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Carlos / Allos / Carl Bulosan
Amado is the youngest of Carlos’s four brothers. Like Carlos, Amado spends his childhood in the Philippines helping his family perform the back-breaking farm labor that is necessary for their survival. Amado is a strong-willed and somewhat impulsive person who flees to Binalonan following a spat with his father over the treatment of a water buffalo during a rainstorm. Amado works for a time as a janitor in Binalonan’s town hall, but he develops an appreciation for the value of education despite only attending school to the fifth grade. He provides Carlos with books and magazines, and proves to be a significant influence on his brother’s lifelong commitment to reading and studying. After working a series of jobs in the Philippines, Amado moves to America, where his ostracized status as a Filipino sends him into the underworld of bootlegging, gambling, and theft with his partner, Alfredo. He spends time in jail but has stretches where he works within the law. He opens a successful restaurant and hotel, and works for a shady white lawyer. The latter job estranges him from Carlos for a long period. When Amado and Carlos reunite, Amado works to care for his other brother, Macario, but he cannot escape the influence of his underworld contacts, which strains the brothers’ relationship. At the book’s end, Amado joins the United States Navy, and his fate remains a mystery.
Amado Quotes in America Is in the Heart
The America Is in the Heart quotes below are all either spoken by Amado or refer to Amado. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 2 Quotes
I knew that if there was one redeeming quality in our poverty, it was this boundless affinity for each other, this humanity that grew in each of us, as boundless as this green earth.
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Chapter 27 Quotes
I could not believe it: the gods of yesterday were falling to pieces. They were made of clay. I had to make my own gods, create my own symbols, and worship in my own fashion.
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Amado Character Timeline in America Is in the Heart
The timeline below shows where the character Amado appears in America Is in the Heart. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
After the tragedy of Leon’s wedding, Father brings Carlos’s other brother, Amado, back from the nearby town. The youngest of Carlos’s four brothers, Amado is attending grade...
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...so that he can become a teacher in Binalonan and help support that family. Meanwhile, Amado helps Father with the farm work. Father tells Carlos and Amado to bring the animals...
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...Carlos brings a bamboo tube full of drinking water and goes to join Father and Amado in the corn field. They hope to harvest the corn before the heavy rains come....
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...tree roots that remain in the ground. One night, while working under a heavy rain, Amado’s water buffalo stops working. An enraged Amado starts hitting the animal with a stick. This...
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Later, Carlos sees Amado again when he moves to Binalonan to live with Mother. Amado is working as a...
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Chapter 6
...job. Meanwhile, Mother becomes pregnant again while Father grows more desperate and neglects his farming. Amado gets a job collecting traders’ tickets in the public market, and a copra (dried coconut...
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That year, the new mayor of Binalonan fires all public employees, including Amado. The loss of work sends Amado to America, and Macario, who moves to Manila to...
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Chapter 7
...of words and to stick to [his] convictions,” as well as to love the earth. Amado taught Carlos the importance of studying, while Macario taught him about people in faraway lands....
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Chapter 16
...where he is ambushed by a knife-wielding assailant who turns out to be Carlos’s brother, Amado.
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At first, Amado does not recognize Carlos. But the brothers soon reconnect, and Carlos learns that the name...
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Chapter 17
After leaving Amado, Carlos makes his way to Los Angeles to find his brother Macario. In the city’s...
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Chapter 21
...end of the picking season. Then he goes to Lompoc, where he finds his brother Amado and Alfredo have given up bootlegging in favor of a gambling partnership through which they...
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Chapter 22
...New Mexico, entrances Carlos, but he feels lonely there. He soon receives a letter from Amado, who is in jail for robbery in Santa Barbara. Hoping to aid his brother, Carlos...
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...from day to day: yesterday seemed long ago and tomorrow was too far away.” Meanwhile, Amado buys a restaurant and leases the upper floor as a hotel. The business initially prospers,...
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Chapter 27
Carlos travels to Los Angeles, where he meets up with Macario and learns that Amado is in San Francisco working for a white “racketeer lawyer.” Carlos is displeased to learn...
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Chapter 42
...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...
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Chapter 43
In Bakersfield, Carlos falls asleep in a Mexican bar and awakens to find Amado staring at him. Amado tells Carlos that he secretly visited him in the hospital and...
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Chapter 44
...is headed for Los Angeles. She follows Carlos to his apartment, where Ganzo, Victor, and Amado are sleeping on the floor.
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During these “dark days,” Amado associates with shady characters, while Mary spends more time away from the apartment and eventually...
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Chapter 47
...José reminds Carlos about an upcoming conference of labor and social leaders. Suddenly, Conrado and Amado begin fighting until two girls distract them. Carlos is disgusted by his friends’ and brothers’...
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Chapter 48
...from America, is a testament to Carlos’s “hopes, desires, [and] aspirations.” He then searches for Amado to show him the book and finds him drinking beer with two girls, who are...
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