Hennessey, CCQCs Part One

     
        The author of Tortilla Curtain T.C. uses the wall around Arroyo Blanco as a symbol for separation between class, race and wealth.  The wall is built not only just to keep the illegal immigrants out of Arroyo Blanco but also so that the wealthy americans don't have to deal with the illegal immigrants. If you are inside of the wall it means that you have a steady family, and job and don't have to worry as much about supporting your family because it comes easier. As a middle-upper class citizen Delaney Mossbacher, he knows he has a good life, he still has to work hard but he also gets time to relax and enjoy himself instead of having constant worries. "There were days when he worked himself into such a state he could barely lift his fingers to the keys, but fortunately the good days outnumbered them, the days when he celebrated his afternoon hikes through the chaparral and the ravines of the mist-hung mountains, and that was what people wanted--celebration, not lectures, not the strident call to ecologic arms, not the death knell and the weeping and gnashing of environmental teeth."(32). This is what most people lives are like in Arroyo Blanco, hard working to get where they are but also able to live their lives. This is a huge change with the lives of the illegal immigrants who are living their life day by day just trying to survive. For example one man Candido Ricon goes through all the troubles of any immigrant plus more when he is hit by a car, making him unable to work putting him and his wife at great risk. "Any way you looked at it, he couldn't work, not for the time being--hell, he could barely stand, and that was his bad luck, his stinking mala suerte that had got him robbed at the border and thrown up against the bumper of some rich man's car. But if he couldn't work, how would they eat?" (24). If someone like Delaney got hit by a car his family would still be perfectly able to survive. There is a huge difference between the way the immigrants live and they way the middle-upper class lives. Each of them don't fit into the others class and that's why the wall is built. The other classes aren't welcome.

        The Mossbacher family very similarly relates to many families that live here in Marin. They have the same typical mornings as families here, waking up having breakfast and rushing to get to school and work. "Delaney was up at seven as usual, to drip Kyra's coffee, feed Jordan his fruit, granola and hi-fiber bar and let Osbert and Sacheverall out into the yard to preform their matinal functions." (30).  Most of the families here in Marin understand and relate to this passage, having to let their dogs out and taking care of their kids and family, while eating the healthiest food around. While their whole family seems to relate closely to the families here, if you focus on one specific family member for example the mom or wife it all relates to Marin in the same way. "Kyra applied her makeup, wriggled into a form fitting skirt with a matching jacket and propelled her Lexus over the crest of the canyon and into Woodland Hills, where she was the undisputed volume leader at Mike Bender Reality, Inc." (31). How many Marin moms do that routine in the morning? Many. Having to put on makeup and nice clothes to impress other people and keep up your reputation, then get into your nice car and driving to your regular successful job to support your family. All this similarly relates to families of Marin and it makes you aware of how separate we are to those less fortunate then us like the illegal immigrants in Tortilla Curtain.