The laughter of my father
In fact, Bulosan was outraged by the focus on his stories’ humor.
This story, along with the others in the collection The Laughter of My Father, has a serious intent behind its humor. The judge rules in the poor father’s favor, and the rich man is forced to depart with no other payment than the “spirit” of the money the poor man collected. 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 laughter of my father full#
He does this by collecting coins from all his friends present in his hat, then shaking the hat full of coins. The absurd case goes to court, and the narrator’s father agrees to pay back the rich neighbor. Consequently, the rich man brings a charge against the narrator's family for stealing the spirit of his family’s food. In contrast, their rich neighbor’s children are thin and sickly although they are given plenty of good food, which their impoverished neighbors enjoy smelling over the fence. The children are all strong and healthy even though they often go hungry. Though they are poor they are full of mischief and laughter. The young narrator begins by describing his large family. The story is set in a city in the Philippines.