American Son

Number 1
The book American Son by Brian Ascalon Rowley begins in California with Tomas, Gabe and their mother. Gabe is the youngest son and the narrator of the book. Tomas is Gabe’s older brother. The mother is now single after the father decided to leave her. Despite the fact that her husband left she continues to wear her wedding ring. Since they are living with a single parent, in order to make ends meet Tomas sell attack dogs to celebrities and the wealthy people of California. Tomas seems to have fully immersed himself into this new culture after coming from the Philippines. He now has gangster tattoos all over his body, a short haircut and does drugs. It upsets Tomas’s mother that he “dresses like a Mexican […] she cannot understand why if he wants to be something that he is not he at least try to look white” (15). Tomas’s mother has left everything behind in the Philippines so she simply wants what’s best for her sons. She knows that if Tomas continues on this path he will have a much harder time economically advancing. But it is easy for Tomas to do whatever he so desires because his mother “relies on him to tell her how things work in America, and it has become easy for him to convince her of things” (25). But lucky for the mother, Gabe hasn’t followed this rebellious path that Tomas has chosen. The mother seems unsatisfied with life in America and seems to be considering moving back to the Philippines. Her former husband was from America but now that he has left she has not husband and she feels that her children won’t take care of her either because “American children put their mothers in nursing homes”(29). This clearly displays the culture differences between America and other countries. In other countries the elderly people are highly recognized and admirably viewed by the youth. But in America we don’t have enough time to take care of our elders. Tomas and Gabe’s mother is simply afraid that she will be forgotten if her sons continue to immerse themselves in American culture.
Number 2
The mother continues to be uncomfortable with the idea of selling these guard dogs. She seems ashamed for her family to see Tomas selling these dogs. Her brother tries to convince her to move back to the Philippines. He is convinced the boys will be better off with more discipline and other Filipino children to hang out with. As I continued reading the novel, Tomas continued to reveal his insecurities about his heritage. Gabe explains that Tomas “started hanging out with Mexicans, because they are tougher” (30). And he continues to act as if he truly is Mexican. He has a large tattoo of the Virgin of Guadalupe on his back to convince those around him that he is of Mexican descent. Tomas “did not understand Spanish, though he nodded and tried to make it look as if he understood” (39), this proves the lengths that Tomas would go to in order to convince those around him that he is Mexican. Interestingly, the mother doesn’t understand why Tomas is ashamed of his Filipino background yet the mother seems to be ashamed of selling the dogs even though it is providing the money for them to stay afloat financially.
Number 3
One day Tomas had to go to a celebrities home to drop off a dog. Gabe had never gone to a celebrities home before so he decided to wake up early so that he was ready when his brother woke up in the morning. Tomas reluctantly allowed Gabe to join him to the client’s home. But Gabe noticed that Tomas seemed particularly tense driving into the luxurious neighborhood. He explained that because he drives a white Oldsmobile (typically the car of Mexican gangsters) he gets randomly pulled over with no explanation. The policemen would even go so far as to ask them to step outside of the car so that they can search them. All because of the connotation with the car that they drive. This shows how the have to deal with different treatment than everyone else. Gabe explains, “I could see how tense he is, though he tries not to show it” (40). Part of Tomas’s “though guy” persona means that he is afraid of showing emotions. We see this again when they are leaving the mansion and the clients wanted to purchase their family dog buster. Tomas started crying on the way out and when Gabe commented on it he was beaten up by Tomas.
Number 4
Gabe was always considered the good child. He was quiet and obedient. The mother had always been relieved that Gabe didn’t turn out like the Americanized version of Tomas. But one day that all changed. Gabe decided to run away so he stole his brother’s car and sold their family pet in order to have enough money. He begins driving through California and as he drives Gabe’s insecurities on his Filipino heritage are revealed. I think that a lot of this insecurity stems from his brothers mockery before Gabe ran away. Tomas always seemed to be making some comment on his heritage whether it was spoken or simply expressed through his actions. Because Tomas is Gabe’s older brother, although he may not want to admit it, Gabe does look up to him a lot and his actions seem to be carried down to Gabe.
Number 5
I don’t think that the mother would have ever expected this life for her boys prior to her leaving the Philippines. I feel bad for her because she seems to be trying her best to raise her sons but she is being scrutinized on every level. Her brother is constantly saying that the boys would have turned out better if they were raised in the Philippines. In addition she doesn’t approve of the boys lifestyle that they are taking on, but she doesn’t know enough about American culture to stop this behavior. I sympathize with the mother because she is simply trying to do what is best for her children. It would have been much easier for her to simply move back to the Philippines and live a comfortable life there. Instead she chooses to stay in California and be poor because she believes that that will pay off in the long run for her children. The brother Benito explains, “I could teach them [Tomas and Gabe] the values of education, work, discipline, and respect for their elders and Asian and Spanish heritage” (133). He wants them to move back to the Philippines so badly so that he can turn their life around. I think that Benito isn’t recognizing the positive things that she has done as a single mother; he seems to only recognize the negative things.
Conclusion
After completing the novel American Son by Brian Ascalon Rowley I have a greater insight into the challenges that immigrants face on a day to day basis. They are exposed to far more peer pressure and hardships than I have ever or probably will ever be exposed to. Although they face great challenges in America the immigrants know that these hardships are small in comparison to lifestyle that they would be living in their native country. At the beginning of each part there is a letter from their uncle Benito (the mother’s brother). The letter always seems to describe how much easier life is in the Philippines and is trying to persuade them to consider moving back. Even after reading these letters the mother knows that she and her boys are better off in America.