America is in the Heart is an autobiographical novel by Carlos Bulosan, published in 1946. The book chronicles Bulosan's emigration from the Philippines to the United States in 1930. Working at fisheries in the Northwest and later as a migrant laborer in California, Bulosan recalls the hardships, poverty and racism that he and many other immigrants suffered during the 1930s. Despite the oppression he found in the United States, Bulosan retains a strong idealism and finds hope in the America he loves.
Born in 1913, Bulosan recounts his boyhood in the Philippines. The early chapters describe his life as a Filipino farmer "plowing with a carabao". Bulosan was the fourth oldest son of the family. As a young Filipino, he once lived on the farm tended by his father, while his mother was separately living in a barrio in Binalonan, Pangasinan, together with Bulosan’s brother and sister. Their hardships included pawning their land and having to sell items in order to finish the schooling of his brother Macario. He had another brother named Leon, a soldier who came back after fighting in Europe.
Bulosan's narration about his life in the Philippines was followed by his journey to the United States. He recounted how he immigrated to America in 1930. He retells the struggles, prejudice, and injustice he and other Filipinos had endured in the United States, first while in the Northwestern fisheries then later in California These included his experiences as a migrant and laborer in the rural West.
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