Grace Strasen
Absent, 2nd˚ AP Comp
Coyotes and Immigrants
Throughout the novel “The Tortilla Curtain” by T. C. Boyle, , coyotes act as an important symbol for Mexican immigrants. Many of the white anti-immigration characters exposed their feelings for immigrants by the way they discussed the issue of keeping coyotes off of their property. “The coyotes keep coming …They are cunning, versatile, hungry and unstoppable” (Pg. 215). The description of coyotes parallel with the perception of immigrants: nuisances, resilient, and constantly on the opposite side of many of the American-born characters.
América plays an important part in the symbolism of the coyote. América sees herself in the coyote she sees in the canyon, and begins to “imagine herself inside those eyes looking out, to know that men were her enemies” (Pg. Pg. 178). Both are just trying to feed their child, both find a mutual enemy in white Americans, and both need to scale a barrier (literally and figuratively) to get to a better life. Immigrants scale the “wall” separating them from America while coyotes scale walls to scavenging for food, like the coyote who climbed the Mossbachers’ eight foot fence to eat their dog: “When he whipped round in his seat, he saw the coyote. It was inside the fence, pressed to the ground, a fearful calculation in its eyes as it stalked the grass … Despite his rage and determination and the chorus of howls from his wife and son, he was impotent” (Pg. 194). This dark scene also draws similarities to the immigrants taking things like jobs, money, nature, and room from Americans. Delaney could not do anything about either situation, again feeling powerless against the whims of both the immigrants and the invading coyotes. The solution to the coyotes is much like the one proposed to keep immigrants out: a better wall. In part two, Kyra plans to raise the fence around the Mossbacher house by two feet in an effort to keep out the coyotes. “Once the fence was completed, things could go back to normal. Or so they hoped” (Pg. 149). Normal, to the Mossbachers, was a life free from coyotes. For the rest of the town, normal was free from immigrants.
Delaney’s “Pilgrim at Topanga Creek” column in part two plays an important role in the symbolism of the coyote, using it to flush out the new intensity that Delaney feels towards the immigrants. The column is filled with statements that apply to both the coyotes and Mexicans in terms of how they survive in a world dominated by white Americans. “The coyotes keep coing, breeding up to fill in the gaps, moving in where the living is easy” (Pg. 215) is from Delaney’s column and is clearly a bitter tone concerning the “coyotes”. It is clear that Delaney fears coyotes, literallt and figuratively, and views them as a danger to himself and his way of life. But, it is interesting to see how that fear progressed into a bitter hate for the coyotes. “The problem, of course, lies at our own doorstep. I our blindness, our species-specific arrogance, we create a niche and animals … will rush in to fill it … The urban coyote is larger than his wild cousin, he is more aggressive and less afraid of the humans who coddle and encourage him, who are so blissfully unaware of the workings of nature that they actually donate their kitchen scraps to his well being”(Pg. 213). Delaney points out, using the coyote symbolism, that immigrants try to fill in any gaps. Any work available will have an immigrants filling the spot in moments (“we create a niche”). After this set-up of the coyotes being nothing but trouble, the column tugs at the reader’s heart strings with a violent story of a child being snached off a front porch by a coyote: “The six month old infant taken from her crib on the patio of the Tilmans’ home” (Pg. 213). This ties into the idea of immigrants taking from American citizens’ lives, along with the reputation of committing crimes.
In conclusion, T. C. Boyle sets up a large comparison between the way coyotes and immigrants are treated in Los Angeles society. This detailed fight between how white American’s should handle both situations help develop the character and plot points throughout the novel. Characters like Delaney turn dark, others like América discover themselves, and Kyra remains ever stoic. In turn, coyotes bring up an interesting argument, when does a society really become crippled by the great expansion of an ethnic or species population? How much harm are the coyotes and immigrants really causing? Boyle never answers. 
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