The tortilla is representative of the Mexican experience, and a curtain is something that separates or divides. The "tortilla curtain" refers to the physical boundary between Mexico and Southern California, and, in a deeper sense, the vast ideological and sociological chasm separating the American citizen and the Mexican immigrant.
The two central characters in the story are Delaney Mossbacher and Candido Rincon. The two men and their families live in close proximity, but their lives are completely different. Delaney has a nice house, two cars, and is financially secure, while Candido lives in a makeshift hut made of garbage and discards, and must struggle everyday just to survive. Although Delaney considers himself to be open-minded and liberal, his philosophy works better in theory than in practice, and when faced with the reality of Candido's presence and need, he discovers that he is more inclined to look the other way and gate himself off from what feels like an intrusion. At the end of the story, both Delaney and Candido find their lives threatened by a flash flood. It is only through sharing this dire experience that the men are able to break through the "tortilla curtain" and discover their common humanity .
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