The Tortilla Curtain Soundtrack

                                                                English 110

                                                             “Two Lovers”

       Mary Wells was considered the Queen of Motown. Motown was important in popularizing soul music. Born in Michigan, Wells skyrocketed to fame in the sixties. She had many signature hits, but “Two Lovers” is her most relatable. It’s about a woman who loves a man, but he has two different sides to him. On one side, he is kind and on the other side he’s horrible to her. However, the woman still loves him regardless of how he treats her. She loves both sides of her lover unapologetically. Smokey Robinson wrote this song. He was inspired by an old movie, Mojo. Smokey believes, “Love doesn’t have no boundaries, no formulas, and no rules.” Those words come across as Mary sings her heart out on this song.

Mary Wells was not only the voice of her generation, but also the many generations to come. The song’s audience is every woman who has ever been in her situation. Men do have two sides to them, not all but most. The same can be said for women. What “Two Lovers” is saying is that it is okay to love somebody like that. Love doesn’t have to be perfect. People don’t have to be perfect. Relationships don’t have to be perfect.

Mary Wells often sings about love, heartbreak, and relationships. She gets her inspiration from events that happen to her in her personal life. Mary has had multiple relationships with people from the music industry. She’s had divorces and those moments resulted in hit songs. It shows that anybody can benefit from hard times and turn them into success. Mary was a courageous and strong women who will always be remembered for her talent.

Two Lovers, Mary Wells	The Tortilla Curtain,  T.C Boyle
Well, you know he treats me bad, makes me sad Makes me cry but still I can’t deny	She threw it all at him, angry, hurt, terrified; and then he rose up of the blanket and slapped her. Hard. (83)
Darling’ well, don’t you know that I can tell Whenever I look at you that you think that I’m untrue?	If she was lying to him it was to spare him, he knew that, and his heart turned over for her in his drunkenness. (187)
He’s sweet and kind and he’s mine all mine He treats me good like a lover should	Nothing bothered him now, not his lip or his cheekbone… thinking of the beer and the turkey and America… And she smiled. She actually smiled.  (264-265)
Cause you’re a split personality And in reality, both of them are you, baby	-He clowned for her, danced round the sand spit with the bird atop his head, doing a silly jog. (282) -Angry, frustrated, his face turned into an expression that would have terrified him if he caught sight of himself. (207)

Reference: www.songfacts.com

                  www.imdb.com/name/bio

Book of Your Past

The title of the book that I had read is called Terms of Enlistment that was written by Marko Kloos. I don’t recall reading much books throughout my high school years because in the English classes we mostly read short stories and poems, but this book I remember reading. I had read this book three semesters ago here at IVC for my English 9 class. The class was required to read this book, and at the end of the semester take a fifty question test on it.

 The book is about a boy named Andrew Grayson, and his challenges of getting out of crime-filled welfare units to become part of the military to make a better living for his mom and him. Everyone is the welfare units are given weekly meals that were made of soy and only consisted of 2,000 calories.

My favorite part of the book would have to be when he meets up with the girl that he liked after they had been split up through ranking. In the beginning of the book they are taken to a place where they have quarters to live in and are given test in order to determine what branch of military they go to. Grayson is not the best so he is placed in a cleaning unit while the girl he likes is placed in the Navy. They are away from each other for a long time and after for what it seems like forever they get to meet each other.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that is willing to explore the genre of sci-fi and open their minds to a new form of world. A world that could most likely become ours one day.

Tortilla Curtain MVP

            Throughout the novel, Delaney has a deep hatred for Candido. After he hit Candido with his car, he would run into him at random places. That’s when things started to go downhill. At first Candido seemed like a nuisance to him, but as time went on he saw him as someone who should die. Delaney wanted him gone. The reason I have chosen Delaney hatred towards Candido is because it is the reason that made Delaney hate Mexicans.

            Delaney is like a ticking time bomb with no one to stop it from exploding. He had no problems with Mexicans before, but after his encounter with Candido events spiraled out of control to where he felt like everything that was wrong was because of Mexicans. He knew that they were crowding the streets looking for jobs, but he felt that it was their right to work. The right that they had to make money. He felt this way in the beginning; however, in the end he didn’t feel the same way. He felt that they were the problem. He started to care less whether or not the labor exchange was discontinued. He had no sorrow or remorse for these people anymore. They were the reason why he had a huge wall around his home that stopped him to see the nature that he moved there for. He had nothing left, he was angry and wanted someone to pay for it.

            Candido is just a guy with bad luck. He tries to do the best he can, and always fails. All he wanted was to work to make enough money to get America, his unborn baby, and him a place. He wanted a new beginning with her, so that way he could take them out of the cave they were living in. He was a guy with a string of bad luck.

            Without Delaney apathy towards Candido, this book would not be as interesting. The back and forth between the two made it a page turner. They were two men trying to please their wives, but were not able to because if so many obstacles thrown there way. Delaney was obsessed with Candido, and did anything he could to make him gone.