Vert CCQCs II

Much in the way that directors will shoot scenes in Mexico using sepia tones, Boyle uses surreal language and odd word choices to create a unique feel to his story. On page 214, Delaney writes “We cannot eradicate the coyote, nor can we fence him out, not even with eight feet of chain link, as this sad but wiser pilgrim can attest. Respect him as the wild predator he is, keep your children and pets inside, leave no food source, however, negligible, where he can access it...The coyotes keep coming, breeding up to fill in the gaps, moving in where the living is easy. They are cunning, versatile, hungry, and unstoppable.” In a way, the coyote is painted as less of an animal than a force of nature—an unstoppable, unswayable storm that yields to nothing, sweeping through wherever it sees fit. Subconsciously, this is also how Delaney views Mexican immigrants. Not as human beings, but as mindless perpetrators of a sociological disaster. That disaster, of course, being the overrunning of the gated communities of the world with “riff-raff” and “criminals.”

The parallel between Delaney’s and Candidio’s families works as the centerpiece of The Tortilla Curtain. It would be easy to call this book a compare and contrast on the differences between white and Mexican experiences in America, but really, there’s far more contrasting than comparing. On page 101, Jack Jardine says “The ones coming in through the Tortilla Curtain down there, those are the ones that are killing us. They're peasants, my friend. No education, no resources, no skills - all they've got to offer is a strong back, and the irony is we need fewer and fewer strong backs every day because we've got robotics and computers and farm machinery that can do the labor of a hundred men at a fraction of the cost.” In a way, the novel is not as effective as it could be, because it makes the characters of Jack and Delaney too repulsive to really identify with, therefore making their casual racial bias seem unique and unusual. If these characters were presented less as cultural outliers and more as everyday people, the book could go a long way to connecting with readers.