Blog #1- Response to "I Would Remember"- Carlos Bulosan

  Carlos Bulosan can be defined as an immigrant, a Filipino, a son and a writer...but none of these labels seem to fit as much as 'a soldier'. Carlos Bulosan, like so many other Filipino’s, fed up with the severe economic standing of their homeland, migrated to the United States. Bulosan, along with thousands of Filipinos' crossed the Pacific seeking financial stability, an education, job security and a better standard of living. Because so many immigrants' minds were plagued with the false ideals of America, reality hit much harder. Immigrants experienced racism, poor work conditions and extreme poverty...an environment they expected to leave at home. Despite his odds, Bulosan achieved much more than many of us could obtain with all the money in the world, a voice. Carlos Bulosan's writings and story, after his death, became the center piece for a movement that changed the way society thought of immigrants, specifically Filipinos. 

Carlos Bulosan gives a brief scope into a characters psyche and how it has developed and morphed because of his first hand experiences with death. “I Would Remember” highlights a common thread between cultures, being death, but also offers a unique way of looking at life. At first glance, this story; between the description of murderous accounts and the realness of morality, can be depressing, dark and raw. Bulosan does this for a reason...he understands that no matter who is reading this piece, they will be able to relate, no matter culture, race and gender. Bulosan opens with the death of a boys mother, which was his ice breaker, so to speak, into the realization of the circle of life. He writes as his character stares into the moonlight, “The small bird disappeared into the periphery of moonlight and darkness, shrieking fiercely as the bat caught up with it somewhere beyond the range of my vision.”(p28) This recognition of nature is his way of coming to terms with how the world works, culture aside, religion aside. Just as a solider can not be mentally de railed by the death of a comrade, this boy will not lose grip of his goals. 

The middle section of the story offers us a vision in the growth and transformation he has made from a small boy on a rice field to a starving man in America, all the while experiencing death, relationships and hardships. Each account of the person who dies grows in actually physical space he takes up writing about them. Making notes of personal connection he made with the person and influence they had on his life, giving a tell sign that he has grown to appreciate the people in his life, because they can be taken from him at any moment. Bulosan writes about a man named Crispin, “Men like Crispin who had poetry in their soul come quietly into the world and live quietly down the years, and yet when they are gone no moon in the sky is as lucid compared to the light they shed when they were among other people.”(p31)In this eloquent account of a friend, you are able to see the maturity that comes with losing someone. Once again, just as a soldier keeps fighting forward, this character did as well.

Fast forward to the end of the story, with the death of Leroy. The description of Leroy being lynched is testament to those who have suffered and died and to the power one man has over another, and will forever stay with me. The lesson learned from Leroy I believe is the catapult to this characters motivation. He writes, “He had a way of explaining the meaning of words with utter simplicity. Like “work”, which he translated in to “power”, which he translated into “security”.” (p31). This ending to such a story, to me, means that this last gruesome death is a representation of what he saw, and what he survived. He knew he had to keep going no matter what. What Bulosan does, ever so meticulously, is present facts along with lessons learned. Events such as the ones described in the story are only at detrimental as the witness allows them to be. This character and Bulosan are incredibly similar, which leads me to believe that this characters psyche and Carlos' are one in the same.