The United States is known as the melting pot of the world: an immigrant nation where people from all backgrounds, races, and cultures join together to create our distinct American culture. Known for our patriotism, we take pride in our rights, morals, and most importantly, our country. As illegal immigration becomes an increasing issue, citizens often feel the duty to protect their nation from outsiders. Therefore, Americans adopt a racist and exclusive view, essentially abandoning the principles that the United States were built on. Although it may be difficult for older generations to change their viewpoint, high school students are still susceptible and learning about the world around them. In order to restore the United States to its fundamental values, high school students should be required to read The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle because it allows them to view their multicultural society from different perspectives, therefore encouraging acceptance of all races while at the same time minimizing ethnocentrism.
Reading The Tortilla Curtain increases acceptance of all races because it allows students to see the illegal immigrant issue from two different point of views. On one side, we see a wealthy white man living in a rich neighborhood, and on the other side we see an illegal immigrant from Mexico struggling to make end’s meet in a makeshift camp. This is important because students, “need the books as windows onto reality…that will help them understand the multicultural nature of the world” (Sims Bishop, 1990). This novel doesn’t only show the racist and exclusivist thoughts of the white man, it also portrays the Mexican’s fears and his struggles as he strives for a better future. These two perspectives add up to give the reader a complete sense of the situation in the real world. To continue, T.C. Boyle portrays the immigrant as a moral and hardworking person, not as an invader or thief. In the end of the book, the white man takes his gun and goes to find the Mexican, thinking, “I’ve got him now, the son of a bitch, the jack-in-the-box, the firebug” (Boyle, 358). However, as the white man is pointing the gun at the Mexican, there is a mudslide, and “when he [the Mexican] saw the white face surge up…and the white hand grasping at the tiles, he reached down and took hold of it” (Boyle, 360). This shows how even though the white man despised the Mexican for “invading” America and was about to kill him, the Mexican helped him without hesitation. Therefore, Boyle shows how immigrants are moral and caring human beings who deserve to be in the U.S. By including both perspectives and portraying people of other cultures as human beings, The Tortilla Curtain helps students “Not only…learn to appreciate the differences…but…learn to see the sameness, and so those other cultures are less seen as ‘others.’ ” (Blair, 2013). Thus, The Tortilla Curtain encourages acceptance of all cultures and minimizes the “us vs. them” ideology that is prevalent in the U.S.
Not only does The Tortilla Curtain encourage acceptance of all races, it also decreases student’s feelings of cultural superiority by increasing empathy and understanding towards other races. According to Greiwe, “Research has shown that there’s a link between reading fiction and understanding what others think and feel” (2017). Therefore, empathy is important because students must understand different culture’s motives, experiences, and background in order to understand that they are also human and therefore equal to Americans. This novel evokes empathy by allowing the reader to experience all of the misfortunes, racist remarks, and struggles that the Mexican went through. For example, “Get out, get out of here and go back where you belong!” (Boyle ,19) and “Beaners die” (Boyle, 62). By allowing the students to walk in the immigrant’s shoes and experiencing all of the hate that he had to go through allows the students to emphasize with him. As a result, the students refrain from using such racist remarks because they now know the effect that they have on others, for they have experienced it themselves. This empathy is an important factor in decreasing the cultural superiority that many citizens feel. Ethnocentrism, or the act of judging other cultures based on the standards of one’s own culture, is a problem that many Americans face. Citizens often believe that American culture is correct, and that they must protect their culture from the wrongness of other cultures (uniteforsight.org). However, after reading this novel, readers understand that American culture is neither perfect nor superior because its citizens resort to racism and hatred when dealing with foreign cultures. Therefore, The Tortilla Curtain encourages the acceptance and understanding of other cultures because it helps disprove the ethnocentric ideology that many Americans resort to.
All in all, students should be required to read The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle because it increases empathy and acceptance for other cultures while decreasing hatred and ethnocentrism. This novel also tackles the issue of illegal immigration, a controversial situation in today’s world. The 2010 immigration laws in Arizona have sparked controversy and backlash. President Obama criticizes them by saying they “threaten to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans.” (Thornton, 2012). In citizens’ efforts to protect America and its culture, they are ironically destroying the fundamental values that America was built on. This novel decreases intolerance and misunderstanding while also providing readers with different perspectives so that they can take a step back and reflect on the current situation. Additionally, there is a lesson to be learned from this novel that may greatly impact the real world if students take the time to try and learn. T.C. Boyle stresses that, “Immigrants are the lifeblood of this country—we’re a nation of immigrants—and neither of us would be standing here today if it wasn’t” (Boyle, 101). Immigrants make up the culture, history, and future of the United States. Americans cannot take on a racist and exclusivist ideology because essentially everyone is the same. Every single American was once an immigrant, in the same position as the millions of immigrants coming in each day. So what is it that gives current citizens the right to exclude other races from the opportunities that America has to offer?