The American Dream
Everyone has their own definition of what “The American Dream” is. Wether it’s having the white picket fence house, or just having a shelter and enough money to support the family, everyone has their own dream. Can dreams really be achieved, or would one just want more and more, can the cycle ever end? In The Tortilla Curtain, a novel by T.C. Boyle, he emphasizes the desire to achieve The American Dream by describing the differences in dreams through the lives of a wealthy white American family and an illegal immigrant family from Mexico.
Delaney and Kyra are the white American family, and they are already living the typical American Dream that most immigrants from Mexico desire, but that’s still not enough. Delaney is a writer and he is writing a short story titled “Pilgram at Topanga Creek”. In the short story, he describes what his dream is: “The waterfall trickles. The coyotes sing. I have a handful of rains and a blanket: what more could I want? All the world knows I am content” (Boyle 79). Delaney loves nature even though he lives in the amazing Arroyo Blanco Estates, he would much rather live on just the necessities of live. Kyra, Delaney’s wife, lives the same life style as Delaney, but has a completely different dream. She is a realtor, and one of the houses she is selling is her dream, “ This was a house you could get lost in, a house that made her other listings look like bungalows. Of all the places she’d ever shown, this was the one that really spoke to her, the sort of house she would have when she was forty and kissed Mike Bender goodbye and opened her own office” (Boyle 74). Kyra is more materialistic. Her dream is having this exquisite home. When she is in this house, she completely forgets about her real life. Kyra does not appreciate what she already owns, she has a roof over her head and food to feed her and her family. She and Delaney have already achieved the goal set by the less fortunate.
Candido is an illegal immigrant from Mexico, trying to make a better life for his wife America and his expecting child, however the United States was not what they had expected. When Candido finally made the decision to hop the boarder and leave Meixco, “he vowed he’d never let America out of his sight if he could help it, not till they had a real house in a real neighborhood with laws and respect and human dignity” (Boyle 27). At this point in Candido’s life, he has hit the bottom. He has been injured and not being able to work and provide for America, so she offered to go to work because they were desperate. Candido has a strong belief in the male should the main provider, but he finally realized he did not have a choice. They would die if his wife did not work.
All Candido wanted to be successful in the United States and finally get the respect he deserves, for working as hard as he does. Candido was also not doing well in Mexico before he left, and all he wanted to do was get into the United States so he could have a shot, “He’d taken America from her father so they could have a better life, so they could live in the North, where it was green and lush the year round and the avocados rotted on the ground, and everyone, even the poorest, had a house, a car and a TV— and now he could’t even put food in her mouth” (Boyle 26). Candido had this false pretense of what the United States is actually like. He thought there wasn’t a chance poverty would follow them once they got across the border. He was wrong, they were actually living better in Mexico, they had shelter, and food. Now that they were in the United States, they have no choice but to live in a wash, live day by day on the little amount of food they have, and not be able to seek medical help when needed, in fear of being deported. Candido has this false image of what life would be like, but now that he is in the United States, he is determined and will do anything to achieve his dream.
America, Candido’s wife, is not materialistic like Kyra, she doesn’t crave to be rich, she just wants to feel safe and content. Kyra doesn’t want to worry about not having food that day, she wants a steady life, “A house, a yard, maybe a TV and a car too— nothing fancy, no palaces like the gringos built— just four walls a roof. Was that so much to ask?” (Boyle 29). Candido had promised America that she would be living the dream when she decided to leave Mexico. Candido had told her she would be living a lot better than how they were living in Mexico. America was hurt because in fact they are living worse in the United States than how they were living in Mexico. She wanted to go home, she was extremely hopeful in the beginning, will to work for her husband while he was sick, and taking care of him. Towards the end of the novel she gives up. She wants to return home to Mexico, she doesn’t see a life in the United States. She feels as though her dream could not be achieved.
Although these families in The Tortilla Curtain, both are currently living in the United States, their lives are completely different, as well as their view on what “The American Dream” truly is. Delaney and Kyra are living “The American Dream” according to Candido and America, Delaney and Kyra have more than they they could ever imagine. Even though Delaney and Kyra seem to have everything Candido and America hope and dream for, they still want more. They do not appreciate the things they own and they just want more. Delaney craves to live somewhere in nature, and Kyra wants to live in a giant mansion. Candido and America both moved to the United States in search of a better life and are brought back into reality when they realize how difficult it is to actually achieve their goal of “The American Dream”.
Everyone has their own definition of what “The American Dream” is. Wether it’s having the white picket fence house, or just having a shelter and enough money to support the family, everyone has their own dream. Can dreams really be achieved, or would one just want more and more, can the cycle ever end? In The Tortilla Curtain, a novel by T.C. Boyle, he emphasizes the desire to achieve The American Dream by describing the differences in dreams through the lives of a wealthy white American family and an illegal immigrant family from Mexico.
Delaney and Kyra are the white American family, and they are already living the typical American Dream that most immigrants from Mexico desire, but that’s still not enough. Delaney is a writer and he is writing a short story titled “Pilgram at Topanga Creek”. In the short story, he describes what his dream is: “The waterfall trickles. The coyotes sing. I have a handful of rains and a blanket: what more could I want? All the world knows I am content” (Boyle 79). Delaney loves nature even though he lives in the amazing Arroyo Blanco Estates, he would much rather live on just the necessities of live. Kyra, Delaney’s wife, lives the same life style as Delaney, but has a completely different dream. She is a realtor, and one of the houses she is selling is her dream, “ This was a house you could get lost in, a house that made her other listings look like bungalows. Of all the places she’d ever shown, this was the one that really spoke to her, the sort of house she would have when she was forty and kissed Mike Bender goodbye and opened her own office” (Boyle 74). Kyra is more materialistic. Her dream is having this exquisite home. When she is in this house, she completely forgets about her real life. Kyra does not appreciate what she already owns, she has a roof over her head and food to feed her and her family. She and Delaney have already achieved the goal set by the less fortunate.
Candido is an illegal immigrant from Mexico, trying to make a better life for his wife America and his expecting child, however the United States was not what they had expected. When Candido finally made the decision to hop the boarder and leave Meixco, “he vowed he’d never let America out of his sight if he could help it, not till they had a real house in a real neighborhood with laws and respect and human dignity” (Boyle 27). At this point in Candido’s life, he has hit the bottom. He has been injured and not being able to work and provide for America, so she offered to go to work because they were desperate. Candido has a strong belief in the male should the main provider, but he finally realized he did not have a choice. They would die if his wife did not work.
All Candido wanted to be successful in the United States and finally get the respect he deserves, for working as hard as he does. Candido was also not doing well in Mexico before he left, and all he wanted to do was get into the United States so he could have a shot, “He’d taken America from her father so they could have a better life, so they could live in the North, where it was green and lush the year round and the avocados rotted on the ground, and everyone, even the poorest, had a house, a car and a TV— and now he could’t even put food in her mouth” (Boyle 26). Candido had this false pretense of what the United States is actually like. He thought there wasn’t a chance poverty would follow them once they got across the border. He was wrong, they were actually living better in Mexico, they had shelter, and food. Now that they were in the United States, they have no choice but to live in a wash, live day by day on the little amount of food they have, and not be able to seek medical help when needed, in fear of being deported. Candido has this false image of what life would be like, but now that he is in the United States, he is determined and will do anything to achieve his dream.
America, Candido’s wife, is not materialistic like Kyra, she doesn’t crave to be rich, she just wants to feel safe and content. Kyra doesn’t want to worry about not having food that day, she wants a steady life, “A house, a yard, maybe a TV and a car too— nothing fancy, no palaces like the gringos built— just four walls a roof. Was that so much to ask?” (Boyle 29). Candido had promised America that she would be living the dream when she decided to leave Mexico. Candido had told her she would be living a lot better than how they were living in Mexico. America was hurt because in fact they are living worse in the United States than how they were living in Mexico. She wanted to go home, she was extremely hopeful in the beginning, will to work for her husband while he was sick, and taking care of him. Towards the end of the novel she gives up. She wants to return home to Mexico, she doesn’t see a life in the United States. She feels as though her dream could not be achieved.
Although these families in The Tortilla Curtain, both are currently living in the United States, their lives are completely different, as well as their view on what “The American Dream” truly is. Delaney and Kyra are living “The American Dream” according to Candido and America, Delaney and Kyra have more than they they could ever imagine. Even though Delaney and Kyra seem to have everything Candido and America hope and dream for, they still want more. They do not appreciate the things they own and they just want more. Delaney craves to live somewhere in nature, and Kyra wants to live in a giant mansion. Candido and America both moved to the United States in search of a better life and are brought back into reality when they realize how difficult it is to actually achieve their goal of “The American Dream”.