tensions between the new-money working man style of Silas and the Laphams, and the old-money snobbish aristocracy of the Bromfield Coreys, we see in Bulosan a conflict between the Filipinos and what seems like virtually everyone else. Nearly every one of the Filipinos are poor, or at best working-class, and we see them deliberately marginalized, by both social prejudices as well as actual laws, as they struggle to advance in society. Even the few who are lucky enough to make good money don't do so in a honest way, in legitimate businesses, they do so through trading in underground, black-market dealings.

These people are scraping to get by, whether by selling bootleg liquor like Carlos' brother Amado, robbery like his brief acquaintance Max, or, most commonly, working menial-labor jobs, usually as farm hands or servants. They are not necessarily struggling against the rich per se, as their struggle is really against non-Filipino American society, but they are certainly are struggling to raise themselves from the state of miserable poverty in which the majority of them live, and in this regard we must say that class is certainly important here.

Our next characteristic of realism is that, to once again paraphrase Chase, events are plausible, and avoid the dramatic, sensational elements of naturalism and romances (Chase). To a large extent this is true of America is in the Heart, as the majority of events are plausible ones which one would expect a newly-arrived immigrant group to experience, consisting mainly of racism, crime, violence, exploitation, and the general growing pains one would expect of people struggling to assimilate into a foreign environment. While there certainly are many plausible events, there are a few which can be seen as exaggerated, such as getting drunk with a ten year old child or the situation with Marian, but to judge these as such without knowing what Bulosan and his acquaintances experienced in real life is both foolish and presumptuous, because, as we all know, truth is often stranger than fiction, and all of us have had experiences which would sound exaggerated and sensationalized if included in a book.

We do, however, see some examples of dramatic, sensational elements at times, such as Carlos' first sexual experience with the Mexican prostitute, where he observes, "It was like spring in an unknown land. There were roses everywhere, opening to a kind sun. I heard the sudden beating of waves upon rocks, the gentle fall of rain among palm leaves. Was this eternity?" (Bulosan 159). This is certainly not in the vein of realism, this sort of fanciful poetic musing, and so must be noted as a mark against this novel as a representation of realism.

A realistic work must feature diction which is of natural vernacular, not heightened or poetic, and the tone may be comic, satiric, or matter-of-fact (Chase), and it is in this regard that Bulosan is the least realistic. The dialogue between characters is certainly natural vernacular, and the tone can be seen as matter-of-fact, but the fact is that Bulosan's language is far too introspective and poetic to be seen as truly realistic. Aside from the aforementioned example of the incident with the Mexican prostitute we see many examples of this throughout the novel, which is simply a consequence of the fact that this is meant to be an autobiography, told through the viewpoint of the speaker, and so naturally will feature the type of introspection and strong feeling that we see here. This novel is filled with heartfelt, passionate responses to the events surrounding Carlos and his companions, often violent and traumatic, and so this is certainly not meant as a criticism of the book itself, just of the book as a work of realism.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the main feature of realistic writing is that the outcome is ultimately in the character's hands. Silas Lapham is the perfect example of this - he could sell his land and save his family, but he chooses not to of his own free will. Similarly, if we see Carlos' struggle in America as being primarily one of survival, of not falling victim to the temptations of alcohol and gambling, random or deliberate violence, or the absolute hopeless despair generated by all these forces as well as the massive discrimination faced in nearly every facet of daily life, we can certainly see Carlos as deliberately choosing his own future. He sums it up himself on the second-to-last page of the novel, when he says, "It came to me that no man - no one at all - could destroy my faith in America again" (Bulosan 326). Carlos chooses to persevere in his search for a good life in America, though there are many occasions that certainly could have caused him to simply give up.

He is laughed at and beaten by police as well as regular citizens, hunted by armed vigilantes, ripped off, forced to live in squalor on a regular basis, watches his brother slowly deteriorate from disease, and is finally hospitalized with tuberculosis. And this is only a small sample of the things Carlos deals with in his time in America. He certainly could have chosen to simply give up, ending his remaining days drinking himself to death and gambling, hanging out with prostitutes, and working degrading, menial jobs. When Carlos enters the hospital, he makes a decision to educate himself through reading and writing, "the fury of my desire was so tumultuous, I could not rest", (Bulosan 242) he says, describing the voracious appetite he develops for reading and knowledge. The very title of this book represents Carlos' decision that America is in the Heart, and that it must be worked for by everyone so that this ideal vision may be achieved.

Now that we have examined this novel in terms of realism, we will move on to the prominent features of naturalism, which are outlined by Don Pizer in his book The Cambridge Companion to American Realism and Naturalism: Howells to London. The first principle of naturalism is that it, "attempts to apply objectivity and detachment to its study of people" (Pizer), and it is immediately obvious to the reader that Bulosan's work is neither objective nor detached. It is actually the complete opposite: subjective and personally and emotionally attached, and necessarily so. This is a personal book, and though it is considered a work of fiction it was compiled by Bulosan through the life experiences of himself and others, and it is told through the eyes of Carlos, who makes us feel the full force of his emotion. Similarly, the second major point is that "humans should be studied impartially, without moralizing about their natures" (Pizer), and as before we see that this is certainly not the case with this novel, as Carlos really cannot be impartial, as he is the center of the entire story, and there is a large amount of moralizing about the nature of the characters.

Take, for example, the story of the young Filipino man who goes to a diner with his Caucasian wife and mixed child only to be denied service, where Bulosan muses, "Years of degradation came into the Filipino's face. All the fears of his life were here- in the white hand against his face. Was there no place where he could escape?" (Bulosan 145). Also, referring to himself, "Luz's death was one of the many tragedies that hardened me, and drove me into a world of corruption that almost wrecked my whole life" (Bulosan 136), and, describing Macario's situation, "I could stand the poverty and hunger, but this desperate cynicism disturbed me. Were these Filipinos revolting against American society in this debased form? Was there no hope for them?" (Bulosan 133). These are but a few examples of this sort of reflection that goes on throughout the novel, and so we must say that Bulosan does not meet the first two requirements of naturalism.

The third feature of this genre is relatively simple, it states that the characters are generally from the lower- or lower-middle classes (Pizer), and as it is immediately obvious that these characters are indeed from the lower class, possibly the lowest class of all, there is little need to go into this topic at length. Pizer states that naturalism:

"discovers in the everyday, common world the qualities of men usually associated with the heroic or adventurous, acts of violence or passion which involve sexual adventure or bodily strength, and culminate in desperate moments and violent death" (Pizer)

This is an interesting proposition, and we will see that America is in the Heart fulfills these criteria quite well. We certainly see the adventurous, if not altogether heroic, as nearly every day is an adventure, with crime, assaults, violence, and the constant struggle to survive by riding the rails all over the West coast. Violence and passion are ever-present, often together, as in the gunfight in the dance hall with Marcelo and the blond girl, the merciless beating of Myra at the hands of her lover Pete, as well as many others; sex and violence are perhaps the most pertinent features of this novel. As for desperate moments and violent death, well, this novel is absolutely packed with them. Carlos', and most of the other Filipinos', life in America is essentially one long desperate struggle for existence, and violent death occurs repeatedly, as we see Luz collapse and die, "clutching desperately at the man near him" (Bulosan 136), Pete, Myrna, and others at the house are shot by Myrna's lover, and the Filipino union organizers are shot to death by their Japanese bosses. This does not include the numerous instances of violent injury, but not death, which occur throughout this work. As far as these criteria are concerned, this novel meets them quite well.

The fifth feature of naturalism is that, once again paraphrasing Pizer, survival, determinism, violence, and taboo are key themes (Pizer). This describes Bulosan's work quite well, as we see a constant struggle for survival, determinism to a certain extent which will be addressed with the next topic, certainly violence, and taboo, particularly that of Filipino men and Caucasian women, a topic which is addressed repeatedly. This was a major issue at this time, as we see the topic brought up again and again, with the aforementioned story of the Filipino and his Caucasian wife at the diner, the story of Alonzo who was living with a white divorcee who was "driven out of town, warned never to see Filipinos again" (136), and Carlos' amazement that "it was unbelievable that I could sit with a white girl in a famous place" (Bulosan 216) as he has dinner with Marian. Survival, violence, and taboo are all major themes in this novel, and this brings us to the next topic, which deals with determinism. The final major feature of naturalism is that, in opposition to realism, the characters are conditioned and controlled by environment above all.

This is an interesting comparison, as we observed earlier that Carlos is essentially ruled by his own choices, and not by his environment, and so decided that, in this regard, the novel appeared to be realistic. Carlos does make his own choices despite his environment, though he is at times ruled by it and forced to do things such as steal and beat people up to survive, and he drinks and gambles and does many other distasteful things that the majority of his acquaintances do, but the fact remains that, once he is secluded in the hospital, Carlos makes a conscious choice to avoid this type of behavior, and to educate himself and become a writer, and this is exactly what he does. While he is at times ruled by his environment, in the end he makes the decision to control his own fate.

So the question now becomes one of what to make of this, as we see certain elements of both genres present in this work, and so any form of absolutism will most likely not apply. In terms of realism, we have the characters in an explicable relation to each other and their surroundings, the importance of social class, the plausibility of events, and the choice being ultimately in the character's hands. For naturalism, we see that the characters are from the lower classes, we have the elements of adventure, violence, passion, sex, desperation, and violent death, and we see survival, determinism, violence, and taboo as key themes. So, unless we constrain the definition of realism to simply indicate that individual choice is important over environment, in which case this is certainly a work of realism, it appears that we have a split between the two. The answer lies in the fact that there are two ways in which this text can be read, one providing an essentially realist interpretation, and the other, a naturalistic one.

One way in which this novel can be read is as Carlos' inner struggle to overcome his own internal issues so that he can prosper, as we see Carlos have to face many emotional hurdles in his time in America as well as his early life in the Philippines. The issue of dehumanization is very important here, because this is what Carlos has to face on a day to day basis in nearly every situation involving people other than fellow Filipinos. Carlos is treated like an animal by most of the people he encounters, he is yelled at, beaten up numerous times, called names, and discriminated against in nearly every situation, and he observes the same treatment given to other Filipinos. All of his efforts to help his people initially fail, with both the unionization movement and call for citizenship fizzling out, and so Carlos is left in a pretty hopeless situation.

He can't join the army like many of the others are doing, so his choices are very limited - he can either become a gambler or a criminal, or he can settle for what limited income he can generate in a menial job. But Carlos perseveres, educates himself, actually publishes a book of poetry, and decides not to be defeated. Carlos has serious dreams, and they enable him to win this inner struggle. If we read the novel in this way we see it is certainly realistic, the individual's choice important above all, and combined with the other realistic features it possesses this can certainly be seen as a novel in the realist tradition.
We can also read this novel as an individual's struggle against his environment, though, which lends itself to a naturalistic interpretation. Carlos' environment is one of constant uncertainty, and this applies to every facet of life, from where he will live and work to whether or not he will be shot in a Chinese gambling house or beaten and robbed by the police while walking down the street.

The drama of this novel exists as a function of Carlos' environment, and it is this incredibly hostile environment that propels Carlos' dream of escape through writing. Without the hostility of this environment he very well may have settled into a simple life of blue-collar work and never written a thing. In this regard, we can say that, although Carlos does ultimately exercise control over his environment, he never would have had the opportunity to do so if it weren't for this environment, and so we can see this novel functioning in a naturalistic way.

The question here is one of realism or naturalism, and which is the correct way this novel should be regarded. The fact is that there is no one right answer, as the novel effectively functions as either depending on the reader's perspective. It can certainly be seen as realistic, as we have Carlos' inner struggle, the explicable relationships, the importance of social class, plausibility of events, and the outcome lying ultimately in Carlos' hands. It can also be naturalistic, as we see Carlos' struggle against the outer environment, the lower class characters, the elements of adventure, violence, passion, and sex, as well as key themes of survival, determinism, violence and taboo, and we have the environment as very important in shaping both the entire story and Carlos' ultimate decision.

Carlos Bulosan's America is in the Heart can be either realistic or naturalistic, depending upon the individual reader's interpretation, and to pin a static label upon it would be incorrect; Carlos, conditioned by his environment, makes the final choice, and decides that America is truly in his heart.

Works Cited

Bulosan, Carlos. America is in the Heart. Seattle: Univ. of WA Press, 1943.

Chase, Richard. The American Novel and its Tradition. Baltimore: Johns
Hopkins Univ. Press, 1980.

Pizer, Don. The Cambridge Companion to American Realism and Naturalism:
Howells to London. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1995.

San Juan, Jr., E.. "Reintroducing Carlos Bulosan." Heritage 7(1993).