Gating Communities

One of the main conflicts in the Tortilla Curtain, by T.C Boyle is the idea of gating a community. Delaney and his wife Kyra live in an exclusive community called Arroyo Blanco in California. Kyra is petitioning for the “wall” for safety reasons. Within the past few months a coyote came into their backyard and killed two of their dogs, then Mexican immigrants were camping out in the lawn of a home that Kyra was selling (she is in real estate). Delaney however is very against the wall. He writes passages in the local paper about nature and different animals. Without the wall, Delaney has direct access to the natural world, yet the wall would prohibit his ability to walk straight out the back door and into the woods. He also believes that it is unnecessary segregation.  The community voted for the gate and the wall enclosing the community for safety reasons. They feel threatened by the large wave of Mexican Immigrants and they feel they have the right to feel safe in their own homes. 

Follow These Instructions:

To begin your assignment, go to I Tunes and watch the pod cast called “Gated Communities; who and why?” You can find this by searching Open University Welfare, crime and society. Under this there are many different lectures about why people gate communities that you may browse through. Also, go to my delicious page where you can find links to different websites, articles, and blogs to help you. You may also use the quotes bellow to structure your own opinion and find more support for your argument. Research both sides of the argument and decide whether you are for or against the gating of communities. Once you have made your decision, please write a blog post about your opinion using different links as support. 

Quotes

Against a gated community:

“We wanted an open community, freedom to come and go- and not just for those of us privileged enough to be able to live here, but for anyone- any citizen- rich or poor.” (43)

 “It goes against my grain to live in a community that closes its streets to somebody just because they don’t have as fancy a car as mine or as big a house.” (43)

 “If there was a gate that car wouldn’t have been there, and who knew what he’d just escaped- a beating, robbery, murder?”  (64)

 “I need to be able to just walk out the door and be in the hills, in the wild- I don’t know if you noticed, but its what I do, it s how I make my living. Christ, the damn fence is bad enough- and that fucking gate on Arroyo Blanco, you know I hat that, you know it” (220)

 “It’s about exclusion, division, hate.” (220) 

For a gated community: 

“Safety. Self-protection. Prudence. You lock your car, don’t you? Your front door? (101)

“This society isn’t what it was- and it wont be until we get control of the borders”  (101)

“I’m talking the latest rash of burglaries? The three houses on Esperanze that got hit two weeks back? Well, the gate helps, no doubt about it” (188)

“I need to be able to just walk out the door and be in the hills, in the wild- I don’t know if you noticed, but its what I do, it s how I make my living. Christ, the damn fence is bad enough- and that fucking gate on Arroyo Blanco, you know I hat that, you know it” (220)

“It’s about exclusion, division, hate.” (220)