America Is in the Heart

by

Carlos Bulosan

Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan Character Analysis

Carlos Bulosan is the author and protagonist of America is in the Heart. He from the Pangasinan province in the Philippines. Carlos and his siblings the power education holds to lift up the downtrodden. Carlos has four brothers (Amado, Macario, Luciano, and Leon) and three sisters (Irene, Francisco, and Marcela). His mother and father are poor, illiterate peasant farmers, and struggle to support their eight children despite their strenuous work. Early on, they instill in The book begins with Carlos’s impoverished childhood in the Philippines, where he establishes a love for books. As a teenager, he leaves his hometown of Binalonan to seek a new life on America’s West Coast. In the United States, Bulosan travels around the country working low-paying labor jobs and dabbling in crime to earn a living. He meets up with his brothers, Amado and Macario in America, and primarily lives with other immigrants like his friends José and Nick. Carlos’s experiences as an itinerant worker eventually lead him to adopt leftist politics and become a labor organizer. He also pursues his passion for writing poems, short stories, and autobiographical pieces inspired by his experiences as a Filipino in an American society that is racist to non-white minorities. Although Carlos endures consistent struggles and hardships throughout his life, such as the prolonged bout of tuberculosis that nearly kills him, he is a naturally optimistic person who finds hope in opportunities to create a more just American society. Rather than wallowing in his misfortune, he uses his two-year hospital stay to educate himself by reading great works of literature (which his friends Alice and Eileen Odell provide for him). Throughout the book, Carlos is a compassionate and inquisitive individual who understands at an early age that powerful people use their wealth and influence to sow injustice and dominate the powerless. After recovering from his illness at the end of the book, he is released from the hospital, reconnects with the rebounding labor movement, and solidifies his commitment to the American ideals of equality and opportunity for all.

Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan Quotes in America Is in the Heart

The America Is in the Heart quotes below are all either spoken by Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan or refer to Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Beauty in Despair Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2 Quotes

I knew that if there was one redeeming quality in our poverty, it was this boundless affinity for each other, this humanity that grew in each of us, as boundless as this green earth.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker), Amado, Father, Mother, Leon
Page Number: 10
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

As bloodily as this wealth concentrated into the hands of the new companies, as swiftly did the peasants and workers become poorer.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker)
Page Number: 24
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4 Quotes

I became sensitive in the presence of poverty and degradation, so sensitive that my unexpressed feelings tempered my psychological relation to the world.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker), Father
Page Number: 29
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

My education with Luciano was very useful to me when I was thrown into the world of men, when all that I held beautiful was to be touched with ugliness.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker), Luciano
Related Symbols: Birds
Page Number: 53
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13 Quotes

Why don't they ship those monkeys back where they came from?

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker)
Related Symbols: America
Page Number: 99
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

And perhaps it was this narrowing of our life into an island, into a filthy segment of American society, that had driven Filipinos like Doro inward, hating everyone and despising all positive urgencies toward freedom.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker), Doro
Related Symbols: America
Page Number: 121
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 19 Quotes

Why was America so kind and yet so cruel? Was there no way to simplifying things in this continent so that suffering would be minimized?

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker), José , Frank
Related Symbols: America
Page Number: 147
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 24 Quotes

I knew, even then, that it was not natural for a man to hate himself, or to be afraid of himself. It was not natural, indeed, to run from goodness and beauty, which I had done so many times.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker), José , Gazamen , Pascual , Lucille
Related Symbols: America, Books
Page Number: 184
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 25 Quotes

America is not merely a land or an institution. America is in the hearts of men that died for freedom; it is also in the eyes of men that are building a new world.

Related Characters: Macario (speaker), Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan
Related Symbols: America, Books
Page Number: 189
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 27 Quotes

I could not believe it: the gods of yesterday were falling to pieces. They were made of clay. I had to make my own gods, create my own symbols, and worship in my own fashion.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker), Amado, Macario, Helen
Page Number: 202
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 30 Quotes

I knew now. This violence had a broad social meaning; the one I had known earlier was a blind rebellion. It was perpetuated by men who had no place in the scheme of life.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker), Conrado Torres, Dagohoy
Related Symbols: America
Page Number: 222
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 33 Quotes

I wanted to educate myself as fast as possible, and the fury of my desire was so tumultuous, I could not rest.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker), Macario, Eileen Odell
Related Symbols: Books
Page Number: 242
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 36 Quotes

I was enchanted by this dream, and the hospital, dismal as it was, became a world of hope. I discovered the other democratic writers and poets, who in their diverse ways contributed toward the enlargement of the American dream.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker)
Related Symbols: America, Books
Page Number: 251-252
Explanation and Analysis:

I acquired a mask of pretense that became a weapon I was to take out with me into the violent world again, a mask of pretense at ignorance and illiteracy, because I felt that if they knew that I had intellectual depth they would reject my presence.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker)
Related Symbols: America, Books
Page Number: 252
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 37 Quotes

Maybe I succeeded in erasing the sores, but the scars remained to remind me, in moments of spiritual vicissitudes, of the tragic days of those years.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker), Macario, Victor
Related Symbols: America
Page Number: 256
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 39 Quotes

But now this desire to possess, after long years of flight and disease and want, had become an encompassing desire to belong to the land—perhaps to the whole world.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker), Father
Related Symbols: America
Page Number: 273
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 41 Quotes

They worked as one group to deprive Filipinos of the right to live as free men in a country founded upon this very principle.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker), Vito Marcantonio
Related Symbols: America
Page Number: 287
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 46 Quotes

Then it came to me how absolutely necessary it was to acquaint the Filipinos with the state of the nation.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker), Macario
Related Symbols: America, Books
Page Number: 311
Explanation and Analysis:

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.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker), Macario
Related Symbols: America, Books
Page Number: 312
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 49 Quotes

It came to me that no man—no one at all—could destroy my faith in America again.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker)
Related Symbols: America, Books
Page Number: 326
Explanation and Analysis:
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Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan Quotes in America Is in the Heart

The America Is in the Heart quotes below are all either spoken by Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan or refer to Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Beauty in Despair Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2 Quotes

I knew that if there was one redeeming quality in our poverty, it was this boundless affinity for each other, this humanity that grew in each of us, as boundless as this green earth.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker), Amado, Father, Mother, Leon
Page Number: 10
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

As bloodily as this wealth concentrated into the hands of the new companies, as swiftly did the peasants and workers become poorer.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker)
Page Number: 24
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4 Quotes

I became sensitive in the presence of poverty and degradation, so sensitive that my unexpressed feelings tempered my psychological relation to the world.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker), Father
Page Number: 29
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

My education with Luciano was very useful to me when I was thrown into the world of men, when all that I held beautiful was to be touched with ugliness.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker), Luciano
Related Symbols: Birds
Page Number: 53
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13 Quotes

Why don't they ship those monkeys back where they came from?

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker)
Related Symbols: America
Page Number: 99
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

And perhaps it was this narrowing of our life into an island, into a filthy segment of American society, that had driven Filipinos like Doro inward, hating everyone and despising all positive urgencies toward freedom.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker), Doro
Related Symbols: America
Page Number: 121
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 19 Quotes

Why was America so kind and yet so cruel? Was there no way to simplifying things in this continent so that suffering would be minimized?

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker), José , Frank
Related Symbols: America
Page Number: 147
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 24 Quotes

I knew, even then, that it was not natural for a man to hate himself, or to be afraid of himself. It was not natural, indeed, to run from goodness and beauty, which I had done so many times.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker), José , Gazamen , Pascual , Lucille
Related Symbols: America, Books
Page Number: 184
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 25 Quotes

America is not merely a land or an institution. America is in the hearts of men that died for freedom; it is also in the eyes of men that are building a new world.

Related Characters: Macario (speaker), Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan
Related Symbols: America, Books
Page Number: 189
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 27 Quotes

I could not believe it: the gods of yesterday were falling to pieces. They were made of clay. I had to make my own gods, create my own symbols, and worship in my own fashion.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker), Amado, Macario, Helen
Page Number: 202
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 30 Quotes

I knew now. This violence had a broad social meaning; the one I had known earlier was a blind rebellion. It was perpetuated by men who had no place in the scheme of life.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker), Conrado Torres, Dagohoy
Related Symbols: America
Page Number: 222
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 33 Quotes

I wanted to educate myself as fast as possible, and the fury of my desire was so tumultuous, I could not rest.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker), Macario, Eileen Odell
Related Symbols: Books
Page Number: 242
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 36 Quotes

I was enchanted by this dream, and the hospital, dismal as it was, became a world of hope. I discovered the other democratic writers and poets, who in their diverse ways contributed toward the enlargement of the American dream.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker)
Related Symbols: America, Books
Page Number: 251-252
Explanation and Analysis:

I acquired a mask of pretense that became a weapon I was to take out with me into the violent world again, a mask of pretense at ignorance and illiteracy, because I felt that if they knew that I had intellectual depth they would reject my presence.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker)
Related Symbols: America, Books
Page Number: 252
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 37 Quotes

Maybe I succeeded in erasing the sores, but the scars remained to remind me, in moments of spiritual vicissitudes, of the tragic days of those years.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker), Macario, Victor
Related Symbols: America
Page Number: 256
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 39 Quotes

But now this desire to possess, after long years of flight and disease and want, had become an encompassing desire to belong to the land—perhaps to the whole world.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker), Father
Related Symbols: America
Page Number: 273
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 41 Quotes

They worked as one group to deprive Filipinos of the right to live as free men in a country founded upon this very principle.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker), Vito Marcantonio
Related Symbols: America
Page Number: 287
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 46 Quotes

Then it came to me how absolutely necessary it was to acquaint the Filipinos with the state of the nation.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker), Macario
Related Symbols: America, Books
Page Number: 311
Explanation and Analysis:

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.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker), Macario
Related Symbols: America, Books
Page Number: 312
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 49 Quotes

It came to me that no man—no one at all—could destroy my faith in America again.

Related Characters: Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan (speaker)
Related Symbols: America, Books
Page Number: 326
Explanation and Analysis: