Group 6 – Chapter 36 to End Summary

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Chapter 36

 A superstitious belief to the only tree near the hospital, that no man died in the
wards near the tree
 Those well enough assisted the caretakers and other patients called the Walking
Patients
 Panago (A Greek man) and Sobel (A Jew from Poland) were the best and most
dedicated of the “Walking Patients”
 Visitations from friends and Eileen Odell (friend of Allos who visited him many
times and gave him books to read) made Allos afraid to leave the comfort of the
hospital once he recovered
 Grew accustomed to young American writers and poets and read the following:
o Barbusse’s Under Fire
o Erich Maria Remareque’s All Quiet on the Western Front
o Romain Rolland’s Jean-Christophe
o Thomas Mann’s Magic Mountain
o Stories of Liam O’Flaherty
o Plays of Sean O’Casey
o Poetry of the proletarians in the US
 Felt lonely due to lack of intellectual individuals and feared ridicule for it
 Allos has been in the hospital for 2 years
 Request to Social Service Department to be moved to the Sanitarium for
complete recovery but was denied because he was a minor when he entered the
US and needed a Guardian
 Macario (second oldest brother of Allos) signed the papers and would take care
of Allos
 Eileen Odell gave him a new briefcase with his name on it and arranged his
poems and some scattered chapters of his autobiography
 Victor (a friend of both brothers) assisted with moving the items
 On June 2 (exactly 2 years later) Allos left the hospital
Chapter 37

 Went to live in a Japanese downtown hotel being assisted by Victor and Macario
 Reminiscent of Leon’s (oldest brother of Allos) death and many friends either in
jail or wandering
 Attempted to move to a new place but many offers turned down or rejected due
to them being Filipinos (racism)
 Moved to a place known for ‘shady characters’
 Jose (friend of Allos) visited and said he was married, and had a little boy who he
named Carlos (the Christian name of Allos)
 Allos was invited to the home of Jose where the sisters of the wife were also
living
 Teressa was the only other married sister and Allos tried to ‘woo’ her but she
cried
 Allos feared the sight of crying women because it invoke emotion from him which
were emanated from pity and he has hardened himself against pity
 Moved to another shady apartment in Temple Street
 Read the following during the events of this chapter:
o Gustavus Myers’ Ending of Hereditary American Fortunes
o Arabian Nights
o Grimm’s Fairy Tales
o Aesop’s Fables
o Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland
 Events of shady happenings in the nearby apartments
o An apartment was raided by police due to prostitution
o A Filipino shot his wife because he was entertaining a Filipino Gambler
and shot himself (attempted to make it look like he was also a victim)
o A husband took poison due to his child not being his own. The wife took it
as well after seeing the husband and died. The husband wasn’t dead and
raised the child as his own
o Teressa unhappy with her Italian gambler husband because he sold the
stove and she wanted to cook
 Allos realized that Philippine folklore was uncollected which gave him an impetus
and sought to integrate Philippine folklore in the struggle of liberty which led his
to the heros like Jose Rizal
 Realization of Allos’ own decaying health (injury of left leg and partial paralysis
on right hand) and he never learned a trade
 Was told by doctor that he had about 5 years left to live due to his impaired lungs
and ‘wild’ lifestyle
 Macario was dedicated to work and support the both of them
  Allos wanted to write about their life in America, to write about their anguish and
hopes for a better America

Chapter 38 (Beginning of Part Four)

 Allos yearned to start writing but had no idea where to start, he needed a guide
to help him write
 Sought to the Los Angeles Public Library but stopped reading a book if it
resembled a part of his own experiences
 Found the works of and was inspired by the following:
o Younghill Kang ( a Korean writer)
 Wrote an autobiography The Grass Roof
 Allos was enlightened by the insight into the Korean
Revolutionary Movement
 Was given hope by his indomitable courage
 Allos questioned by couldn’t he achieve the same success
due to their similar hardships and background
o Yone Noguchi (A Japanese houseboy)
 Who lived with the first poet of his race Joaquin Mukker
 Noguchi led Allos to the other writers below
o Louis Adamic
 Due to his phenomenal success
o Carey McWilliams
 Was part of the progressive movement
 Worked for liberties for Filipinos and other minorities
o John Fante
 Allos felt a bit of kinship due to Fante’s obscure background and
racial origin
 Allos observed that Fante’s Italian pride and prejudice was the
same as the Filipinos
 Allos feared he lacked a positive intellectual weapon to cope with
his environment (that he might eventually lose his peasant heritage)
 Met Ronald Patterson (an American poet) who gave him a couple of old
magazines
o New Masses
o Partisan Review
o The New Republic
o Left Front
o Dynamo
o Anvil
o And other Leftist publications that died in their own decade
  Intrigued by The New Tide and asked Jose and Macario to read it
as well
 Met a young Jewish girl who claimed to be Dora Traver’s sister who was at a
meeting that Allos was invited to by Patterson
o Dora Traver who was a girl who urged Allos to write poems and he wrote
one about her but left to the Soviet Union and had a child (Nick being the
Father)
 The central point of the meeting was the unification of the minorities for efficiency
towards a national program of peace and democracy
o Allos thought that Filipinos could help and was referred to Anna Dozier
who referred him to a Filipino who could help rally other Filipinos towards
unity
 The Filipino was in fact the very first Filipino Communist in LA
which was why he was referred
 Asked if Allos would sign up but was declined. Allos wanted unity
but not to join an organization
 Allos assembled a meeting with many Filipinos in which the general consensus
was why the discrimination, racism and denied opportunities they suffer from
(such as no practice of law, no marrying Caucasians, denial of civil service jobs,
denied the right to become a citizen, why police abuse).
o Point was to listen to the community and not to propose a program of
action
o However it turned to the beginning of a state-wide campaign for the
recognition of Filipino rights and privileges
o In which Allos and Jose refused to join the communist party
 Was visited by Anna Dozier and the Filipino Communist and argued with him
o That all action were to go through the Filipino and Allos wasn’t allowed to
establish a separate Filipino unit of the Party
 Allos retorted that he was not a member
 In which the Filipino did not trust him and was accused of being an
intellectual in which Allos denied
 Allos pondered if Communism was what the Filipinos needed

Chapter 39

 Went to San Fernando to talk to a leader of a Filipino Agricultural Laborers’

camp
 Since Filipinos can’t use their education in America the sole objective of a Pinay
was to marry someone with economic security
 o Which their parents are partly to blame for their greedy upbringing
o Which leads to Pinays being arrogant, stupid and lack humor
 The leader served in the Navy but was denied citizenship
o Allos saw the same gentleness and passion his father had
o Allos found himself in the leader
 For the first time Allos was addressed with honorifics (Mr. Bulosan) by the wife
upon his departure towards Bakersfield
 Learned that even Filipinos were exploiting each other
 Went to meet Cabao (one of the 3 Filipino contractors that controlled the grape
industry)
 Cabao was younger than most contractor and had a college diploma
 Upon his departure Allos could not shake the feeling, he was educated and
gentle but there was something lost, futile and defeated in his voice
 Went to Stockton and encountered Claro (a Filipino that helped him when he
used to own a restaurant in Chinatown)
 Claro was leading a section of strikes against the Japanese because a
Japanese woman was helping laborers
o Allos noted a similarity of fury that Claro had to a character in Gorki’s
Decadence
 A representative from the Philippine government went to Washington and tried
his best to bring their predicaments to the attention of the home government but
he died before he could accomplish it

Chapter 40

 Allos met Percy Toribio who was the secretary-treasurer of the striking union and
was also an editor for the union’s organ
o He was a young, a graduate of the University of Washington, and a
foreign correspondent for one of the weeklies in Manila
o Though Toribio had more interest in writing for he had an unfinished novel
o Allos was disturbed and skeptical about Toribio but he envied his
education and writing ability
 Allos was angered when he learned that Toribio was looking out for his job more
than the cause he was fighting for
o Knew never to trust the college-bred leaders due to their cowardice
 Allos, who represented the peasants and workers and was a revolutionist, firmly
believed that the workers should be educated politically to contribute to the
effectiveness of democracy
 o On the other hand, Toribio represented the Filipino Intelligentsia and
opposed said ideas
 Claro brought a paper to Allos which was a story of a Filipino Communist leading
a strike which was an exact match of Allos
o Allos didn’t like that
 He met Steve Laso (who was a foreman and one of the first to withdraw from the
fields)
o Steve helped transport Allos out of town
 Allos had numerous troubled dreams
o Memories of his mother’s self-sacrifice and what Allos did to help ease the
burden
 He cried tears of remembrance
o Memories of his father, desired for the affection of his family but hated the
aching misery and poverty
o A dream when he was lost and a kind chief police helped him, he dreamt
of the kindness and goodness that he had but he disappeared
o He was awaken up by the man because Allos was crying in his sleep
 He arrived at San Francisco and remember that the kindness of the police chief
was not a dream but a memory when he was a young boy, he exclaimed how he
could have forgotten something that would shape him to the person he is

Chapter 41

 Allos returns to Los Angeles to meet with Jose

 They invited well-known Filipino labor leaders on the Pacific Coast to a
conference in with the idea of organizing a committee which would allow them to
work together irrespective of their affiliations
 Ganzo (a friend of the two and fellow revolutionist), the publisher of the Philippine
Commonwealth times attended
 A number of delegates also attended:
o 3 from Seattle
o 2 from Portland
o 1 from San Francisco
o 5 from Central California
o 1 from San Diego
o 2 from Los Angeles
o 1 from Washington (Conrado Torres)
o A total of 21 delegates were present
 Some were members of Allos’ old group who fought for unionism in California
 The objective was to form a nucleus of a broad organization for Filipinos on the
Pacific Coast
 The LA delegation was controlled by two parvenus:
o Roman Rios
o Javier Lacson
 They arrived with a red-headed girl from New York
 On day 1 of the conference the Committee for the Protection of Filipino Rights
(CPFR) was formed
 The Seattle delegates who came with Conrado Torres were:
o Joe Lozano
o Marc Dorion
 Who were very active in the labor movement in the north and were
officers of UCAPAWA, Local 7
 They would later become the most active supporters of the
progressive movement in the northwest
 On day 2, the organization took on the task to campaign for the right of Filipinos
to become naturalized American citizens
o With its vitality and direction, it became in a way the most effective
weapon in the West Coast
 Allos wrote articles and special news items about the organization
o With the intermittent help of Jose, they published Ganzo’s paper
 It was the only publication interested in the struggle for a definite
social security for Filipinos in the US though it lacked financial
support
 In which Macario did his best to support it financially
 During his time in the hospital, a bill in congress that proposed Filipino citizenship
was introduced by Representative Vito Maracantonio
 He corresponded with the American Committee for the Protection of the Foreign
Born whose program was similar to the CPFR
 With the approval if the central committee, Allos began speaking before
American audiences in Southern California
o Though his distrust for the middle class and the activeness of the
Hollywood Democratic Committee, he continued his talks
 During his talk he was invited by an American woman
o Allos grew agitated due to the luxury she had
o He was burnt with indignation when he was asked to hide when a guest
came over
 An important job for Allos was the campaign for the Macantonio bill
o Though the race-haters were busy lobbying against it
 Which was headed by a congressman
 Backed by big farmers and allied interests
 They fought and killed the bill
  Other hostile groups:
o Liberty League of California
o Daughters of the Golden West
o Daughters of the American Revolution
o Parent-Teacher Association
o Associated Farmers of California (as the spearhead)
 There groups sought to kill every bill favorable to Filipinos in
Congress and in the state Legislature
 The efforts of these groups broke Macario’s spirit and later he got sick
 Allos angry due to his powerless situation to help his brother felt the desire to kill
for money (like Max and Julio)
 He stole a diamond ring and sold it to a gambler
o With the money he did:
 Sent Macario to a doctor
 Bought 3 months worth of groceries
 Paid the rent
 Gave the rest to Macario
o Allos knew he had to leave or else he would steal again
 Allos began to write

Chapter 42

 The campaign for Filipino Citizenship failed

o Rios and Lacson tried to convert the organization into a separate
communist party
o Anna Dozier sought out the different members of the committee
 Along with Lacson, they went to San Francisco to convert members
 Lucia Simpson (a middle-aged American woman) began appearing with Lacson
during meetings
 Jean Lawson (a woman from San Diego) went to see Allos
o Allos questioned this sudden appearance
o She was married to a man prominent in the labor movement in Seattle
o Taught at the University of Manila but was forced to resign due to
participation in the Japanese boycott
o She helped establish the Philippine Writers’ League
o It was revealed that she was sent by an educational director of the
Communist Party to guide Allos, however she died later on in New Mexico
 Lucia dedicated her time to resurrect the dying CPFR
o She boarded Rios and Lacson
  Due to Rios’ jealousy he stabbed Lucia in the arm and fled
o Macario would join and replace Rios
 Jose proposed affiliation with the American League of Peace and Democracy
o Allos lost interest and the cause and was tired of it all
 Allos read books to Macario at his sickbed
o Macario requested Tomas Wolfe’s Of Time and the River to be read over
and over
o Read Michael Gold’s Jews Without Money but was stopped
 Macario’s health decline more and Allos tried to find Amado
o This led to him making contacts with the Filipino Underworld
 Lucia was now in full control of the CPFR
o Lacson still lived with her and she got money from unknown sources
o She eventually ran off to Honolulu with Lacson
 However Lacson returned 2 years later bitter against the
Communist Party which was the embodiment of Lucia
 Lacson had a hairline trigger of emotion and Rios was convinced that Allos would
betray the cause
o This led to Allos seeing them as immature, arrogant, stupid and useless
 With this he was now convinced that Communism had a false start because it
was propagated by stupid little men, anti-Filipinos
o Saw that what Communism stood for was nebulous and inspiring however
due to the stupidity of little men like Rios and Lacson, it would be lead to
an unavoidable result of confusion and misunderstanding
 The educated Filipinos understood it but the working man was
afraid of it
 However in its dying breath a few more enlightened members
gathered and brought it back to life
 Allos felt that he belonged to the second phase of the
Communist movement among the Filipinos and drew
inspiration and courage against the miseries of his life
 Allos would run away again and said his goodbyes to Macario
o He wasn’t running from his brother nor his sickness
o He was running away from himself

Chapter 43

 Boarded a boxcar towards Bakersfield

o Came to a realization that he was now weak and old
  He passed out at a Mexican beer join in Chinatown where he encountered
Amado
o Amado broke down and thought Allos was dead, that he was tired of his
life
 Allos helped him and saw the return of his old kindness and love he
had seen during his childhood years in the Philippines
 Allos’ old hate and bitterness turned to pity
 Allos went to Portland and called Nick who was still the secretary-treasurer at
UCAPAWA
o Nick told him that the CPFR was dead in Portland
 Nick and Allos got stuck in an avalanche from a meeting of John Reed College
students who were members of the young communist league
o Allos would wake stricken by a fit of coughing and hemorrhage
 His chest ached and eyes bloodshot
 Allos was not afraid to die but wanted to do many things
 Everyday for a month, Nick would care for Allos.

Chapter 44

 Allos recovered enough after a month and said his goodbyes to Nick
 Encountered a girl named Mary while on a bus to Los Angeles
o She didn’t know anyone there and Allos invited her to go with him
 Arrived at the apartment to find sleeping Victor, Amado, Jose (who left his wife)
and Ganzo
 Nick was ousted from the union
o He was framed for taking money
o His departure marked a defeat of progressive unionism among Filipinos in
Oregon
 Letter from Conrado Torress from Seattle that told of the disintegration of the
CPFR and the UCAPAWA falling into the hands of opportunists and marker the
beginning of a new revolutionary leadership
o Though it led to a general confusion due to the rapid spread of Fascism in
Eurpoe
 Mary became a symbol of goodness among the small circle
 Conrado Torress left Seattle and lived with them
o He and Jose would always be drinking
 Jose started drinking with a 5 year old boy but Mary did not agree with it
o Allos angered but understanding of the boy’s situation
  That alcohol and drunk would help sothe the pain of hunger and
poverty
 Amado started to bring suspicious people to the apartment
 Mary would suddenly disappear
o Saw her months later as a salesgirl
 Conrado went to Alaska for 3 years and came back to join in the fight of WWII
 Ganzo returned to Pismo Beach
 Victor left to live with an 18 year old girl and her two kids
o Returned after she left him
 Amado and Macario got into a fight where Allos struck Amado to prevent him
from stabbing Macario
o Amado in disbelief left

Chapter 45

 Allos read the works of:

o Howard Fast (History books)
 Caught a glimpse of the mainspring of American democracy in the
armies of George Washington
o Jesse Stuart (Sonnets)
 Felt the quality and depth of men’s lives in their attachment to each
other and to the common earth
o Irwin Shaw (Bitter short stories)
 Felt a kinship due to the bitterness and oblique humor that was
traceable to feelings of isolation in society as an unwilling heir to
bourgeois taste and prejudice
 Began to write sketches of early life in America
o Got small checks from magazines that published his stories
 He now had something to live for
 Landlady died and a new one took her place
o This led to the circle being kicked out
o Led them to a hotel owned by dark Europeans
 Allowed them to stay so long as they abide by the rules
 They said that it was not an American establishment
 Macario was well enough to work again
 Allos was invited to a private party for a Filipino educator
o Only men were invited due to eating food without utensils (it was
considered primitive)
o Two police detectives arrived which led to the guest getting hit
  The guest asked was there no way for Americans to respect them
like they respect the Americans
o Allos wanted to shoot the detectives
 Recalling what Max Smith did
 But was stopped by Macario
 Allos wanted action and violence
o Led him to the Filipino underworld
 Which led him to the Oriental Gangland
 Saw Julio (from the Moxee City days) who had become a
sort of Robin Hood among Filipinos and he swindled
Chinese and white men
 He had a partner named Rommy
o He was tired of washing dishes and democracy
 Ganzo found Allos wandering aimlessly and took care of him
 Ganzo needed a writer and proposed Allos to use it as practice
o With this he was tasked to succeed as he was the last member in the
group in the fight for (unionism “could be wrong”)

Chapter 46

 Allos tried to find a job in LA but lacked the manual labor capacity to do so
 He helped put out the edition of Ganzo’s papers
o Later went to San Pedro to work at fish canneries
o He met Nick there
o He wrote a reminiscent story “The Laughter of my Father” and forgot
about it until 2 years later
 Wrote for Ganzo’s newspaper without a byline (He was not paid)
o But his writings became a valuable asses in later years
 Nick invited Allos to a discussion among several cannery workers
o Felt invigorated as he realized they were all fighting against one thing;
Facism
o It was a ‘new decade’ that Allos entered and later Macario
 Allos saw strange people in the apartment room
 They were honest, eager and gentle
o They were but ordinary workers that were bound by a
common understanding that shone in the room
o Allos was slowly becoming a part of their thoughts
and hopes and finally saw the configuration of his
labors and aspirations
 A meeting in San Pedro where old men started attending
o They spoke their minds with sincerity and passion
 o Allos felt that there was a necessity to acquaint the Filipinos with the state
of the nation
 Allos went to Nipomo, a small agricultural town
o He became a pea picker and saw his old peasant heritage
o He started a little workers’ school and invited the pickers
 They eventually became interested in American history
 Of which Allos quoted from memory from the hundreds of
books he’s read
 Old men began to participate in the discussions
 He discussed democracy and felt the warm feelings of
humanity
 Allos would leave before the seasons end and place the most
prominent student to continue
 He went to Betteravua and worked with Mexican and Filipino sugar beet farmers
and started another class
o Though they were religious and wanted their discussions salted with
biblical parables
 Which led Allos to got to Santa Maria and purchase a bible
 With this he discussed American history with the historical
analogies of the bible
 Stories of:
o The flight of Moses and his tribe
o The sorrows of Ruuth among an alien people
o The enduring patience of Job
 He aspired that the labors and sacrifices of the Filipinos would build
an America that could grow unencumbered
 And with that in their eyes Allos saw the America he had
been looking for
o To make his own kind understand the vast land from
their own experiences
o He left and put the best person in charge, a Mexican
 He went to Pescadero
o Then from town to town forming workers’ classes and working in the fields
 It was also an education for himself
 And a rediscovery of himself in their lives
 Felt faith extend towards the future that shone with a new
hope
 Went to Monterey to find Jose
o Learned that Jose, Nick and Macario were teaching unionism in their own
ways and educating their people
 o It became a thread that connected everyone together
 Recalled when Macario read “America in the hearts of men” to him
and understood the meaning of it
 He felt a strange feeling of fraternity similar to the fellow peasants
of home in Mangusmana

Chapter 47

 News of the Japanese bombing Pearl Harbor (WWII)

 Despair and dread filled their hearts
o Listened to the radio with a man named Joe Tauro
 Encountered Jose who came from Monterey with is son
 They drank like it was the end of the world (even Macario and Allos)
o They were but little boys when they left their homeland
o And what childhood memories they cherished were enhanced by the
frustrations and bitterness of their lives in America
 Allos wondered about his eldest brother Leon
o Although also saddened with the death of Luciano, he had not heard of
Leon since he left the village
o Wondered also about his mother and sisters
 He remorse and regretted not writing to them when there was still
plenty of time
 Saw Amado and Conrado Torres (who left for Seattle when Mary disappeared)
drinking
o They said that the delegates arrived from when they had a meeting in
Monterey
 That Allos suggested a conference of labor and social leaders in
LA and considered the possibility of a flexible educational system
for Filipino laborers in California
 Allos wanted to enlist in the military but was denied because he was considered
an alien by the National Selective Service Act
o He was angry at the past Philippine commissioner who was incompetent
and opportunistic against Allos’ subject of citizenship
 It turns out that the commissioner helped the Japanese enemy
during the occupation
o Wanted to enlist again after news of Binalonan being crushed but was
denied again
 He went with Jose to contact the remnants of the delegates
o A resolution was sent to Washington for the inclusion of Filipinos in the
armed forces
  They sent copies to Filipino organizations and for the first time they
all worked together
 Event those against the Filipino citizenship cooperated
o It took war and calamity to bring everyone together
o President Roosevelt signed a special proclamation that allowed Filipinos
the right to join the armed forces and regiments were made

Chapter 48

 A week after the fall of Bataan, Allos received a letter from a small publisher
who wanted to publish his poems
o Although he stopped writing due to his right arm being paralyzed
o He finished a manuscript and sent it to the publisher
 He began an small anthology of contemporary Philippine poetry
 And anxiety filled him as he remembered his relatives in the
Philippines
 His poems were in a book of poems; “Letter from America” which gave him
happiness
o Wanted to share his joy with Amado
 Amado beat a woman who mocked Allos’ book
 She said that he should leave because things like dreams
don’t happen
o She wanted to have a nice family and be an actress
 Amado would want to sign up for the navy
o Which Allos exclaimed due to the declining health of Amado
 He would leave and give a letter and $25 to Allos before he would
say goodbye one final time
 It was about how Amado would be the darkness and
bitterness that would bring light to Allos
o And if he were to die, he would live on in Allos’ words
o Macario would later join the army the day Corregidor fell
 They said their goodbyes and it marked the end of their lives in
America
 The end of Allos’ family
 That the start of a new world was coming and that they
belonged to the old world of confusion

Chapter 49

 Allos would deposit the money Macario had given him and placed it under his
brother’s name
 He went to Portland and saw a young pea picker who reminded him of Amado
o He heard distant bells like the ones in Binalonan
o Saw the broad land of America he dreamed long ago
 With that he regained the warm faith in America
 His deals were grown out in defeats and successes
o Something that grew out of sacrifices and loneliness
of his friends and family