America is in the heart by Carlos Bulosan meditates on the place of Filipino writers in American literature. In America Is in the Heart, two “types” of writers are presented: “American writers” and “Filipino writers.” Carlos Bulosan characterizes “American writers” as those who emphasize hope and “Filipino writers” as those who emphasize anger in order to demonstrate the effect of extreme social and legal discrimination against Filipino men. Because Filipino men like Carlos were treated so unkindly by America upon their arrival, they were often consumed by hatred. The figure of the angry Filipino writer is a caricature of the battered men who often retreated into contempt for America, its people, and its apparent desperation. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The “Filipino writers” that Carlos Bulosan introduces in America Is at Heart all share a deeply rooted anger and desperation. While walking on Canon Perdido Street with Marian, Carlos meets a Filipino bus boy who tells him, "I will be the greatest Filipino novelist of my time!" (216). Carlos explains: “His desire to write was stimulated by hatred. I remembered another lonely Filipino writer who had committed suicide and felt sorry for Florencio. I knew he would destroy himself like Estevan, who had thrown himself out of his hotel window when hunger reached his mind” (216). Carlos confronts Florencio and Estevan to comment on their shared impulse to write. Florencio writes out of hate; his response to the injustice inflicted on him is to mediate his anger through writing. By juxtaposing the two Filipino writers, Carlos explicitly links hatred to destruction. He describes the moment Estevan comes undone as when “hunger had reached his mind”; since malnutrition starves the body, Carlos indicates that hatred starves the mind. If Florencio and Estevan represent a type of Filipino writer who responds to injustice with anger, Marian urges Carlos to respond with love. Before Marian dies, she asks him: “promise me not to hate. But he loves – loves everything that is good and clean” and leaves him money to go to school (219). Throughout their time together, Marian constantly tells Carlos to go to school; therefore, education and writing become an avenue through which he can “love all that is good and clean.” Carlos keeps the expression that Marian wants him to express during his stay in the hospital. Reading the American authors that Eileen provides him, Carlos feels "that I was comfortable with young American writers and poets. Reading them took me back to the roots of American literature - to Walt Whitman and the tumult of his time. And from him, from His passionate dream of American equality for all races, an extraordinary idea burned my conscience. Would it be possible for an immigrant like me to become part of the American dream? (239). Carlos explains that one function of literature is to evoke empathy in its reader. Carlos feels “at home” with young American writers and poets because they talk about issues that concern people of different generations and continents. He is particularly struck by texts written during the civil rights era because he recognizes versions of his experiences within them. This democratization of writing makes Carlos reflect on his ability to influence the American dream, particularly through literature. Dora Tavers tells Carlos, “'Write more poems. . . I don't care if you are a communist or not. I like yours..