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Discussion Questions for “The Tortilla
Curtain”
The discussion questions below have been compiled
from the following sources: ReadSmartGuide: The Tortilla
Curtain, A Penguin Reading Group Guide
to The Tortilla Curtain and The
Tortilla Curtain in MagillOnLiterature. These questions reach
across many disciplines including:
English, History, Sociology, Chicano
Studies, Political Science, Environmental Studies, Urban Studies,
Criminal Justice, Philosophy, Psychology, Ethics, Business and Economics.
Additional topics may include: Liberalism, Ethnic Groups, the Poor,
Prejudices or Antipathies, Ethnic Relations, Racism, Nature, Environmental
Health, Suburban Life, Immigration.
- What do you think of Boyle's
characterization of the Mexican
and American people in the novel?
Is the Mexican family inherently
more noble, more loving? Do we see
Americans behaving generously to
Mexicans, or Mexicans behaving cruelly
to fellow Mexicans or Americans?
How do Navidad and Jack Jr. influence
this balance?
- Consider the epigraph
that opens the novel: a John Steinbeck
quote from The Grapes of Wrath. Do
you think there is a valid comparison
between Steinbeck's impoverished
Oakies and the Mexicans in Boyle's
novel? Compare and contrast how
class discrimination is handled in
these two novels.
- Boyle is perhaps best known as
a darkly comic satirist. The
Tortilla Curtain has been
called a parable by critics; Boyle
himself calls it a fable. Which
genre most closely describes this
novel?
- Several critics have noted
an imbalance in the characterization
of the Mexican and American characters
in the novel. Do you agree? Does
Boyle characterize one group more
sympathetically than the other?
- Are
the characters of Delaney and Kyra
real, or simple caricatures, stereotypes?
Does Boyle show contempt for these
characters?
- How would you characterize
Delaney Mossbacher at the beginning
of the novel? What are his primary
concerns, ideals, passions? How would
you say he feels about Mexicans and
illegal immigrants, at this point?
- How does
the debate over the gate, and then
the wall, represent the clash between
liberal theories and real and imagined
dangers? How is How does Kyra pursue
the American Dream? What is she passionate
about? What is she afraid of? How does
she feel about illegal immigrants?
What problems do they present for her?
- Are Candido and America's
expectations of what the United States
can provide realistic or even materialistic?
America claims that all she wants
is “a house, a yard, maybe
a TV and a car too.” How
does America's fears, needs, dreams,
and goals compare with Kyra's?
What similarities and differences
do you see in terms of each woman's
vulnerability?
- Examine Delaney's column, “Pilgrim
at Topanga Creek”. How does
Delaney himself relate to nature?
What does he want from it? How
do you feel about his concern that
illegal immigrants are ruining
the natural environment?
- How do Candido and America cope with nature? Do they
do a better job of functioning in
it than Delaney? Do they enjoy it as
much as he does?
- How would you characterize Arroyo Blanco estates
as a community — its the debate over
the wall tied up in the larger issues
of illegal immigration and racial tension?
- Early in the novel, Delaney
argues with Jack Jardine that the
existence of the gate seems socially
irresponsible and racist. Jardine responds
that Delaney's ideals are attractive
but not realistic, in view of how much
illegal immigration costs the United
States. What do you think of Jardine's
position and purpose in the novel?
Do events prove his position correct?
- Delaney is furious about the Mexican illegals' destruction of
the environment. Kyra is also frank
about this problem, observing that
having them hang out on the street
is “bad for business”. Are the American
characters motivated more by social
conscience or fear?
- In his column, Delaney warns his readers
that coyotes are “cunning, versatile,
hungry and unstoppable.” This statement
alludes to the problems caused by illegal
immigration. What do you think of the
comparison? How else are Mexican immigrants
connected to animals, wild or domestic?
- Delaney
and Candido meet through an unfortunate
car accident. Cars play a huge part
in this novel, functioning as comforting,
private spaces, as part of their owners'
identities, as agents of isolation
and destruction, as well as symbols
of freedom and power. How does Delaney
feel about his car, and how does he
react when it is stolen? How do Candido
and America feel about cars?
- Candido makes
frequent references to his terrible
luck; he also alludes to Mexican fatalism,
“that acquiescence, the inability of
his people to act in the face of authority,
right or wrong, good or bad.” Would
you say that Candido could have done
anything differently to change his
luck? Can you pinpoint Candido's personal
faults, errors, moral weaknesses?
- The Rincons are victimized on
several occasions by other Mexicans
in the story. What are the social,
psychological and cultural issues
that result from these encounters?
- What do you think of Delaney's transformation in the novel? Is
it convincing?
- Do you think that the
novel's final scene offers the promise
of redemption? Reconciliation?
