Mexican Immigration in "The Tortilla Curtain"

Paper Summary:

T. Coraghessan Boyle's novel, "The Tortilla Curtain", offers readers a close-up, graphically realistic view of the hardships that confront Mexican immigrants trying to find the American Dream, juxtaposed with the "good life" of an affluent family living behind stylish walls. This review of "The Tortilla Curtain" compares and contrasts the main characters in the novel, Delaney Mossbacker and his wife Kyra and Candido Rincon and his wife America, in order to come to a greater understanding of the social issues facing Mexican immigration. The report also incorporates the views of writers, critics, and scholars to understand the bigger picture of Chicano labor history and the deeper meaning behind Boyle's literary effort.

From the Paper:

"To Candido (49) that very canyon, with its "little clearing by the stream", its "leaves" and "rocks" all seemed "unchanging, eternal, as dead as a photograph" And, living there in the canyon, Candido saw it as "a jail cell and he was a prisoner, incarcerated in his thoughts". In fact, Boyle continues, at least prisoners had an opportunity to read something, listen to a radio, a place to sit and "take a contemplative crap" while for Candido, his prison was unchanging, and all he did was doze, wake up, and sleep again. There were no license plates to make, or rocks to break. Just a sun that was always "in the same place in the sky" (50)."

More papers on Mexican Immigration in "The Tortilla Curtain":

• Analytical Essay # 117727 : "Whiteness and Race in "The Tortilla Curtain"
• Book Review # 122230 : "Review of "The Tortilla Curtain"
• Book Review # 149182 : "Fear of the Coyote from "The Tortilla Curtain"

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