Americas Tradition

The first theme that I think is apparent is the search for a better life. Conditions in the rural Philippines are hard for the peasants. There is hardship and exploitation. The peasant children have no childhood because they are working in the fields or in the market or home with the parents at an early age. The boys leave their parents' home in their early teens to find work and a better life, trying to escape the harsh and hopeless environment. Their families know and expect this. Carlos' mother tells him several times that he can go and that they are poor. They go from menial job to menial job trying to make out a living. The parents can't give them a better life in a farming environment and the parents and children know this.
As a result
This is evident when Carlos finds his brother Amado and Macario fighting in the kitchen. A loud crash brings him running as the kitchen table collapses onto the floor. The two brothers are fighting over Amado's friends. Carlos does not want to get involved and be forced to take a side. When Amado grabs a knife to use against Macario, Carlos has no choice. He hits Amado over the head with a pan. Amado packs his bags and leaves, refusing to accept an apology from Carlos. Carlos is upset. Tradition means that he had no right to hit his older brother. It is taboo according to tradition. Carlos views the incident and his actions as an omen that he will never be happy again, so even though they have left the Philippines, they still have their cultural traditions in America.
Another recurring theme throughout the book is the struggle for survival, first in the Philippines and then in America. In the Philippines, the harsh social and living conditions result in the rural peasants being kept at the subsistence level. The whole family must work in order to survive. Subsistence farming is the rule, not the exception. The peasants slave with primitive methods just to grow enough food to feed their families. The wives work at what they can in order to bring in food and money. Sons return or are kept on the farm to help with the farm work in order for them to have enough