What do you think about the treatment of Filopinos by their supervisors, other officials and American residents in general in the narrative, and how do you think that affected Carlos' continuous sense of loneliness throughout the text?
Where do you think that Filipinos got the impression that America was a place to have all of their dreams fulfilled? Is that impression still around today? Do you think foreigners are blind to the obstacles in achieving the "American dream?"
Carlos has been trying so hard to not be like the Americans. However, in this section he lunges at one of them with a knife and says he wants to kill him. Do you think that Carlos can keep that distance and not have the same attitude as the Americans or is he going to conform and change?
For the most part, the Filipinos got the impression that America was a place to have all or most of their dreams fulfilled from American movies and newspapers during the earlier part of the 1900s. A utopia or mythical, dream-like land is how many Filipinos viewed America. In their minds, the “grass was greener on the other side.” Most Filipinos that had the opportunity to come to America had thoughts of excitement and anxiousness as Carlos did. For example, as Carlos was approaching Seattle with the other Filipinos on the boat from the Philippines at the beginning of the story, he thought, “My first sight of the approaching land was an exhilarating experience. Everything seemed native and promising to me. It was like coming home after a long voyage, although as yet I had no home in this city. Everything seemed familiar and kind—the white faces of the buildings melting in the soft afternoon sun, the gray contours of the surrounding valleys that seemed to vanish in the last periphery of light. With a sudden surge of joy, I knew that I must find a home in this new land.” Filipinos viewed America with a veil over their eyes. They were blind to the degrading comments, the unjust treatment, the horrible working conditions, and the lack of shelter that was facing them when they arrived in America. They were shocked, disappointed, and disheartened. Most immigrants barely made enough money to survive, and nowhere in the story was any mention of a Filipino having great success or achieving the “American Dream.” It was hard for most Filipinos to press on with good morals and have a positive attitude for achieving some type of success when despair loomed all around them. Today, the impression that America is a place to have dreams fulfilled is still present; however, it is not as strong as several decades ago. The false hope that America is made of streets of gold and that money grows on trees is definitely gone. Nevertheless, just because the world has a clearer vision of America now, most all people view America as a place where they could find success, prosperity, hope, wealth, comfort, and happiness far greater than in their own country and homeland. Because many people, Americans and foreigners both, are intrigued with American celebrities’ lives, most of the world “knows” America through the eyes of the media capturing the lives of the rich and famous. Sure, sometimes television shows a bad thing happening to a celebrity, but it usually involves some court case with money—not just a couple hundred dollars, but millions of dollars. Many foreigners hear of the cars, the mansions, the clothes, the food, the toys, and all the other excessive amounts of materialistic things that Americans possess. Therefore, foreigners are blind to all the truths about America. There is poverty, disease, stress, disappointments, death, loss, struggles, divorce, rape, and hatred infiltrated into America, but, of course, the world is not going to know about all that because it is not fun, interesting, or appealing to talk about. Plus, many Americans do not want to give up on the hope that anyone can achieve the “American dream” if one works hard enough. People from different nations and regions of the world have long viewed America as a “city on a hill”. This is largely our own doing. America truly is a place that a person can rise from the most horrid of circumstances to truly make something of himself, but this is not adequately portrayed in the media because for the last century America has only put her best foot forward in the name of global image.
During this period in history America was seen as a place of luxury and wealth by residents of other countries, including Filipinos. America's 'riches' were glorified by the press and appealled to many imigrants in the world. In many ways I do believe that foreigners are blind to the obstacles that may stand in their way to achieving the 'American Dream', not because of ignorance or lack of education, but because they want to believe that America is a better place, a place to escape all their troubles. In Carlos' case, he went through so many hardships and obstacles but still refused to go back to his homeland. He always thought that his 'big break' was right around the corner and the thought of an idealistic society kept him going. I think that the impression of a better life in America is still present today, but only in poorer or third-world rate countries. Immgrigrants still flock to the United States determined to get themselves and their families out of poverty every single year and the determination that they possess numbs them from the difficulties that they face.
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Question:
What do you think about the treatment of Filopinos by their supervisors, other officials and American residents in general in the narrative, and how do you think that affected Carlos' continuous sense of loneliness throughout the text?
Where do you think that Filipinos got the impression that America was a place to have all of their dreams fulfilled? Is that impression still around today? Do you think foreigners are blind to the obstacles in achieving the "American dream?"
Carlos has been trying so hard to not be like the Americans. However, in this section he lunges at one of them with a knife and says he wants to kill him. Do you think that Carlos can keep that distance and not have the same attitude as the Americans or is he going to conform and change?
For the most part, the Filipinos got the impression that America was a place to have all or most of their dreams fulfilled from American movies and newspapers during the earlier part of the 1900s. A utopia or mythical, dream-like land is how many Filipinos viewed America. In their minds, the “grass was greener on the other side.” Most Filipinos that had the opportunity to come to America had thoughts of excitement and anxiousness as Carlos did. For example, as Carlos was approaching Seattle with the other Filipinos on the boat from the Philippines at the beginning of the story, he thought, “My first sight of the approaching land was an exhilarating experience. Everything seemed native and promising to me. It was like coming home after a long voyage, although as yet I had no home in this city. Everything seemed familiar and kind—the white faces of the buildings melting in the soft afternoon sun, the gray contours of the surrounding valleys that seemed to vanish in the last periphery of light. With a sudden surge of joy, I knew that I must find a home in this new land.” Filipinos viewed America with a veil over their eyes. They were blind to the degrading comments, the unjust treatment, the horrible working conditions, and the lack of shelter that was facing them when they arrived in America. They were shocked, disappointed, and disheartened. Most immigrants barely made enough money to survive, and nowhere in the story was any mention of a Filipino having great success or achieving the “American Dream.” It was hard for most Filipinos to press on with good morals and have a positive attitude for achieving some type of success when despair loomed all around them.
Today, the impression that America is a place to have dreams fulfilled is still present; however, it is not as strong as several decades ago. The false hope that America is made of streets of gold and that money grows on trees is definitely gone. Nevertheless, just because the world has a clearer vision of America now, most all people view America as a place where they could find success, prosperity, hope, wealth, comfort, and happiness far greater than in their own country and homeland. Because many people, Americans and foreigners both, are intrigued with American celebrities’ lives, most of the world “knows” America through the eyes of the media capturing the lives of the rich and famous. Sure, sometimes television shows a bad thing happening to a celebrity, but it usually involves some court case with money—not just a couple hundred dollars, but millions of dollars. Many foreigners hear of the cars, the mansions, the clothes, the food, the toys, and all the other excessive amounts of materialistic things that Americans possess. Therefore, foreigners are blind to all the truths about America. There is poverty, disease, stress, disappointments, death, loss, struggles, divorce, rape, and hatred infiltrated into America, but, of course, the world is not going to know about all that because it is not fun, interesting, or appealing to talk about. Plus, many Americans do not want to give up on the hope that anyone can achieve the “American dream” if one works hard enough.
People from different nations and regions of the world have long viewed America as a “city on a hill”. This is largely our own doing. America truly is a place that a person can rise from the most horrid of circumstances to truly make something of himself, but this is not adequately portrayed in the media because for the last century America has only put her best foot forward in the name of global image.
During this period in history America was seen as a place of luxury and wealth by residents of other countries, including Filipinos. America's 'riches' were glorified by the press and appealled to many imigrants in the world. In many ways I do believe that foreigners are blind to the obstacles that may stand in their way to achieving the 'American Dream', not because of ignorance or lack of education, but because they want to believe that America is a better place, a place to escape all their troubles. In Carlos' case, he went through so many hardships and obstacles but still refused to go back to his homeland. He always thought that his 'big break' was right around the corner and the thought of an idealistic society kept him going. I think that the impression of a better life in America is still present today, but only in poorer or third-world rate countries. Immgrigrants still flock to the United States determined to get themselves and their families out of poverty every single year and the determination that they possess numbs them from the difficulties that they face.
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