61 pages • 2 hours read
T.C. BoyleThe Tortilla Curtain
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1995A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Part 1, Chapters 5-8Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 1: “Arroyo Blanco”
Part 1, Chapter 5 Summary
After the community meeting, Delaney walks through Arroyo Blanco. The subdivision does not have streetlights, making him feel closer to nature, but his peace is interrupted by a car driving by with headlights and rap music blaring. He wonders who would drive through Arroyo Blanco in “a car like that” (67) and suspects they might be criminals. Safe in his house, he notices that the bedroom light is on. Kyra is waiting for him, even though it is past her bedtime. He reflects that “the little tragedies of life” often arouse his wife, and he enters the room to find her waiting in lingerie (68). They begin to have sex, but Kyra asks Delaney if her dog is really dead, and he admits to finding the severed foreleg. Kyra accuses Delaney of lying and demands to see the leg.
The next morning, Kyra struggles to muster her typical enthusiasm for work. Arriving at the first listing, she finds a large puddle of water on the front porch. Annoyed by the gardener’s incompetence, she sweeps the water away and wanders through the empty house, reflecting on the property and her career. She is responsible for 46 listings and feels a sense of ownership over these houses as if she is “the queen of some fanciful country” (73). Kyra glances in the mirror and is shocked by how terrible she looks. Her nose is bright red, something she has struggled with since getting a nose job at 14, and she quickly works to conceal it before her prospective buyers arrive.
The buyers are picky and hard to please, and Kyra develops a headache as the afternoon progresses. When the time finally comes to head home, she is relieved to reach the sanctuary of her car. She turns on a tape of ocean sounds and finally can relax as she visits her listings to lock them up for the night. The last house, the Da Ros place, is a 20-room, 11,000-square-foot mansion perched high above Arroyo Blanco with a view of the Pacific Ocean. Walking through the house, Kyra contemplates her life and priorities, wondering why she is so upset over losing her dog when there are much bigger problems in the world. She wonders if she is burning herself out at work but tries to remind herself that her job has real value.
Back in Arroyo Blanco, Delaney spends the day finishing his latest “Pilgrim” column. He writes about the excitement and sense of freedom he feels setting off into the mountains after a day of sitting in front of the computer. He discusses camping in the desert, wary of snakes, spiders, and scorpions but content to be one with the wilderness. He has a “humble” dinner and watches the stars, claiming there is nothing more he could ask for than his “handful of raisins and a blanket” (82).
Part 1, Chapter 6 Summary
Back in the ravine, Cándido and América’s food supplies are dwindling. For five days, América has no luck at the labor exchange, and she and Cándido fight when she insists on returning. While waiting for work, a man who calls himself José Navidad offers her coffee. Starving and four months pregnant, América cannot refuse, even though the man begins to flirt with her. She tells him she is married, but he only scoffs at her protest. Finally, a fat white man in a fancy car arrives, and Calendario Pérez tells América he has a job for her. At the last minute, Mary appears, trying to take the job from América. However, the fat man has enough work for both of them, and they all leave together.
As he waits for América to return, Cándido decides to move their camp further up the stream to protect themselves better. After the two boys vandalized their camp, neither felt safe, and Cándido finally feels strong enough for the task. He finds a safe place upstream and sets about building a camp as a surprise for América. After his effort, he falls asleep and wakes up late in the afternoon. Cándido panics, worried that América will be looking for him, and rushes back to their old campsite. There is no sign of her, so he begins to hike out of the ravine, plagued by his injuries. Part way up, he is stopped by José Navidad, the same man who gave América coffee at the labor exchange. Cándido does not know the man but is immediately suspicious of him and tries to dissuade him from going into the canyon, telling him about his experience with the vandals. The men part ways, and Cándido finally arrives at the parking lot where the labor exchange is held. He cannot see his wife anywhere, only Americans looking at him “like he was a leper” (94). It occurs to Cándido that América might have actually found work, and the thought of food causes him to bump into a passing white man who shoves and swears at him.
América spends the day at the fat man’s house using corrosives to scrub mold off an endless line of Buddha statues. Her employer is Jim Shirley, one of Delaney’s neighbors, and América is in his house in Arroyo Blanco. Mary complains about the work and the fumes all day, but América is delighted to be working and earning her own money for the first time. She cannot stop thinking about the food she will buy that evening and does not even stop to use the bathroom. Jim Shirley drops Mary off first and then asks América to sit in the front seat with him. He puts his hand on her thigh as he drives her back to the parking lot and pays her for six hours of work, even though she scrubbed for eight hours.
Part 1, Chapter 7 Summary
Delaney is cooking mussels in marinara sauce for dinner but realizes there is no pasta. After grabbing his imported pasta and other necessities at the store, Delaney runs into Jack Jardine, who brings up the last community meeting and Delaney’s outburst. Jack argues that measures like the gate are necessary until there is “control at the borders” (104). Delaney bristles at Jack’s “racist” outlook, and the two argue about the presence of immigrants in the United States. Delaney is forming another counterargument when the two are interrupted by Jack Jr., and they all move toward the register. Jack soothes Delaney, and Delaney concedes, saying he accepts the gate and understands its purpose.
Back in the parking lot, Delaney is distracted by a large white man swearing profusely at someone, “a bum.” The side of the man’s face is scabbed, and his arm is in a sling; it is Cándido. Delaney has a flash of recognition but does not intercede, admitting to a “perverse” desire to “see this dark alien little man crushed and obliterated” (108).
Kyra spends her day showing the Da Ros place to a couple looking for a peaceful home outside of the crowded city. However, she cannot muster the energy to sell the home as she usually would, even though she stands to make an excellent commission. She feels more and more that the house is hers and does not want to let go of it.
The next morning, Delaney thinks about doing a series on introduced species for his column. However, he is distracted by the image of Cándido from the night before. The altercation has proven to him that Cándido is “a nuisance, a bum, a panhandler” who could have purposefully thrown himself under Delaney’s car hoping for a payout (112). Delaney leaves early for his afternoon hike to give himself more time to explore a creek in the canyon. A few minutes into his hike, he sees two sleeping bags and further evidence of a campsite on the stream’s opposite bank. He feels like the camp is “a desecration,” destroying one of the few natural places left in the world. He decides to call the police when he returns and continues, determined not to let it ruin his hike. However, he soon hears voices speaking Spanish up ahead. He begins to worry about his safety and remembers a girl he met who was assaulted while hiking alone.
Delaney decides to return to his car and give up on the hike, but he is surprised when he sees José Navidad and another man. Delaney does not respond to the man’s greeting, and his anger over the littering and illegal camping overpower his fear as he leaves the canyon. Back on the road, Delaney is shocked to find his car missing. He is forced to hike three miles uphill along the road’s shoulder to reach the grocery store and a pay phone. He calls the police and a towing service, but there is no sign of his car. Then he calls Kyra, telling her “they” have stolen it. He cannot get the image of Cándido’s face out of his mind.
Part 1, Chapter 8 Summary
In the grocery store’s parking lot, Cándido wonders how he could have such bad luck as to run into Delaney and Jack Jr., who was one of the “overgrown boys” who destroyed his camp in the ravine. He feels “like a pinball” trapped between them. He spends the next hour hiding in the bushes, looking out for América. She finally arrives in Jim Shirley’s car. He follows her into the grocery store and surprises her among the eggs. Joyful, they buy food for the first time in days and carry it back to the new camp. They take their clothes off to swim across. Cándido starts a fire, and América begins to prepare their supper. As he watches her, Cándido realizes that his wife’s belly is starting to swell with her pregnancy.
The next morning, they both hike out of the canyon to the labor exchange, and América feels hopeful again. She believes they might soon be able to move into a simple apartment in the city. Jim Shirley arrives for América, and she leaves Cándido frustrated that he has been passed over for every job because of his injuries. This time, the corrosives burn América’s eyes and throat, and when her hands begin to hurt, she realizes that Shirley has not given her any gloves. Terrified of losing her job, América keeps working until she cannot bear the pain any longer. She gathers her courage and leaves the room, looking for her boss. After a confused exchange with Shirley, he produces the gloves, and América returns to work, imagining the meal she will make at the end of the day to keep her mind off her stinging hands and the painful fumes.
Back in the parking lot, there is no sign of Cándido. América thinks he must have gotten work and settles in to wait for him. After waiting over an hour, she decides to go to their camp alone. Partway down the path, América is stopped by José Navidad and his friend. She tries to run, but the men catch her, tear her only dress, and rape her.
Part 1, Chapters 5-8 Analysis
Chapter 5 examines The Contradictions of the American Dream by illustrating the tiers of society cut into the canyon. Even though Kyra and Delaney are well off, living high above Cándido and América at their camp in the ravine, the Da Ros place still sits above them, making Arroyo Blanco look “like some sort of fungus attached to the flank of the mountain” (77). Despite their place of relative privilege, the capitalism and consumerism that form the basis of the American Dream make even the Mossbachers feel, at times, inadequate. The blatant excess of the Da Ros house represents the constantly unreachable nature of the American Dream, as well as the impossibility of buying happiness. There is always some bigger house higher on the hill, but as Mr. Da Ros’s suicide illustrates, the attainment of greater material goods is often futile.
As the novel progresses, the extent to which the lives of the Mossbachers and Rincóns are intertwined becomes clear. América is taken to work in Arroyo Blanco, and Delaney comes into contact with Cándido at the grocery store, where they both shop. Their many points of connection represent the proximity of immigrants and white Americans. The immigrant is an essential part of American society, and even the residents of Arroyo Blanco who champion building a wall around it look for cheap workers at the labor exchange. Furthermore, despite the proximity of the two couples and their repeated interactions, they remain anonymous and unknown to one another, representing the invisibility of certain social classes. Part of that invisibility is driven by Prejudice, Xenophobia, and Implicit Bias, as Delaney’s reactions to Cándido stigmatize him for both his poverty and his race. Likewise, his community’s prejudice against immigrants both inspires and enables Jack Jr.’s casual cruelty toward them.
These chapters introduce José Navidad, a figure who appears in a threatening fashion to all of the protagonists, representing the ambiguous threat of the other. However, América is the only one who suffers physical violence at his hands, illustrating the unique vulnerability that América faces as a young immigrant woman. Other characters feel threatened by José Navidad but are protected by aspects of their identity, such as their class, race, or gender. América, as a young female immigrant, experiences more violence and marginalization than anyone else in the novel, from the outside world as well as at the hands of her husband, who is sometimes violent with her.
Delaney will later go on to describe himself as feeling “violated” after the theft of his car. The juxtaposition of his language with the violation that América experiences at the hands of José Navidad underscores their inequality. The danger that América faces is fundamentally different because of her intersectional identity. This reality is also apparent when contrasting her situation to Mary’s, the white woman from the labor exchange. She and América do the same work, but Mary’s whiteness and status as an English speaker guarantee her a place of greater privilege. América suspects that Mary is paid more while América is cheated out of two hours of work, and Mary does not have to suffer Jim Shirley’s sexual harassment.
Finally, the juxtaposition of Delaney’s recreational hikes with the Rincóns’ living situation drives home both his privilege and the way that privilege shapes Delaney’s relationship with nature. For Delaney, nature is a place of refuge and aesthetic enjoyment. He values his hikes because he feels like he is experiencing an untouched wilderness. When he encounters the immigrants’ encampments, he is enraged, because he believes they have desecrated a pristine natural area. In contrast, for the Rincóns, hiking through the canyon with only a small amount of food is their daily life, not their recreation. They must walk through the canyon in search of work, rather than as a respite from it. The way the novel juxtaposes Delaney’s claim that there is nothing more he could ask for than a “handful of raisins and a blanket” (82) in the wilderness with the Rincóns’ struggles to survive in the ravine emphasizes his hypocrisy, as well as the way that nature serves as a backdrop to his comfortable suburban life. The relationship with nature that he prides himself on is false, a product of his status as a rich white settler. He can romanticize nature because he is not subject to it.
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By T.C. Boyle
