America is in the Heart CP Essay PDF

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America is in the Heart CP Essay...

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5 December 2019 Prof. Karl M Response to Glimpses of Ecstasy By Nicholas Hensen Bulosan in America is in the Heart expresses more than just an immigrant’s experience of coming to America. He discusses issues and concepts that occur all around the globe. As Bulosan comes to America with the hope to leave behind the poverty and brokenness of life he experienced in the Philippines, he realizes that these are very much existing in America as well. Bulosan comes to America with his heart set on the ideals that he believes America to embody, and he maintains hope for a better world. He immigrates in hope of better opportunities for work and the ability to make money for survival. But, that ideal dream is not what he comes to find. Bulosan encounters much hardship and toil in the States. He is a migrant worker, going where he can to make a few dollars while being exploited by those in power. He works hard with the unions in attempt to create better working environments and more equal opportunities for immigrants, while facing many health struggles and trying to take care of his brothers at the same time. The darkness that Bulosan faces in the Philippines and across the familiar grounds of California do not actually look that different. As Bulosan is exposed to the brothel in the Philippines, he is also exposed to the prostitution of women in the United States. Sexuality is used in the book to analogize some of the deeper polarized feelings that Bulosan experiences in America. Hensen in his article “Glimpses of Ecstasy” presents sexuality in America is in the Heart as a direct way to undermine racial stereotypes (par. 20). Bulosan strategically discusses sex and sexual situations in a way which reveal him as the victim, which is a stark contrast to the

common stereotype of Filipinos as ‘sex depraved’ and ‘fancy of white women’ (par. 5). Hensen discusses the way Filipinos are viewed as sex-crazy creatures, in an almost inhumane way. The stereotypes of the time labeled Filipinos as violent, criminals, sex-crazy, and other negative degradations. The social conditions the world threw at the Filipinos only reinforced these labels and made it likely that they would fall into them (par. 4) Bulosan specifically writes about sexuality in a way that he is always viewed as an “innocent observer or victim who is surrounded by immorality” (par. 5). This is to take the social stigma that is at play and flip it over. Bulosan uses this implicitly to get his point across, that not all Filipinos are these abnormally sex crazy humans. Hensen discusses how Bulosan’s real life seems to differ from what he reveals in the the text, yet this does not invalidate the text. Bulosan portrays himself as more antisexual in the text than is known from his real life experiences. His portrayal in the text does more to take a stance against the stereotypes and cleanse the way America views Filipinos. He even goes on to say that by “reversing these public stereotypes Bulosan also reinforces the sense of his private sexist attitudes” (par. 20). Bulosan intentionally uses and crafts the sexuality in the text to discount stereotypes and express the struggle to merge the internal and external worlds that Filipinos were facing. The way sexuality is presented in the text creates an intense “dichotomy of internal desire versus external restriction.” This polarity is shown in the depiction of females as either immoral women or as nurturing mothers. Bulosan feels and experiences things internally that are restricted by outward societal forces, which result in the deep struggle for him to merge the internal and external worlds (par. 5). These contrasting expressions of women relate to the deeper feelings he experiences about America. The immoral woman is representative of all the evil,

darkness, and hardship that America is that he did not expect. The nurturing woman is representative of the ideal image of America, a welcoming and nurturing place for all to come and experience the ‘American Dream.’ Bulosan describes women as enduring violence, like prostitution and mass rape, yet also working towards the redemption of others, like taking Bulosan in and helping him (par. 6). I believe that Bulosan uses this sexuality of women representatively to how he views immigrants, especially Filipino immigrants. The immigrants experience much violence and oppression, yet Bulosan has a desperate hope that the immigrants can be the big force that can change America for the better. The immigrants are the hope for the redemption of America. Although there are immigrants that are like the ‘immoral woman,’ exploiting others and doing what it takes to survive, there are immigrants that are the ‘nurturing mother,’ working hard to reform the oppression that the immigrants face. As discussed, Bulosan strategically relates the struggles and hopes within himself and the broader immigrant experience to sexuality throughout his personal history. He uses this to work against stereotypes and provide a cleansing of the Filipino name. Bulosan is an intelligent Filipino writer and succeeded in making America more true to the dream.

Works Consulted Bulosan, Carlos. America is in the heart: personal history. Brace and Company, 1943. Hensen, Nicholas. “Glimpses of Ecstasy.” Disclosure, vol. 2, no. 21, 21 Apr. 2012, par. 2–18. Academic Search Premier....