The Tortilla Curtain Part II Chapter 6

Question

1. When Delaney listens to Jack Jr.’s vulgar commentary about Mexican “chicks”, he thinks, “This was Jack’s kid. A kid who should know better, a kid with all the advantages, raised right here in Arroyo Blanco” (230). He wonders if Jordan will turn out the same way and comes to the conclusion “of course [he] was…[the wall] might keep them out, but look what it keeps in” (230). Respond to Delaney’s conclusions. 

 

2. When Todd Sweet approaches Delaney about soliciting his help to stop the wall, Delaney doesn’t jump at the chance, “his mind gone numb with ambivalence” (233). Why do you think Delaney has changed his earlier position? 

Answer 1

In Chapter 6 of Part II of The Tortilla Curtain, there is a moment of anguish for Delaney when he hears Jack Jr.'s crude comments regarding Mexican women. Horrified that prejudice of this nature can occur in a child raised in the privileged, allegedly progressive society of Arroyo Blanco, Delaney is compelled to question the moral character of the world around him. His perception—"the wall can keep them out, but look what it keeps in," appears to be a growing awareness that the walls constructed to protect often breed ignorance and intolerance within. This is compounded when Todd Sweet comes to Delaney for help to defeat the wall and Delaney takes no action, frozen by paralysis. His early liberal ideals have been tainted by fear, defeat, and pressure from his peers. Both of these scenes exist to demonstrate Delaney's internal conflict and the novel's broad condemnation of gated communities and the pretense of righteousness.