Tortilla Curtain MVP

 The most important part of the book “The Tortilla Curtain” by T.C. Boyle is the building of the gate around Arroyo Blanco. This part is the most important because this symbolizes a border between whites and Mexicans. Most people in the community believed that if they put a gate around their homes, they would be protected from the outside dangers, such as coyotes and even other people. Now, Delaney was completely against the building of the gate because he felt like it would feel like a prison. Delaney moved to Arroyo Blanco for its open-gated community but now they are trying to do what he was running away from. Much like Delaney, Candido and America are also running from something, their lives in Mexico. They come looking for a better economic situation in the United States, but soon find that things are the same, or even worse in the U.S. They go through many struggles and America even mentions that she wished to be back in Mexico. If Candido and America came looking for a better life in the U.S., are things really that bad here that she would rather be back in Mexico? The Tortilla Curtain MVP is the building of the wall around Arroyo Blanco because it symbolizes the overall conflict that is developed throughout the novel, illegal immigration. Much like the border that divides the United States from Mexico, this wall between Arroyo Blanco and the outside separates the whites from everyone else. At first Delaney did not approve of the building of this wall, but as the novel went on, he soon changed his mind and believed that the wall should be built. This can also refer to the way Delaney thought of Mexican illegal immigrants. At first he did not care much about them, but by the end of the novel he even went after one to kill him. The wall had many effects on various characters’ perspectives, such as Delaney, and this is why I believe that it was the “MVP” of the novel.