Comparing The Sympathizer And In The Heart By Carlos Bulosan

In The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nyugen and America is in the Heart by Carlos Bulosan, both works are extremely similar through their depictions of the feelings of rejection societies the main characters partake in but differ in their individual experiences.

Both Carlos and the narrator face personal mental struggles when facing racism projected from those around them. When Carlos’ brother came back from school, his entire appearance and demeanor changed to being ‘civilized’ according to his institution. He insulted his brother’s appearance, and Carlos “was speechless”. [Carlos] was ashamed to say anything” (Bulosan, 23). Marcelo comes back and the first thing he does is strip away any familiarity or confidence that Carlos had in his own identity.

In addition to feeling rejected by his brother, he felt he could not belong anywhere due to his poverty since he was unable to “escape from it no matter where [Carlos] went or what became of him” (Bulosan, 64). His old experiences and destitution followed him in all his life experiences. Carlos would do anything for money, so he had little dedication and few hobbies that would help him feel joy within himself. Lastly, he did not feel as if he was welcomed or represented in what was supposed to be his home, resulting from his state of extreme poverty. On the other hand, in The Sympathizer the narrator had moments of prosperity but still felt internally as though he was never accepted by society. When carrying half a man, he repeated to himself to “remember, you’re not half of anything, you’re twice of everything” (Nguyen, 302). The constant belittlement of his identity persisted his entire life. He continually repeats this phrase to convince himself that he is

Carlos Bulosan was immediately stereotyped in one of his first experiences in America when a girl asked “’Why don’t they ship those monkeys back where they came from?’” (Bulosan, 101). He instantly is put in an unwelcoming position in a foreign environment. She did not even care to know his background or desire for opportunity; she only saw an immigrant and looked down upon him. The outward disrespect and dehumanization of her calling him a ‘monkey’ reveals the extreme stereotyping in America towards Asian Americans. Likewise, the narrator in The Sympathizer was also prejudiced by people who were unknown to him. Soldiers ranked lower than him “called [him] a bastard before they spit on [him]” (Nguyen, 19). His mother was Vietnamese and his father was French, so he was looked down upon wherever he went simply based upon his looks. People did not know who he was yet still judged him regardless of his social status. Even if he was ranked above these lieutenants, the narrator was still below them due to his race. Despite this, the narrator in The Sympathizer differs from Bulosan again since he additionally faced prejudice from his closest connection: the general. The general discovered that he was seeing his daughter and reminds him that he is “a fine young man” in his opinion “but in case [he had] not noticed, a bastard” still