The main story of the novel is set in the 1990 s, the protagonist in the article is a girl called Hero, she suffered persecution in the Philippines, then with aunt and uncle Pol Paz from the Philippines to the United States, mainly in the uncle’s cleaning and looking after their daughter, Rosalyn – also met my sweetheart is a girl.
She was severely traumatized by her previous experience and wondered if staying in the United States would give her and her family a sense of belonging, or even heal her wounds slowly? Or is America a place where she and her family can have their own dreams? Castillo’s view of the novel is gradually revealed in the description of the second perspective.
The American Dream, that is to say, one can improve one’s social status step by step through one’s own efforts and finally reach a satisfactory state, seems to be very difficult to achieve in the novel. In the novel, Pol originally worked as a doctor in the Philippines and then worked as a security guard in the United States for a very low salary, but he and his wife still managed to maintain a decent standard of living. “The babaero, who’s no longer rich, no longer a surgeon, no longer really a babaero, but now a badly paid security guard…..” (p.31).
The novel gives a lot of descriptions of Pol’s original life and social status [” Why should he be impressed by the family that was no better than the one he himself had been issued from “(p.198)]. In fact, not only Pol’s family, Many Filipinos have to bear the decline of their social status [” Rosalyn’s family got the catering jobs “(p. 196)], which also shows the disillusionment of Filipinos to some extent.
But in other ways, however, they live in a better environment than in the Philippines, and the United States presents a warmer and friendlier life for everyone and gives them a chance to open their hearts, especially for traumatized people like Hero who can’t stay in the Philippines and have nowhere to go but the United States: ‘It was only that a small, small door inside of her had been left ajar, not thrown open, and things started to emerge, and night-blind’ (p.331). Integration may happen at an unexpected moment when people think they cannot integrate into American society.
It may be social or psychological. After all, people will have the chance to realize their dreams, especially those in the Philippines who “have been singing of America, singing its lyrics and combing its styles into your hair” (p. 19). This story is a story of fusion, and also a story of Filipino survival. In these days of political instability and unwelcome immigration, Castillo clearly expressed his views on America: “As for loving America or not loving America, those aren’t your problems, either. Your word for love is survival.” (p. 31).
