The Tortilla Curtain: The American Dream

We all have our own meaning to the phrase, “The American Dream.” Many people long for a lavish lifestyle, with foreign cars and a vacation home; while others will simply settle for the comfort of having a roof over their head and a family car. After all, we are in the land of opportunity where many live or immigrate to, to make their dreams come true. James Truslow Adams (1931) was the first to define the American Dream. Adams defined it as a life that should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with an opportunity for each according to ability or achievement, regardless of their social class or circumstances of birth. In the book, The Tortilla Curtain, the author T.C Boyle knew he would have an audience on either side of the social

"It was a private community, comprising a golf course, ten tennis courts, a community center and some two hundred and fifty homes, each set on one-point-five acres and strictly conforming to the covenants, conditions and restrictions set forth in the 1973 articles of incorporation." (Boyle 30) Despite the amazing commodities the Mossbacher’s had available to them in Arroyo Blanco, they were not content they wanted more. On the other hand, Candido and America didn't have a home, a job, or money for food. They lived day by day and were grateful to simply be able to wake up every morning. “They’d been living in the canyon for three weeks now… and though they didn't have a roof over their heads and nothing was settled, he’d felt happy for the first time since they’d left home. The water was still flowing, the sand was clean, and the sky overhead was his, all his..”(Boyle

Growing up, we have all encountered the statement “protect your own.” The meaning itself holds a strong significance to some more than others. Boyle gives us a strong illustration of one of the many situations when the characters in the book did just that, protected their own. “It was Jack Jr. Jack Jr. and an accomplice Delaney did not recognize, and there they were, replicated six times on a sheet of contact paper, brought to life, caught in the act. It was as complete as surprise as Delaney had ever had, and it almost stopped him. Almost. He pushed himself up from the counter and in a slow methodical way he cleaned up, draining the trays rinsing them and setting them back on the shelf where Jack kept them. Then he dropped the negatives on the contact sheet and balled the whole thing up in a wad and buried it deep in the trash.” (Boyle 346) Although clear evidence showed Jack Jr. damaging the property, Delaney destroyed the evidence. It was an instinct for Delaney to act as if he never knew. Instead of confronting the truth, many of us too often find ourselves lying to ourselves to remain comfortable. We were told to stick with each other, but were also taught to do was right. We are quick to point fingers when a stranger is wrong, but when it is one of our own we are suddenly blindsided. It is as if we are all stuck in some sort of cult instead of simply being a part of the same