The Tortilla Curtain By. Boyle

In the novel, The Tortilla Curtain, by T.C. Boyle a couple experiences life in California and never know whats going to happen. They find out life as they thought it would be, really isn’t how they imagined. They go through some great hardships that will forever change their lives and change their thoughts on things. Candido and America went through the most hardest times in this novel, they are illegel immigrants, they have no money, and Candido turns into a criminal doing all he can to survive.

Many individuals interpret diversity differently specifically in the United States because of its melting pot of distinct cultures and lifestyles. In his essay “People Like Us”, David Brooks’ argues that although the United States is a diverse nation as a whole, it is homogeneous in specific aspects like interactions between people. To some extent, his observation is true; people tend to stick to what or who they are comfortable with. There are also exceptions where the American people attempt to establish relationships with others because of their desire to expand out of their norm. For instance, Brooks excludes the

There was a time when America was segregated; Caucasians and African Americans were forced to attend different restrooms, restaurants, and water fountains. However, the era of segregation has been terminated; now America embraces and appreciates the various cultures and ethnicities that create this melting pot several people call home. Likewise, it is this melting pot, or mosaic, of races that multitudes of individuals have identified themselves with. Thus, race and ethnicity does matter for it portrays vital and crucial roles in the contemporary American society. Furthermore, ethnicity and race brings communities together in unity, determines which traditions and ideals individuals may choose to value, and imposes an impediment for it categorizes humans unjustly.

The latest survey by the US census portrayed the big change that is happening after the influx of Latinos in the country. There is a Latino identity that’s neither white nor black she mentioned, and it is a positive identity. It appeared that 48% of latinos claimed to be white. Classifying themselves as whites connotes that they have already assimilated to the American Culture The survey wrapped up that there is a considerable demographic shift identifying Latinos to be increasingly aligned with the color that that defines America. On the other hand, 42% of Latinos marked other race, and 2% claimed to be black. Even in the census, to be white signifies the dominance and the notion that it is better than non-white. People who look similarly share the qualities that are perceived to be alike. They usually enjoy similar success and suffer similar sorrows. This method of collection racial data augmented debates however it revealed many things. It is undeniable that the cultural and social construction of Latino in the US is growing exponentially and the race and ethnicity that used to define and unite them has now become the margin that split them

In recent years, there has been increased discussion about the treatment of minorities in the U.S. While there have been numerous laws passed that protect their freedoms, many Americans maintain a negative mindset toward other ethnicities. Due to people’s reservations, our country has been unable to make substantial progress toward equality. In The Nation’s article, “The Truth About Race in America: It’s Getting Worse, Not Better,” by Gary Younge, the author utilizes factual information, historical allusions, and related quotes to effectively contend that race relations are worsening within the United States.

The writer portrays a people too conscious to lose their culture. Hence, they establish ethnic organizations, business, cultural institutions that would meet their varied “social, cultural, economic and political needs” (Miguel 6). Supreme in these establishments’ values was to selfishly guard “Mixicanist identity” (Miguel 6) by encouraging dual identity that was “neither American nor Mexican but a synthesis of both” (Miguel 10). The title, Brown, Not White is perhaps a reflection of this consciousness. In a country that has spanned decades clinging to nothing else but color binarity of white versus black, Mexican Americans find it hard to identify with either of the two. The Mexican Americans feel aggrieved by the mistreatments they continually receive from the whites, identifying with the African Americans whom they considered inferior in the American pecking order is unfathomable. The emphasis on the title, Brown, Not White is, therefore, a reflection of the Mexican American’s struggle with the problem of identity in the face of the looming assimilation from the most dominant

Currently there is six million Natives living in between the United States and Canada, and only "25,000 Blackfoot Indians between the two countries"(Reddish). In the short story "Borders" by Thomas King, the treatment of natives is shown to light in a common practice. While trying to cross the United States-Canada border to visit her oldest daughter in Salt Lake City, Utah, a woman and her youngest son, of Blackfoot Indian decent, are stopped at the border. She is questioned about her nationality and calmly states "I am Blackfoot, neither American or Canadian"(King, 918). She is not allowed to enter the United States nor Canada and is stuck in a neutral zone. News channels and Newspapers cover this story as the bureaucratic dilemma ensued, many people were shocked with the treatment of Native Americans. They are eventually allowed to pass through to the United States, however this leaves many people wondering about the treatment of Natives Americans, which King displays through conflict.

In David Brooks’ “People Like Us” passage on the issue of diversity, Brooks takes a personally emotional perspective of the way in which Americans don’t appreciate how diverse our nation is while “relatively homogeneous” (Brooks 136). His argument is weakened, however, through a bias and hypocrisy that his diction conveys. He claims that grouping ourselves with those who we are most alike is in our nature to, and in doing so, we separate ourselves from those who are different. Using certain statistics as evidence, Brooks points out that the social segmentation created by society will always exist.

A fine line is drawn between whether a person is “right” or “wrong”, “innocent or guilty” solely based on one factor. When people interact in a social environment, they tend to be tense and anxious around those from another racial group. To which having a mentality of posturing an inappropriate comment or action may cause offense or discomfort to the other. Those who take part in another person’s culture will later express fewer prejudices toward members of that ethnic group. To what is considered a “black sheep” in a herd, they are often ostracized from society and are not wanted; however, some people accept differences in individuals for the good of society to the extent of achieving tolerances as seen by Atticus’ interactions with Tom Robinson in Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, along with Juror 3’s viewpoint of the jury in Rose’s 12 Angry Men, and Sergei’s dilemma in What, of this, Goldfish, Would you Wish? by Keret.

modules gives many examples how strong cultural pasts lead to identity problems in a new society. Also, the module shows us that many Mexicans were not happy with the stereotype formed about their identity. In Between the Lines, we see how Mexicans in America suffer through harsh discrimination, while trying to stay close to their relatives and culture. The letters talk about how Whites did not have concerns with family values or cultural beliefs. Whites based many of their values off succeeding in the economy. Whites in general had no regard for Mexicans as people.

Jack Jardine is a very interesting character in the story Tortilla Curtain. He has a very strong influence on Delany Mossbacher, one of the central characters in the story. His influences, along with the tragic string of events concerning Delany and Candido, produce a complete turn around in the ideals of Delany by the end of the story. At the start of the story Delany is a 'liberal humanist';, albeit a hypocritical one, but by the end of the story Delany is carrying a gun looking for Candido.

Tortilla Flat, by John Steinbeck is a humorous novel about a group of friends called the paisanos. Tortilla Flat is just one of Steinbeck’s many successful novels. Indeed, Steinbeck is said to be one of the most influential of the twentieth century American writers (Williams). Tortilla Flat was a best seller, and was awarded the Gold Medal of the Commonwealth Club of California in 1935 (Williams). Steinbeck’s successful writing career did not end with Tortilla Flat as Steinbeck went on to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962, making him one of only six American writers to win the Nobel Prize in Literature

The tortilla curtain is a wonderful book showing a typical life of both a Hispanic family chasing the American and a white family that is born in. The white wealthy stay at home father Delaney mossbacher is faced against life as a modern day America and an immigrant from Mexico, Candido rincon looking for nothing but to fulfill the American dream that for him and his young wife which begins to seem unreachable due to the constant troubles begin to face. These two character throughout the story show very similar traits both positive and negative, while both sharing ways they overcome struggles of living life in modern day America. Both being fathers and/or soon to be fathers, how they

Is wanting a better life a crime? Does everyone not deserve the right for a better life and to be considered a human being despite the means that they used to try and get it? In this novel The Tortilla Curtain, by T.C.Boyle he brings up the theme of racism that is constant towards those who are struggling for a better life even if it’s through illegal means. He shows this by using main character Delaney Mossbacher a Caucasian self-proclaimed liberal humanist, Candido Rincon a Mexican illegal immigrant and their families (Boyle 3). Boyle starts the novel off with Delaney running someone over and first worrying about the car before thinking of this stranger who could be dead. There’s also other characters that see illegal immigrants as less

After World War II, the United States of America became a much wealthier nation. As America gained wealth and the populations in urban cities and transportation technology increased, many Americans spread out, away from the urban cities, to fulfill the common dream of having a piece of land to call their own. The landscape constructed became known as the suburbs, exclusive residential areas within commuting distance of a city. The popularity and success of the suburban landscape caused suburbs to sprawl across the United States, from the east coast to the west coast and along the borders between Canada and Mexico. By the 1990s, many suburbs surrounding major urban cities developed into being more than merely exclusive residential areas.