The Tortilla Curtain

Kyra Menaker-Mossbacher is Delaney’s wife and Jordan’s mother. She is a successful real estate agent who works six days a week and rarely takes vacations, priding herself on her enthusiasm and work ethic. She is the family’s “chief breadwinner” and oversees many aspects of family life, such as strictly controlling Jordan’s diet. She maintains a rigid exercise routine and is deeply devoted to her two dogs, Sacheverell and Osbert. Kyra is the personification of the American Dream and the insatiable drive of capitalism. Although she has a successful career, she has little time for her family, spending an hour and a half with her son in the evening “if she [is] lucky” (78). Despite her success, she always feels the pressure to do more and dreams of working for herself and living in a mansion like the Da Ros place. She exhibits many of the same racist tendencies as Delaney and their neighbors, which she justifies by insisting that changes in population demographics are “bad for business.” Through Kyra’s career, the novel explores trends of white flight as cities become more diverse and densely populated. Kyra notes that she serves many middle-class white families looking for “something out of the way, something rustic, rural, safe—something removed from people of whatever class and color, but particularly from the hordes of immigrants pouring in from” around the world (111). Because she uses the shield of “business,” Kyra is often more brazen and outspoken than her husband. She portrays the racist fears of her buyers “in terms of simple business sense” (163), allowing her to insist that her views are simple facts, not “heartless or calculating” (163). Her combination of racism and avarice exposes The Contradictions of the American Dream, showing that while white Americans rely on immigrant labor to support their lifestyles, they will never allow immigrants to achieve the dream they enjoy.

Thirty-three-year-old Cándido Rincón comes to the United States with his 17-year-old pregnant wife, América. For years, Cándido migrated between the United States and Mexico, working seasonally. However, when he went home and discovered that his first wife, América’s elder sister Resurrección, was pregnant and living with another man, Cándido decided to move to the United States permanently. He is dedicated, resourceful, and hardworking; however, the accident with Delaney leaves Cándido incapacitated and then disabled. Throughout the novel, he struggles with the belief that he is plagued by bad luck. To some extent, this is true; many of Cándido’s misfortunes, such as getting robbed at the border and being hit by Delaney’s car, result from bad luck. Much of the “bad luck” that Cándido experiences, however, is the result of systemic racism that conspires to prevent his success. For example, he cannot access treatment after his accident and is forced to look for work in secret because of his undocumented status. Cándido is also subject to the direct consequences of the more affluent characters’ actions, such as Delaney hitting him with his car and Kyra getting the labor exchange closed. To characters like Delaney and Kyra, those events are isolated and the damage they do is abstract, but Cándido illustrates the direct impact on individuals with an already precarious existence, thereby humanizing themes of immigration and prejudice. 

Cándido’s name means “white” or “pure” in Spanish. In terms of his innocence as a victim of Prejudice, Xenophobia, and Implicit Bias, it is appropriate; however, it takes on a sinister irony in the context of his relationship with his wife. Cándido firmly believes in traditional gender roles and feels ashamed and emasculated when América goes to work instead of him. He is preoccupied with América’s safety and protecting her, yet when he gets angry, he wants to “slap his own pain out of her” (187), and she often meets other harm even with her husband nearby. He represents a threat to her safety and well-being in a way he does not to the safety of the Arroyo Blanco citizens, even though they believe otherwise.

As the novel progresses and the Rincóns face hardship after hardship, Cándido becomes more aware of the world’s unfairness. He knows he is seen as “a criminal for […] daring to risk everything for the basic human necessities” (206), and by the end of the novel, he realizes there is no reason for him to play by the rules when the deck is stacked against him, asserting that “he wasn’t going to ask—he was just going to take” as he builds the new shack for América and the baby (316). Despite his bad luck and periods of intense frustration, Cándido never wavers in his goal. Even after the fire, he immediately begins looking for work again, and he pulls Delaney from the flood, suggesting that his ordeal has not destroyed the purity that his name represents.

América Rincón is Cándido’s 17-year-old wife. She is “as perfect and beautiful as an egg in its shell” (24), and Cándido cherishes her. She is his “hope of the future” (24). To Cándido, she symbolizes the American Dream with her name and the baby growing in her belly. Although América is generally portrayed as naïve and childlike, she faces more adversity than any other character and exhibits unparalleled bravery and resilience. She is the victim of a great deal of violence, not only from outsiders like José Navidad but also from her own husband, illustrating the compounded struggles that migrating women face. When working for Jim Shirley, América receives an unwanted hand on her thigh, and José Navidad and his friend later rape her. She is alone in these struggles, unable to speak to Cándido because of the rage he feels at her violation. América is also alone in her pregnancy, far away from her mother, sisters, or anyone in whom she could confide.

América’s struggles in America are set in ironic juxtaposition with her childhood in Mexico. Growing up as the youngest of eight children, América was always well-loved and never went hungry. Her life in the United States is significantly worse than in Mexico, and she often wishes she would have stayed behind. Cándido promised her a life of comfort, security, and luxury in the United States, but instead, she is starving, unhoused, and the target of racial and sexual harassment. Thus, América embodies The Contradictions of the American Dream for immigrants and non-white Americans. What was promised to her proves to be out of reach due to the systemic prejudice and exploitation that makes the American Dream possible for people like the Mossbachers. Likewise, the dream of America that América represents to Cándido proves to be unattainable, as their suffering erodes their relationship, and their hopes (and daughter) slip out of their fingers.