In Bulosans book, I have seen what Allos had experienced in his life.

From his early

days as a young boy working in a farm in the Philippines to his experiences of working and
travelling all over America and eventually to his education through reading during his stay in a
hospital. But the for the most part of Allos journey, he had experienced racial discrimination,
poverty, and abuse. During that time, freedom was something more of a right for the privileged
and superior. It was something that was kept from the so-called lower class and as a
consequence, they often organized strikes and unions to fight for their right. It was a right that
was supposed to be meant for everyone. However, most of the Caucasians that were native to
the U.S thought otherwise. These people thought themselves to be superior to any other races
that they came upon. In the book, one can see that it seemed like being anything other than a
white person could be considered a crime. The police would either shoot a Filipino they would
randomly see or kidnap and beat him in a jail. It was only later on after the Second World War
that tensions eased and the native white Americans saw other races as equals, as human
beings too. In the light of this, one can say that freedom is not actually just a right but rather
something a person would need to fight for in order to attain it.
In class, I watched a video about the single story. The speaker basically defined it as
judging something or someone based on one story that he or she may have heard about that
certain person or thing. This could also apply to a country and a race. Such is what was
mentioned in the video. Other people would expect Africans to be extremely primitive and tribal
because of a story or stories that they have heard. In reality, each individual has their own
stories that could be told and it would most likely vary in comparison to any stereotype that
might have been created. In a sense, the single story generalizes things and people. It makes
these simple and maybe even straightforward assumptions that can actually rob people of their
dignity and identity. It could also limit the freedom and capability of a person to become even
better than he or she may be at a certain point in time because it is as if they have already been
predetermined to live in a certain way. That, however, is not so. There is never just one single
story for everyone and everything. We all have these differences that make us unique and of
course, different. As they say, we are all different and what we need to do is to, as much as
possible, stop creating a single story about a person or thing but rather look at the different
stories and maybe even the same story but at a different angle.