Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in America Is in the Heart, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Beauty in Despair
Race and American Identity
Education vs. Ignorance
Poverty
Summary
Analysis
Following the defeat of Marcantonio bill, Roman Rios and Javier Lacson, who are both Los Angeles CPFR delegates, try to convert the CPFR into a unit of the Communist Party. Lacson starts bringing a middle-aged American woman named Lucia Simpson to organizational meetings, and another woman, Jean Lawson, begins visiting Carlos. A former teacher at the University of Manila, Jean attempts to revive the dying CPFR, but she gets into a love triangle with Lacson and Rios that compromises her usefulness to the group.
Here, as elsewhere in the novel, Bulosan characterizes communism as a frustrating and inadequte solution to Filipino workers’ problems. Specifically, the selfishness and narrowmindedness of Lacson, Simpson, and Lawson symbolize the wasted potential the communist party embodies.
Themes
Meanwhile, Carlos continues to retreat to his books, and Macario encourages him, saying that a lack of formal education should not deter him from becoming a writer. Macario’s health is worsening, and Carlos tries to find Amado by seeking out contacts in the Filipino crime underworld. While Carlos looks for Amado, Jean gains control of the CPFR, but then she flees to Hawaii with Lacson. Lacson eventually returns, embittered by the Communist Party.
Even after all this time, Macario still serves as Carlos’s most important source of inspiration and encouragement by reminding him that there are many paths to education, not all of which involve school.
Themes
Carlos grows further apart from Lacson, Rios, and other members of the CPFR who deem him too intellectual. While the Communist Party proves disappointing, Carlos nonetheless sees hope for Filipinos through the broader ideals of socialism. He bids goodbye to Macario and heads for Bakersfield on a boxcar.
Here, socialism mirrors the promise of America more broadly: it is a grand ideal that, despite all its potential, has yet to be fully realized in practice.
Themes
