The Tortililla Curtain : Critical Analysis

Immediately after we are born, we start picking up sounds; the sound of our mother’s voice, the music playing in the elevator on the way to the car, and the happy cheers from a small child seeing their new sibling for the first time. We are always listening–picking up on conversations not meant for our ears, eavesdropping on the gossip of the adult world, and finding the meaning in the portentous silence. From all these auditory stimuli, we piece together the world around us to better understand what is happening to us, around us, and the secret happenings that were not for us to know. Great writers are the ones who listen and say nothing–who take it all in and save their classified information for a day when all the right words flow and form one epic story of the wondrous world we live in.

In “Writing To Change the World” Mary Pipher opens up her readers minds to the interesting idea that all writing has the ability to positively impact the world around us and lead to great social changes. Pipher gives good advice on how to make this type of writing and she also explains how each and every one of us in this world can make their own individual impact and contribution to positively affecting our world through the simple act of writing. Pipher Starts things off by explaining that “this is not a book on how to write; rather, it’s a book on how to write in order to improve the world.”

Pat Mora’s “Fences” deals with the timely issues of class division and privilege. She begins her poem on a positive note, saying “Mouths full of laughter,” which creates a safe and harmless tone; in the next line, Mora uses the Spanish word ‘turistas’ (tourist in English) to indicate possibly the ethnicity of the speaker. It is not until the last few lines of the poem, however, when the reader can also detect the class and likely status of the speaker, when the speaker’s mother says, “It’s their beach,” after seeing the speaker’s younger sister running across the sand where the affluent tourists are, thus opening the door for a Marxist reading of the poem. And at only 19 lines, “Fences” is a relatively short poem, but Mora’s use of

We live in a world many people or actions can bring misfortunes towards society; however, through those dark times, there is always going to be light that shines in a person that can impact the world or a just a single person. Many people can be given a platform through these situations in which they are able to gain the talent of speaking their minds or having the determination to make the situation better. Others are able to have the talent of writing down the issues going on without expressing the idea in general, they have the talent of bringing awareness through writing. Horace states the following, “Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.” Horace is able to pinpoint that with a tragedy it allows

Throughout history, literature has served as a prominent tool in the examination of social values, ideas, and dreams. In addition, literature has provided a vital connection between historical, social, and political events. Through the incorporation of religious principles and philosophies, writers have discovered a way to portray different time periods, characters, feelings, and most importantly God.

Literary works have become one of the most preferred ways for people to express themselves and voice their concerns and opinions on societal issues. Through such pieces of work, authors are able to educate and critique the society at large, often forcing people to reconsider their views on certain matters. This has an overall effect of pushing them to reconsider the effect of their actions and errors as regards the issues in question. For others, writing about real life situations is most effective in communicating with their readers. Victims of racial discrimination may opt to put their ordeals down in black and white, mush the same way those who find themselves at the receiving end of sexual harassment may choose to write about their experiences. Arguably, the effect achieved is greater, in opposition to that of works of fiction. Even where a book is fictitious, more insight and connection to real life is achieved if the story is built around real life events and situations. Nancy Mairs does excellent in expressing herself through her spiritual autobiography; Waist-High in the World.

There are many different styles of writing that authors use to achieve a certain affect. For example, how a writer chooses words, languages and structures certain sentences and or paragraphs. An author’s different strategies influence the audience by giving them or taking away a certain understanding that the author is trying to achieve. Gloria Anzaldua in “Borderlands”, explains a large portion of geographical history and of her own history through just one chapter. She wants the readers to understand the struggles she has had both internal and external, and she does this through her rhetorical strategies. While doing so from the begging of the opener for the first chapter “The homeland, Aztlan: El otro Mexico” the reader will encounter various literary discourse. The usage of writing mostly in English, with Spanish lines used strategically and together throughout, will offer a historical and universal path, that affectively opens the borders at times for the reader of misunderstanding. Over nearly two full pages of text, Anzaldua takes the reader on a frustrating, historical journey. The readers are exposed to a variety of Anzaldua’s struggles and her points of view. She takes us through multiple styles of writing in just a few pages. In the world today, people are faced with many obstacles and borders that causes frustration, as Anzaldua does through writing. Anzaldua shifts rhetorical strategies which causes the reader confusion and a desire to understand more deeply,

The job of a writer is never done. New information is always being thrown at writers such as David Leonhardt, begging to be judged and characterized, not as good nor bad, but worthy of reading. Immigration is ingrained in our society as Americans, that's how America was born.

America is characterized as a country of endless opportunities and freedom. People risk their lives to escape their countries searching for a diversified and opportunistic nation in search of a better quality of life. However, foreigners face a possible likelihood of being unable to escape poverty due to their immigration status and the disadvantage of lacking educational accomplishments. Numerous Americans have become outraged over time due to the decreased employment opportunities and have placed their blame towards non-citizens. Due to the vast majority of these aliens belonging to Mexico, the racial assumption continues to be directed at Mexicans when referring to immigrants. Jimmy Santiago Baca’s poem, “So Mexicans Are Taking Jobs from Americans,” centralizes on the misconception of Mexicans commandeering positions in the workforce from native-born American citizens. Baca imposes his belief that non-citizen workers are not imposing themselves in the workforce and creates many visualizations for his audience through his experiences on the racial stereotype. This literary piece creates an emotional topic between the speaker and the audience which allows people who oppose to understand the struggles that immigrants go through. Baca emphasizes and verbally illustrates the irrational accusations directed at aliens using mockery to battle with the truth towards their ideology and to connect with his audience deeply.

Illegal immigration is a very controversial issue in the United States. Fred Reed, a citizen of Jalisco, Mexico argues why fault Mexico for illegal immigration when the United States chose to let them in. He is a citizen of Mexico who seems knowledgeable of the issue. He talks about arguments made by both Mexico and the United States Government. Reed appeals to ethos by referencing a credible book De Los Maras a Los Zetas, that talks about the corrupt border guards who take bribes for illegal passage. He uses pathos to evoke an emotional response from the audience by appealing to their emotion of empathy an anger. He paints the picture of these harmless hard working immigrants looking for a better life for themselves and their family. Everyone

Pat Mora begins her poem, “Fences,” on a positive note, saying “Mouths full of laughter,” which creates a safe and harmless tone. In the next line, Mora uses the Spanish word ‘turistas’ (tourist in English) to indicate possibly the ethnicity of the speaker. It is not until the last few lines of the poem, however, when the reader gains a hint of the speaker’s social class; the speaker’s mother says, “It’s their beach,” after seeing the speaker’s younger sister running across the sand where the affluent tourists are. At only 19 lines, “Fences” is a relatively short poem, but Mora’s use of language packs so much meaning into every sentence, and thus creates this rich and symbolic display of social and class division.

Immigration to America is often a decision based solely on the idea that America has some sort of redeeming qualities for a chance at a better life. America’s founding ideals of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” are what compel foreigners to escape the troubles and oppression of their homeland and cross over onto American soil. The tales of America being the “land of opportunity” have continued to lure and attract people to immigrate. The Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century brought millions of immigrant laborers from across the globe to America in a short span of time. This large influx of laborers fashioned a well-defined distinction between “settlers” and “immigrants,” causing many observers to be concerned with how these new arrivals would fit in to American society. Emma Lazarus in “The New Colossus”, Jane Addams in Twenty Years at Hull House, Walt Whitman in “Crossing the Brooklyn Ferry”, Theodore Roosevelt in American Ideals, and Thomas Aldrich in “Unguarded Gates” are just a few names in American Literature who use their work as a medium to voice their opinions on the issue of immigration.

Boyle draws a distinct line between the troubles of first-world citizens and people simply trying to survive. By using satire in the novel, Boyle makes the reader rethink their values and points out the holes in logic some are not willing to face. In Tortilla Curtain, the lives of multiple characters are followed to create one intertwined story. The first character one meets is Delaney Mossbacher.

Yet the struggle of identities continues, the struggle of borders is still our reality. While discussing the rhetorical analysis of this essay I had an epiphany. The purpose of this essay is what troubled me most. Was she just writing to write or was she just a creative writer? After one hour of discussion it hit me, the feelings that me and my class mates where encountering was it. Nearly all of us came into the discussion annoyed and impatient. We were unwilling to analyze the essay because we where enraged by the fact that it was not completely in English. All but a few who understood Spanish where irritated because to the paper was not converted to what we wanted it to be. How dare she write a paper and expect us to read in when it isn’t in perfect complete English. I then discovered that all of our anger and annoyances were her point or purpose. She wanted to make us feel how she felt. Every day she was criticized on how she spoke and wrote. One side wanted only English while the other only wanted Spanish. When in reality she knew both therefore wanted to use both intermittently. Every time she was corrected she was annoyed and discourage. As each and every one of us read the paper we were all annoyed by the fact that it wasn’t in the language we wanted. We thought that because

Given the certain circumstances, literature is a very strong thing in this world. It has the power to shape beliefs of the reader, such as who to love or hate, why people did certain things in the story, or even the understanding of whether someone did the right thing or not. The author has the control of what to think, and it’s like they are the puppet master in the whole operation. Not only do they have the control of the reader’s belief, they get to choose who is given power, and gets to shape people’s beliefs in the story itself. It’s not also positive sometimes either. As shown, in literature, power can be given to individuals whose use it to negativity shape people’s beliefs.