During the summer of 2017, my English teacher had several requirements that we had to complete over the course of the 2017 summer. Two of the Requirements politely asked us to read two novels, The Tortilla Curtain and Ceremony. These two books had many modern conflicts dealing with War, Immigration,Traditional medicine versus modern technology, and the general feelings towards the aliens of our culture. With all the controversy in these two books both books had a similar connection. Dante Alighieri, the inventor of the Fourfold Method of Interpretation, gives readers and teachers a method to expand their thoughts from a concrete understanding to an abstract understanding of the novels that they are reading. Dante has 4 layers to his fourfold
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The Literal/ Historical aspect means what is really happening at that exact moment and where the characters are. In the novel Ceremony, Leslie Marmon Silko writes a book of historical value using a fictional protagonist by the name of Tayo. Tayo is a WW2 vet suffering from a mental ailment, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD. In this novel Tayo is a mix between a white American and a Laguna native. The setting of the novel is on the Laguna reservation, and all over the New Mexico area. While suffering from PTSD, Tayo has flashbacks to his time in the Philippines. In that time he lost his cousin Rocky in the dreadful Bataan Death March that the Japanese made captured Americans do during their incarceration. Many American soldiers died during this historical act, but we returned the favor by dropping the atomic bomb. Tayo’s grandmother, mentions in the book about a source of light that came from deep within the desert. This was the testing of the atomic bomb and the many trials that would shape the future. Even though Ceremony gives insight on historical and literal actions, it is still in the past, for T.C. Boyle it is merely a gateway. T.C. Boyle, author of The Tortilla Curtain, writes about the different lives for an American citizen, and a Mexican immigrant. Boyle writes about the lives of two protagonists named Delaney and Candido, and their contrasting views on the world of America. Delany is a liberal middle class American who can achieve the American Dream whenever he pleases. Candido, Boyle’s second protagonist, is an illegal immigrant who wants nothing more than to achieve the American Dream for himself and his young wife America. Boyles novel takes place in the suburbs outside of L.A. near Topanga Canyon. Boyle sheds a spotlight on the current issue in America which is immigration. The issue of immigration brings out the emotions such as racism, bias and prejudice
The Literal/ Historical aspect means what is really happening at that exact moment and where the characters are. In the novel Ceremony, Leslie Marmon Silko writes a book of historical value using a fictional protagonist by the name of Tayo. Tayo is a WW2 vet suffering from a mental ailment, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD. In this novel Tayo is a mix between a white American and a Laguna native. The setting of the novel is on the Laguna reservation, and all over the New Mexico area. While suffering from PTSD, Tayo has flashbacks to his time in the Philippines. In that time he lost his cousin Rocky in the dreadful Bataan Death March that the Japanese made captured Americans do during their incarceration. Many American soldiers died during this historical act, but we returned the favor by dropping the atomic bomb. Tayo’s grandmother, mentions in the book about a source of light that came from deep within the desert. This was the testing of the atomic bomb and the many trials that would shape the future. Even though Ceremony gives insight on historical and literal actions, it is still in the past, for T.C. Boyle it is merely a gateway. T.C. Boyle, author of The Tortilla Curtain, writes about the different lives for an American citizen, and a Mexican immigrant. Boyle writes about the lives of two protagonists named Delaney and Candido, and their contrasting views on the world of America. Delany is a liberal middle class American who can achieve the American Dream whenever he pleases. Candido, Boyle’s second protagonist, is an illegal immigrant who wants nothing more than to achieve the American Dream for himself and his young wife America. Boyles novel takes place in the suburbs outside of L.A. near Topanga Canyon. Boyle sheds a spotlight on the current issue in America which is immigration. The issue of immigration brings out the emotions such as racism, bias and prejudice