Although I have only started reading this novel I am instantly sucked into the contrasting 'American Dream' that these individuals are trying to experience. What is your opinion of the morals that show between Delaney and Candido as they relate to the ideal lifestyle and wishes of their own American Dream? Which side of these lifestyle goals do you agree with most? Do you have any quotes that jump out at you in response the the American Dream motif?
Quotes from Chapter's 1 and 2:
"What good was he? He'd taken America from her father so they could have a better life, so they could live in the North, where it was green and lush the year round and the avocados rotted on the ground, and everyone, even the poorest, had a house, a car, and a TV--- and now he couldn't even put food in her mouth." (PAGE 26)
"... he vowed he'd never let America out of his sight if he could help it, not till they had a real house in a real neighborhood with laws and respect and human dignity." (PAGE 27)
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"Jordan was six years old, dedicated to Nintendo, superheroes and baseball cards, though as far as Delaney could see he had no interest whatever in the game of baseball beyond possessing the glossy cardboard images of the players." (PAGE 34)
"He and Kyra had a lot in common, not only temperamentally, but in terms of their beliefs and ideals too---that was what had attracted them to each other in the first place. They were both perfectionists, for one thing. They abhorred clutter. They were joggers, nonsmokers, social drinkers, and if not full-blown vegetarians, people who were conscious of their intake of animal fats. Their memberships included the Sierra Club, Save the Children, the National Wildlife Federation and the Democratic Party. They preferred the contemporary look to Early American of kitsch. In religious matters, they were agnostic." (PAGE 35)