Hollander CCQC 2

The Tortilla Curtain demonstrates the two faces of the potentially deceiving American Dream by examining the parallel lives of the Mossbacher family and the Rincón family. The American Dream is a difficult, if not impossible, concept to conquer and even if one achieves it, often there is a consistent nagging lust for more. In the first part of the book, Delaney and Kyra are introduced as upper-middle class Americans who have a surplus of luxuries. However, the ideals of the American Dream imply that no matter where one stands economically, one will crave improvements and upgrades. In direct contrast to Delaney and Kyra, América and Cándido prove how easy it is to fail attempting to seize the American Dream. Despite the fact that Cándido is extremely handy and versatile, people hesitate to hire him. “In less than an hour he’d fashioned a sturdy professional-looking net…No one hired him the following day either…” (196). Although Cándido is able to quickly assemble a successful fishing net out of scant materials, something that few people are able to do, he is unable to obtain work. This makes his pursuit of the Dream difficult as he has little control over his earnings and his progress. To make his situation worse, América and Cándido need to start from scratch several times. Due to desperateness, unfortunate situations, and natural disasters, the Rincóns lose all their earnings multiple times. “‘They got everything. Every penny.’ …They knew just where to look - every dumb hick must have sewed his bankroll into his cuffs.” (235). Later in the book, their commendable earnings are lost due to Cándido inadvertently starting the raging forest fire. America and the Dream are merciless to the prospering dreamers and relentless to the achievers.

T.C. Boyle juxtaposes the lives and priorities of Delaney and Cándido to illuminate the differences between their two lifestyles. Delaney lives a posh life that many only dream about, yet he fails to recognize and acknowledge his luxuries. When his car was stolen, “He felt violated, taken, and ripped off.” (146). He was required to buy a new car, a replica of his previous car. “Delaney sat there for a long while, getting used to the seats and the new car smell and the subtle differences between this model and the one he was familiar with. Little things, but they annoyed him out of all proportion.” (147). Delaney is deeply disturbed that this new car, an expensive and similar model he bought to replace his stolen one, is aesthetically slightly off. “What he wanted to tell her was how angry he was, how he hadn’t wanted a new car...how he felt depressed, disheartened….” (149). He drones on and complains about having to buy a new car to the point of exhaustion. Boyle juxtaposes this scene with the passage of Cándido feeling fortunate to find a job, regardless of the fact that the job was low paying. “Cándido was lucky. Despite his face and his limp and the fact that it was half an hour after the labor exchange closed down for the day and everyone had gone home, he got work.” (167). The adjacency of the two passages demonstrates true worries and struggles in each man’s life. Delaney’s trivial issues seem petty when compared to Cándido’s difficult and unforgiving lifestyle.