The Tortilla Curtain By T. C. Boyle

561 Words2 Pages

In the Tortilla Curtain, T.C. Boyle uses the coyote as a symbol with two different meaning. The first one is a literal and refers to the animal which is stereotyped as a scavenging coward.The second one is a figurative meaning, Boyle define coyote as someone who profits from sneaking immigrants from mexico. Boyle uses the coyote throughout the novel to show parallels between literal coyote meaning and the figurative coyote. Boyle uses the way that coyote is treated as a metaphor for the way illegal immigrants are treated in the United States. He does this by comparing Candido to a coyote, then by comparing America to a coyote, and finally showing how delaney who represents the typical U.S citizen mentality on how they treats the coyote. Boyle …show more content…

44, ll. 22-23), Kyra lived with for many years. The whole family is very shocked and they try to catch the coyote to save the dog’s life but he is too quick and clever. After they lose their first dog Sacheverell, the family is very angry and in order to prevent other wild coyote invade their house , they decide to put up a higher fence around their yard. However, even after they put up a higher fence, another coyote jumps over the fence again and eats their second dog, named Osbert. This incident makes it clear to Delaney that a fence is not effective at all and that there is not much else they can do against the coyotes. At the same time this incident shows that coyotes are willing to do anything to survive including entering unknown territory.That is a definite parallel to Candido, the illegal immigrant. Later on in the story, Candido does the very same thing as the coyote. In order to keep his family alive to continue fighting, Candido must compromise his values and must steal from the residents of Arroyo Blanco. He jumps the wall into the backyard of one of the Mossbacher's neighbors, and steals basic necessities such as water to support his family. It shows that the building of the wall was actually quite useless, just as the heightening of the Mossbachers' chain link fence was useless

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