Carlos Bulosan’s I would remember

Carlos Bulosan’s I would remember was the first piece of short story we read in ethnic american literature and it was my favorite. The story is made of themes that are beautifully woven together around surface level introductions to really interesting characters. Even though a lot of information is presented about each character it certainly is enough. As I previously stated the short story has many themes but the most prevalent theme in I would remember is the theme of death which is the first thing the narrator shares with the reader.

    There are five deaths throughout the story I would remember and the first death is the death of the narrator's mother. The narrator recalls the summer night when he heard his mother scream and rush over to her. His mother was nine months pregnant and giving birth. After the child was born the mother laid very still and eventually died. The narrator talks about how he wondered why is mother had to die and his brother had to live. And how because his little brother had unfortunately brought this grief upon him the brother would for ever be a stranger to him.

    The next death he recalls is the death of the family carabao. A carabao is a domestic water buffalo that is found in the Philippines. The narrators describes the animal as “like a brother”. I found it interesting that he was so close to the water buffalo and it was like a brother to him even though he already had a brother. During a day in May when the narrator and his father were out working the field there was a problem with the water buffalo and the father, who is normally a gentle and kind man, started beating the water buffalo with fury. The water buffalo took off and ran and jumped into a ditch and broke all its legs. The narrator and his father went into the ditch with the animal. The father was crying and was covered in sweat and he hacked of the head of the animal and the boy was angry with his father and wanted to strike him but instead he ran inside. I think the father was frustrated with the animal but there was also something much deeper than the frustrations with the animal. The carabao had to work the field in the hot sun day in and day out and the father had to do the same. I believe he felt just like the water buffalo and he took out his pent up frustrations on the animal.

    The third death the narrator witnessed was the death of a fellow Filipino he met on a ship will migrating to the United States. He was a simple and uneducated man who seemed to be filled with laughter. And he was very kind to the narrator one night the man, marco was stabbed and the money he has in his suitcase was stolen. The fourth death is the death of a man the narrator met while traveling, crispin. Crispin and the narrator were both very poor at the moment and didn't have much to eat. The narrator describes Crispin as someone who was luminous and every time he thought of Crispin he thought light or the hills back home. He was described as someone very gentle and educated who read poetry in a way that made the narrator cry. Crispin died of hungry one night; the narrator ate newspaper to survive and crispin refused to eat the newspaper. I feel like this is the narrators way of saying crispin refused to eat what society was feeding to him.

    The last death was a man named leroy. Like all the other characters in the book there is no skin color description or a description of how the person looked or what they wore. The narrator is not focused on what is on the outside but what is on the inside. Leroy was a Man who had a way with his words and a way of explaining things. “But he had a Way of explaining the meanings of words in utter simplicity, like  which he translated into “power,” and “power” into “security.” I was drawn to him because I felt that he had lived in many places where the courage of man was tested with the cruelest of weapons conceivable.” Leroy was violently lynched one afternoon for what appeared to no reason. I feel like Bulosan's work explores the meaning of the not just the human life but life in general and the effect a soul can have on earth while they’re here and the story and influence the leave behind once they are gone.