Research Paper on:
A Comparison of Post Modernism in The Tortilla Curtain and The Things They Carried

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impose themselves upon unsuspecting people. In OBriens (1999) case, the stench of war is thrust upon his protagonists, enveloping them like the plague to such an extent that the  only thing keeping them sane is the camaraderie they develop. For Boyle (1996), the wholly divergent story line of two California couples - one wealthy suburbanites, the other Mexican  immigrants - smacks of the injustice of social class distinction so readily attacked by Marxist theory. At the forefront of Marxist social class theory as it relates to Boyles (1996)  story is the manner by which there is always a separation that determines social acceptance, whether that is representative of overflowing bank accounts, fancy houses and privileged status or the  struggles faced by populations of hardworking, dedicated people who are cast aside due to their lowly rank upon the social ladder. "A house, a yard, maybe a TV and  a car too-nothing fancy, no palaces like the gringos built- just four walls and a roof" (Boyle, 1996, p. 29). What is the American Dream, and why is this  immigrant couple so desirous of attaining its elusive fulfillment? Indeed, the American Dream has come to represent the attainment of myriad goals that are specific to each individuals defined  social status; while one person might consider a purchased home with a white picket fence her version of the American Dream, another might regard it as the financial ability to  operate his own business. What it does universally represent in the context of Boyles (1996) literary interpretation, however, is the opportunity for people to seek out their individual and  collective desires under a political umbrella of democracy, while at the same time under the restrictive thumb of social class limitation. Boyle (1996) illustrates how the group of people who