The Tortilla Curtain
...of illegal immigrants making natural habitats their living quarters. Delaney is enraged when he sees the public Topanga State Nature Park being polluted and dirtied by the Rincon’s campsite. “And what about fire danger?” he fumes (Boyle 11), which ironically does happen in the end of the book, the Rincon’s carelessness causing damage to the natural environment and endangering peoples’ lives. Of the many central paradoxes in the novel, perhaps one of the most prevalent is that of the American Dream. Should the American Dream be free for all to pursue? The Mexicans chase it desperately, the dream of a better life with a nice decent place to stay and steady income; while the Whites indignantly protect it. The novel goes into dark, heavy-handed detail describing the pain and suffering Candido and America go through (no medical care, living in a dump of a campsite, being cheated and attacked, digging through rubbish for food etc.), throwing a seemingly never-ending torrent of obstacles and ill-fated events in their way. It serves to provide an extreme insight into the struggles of illegal immigrants, all that for “nothing fancy, no palaces like the gringos built – just four walls and a roof. Was that so much to ask?” (Boyle 29) But yes, maybe it is too much to ask, if you look at it from the point of view of American have-nots like Mary, who to the dismay of America, was in “her own country… competing for the same nonexistent jobs America was.” (Boyle 58) If even Americans are seeking the American Dream, is it right, or economically justifiable, to let illegal immigrants fight for a share of the too-small pie as well? A question of “national sovereignty” perhaps? Indeed, many statistical facts presented in the novel seem to point to the fact that there is little argument for the pro-immigration stance. The United States…pg 101 "How nice it would be to have hot water whenever you wanted it, a dab of shampoo, soap, a bristle toothbrush instead of a stalk of dry grass," America dreams. (Boyle 1...