Zimmermann Post 2

Delaney Mossbacher, unlike the majority of residents in Arroyo Blanco, believes that the immigrants are real people with human rights and don't deserve to be discriminated against so harshly. When Kyra introduces the idea to build a wall around Arroyo Blanco, Delaney becomes very upset with her and the other supporters. Not only did he think it is an enormous insult to the people being kept out by the wall, but it is unjust and racist. Delaney is a very unique man compared to the rest of the white people living in this community. His love of nature and compassion for others sets him apart from the typical privileged white people, including his wife. However, this doesn't mean that Delaney isn't skeptical about Mexicans. His car was stolen and his wife was badly insulted, of course he holds some things against them. With diction like, "The man was a thief, a liar, the stinking occupant of a stinking sleeping bag in the state forest, a trespasser, a polluter, a Mexican" (229), we are able to see his more negative and aggressive views towards Mexicans. But, as we all know, this isn't the real Delaney. "Delaney took a step back, so devastated he couldn't speak-what was happening to him, what was he becoming?" (229). Delaney's personality changes a little bit in this part of the novel, the negative statements occur more frequently even though he still believes in not discriminating. "He was the hater, he was the redneck, the racist, the abuser…would he have felt the same way if the men had been white?" (290).

As a kid, Candido Rincon never really learned what love is. He didn't have affectionate parents who expressed their love to their children. He was raised by his aunt who displayed love, but could not offer Candido the same feel of real parents. Because of his past, he never learned how to express love himself, leaving him to subconsciously mistreat America. Boyle shows us the side effects of his deprived childhood through his relationship with America. "He didn't blame her. But he was drunk and angry and he wanted to hurt her, wanted to hurt himself, twisting the knowledge round and round in his brain like a rotten tooth rotated in its socket. How could he pretend not to know what had happened? How could he allow himself to be fooled?" (181). It's not that Candido doesn't love her, he just doesn't know how to show it. He has had several losses since he came to America, so it makes sense that he exudes bitterness from time to time. And Boyle does a good job of showing it through diction and images.