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America
Books play a major role in Carlos Bulosan’s life. Throughout the novel, books symbolize education and the hopeful path out of ignorance that it provides. Carlos recognizes the vast gulf in status between those who are literate and educated and those who are not. “In Spanish times education was something that belonged exclusively to the rulers,” he writes, “but the poor people […] were denied even the most elementary schooling.” Carlos’s parents are illiterate, but they sacrifice to send his brother Macario to school. The premium that Carlos’s parents and brothers place on education instills in him a lifelong “passion for books.” “You must never stop reading good books,” his other brother Luciano tells him, “reading is food for the mind.” Throughout America is in the Heart, a number of people, such as Amado, Macario, Luciano, Mary Strandon, and Alice and Eileen Odell give Carlos books, for which he is eternally grateful. During Carlos’s two-year stay in the Los Angeles hospital, books help him maintain the hope that he can become an educated member of society despite all of the hardships he has experienced. “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!” Carlos proclaims. Books give him the opportunity to learn about American history, to access the ideas of the world’s greatest thinkers, and to develop his own way to contribute to society’s betterment. As Macario states, “America is the illiterate immigrant who is ashamed that the world of books and intellectual opportunities is closed to him.” Books are central to Carlos’s very identity as an immigrant in America, and they foster the intellectual development that gives his life meaning, paves his path out of poverty, and facilitates his eventual career as a writer.
Books Quotes in America Is in the Heart
The America Is in the Heart quotes below all refer to the symbol of Books. 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:
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Chapter 24
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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.
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Chapter 25
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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.
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Chapter 33
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I wanted to educate myself as fast as possible, and the fury of my desire was so tumultuous, I could not rest.
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Chapter 36
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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.
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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.
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Chapter 46
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Then it came to me how absolutely necessary it was to acquaint the Filipinos with the state of the nation.
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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.
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Chapter 49
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It came to me that no man—no one at all—could destroy my faith in America again.
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Books Symbol Timeline in America Is in the Heart
The timeline below shows where the symbol Books appears in America Is in the Heart. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
...watches his baby sister, Irene, Amado comes over and gives him magazines and a large book, which Carlos vows to learn how to read. Though he no longer attends school, Amado...
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Chapter 3
...and eggplants and gather snails from a pond. Carlos hopes that Macario “will bring some books with him" upon his return home.
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Chapter 4
...the family land. Later, Macario brings Carlos a copy of Robinson Crusoe. Carlos enjoys the book and Macario tells him to take inspiration from Crusoe’s struggles. “Someday you may be left...
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Chapter 6
...The other students taunt him for his peasant origins, but he is too absorbed in books to care. He works hard in school, despite knowing that he will soon have to...
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Chapter 9
...“poor boy who became president of the United States.” Miss Strandon also supplies Carlos with books from the library and soon lets him work with her there. He becomes even more...
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Chapter 22
...named Judith. Her beauty draws Carlos in, and she reads him a story from a book. Later, when the restaurant where Carlos works refuses to serve a Filipino man and a...
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Chapter 24
Overjoyed by his newfound writing ability, Carlos wants to read as many books as he can by “the men that contributed something positive to society” so that he...
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Chapter 31
...Odell, a teacher who followed her to Hollywood. Alice visits Carlos frequently and brings him books and food. Soon, he is transferred to the Los Angeles County hospital, and Alice tells...
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Chapter 32
...begins visiting Carlos nearly every day for three years. Like her sister, Eileen brings Carlos books and various kinds of food. Carlos writes that he “yearned for her and the world...
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...it is to die. He undergoes a knee operation, and afterwards, Eileen brings him more books by great authors such as Franz Kafka and Federico Garcia Lorca. The suffering these authors...
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Chapter 34
Carlos passes his days in the hospital watching visiting musicians and singers, reading books, and writing poetry. Revolutionary Russian writers such as Alexander Pushkin and Leo Tolstoy particularly inspire...
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Chapter 36
...the hospital. Though Carlos is sad to be confined by illness, he nonetheless has food, books, friends, a porch, and Eileen, whereas outside he had only violence and despair. He continues...
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Chapter 37
...attempted murder following a domestic argument. In the face of such despair, Carlos turns to books of fairytales, which spark an interest in Filipino folklore. He recalls his doctor’s warning that...
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Chapter 38
...Carlos retreats to the Los Angeles Public Library, where he plans “to read ten thousand books on all subjects.” He finds solace in immigrant autobiographies that remind him of his own...
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Chapter 42
Meanwhile, Carlos continues to retreat to his books, and Macario encourages him, saying that a lack of formal education should not deter him...
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Chapter 45
Afraid that the violence of Temple Street will consume him, Carlos again retreats into books, this time by writers of historical American fiction. The books stimulate his mind, but he...
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