This made him known to writers of his day, and one of these writers became one of his closest friends, a white woman, Alice Odell (Bulosan 229). Carlos described her as a person who, “had warmth and a genius for arousing warmth.” (Bulosan 229). They shared their stories and found that they had somewhat similar, poor backgrounds (Bulosan 230-231). For Carlos, this friendship with an educated academic white woman would help expand his thirst for literature and writing. Of course, Carlos could not go too long without experiencing some form of racism and discrimination. While he was recovering from Tuberculosis in the hospital, Carlos was expanding his mind through literature. When it was time for him to leave the hospital for a sanitarium, he petitioned the Social Services Department (Bulosan 252-253). Instead of help, what he found was racism. One white woman told him that, “You Filipinos ought to be shipped back to your jungle homes!” (Bulosan 253). When he heard this he was devastated. He describes it as, “I was crushed. I wanted to be brave, but there was no hope.” (Bulosan
This made him known to writers of his day, and one of these writers became one of his closest friends, a white woman, Alice Odell (Bulosan 229). Carlos described her as a person who, “had warmth and a genius for arousing warmth.” (Bulosan 229). They shared their stories and found that they had somewhat similar, poor backgrounds (Bulosan 230-231). For Carlos, this friendship with an educated academic white woman would help expand his thirst for literature and writing. Of course, Carlos could not go too long without experiencing some form of racism and discrimination. While he was recovering from Tuberculosis in the hospital, Carlos was expanding his mind through literature. When it was time for him to leave the hospital for a sanitarium, he petitioned the Social Services Department (Bulosan 252-253). Instead of help, what he found was racism. One white woman told him that, “You Filipinos ought to be shipped back to your jungle homes!” (Bulosan 253). When he heard this he was devastated. He describes it as, “I was crushed. I wanted to be brave, but there was no hope.” (Bulosan