Summary The story is set in a city in the Philippines. The young narrator begins by describing his large family.

Though they are poor they are full of mischief and laughter. The children are all strong and healthy even though they often go hungry. In contrast, their rich neighbors children are thin and sickly although they are given plenty of good food, which their impoverished neighbors enjoy smelling over the fence. Consequently, the rich man brings a charge against the narrator's family for stealing the spirit of his familys food. The absurd case goes to court, and the narrators father agrees to pay back the rich neighbor. He does this by collecting coins from all his friends present in his hat, then shaking the hat full of coins. Being charged to pay for the spirit of food which his family supposedly got from its smell, he maintains that the jingling of the coins is a fair equivalent. The judge rules in the poor fathers favor, and the rich man is forced to depart with no other payment than the spirit of the money the poor man collected. [edit] Criticism This story, along with the others in the collection The Laughter of My Father, has a serious intent behind its humor. In fact, Bulosan was outraged by the focus on his stories humor. He said in response to the criticism on the book: I am mad because when my book 'The Laughter of my Father' was published by Harcourt, Brace & Company, the critics called me the manifestation of the pure Comic Spirit. I am not a laughing man. I am an angry man. Unfortunately, the general consensus about these stories of Bulosan seems to be, as said Avelina Gil, that although they were "[i]ntended to be serious protest against the economic system of his time, the stories hilarious, even grotesque, situations which Bulosan treats almost like vignettes mask the satire on Filipino poverty and ignorance." L.M. Grow suggest that perhaps what accounts for Bulosans anger over the critics reaction is his anger over the mistreatment he received as a Filipino living in America, which he might have hoped to communicate through his stories. In particular, My Father Goes to Court fails as protest literature because the judge favors the side of the poor father, showing that the system can work for the downtrodden. Grow observes Bulosans stories read like folklore. It was said that Bulosan picked up the plots for these stories from an old man in his hometown. Whether or not this is true, as seen in My Father Goes to Court the traditional folkloric plot found in trickster-type tales is present. This kind of plot is found in some of the Juan Tamad stories beloved in the Philippines. And so, like most folklore, it has a subtext that promotes the downtrodden in favor of the rich, but no strong protest is evident. ~First of all, I think that this story by carlos bulosan's which is entitled "My Father Goes to Court" is pretty much plain and simple. Its composition and choice of words can be comprehensible by almost anyone that's why I would say I'm thankful that it's really not that hard. His story by the way shows about filipino people, their culture, traits.. Example in the story is that the filipinos there can laugh about their problems, the father in the story their is faced in the trial in the court but still can show a sense of humour. For me, I think that's good because when you

have a problem, the tendency is for you to get depressed and feel really upset but if you just feel good about yourself like laugh or do something comfortable, the tendency is for you to be able to think of a solution to your current problem or problems. Our current proffessor also tells us of this filipino trait that we can laugh at our problems and that among the other nationalities like americans, japanese, germans; we alone can do that of possessing that sense of humor. For me, I think that carlos bulosan did a good job in describing and telling a story in his short story.

Moving on, there is also a second story which is entitled "How my Brother Leon brought home a wife" by Manuel Arguilla. I think this story is a good one and can be said also a Filipino. Now this story also can be said as describing filipino cultures like traditions and filipino women. This story takes place in a bukid whre people would usually ride in carabaos and stuffs like that but that was a long time ago and today only a few people can be seen in an area like that. In this story, this woman who will be Leon's wife was given a description physically and also her attitude as a "mahinhin" and conservative which would probably describe filipinas a long time ago. I would agree with that because from what I am seeing right now, that is true and it would be rare to see conservative women that was described in the story. Overall, For me, amobng the two stories, I would prefer "My Father Goes to Court because it is quite funny and would probably describe my character. That would be all, thank you for reading my blog. The two stories that you wrote really are good since you capture the summary of the stories. The story, My father Goes to Court, was indeed a funny one even because of the way the father and his family acted by only smelling and imagining the food. Even when the time they went to the court where he gave the rich family their imaginary money to pay for the smell of their food (spirit of the food), they still laugh and laugh. On the other hand, the story, How my Brother brought Home a Wife, focuses more on the earlier sides of the Filipinos where every woman was conservative and the rural people feels blessed when they marry people coming from the urban. Like what had happened in the story, its a tradition where before marrying; the man will introduce the woman to his family in order to ask permission for the marriage. I also favor what you chose as a better story because its funnier and fun to read. For the other story, its quite ok but it seems the mood was a very serious one which doesnt stimulate your passion of reading it.~