Jack Kolb: Untold Revelations

1. Choose a symbol Boyle uses - there are so many to choose from

I believe a symbol of many meanings is the Coyote. The Coyote has always been an animal subject to varying description and mythology, particularly in the area where the Mossbachers reside. The Native American nations of the area - such as the Chumash, Serrano, and Salinan - often used the Coyote as a symbol for cleverness, bravery, solitary perseverance, and sturdy resilience, regarding its presence as an omenic and foreshadowing symbol. In more modern times, the Coyote is a prominent part of immigration (often illegal immigration) into the United States from the Mexican border. A Coyote is the person who acts as a human smuggler, whom an immigrant places their lives and money in the hands of with hope that this smuggler, whom they hardly know, will remain honest and fulfill his obligation.. despite the easiness in which he could steal your belongings and abandon you in the desert to die. Using a Coyote is a very dangerous ideal, despite lack of a better option, and the saying "A Coyote will carry your baby in one hand and drugs in the other" is not very far from the truth. In Tortilla Curtain, Candido describes some of the hardships coming across the border: "and America was sick with the gastro (flu) and he did't have a cent in the world after the cholos (thugs) and the coyotes (smugglers) had got done with him. Sticks and cardboard over his head. The stink of burning dogs in the air. Low man in the pecking order, even at the dompe." (Page 18). Like millions of others, Candido was betrayed by his Coyote, however he survived the ordeal, even barely, and still persisted to cross the border. Delaney's experience with a Coyote was quite different, involving the death of his precious small dog, however with a completely different meaning. While Delaney attributes the Coyote to a low fence and mismanagement of the community's leadership, he fails to see the ominous message behind it, foreshadowing perhaps that he is destined to meet again with an illegal immigrant. Delaney's house, colored "Navajo Orange", styled similar to the Spanish Missionaries (which were prominent in the ultimate destruction of the Natives), and in a place named "White Canyon" (which sounds quite like the name a Native tribe would give the canyon), gives a clear sense that the symbols often portrayed in Native American literature and fables may be a crucial part of the novel, and those familiar with key motifs in those stories may be far more able to pick up on subtle symbols to come. I believe that Coyotes, considering their strength in Native American tales and underlying connection with Delaney, will continue to be a prominent symbol in the book, and one I shall be looking out for.

What is Boyle saying about the American Dream?

I believe Boyle's argument is simple: The American Dream is sold out, no longer open, closed for business. We began by advertising ourselves as a nation where "prosperity can be achieved by all", where "anyone who can pull themselves up by their bootstraps can". As a place of opportunity and freedom of business and markets, where as long as you were hardworking you were able to succeed. That was the message we spread to the world, the name we gave ourselves, and the ideals that drew millions to our growing country to fill in our faltering population. However, as of late these promises have been falsified: Capitalism has induced storms of corporate greed, government corruption, and a list of massive entities that rule our nation's markets and crowd out all other competition, like the Scotch Broom prevents other - more native - plants from taking root and growing. While in the past we had more room for businesses to take root, for companies to grow and hire more people, we have near-reached our economic limit and are having trouble dealing with the now broken promises we had vowed long ago. Candido traveled to the US in order to find economic freedom, to escape from the poverty and oppression that cursed his homeland, however his hopes were dashed in front of him upon realizing that "America" was not the America he had hoped to find after such a treacherous journey, in which he invested his entire life savings, belongings, and trust into: only to be robbed and left for dead. Such is the case with many immigrants, where they are betrayed by false hopes of riches and a home and their dreamed life, instead scowled at, mistreated, and ignored by those they thought would welcome them with welcome arms. That is the American Dream.