"My Father's Tragedy" is a story written by Carlos Bulosan. The story is about a father and his children who grow up cockfighting more than being a family.
Carlos Bulosan is known for his non-fiction stories. His books and poems bore unsparing witness to the racism and hardships Filipinos encountered in their adopted home.
Bulosan's parents were peasants who strived hard living from the land. In his autobiography, Bulosan described his father's losing battle to keep the small parcel of land that supported their large family, and the setbacks that continually dashed any hopes for improving their lives. In his vivid portrayal of his family's poverty, Bulosan captured the forces that ultimately drove him to seek a better life to the United States.
The story, written in first person, starts with a situation in which many people do not have enough food to eat that drives farm-dependent families to poverty and hunger, including that of the narrator, the son. His mother and his sister were the only ones who find ways to put enough food on their table. His father was in a hopeless situation because no matter how much he tried to retrieve their family from poverty,series of unfortunate events would happen. After the locusts which destroyed their field was gone, the whole plantation was burned and they felt that all the things they've worked on was wasted.
His father focused his attention to his fighting cock hoping for some luck to save them from poverty. He's constantly exercising his fighting cock and dreaming his time away. Once, he even teaches his son how to make it stronger and ready for the fight. Then the father draws up a strategy that will put the family out of famine. Then in the late afternoon the fight was arranged. The son and his father went home with some hope. The mother was cooking something good. The whole family ate happily because they haven't eaten chicken for a very long time. The father ate more than he usually eat then asked his wife where he got the white meat because the poultry house in the village is empty. The wife answered, "Where do you think I got it?".
Then the father walked out of the house with great agony.
My Father's tragedy is story about bad luck and bad attitude. I think the story is a good start to learning more about Carlos Bulosan, a satirist, poet, fictionist, essayist, born on Pangasinan, Philippines. The story is picturing out the reality of some Filipinos who are resorting theirselves to gambling and getting their children involved as a ticket out of a hard life.
I rate the story as 5 because it depicts reality and showed great lessons in our lives. The characters had their own identity and all together, the story was transformed into a valuable sattire.
