The Tortilla Curtain

Journalist and author, Sonia Nazario’s novel “Enrique's Journey” has sparked tremendous attention to the immigration laws of the United states.Immigration and immigrants are the integral parts of the United States, which constitutes to the cultural and economic prosperity of the country.Yet, people segregate immigrants based on race, color and culture; especially, illegal immigrants that are labeled criminals, drug addicts and rapists.Through Enrique’s journey, Sonia Nazario illustrated the illegal journey of a young boy named Enrique to reunite with his mother in the United States.Enrique always felt abandoned by his mother Lourdes, when she left him and his older sister Belky to travel across borders to the great land of opportunities, the

On June of 2012, President Obama’s announced that his administration would stop deporting undocumented youth who were brought to the United States of America illegally by their parents. This was a huge win for the DREAM act which allowed undocumented youths to pursue higher education or join the workforce with. Francisco Jimenez or Panchito, as he is called in the story, just like the DREAMers, was brought to the US by his parents when we was about eight years old. Unfortunately, by the time he was fifteen years of age, he was deported back to Mexico. Between the years of coming to the US and being deported back, Franciso had assimilated to the American culture in many ways i.e being so fluent in English that he could memorize the Declaration Of Independence. From picking cotton and strawberries to moving from state to state looking for jobs, the Jimenez family had seen it all. They came to America looking to achieve their American Dream but they were not so successful. Panchito, even though was not able to become full American, I believe that he did feel American for most of the part in the book.

wide range of novels. The Tortilla Curtain stresses the negative treatment and harassment of illegal

Immigration is a very problematic and debatable topic in many ways. Its isn’t easy being an immigrant no matter what country you come from or where you settle. The novel shares stories of Chinese immigrants and the article shares how it is as a Hispanic immigrant. Although being very differing culture, they are still share many similarities.

To begin, Rebellion is one of the major themes of this novel. The story starts with Anita and her family who lived in Dominican

In The Tortilla curtain TC Boyle uses paranoia to highlight the issue of illegal immigration and the biased way that Americans view it. The article by Mike Kubic The Salem (and other) Witch Hunts as well as news articles about comments president Trump has made and the discussion questions over The Tortilla Curtain. will be used to help illustrate the point that TC Boyle was trying to make in his novel.

He is introduced as a hard worker with the strongest faith in the American dream, while America is the supportive wife whose faith in the American dream is the glorifying details Candido gives her. Candido, like every immigrant who comes into the states wants, “[a] house , a yard, maybe a TV and a car to – nothing fancy, no palaces like the gringos built – just four walls and a roof” (Boyle 29), but knows it takes hard work and saving money to live comfortably. Candido was never satisfied when living in Tepoztlan, Mexico and decides to run away with his young wife America. Complete innocent and naïve she follows Candido to America believing this was the country where everyone was rich. As she becomes more aware of life in America, she notices, “A gabacho sat on the sidewalk with his long hair and begged for change and the sight of him struck her with unholy terror: if he had to beg in his own country, what chance was there for her?” (Boyle 19). Because Candido glorified life in America to his wife, she wants, ‘“… one of those houses, “she said. “A clean white one made out of lumber that smells like the mountains, with a gas range and a refrigerator, and maybe a little yard so you can plant a garden and make a place for the chickens. That’s what you promised me didn’t you?”’ (Boyle 29). Candido promised his wife this lifestyle she would have, but made himself look bad because of the obstacles he got

Immigrants from all over the world come to America with dreams of creating a new life. While this journey is challenging for many, the opportunities that America harbors is worth the hardships. The experience that many immigrants face after coming to the United States is portrayed in The Tortilla Curtain, a novel by T. C. Boyle. America, the protagonist of the book, demonstrates hard work and determination in hopes of achieving her aspirations. America is an important character used by Boyle, to represent how the hardships of being successful as an illegal, Mexican, immigrant can lead to danger and desperation in trying to find work.

Many people of different ethnic backgrounds and nationalities come to the land of the free. Despite the novel's age, I think it remains relevant in the sense that America has endless possibilities. As of today’s media, Donald Trump's idea building a wall separating Mexico and the United States is volatile. Not only is it offensive to both sides of the border, but it’s not the best idea. This novel is relatable to the many people who come to the States from poverty, legally and illegally, seeking opportunity.

When Candide is aware of this news you can imagine how upset he is to find out the love of his life is a slave to these two men. Candide being the man he is ends up killing both of these men and taking their fortunes. Candide, Cunegonde and the servant, all set sail to a New World. The three arrive in Beunnos Aires, the governor Don Fernando sees Cunegode and wants to marry her. At the same time Portuguese officials try to arrest Candide for killing the two men who owned Cunegode and Candide is forced to run but he is accompanied by Cacambo. Cacambo is a man from the town, who helps him run. The two run away and find a city filled with gold called El Dorado. They stay there for a little and take gold with them when they leave, but all the gold they take is soon lost when they it is stole by a Dutch sea captain. This is another example of when life gets bad once they leave the garden. Candide is by himself at this point, he had previously gave Cacambo instructions to split off and meet back in Venice. But Candide soon finds out that Cacambo is in France and is a slave. When Cacambo sees Candide he tells him that Cunegonde is also a slave in Constantinople and she is no longer beautiful. “It is natural to imagine that after so many disasters Candide married, and living with the philosopher Pangloss,

We live in a very diverse country when it comes to race and ethnicity. Although we try to get along with those who are not like us in color or race, doing so can be difficult and sometimes impossible. Our country is diverse, yet there is so much prejudice towards certain “types” of people that we shield ourselves from others and create our “perfect” in-group. A group in which only those who are like us can join and share their ideas. There is nothing wrong with forming cliques; however, problems arise when certain cliques look down on different ethnic groups to the point of damaging and hurting others. The Tortilla Curtain, which is written by T.C. Boyle, points out many of the problems that are seen among different ethnic groups. In the book, Boyle demonstrated the difficulties that can develop among individuals when communication is limited, but also when we discriminate against others. In The Tortilla Curtain, T.C. Boyle argues that communication is essential for a society to prosper, prejudice can lead to misunderstandings, and that one individual can make their whole ethnic group look bad.

The social commentaries in both The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle and “Child, Dead, in the Rose Garden by E.L. Doctorow unveils the true reality of the American Government and the social injustice of the American society. In the Tortilla Curtain, T.C. Boyle took upon an adventure of two illegal immigrants from Mexico who faced the unsettling truth of the social class system of America. But In “Child, Dead, in a Rose Garden” E.L. Doctorow expresses the injustice of the Government and their ability to blindside the public with fraudulent information.

Author, T.C. Boyle, in his novel, Tortilla Curtain, creates a story in which two cultures collide thus illustrating the cultural differences between the two. Similarly, author Sharon Olds, in her short poem, “On the Subway”, describes a significant moment in which she realizes the privilege that comes with her culture compared to other another culture. Boyle and Olds’ purpose is to depict the major contrast in the values of different cultures. Boyle adopts condescending yet sedulous tone while in the same manner Olds adopts a critical tone in order to bring awareness to these major differences so that change can be made. In both Tortilla Curtain and “On the Subway” Boyle and Olds seek to reveal the values of a culture by using contrasting

In the beginning of The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle, we are introduced to two main characters. Delaney Mossbacher a white male who claims to be a “liberal humanist” (Boyle 3), and Candido Rincon an illegal immigrant from Mexico. Right off the bat, it is shown that both men differ very much in what you would call class. Throughout the story, we are shown how different the men had and are currently living by class, race, culture and social position. This leads me to ask do these differences make us completely different from one another?

The border between the United States of America and Mexico always had been always a theme for a lot of discussions. And, in the book “Sunshine/Noir II” Juanita Lopez and Michael Cheno described, through texts, their point of view about the topic. Both authors represent that the control of the border has become way more restrict and militarized. In that sense, Michael Wickert presents his idea in a poem form, text named “The border Is a Fight”, that describes the dramas of a Mexican family that has to cross the border every day in a hope to get a better future. Whereas, Juanita Lopez demonstrates it through an essay that uses personal narratives of the author’s relatives to illustrate her point of view. Therefore, the both authors exploit their point of views using different text forms, and figurative images, like metaphors and personification, for delivering their ideas in the way they do.