Carlos
Bulosan was a Filipino immigrant who came to the United States in the 1930’s.
He arrived at a time when being an immigrant guaranteed struggle. He slaved as
a manual laborer, dealt with discrimination and prejudice, and traveled up and
down the west coast with no permanent home. During that time, he took up
writing. His works reflect his experiences as a displaced laborer trying to
survive in the new world. “I Would Remember”, for example, threads the concept
of death through a journey from the Philippines to America.
The story begins with a vivid
description of a cool summer night in a village in the Philippines.
As the narrator gazes out of a window and observes the sights and sound of the countryside, he hears his mother crying out. She died while giving birth to his little brother. The narrator was devastated. “I could not understand why my mother had to die. I could not understand why my brother had to live,” (p.g. 28). However, as the boy grows up, we see that the he learns to accept death. He, along with the reader, realizes that death is a natural part of life.
As the narrator gazes out of a window and observes the sights and sound of the countryside, he hears his mother crying out. She died while giving birth to his little brother. The narrator was devastated. “I could not understand why my mother had to die. I could not understand why my brother had to live,” (p.g. 28). However, as the boy grows up, we see that the he learns to accept death. He, along with the reader, realizes that death is a natural part of life.
Bulosan
does an amazing job of using nature as a vital backdrop to every death. We see
this in two ways: Mother Nature, and the
character and nature of each individual who expires. The death of his mother in
labor, for example, shows him that life begets death and death begets life. Next, the carabao that was murdered by his father
was symbolic of the working man’s toils. At the time, if a farmer stopped working, they and their family would likely die.
His father was spurred by anger at his own predicament, and that of the Philippines (which had been occupied by the Spanish, then the Americans). When the narrator embarked on his voyage to America, he met an uneducated peasant boy by the name of Marco. Marco was honest; emotions would flash across his face, never hiding a thing. All he wanted was an opportunity to make money in America, and go back to his home country. His simplicity was representative of the hope that all immigrants have. His death was a lesson in the realistic roughness of immigration. Next was Crispin. The narrator met him in Seattle’s cold winter. The two were homeless, stripped of everything and exposed to the elements. The harsh weather and the starkness of their environment highlighted the luminosity of Crispin’s poetic soul: “…when they are gone no moon in the sky is lucid enough to compare with the light they shed when they are among the living,” (p.g. 31). Last was Leroy, who the reader can assume was African American. He was a man who believed in the power and security of work. He also believed in unity. However, due to his physical make-up, he was viciously murdered, as easily as the carabao.
His father was spurred by anger at his own predicament, and that of the Philippines (which had been occupied by the Spanish, then the Americans). When the narrator embarked on his voyage to America, he met an uneducated peasant boy by the name of Marco. Marco was honest; emotions would flash across his face, never hiding a thing. All he wanted was an opportunity to make money in America, and go back to his home country. His simplicity was representative of the hope that all immigrants have. His death was a lesson in the realistic roughness of immigration. Next was Crispin. The narrator met him in Seattle’s cold winter. The two were homeless, stripped of everything and exposed to the elements. The harsh weather and the starkness of their environment highlighted the luminosity of Crispin’s poetic soul: “…when they are gone no moon in the sky is lucid enough to compare with the light they shed when they are among the living,” (p.g. 31). Last was Leroy, who the reader can assume was African American. He was a man who believed in the power and security of work. He also believed in unity. However, due to his physical make-up, he was viciously murdered, as easily as the carabao.
So, as the story ends we see that
the narrator comes to term with death. But, if we look closely at the reading,
we also see that each death teaches him about living. The death of his mother
was the greatest lesson in mortality. It was the first to teach him of cyclical
replacement. Marco's death taught him that one cannot escape misfortune by crossing an ocean. Marco was
honest, and his intentions were pure, but he represented naivety. As a result, the world was quick to
impose its severity upon him. Crispin taught a similar lesson. The world has no
place for the poetic; it requires action and hard work. Leroy was a hard
worker. He believed in all that the narrator had learned thus far. However, who
he was thwarted his wisdom. The story Came around full circle with his murder: “When I saw his cruelly tortured body, I
thought of my father and the decapitated carabao and the warm blood flowing
under our bare feet,” (p.g. 32). It was a horrible way to die, but it taught the
narrator that pushing through life leaves you better off giving
up like the carabao. Unlike the carabao, who died alone in a ditch, Leroy died above ground, surrounded by people. The carabao would decompose and be absorbed into the same ground he worked on, soon forgotten. Leroy had the same fate, except his death would not be forgotten. The narrator found meaning in it. He would use it to live on.
No comments:
Post a Comment