Saturday, February 25, 2012

Irony, the Muppets, David Foster Wallace, and the punishment of the post-modern subject in Tropic of Orange

Unfortunately I managed to forget to post by the deadline last night. I’m not sure if it’s possible to get partial credit for these postings; either way I figured I’d try to contribute something anyhow, in part because I’ve had a thought rolling around in my head since our class discussion on Thursday regarding Emi’s death.

Someone (I think, I might be misremembering) proposed the idea that she was being narratively punished in some way for being a sort of liberated or modern woman (or something to that effect). The more I consider this, the more I disagree. First of all, as we agreed in class, she has no more agency (and indeed perhaps less) than Rafaela turns out to have in the animalistic showdown with her pursuer. Therefore, I would summarily disagree with the assertion that Emi is the butt of a type of narrative punishment for stepping outside of her boundaries as a woman.

However, I am beginning to think that her death nevertheless does symbolize a type of punishment. In my mind though, it’s almost exactly the opposite, she is punished for not allowing herself enough freedom or agency, for loving too much what holds her down in culture.

There is a quote that David Foster Wallace cited regularly (though he could never attribute it to an original source, and I’ve not been able to find it) that says, more or less, “irony is the song of the bird that’s come to love its cage.” It is my argument that Emi, in her position as basically the most clearly post-modern subject in Tropic of Orange, is like the bird that has come to love its cage. She is preemptively dismissive and ironic about almost everything she comes in to contact with, for instance, with her constant assertions that “cultural diversity is bullshit” or that various things including Gabriel’s interest in film noir (and thereby, by association, his pursuit of knowledge) are “passé” (128, 18). It’s also probably important that she is associated with the decidedly more post-modern medium of television.

For the most part Emi is limited to expressing her opinions in negatives, which is also the issue with pervasive irony; it’s impossible to pin down the ironist on exactly where he stands, since he only claims that everything is passé or bad. He makes no attempts to escape from or transcend the boundaries put on him by society (in the case of Tropic of Orange this largely has to do with class and racial boundaries), instead dismissing attempts by others as futile and childish.

There’s a scene in the recent Muppets movie that illustrates this for me (I’ll admit I might be over reading in to it because I recently found out that Roland Barthes had a writing credit on the first movie- to be fair, though, there are a lot of pretty post-modern moves in that first one at least). Toward the end of the film when the Muppets are putting on a stage show in order to raise money, a group of Muppets perform a barbershop quartet version of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” to the angry shouts (e.g. “You’re ruining it”) of a tied up Jack Black. Jack Black is tied up literally because of the figurative limits he imposes on himself by way of his negative and ironic stance with respect to the Muppets attempts at a positive act. Emi is similar to this; she is punished not because she oversteps her boundaries, but in fact because she refuses to do so by shielding herself in irony.

The Sol of Tropic of Orange

One of the most interesting characters in Tropic of Orange is one whose perspective isn’t part of the main narrative. Sol embodies several themes of the novel, including the movement from south to north, the elongation of time and place, the mélange of races, and the centrality of the orange. In the opening chapter, Dona Maria calls Sol “a true mixture,” and like many of the other characters in the novel his race is the product of interracial parents (7). Unlike the other characters, though, Sol is the only one completely unaware of his internal contradictions, and whether or not he is actually a true mixture is determined by those around him, outside his control.

Sol also seems to be connected in a profound way to the dividing line Rafaela notices: “She followed Sol who seemed to be following a path of his own, but upon closer inspection, he was tracing the path of a very thin but distinct shadow” (13). He appears to be intimately in tune with the invisible forces that Rafaela notices, seemingly tracing his own path but actually being governed by the path of the line. We see that Sol probably follows this line throughout the entire novel, such as when Rafaela relinquishes him to Arcangel’s care near the end. Arcangel carries the line with him northward as Sol knowingly or unknowingly follows. It would be enlightening for Yamashita to provide glimpses into Sol’s perspective to see if he does in fact see the line at all times, but that would deviate from the cartography of the novel.

Sol is also tied to his namesake, the sun, and its movements. When the sun is highest in the sky at noon and there are no shadows on the ground for Sol to trace, he goes into a fit. Sol is not “interested [in a rainbow], and he was getting heavier ever step” (69). Without the shadows for Sol to run along, he does not want to walk at all. A good part of Rafaela’s chapters are devoted to describing how Sol walks and how much he does it, so out of all the characters the path that Sol takes may be the most important, out of his control or not.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Global North, Global South.



As we have discussed Tropic Of Orange is a book that displays the differences between the Global South and the Global North and touches upon how capitalism and the development in technology are constantly adapting our lives and changing them for the better, however many countries in the Global South are still suffering immense poverty. Each character in Tropic of Orange represents and portrays a stereotype of many minority social and ethnic groups that we see in the United States.
Readdressing the themes of capitalism and what we visualise and romanticise as ‘living the good life’ Manzanar in my perspective is the most important character in breaking down these stereotypical ideas and seeing the world and its divides for what it really is.  Manzanar represents the two polar opposites of the characters that are represented within the novel. As we know, at a point in Manzanar’s life he was a successful surgeon , perhaps this is where Manzanar seems to have greater wisdom and broader perspectives than many of the novels characters, he one lived the highlife that society had guided him too and is now a homeless man living under the bypass. “Now human civilization covered everything in layers, generations of building upon building upon building the residue, burial sites, and garbage that defined people after people for centuries. Manzanar saw it, but darkly, before it would shift irrevocably[...]filling a northern vacuum with its cultural conflicts, political disruption, romantic language, with its one hundred years of solitude and its tropical sadness.” (170)
This extract highlights the growing changes and advances to society in regards to capitalism as well as human population whilst commenting on how the Global North and the Global South are different in their issues but yet intertwine. The latter of this extract implies the idea that the struggling issues that the Global South suffers with are often inflicted by the Global North. This places reemphasises how the Global North and Global South not only connect and interlink on a physical scale,  but in terms how they connect and intertwine on a social aspect and in this sense highlights the vast cultural and economical divides not only in the world but in the United States.

Death of Anti-multiculturalism


Karen Tei Yamashita's "Tropic of Orange" includes narration that follows seven vastly different characters. Two significantly different characters are Emi and Bobby. Emi is a Japanese- American, upper class television reporter. She tends to be obnoxious towards her boyfriend, Gabriel, with her anti-multiculturalism. It is even debated upon whether or not she even has a racial/cultural identity. The narrator of her segments even states "it was questionable if she even had an identity" (19). On the other end of the identity spectrum, Bobby is "Chinese from Singapore with a Vietnam name speaking like a Mexican living in Koreatown. That's it" (15). His cultural alignments throughout the novel are confusing in that he aligns with all of them. It is interesting then, in the end of the novel, Emi's character dies and Bobby's is the one responsible for holding the two sides of "invisible bungy cords" symbolic of two sides of cultural difference, or even the global north and the global south. The question this leads to is why the character representative of anti-multiculturalism is eliminated and the character representative of multiculturalism lets go of the ties to his multiple cultures.
If taken as a commentary on the United States' reaction to the influx of multiple cultures, from the south specifically, then why does Yamashita chose to let go of ties and kill off anti-multiculturalism? It seems to be that she is saying in order to successfully deal with the influx and immersion of different cultures into the culture of the United States, tight binds must be broken and resistance should be expelled. When Bobby releases the two cords tying him to multicultural definitions, he is able to bring his arms in and embrace his family. "That's it"(268). 

Arcangel as the unconventional hero

Arcangel, not distinctly human, nor explicitly metaphysical being, exhibits multiple superheroic attributes, such as inhuman strength, the ability to grow wings, a specified sense of prophecy, and other odd miracles. Yamashita purposefully juxtaposes this with Arcangel's appearance, as the decrepit characteristics of the old man's form in addition to his bruised, damaged body has the tendency to throw the entire hero-schemata off a little. A conflict arises within the reader on how to view the character, as his physical body is withered and grotesque, deterring one to find something heroic within such a character. Furthermore, his miracles such as moving a truck or building a wall from bricks are  stupefying and at the same time, underwhelming.

Arcangel, as a representation of the suffering of ethnic ancestral histories, complicates how Yamashita thinks our descendants our are viewed in present day. If Arcangel claims to embody an entire group of people, "[awaking] to all the metaphors that come from the land," there is something to be said about the fact that many people he interacts with cannot take him seriously.  Arcangel lists many great Hispanic thinkers, the toiling of migrating peoples, and first nations who gave up their land to violent conquest, for whom he takes on the role of spokesperson. Yet, the interaction Arcangel has with his environment, both deluded with melodrama, but poignant in his capabilities as a documentarian, makes him less of the hero than he is. The widely accepted image of heroes (brawny, suited, glamorous, and mysterious), does not fit with this hero. Yamashita was trying to place these thinkers, sufferers, and martyrs on a pedestal, without convolution their identity with physical allure. Rather, she chooses to convey the unconventional hero in his highs and his lows, whether ejaculating into the rain, or his overarching, lineated narrative, that reads like wise poetry and prophecy.

Francisco Tirado

Oranges Represent Drugs

It was mentioned in class when the toxic oranges were introduced, that the oranges represent death and have a play on the media and people’s values. Someone mentioned that oranges are representative of cocaine and drugs. On Thursday in the novel in particular, the oranges represent drugs in general. Oranges on this day represent the affects drugs have on people, the crowd they appeal to, how the economy is affected by their distribution and ban, and the connections they create.  The oranges that the media represents as having so many uses and is so good for you end up killing people. Yamashita seems to be putting drugs and their distribution on a more relatable level. Oranges are attainable and used by many people, and when they become deadly and banned, they become exactly like drugs. Buzzworm gives the young boy an orange because it is a healthy nutritional snack; on the streets, drugs are just as common and attainable as an orange. In addition, they are just as damaging as Yamashita’s oranges. When it is revealed through the media that the oranges have been injected with some drug or poison, it attracts people that do not know its affects, want to try to see if they can get some, and those who want to try them. Just as drugs are a presence and for some a temptation in people’s lives, these oranges became that way. Buzzworm makes the comment about the oranges’ attractiveness in that “you mighta thought it was only gangs or druggies or the mafia going after them, but it was everybody, like it was a lottery” (140). Then he uses the ever so popular drug slogan “just say no,” as if oranges were just as big of an ongoing problem.
            When oranges became banned, it had the same economic effect as illegal drugs do. People were trying to attain them and get rid of them. Distributors of oranges did not want to be caught selling them, but they also “knew the value of the merchandise and were finding ways to hide it” (139). Drugs, because they are illegal, require connections to get them and prevent being caught. The people who want oranges have to know where to get them now. The truck that delivered the affected oranges as just a form of transport, had connections with drug dealers, just as those, peddling drugs have to make connections in order to get and sell them. Yamashita makes oranges, in the novel, represent drugs to show how prevalent they are to society.

It's Time to Smell the Roses


In Karen Tei Yamashita’s book, The Tropic of Orange, the seven main characters are all wrapped up their busy lives one way or another.  Gabriel is wrapped up in his work and house in Mexico, Emi in technology, Bobby in working and consumerism, the list goes on.  It seems that they are all too busy to see what else is going on around them, and I feel that this is a metaphor for the United States and the people who live in it.  We are all so wrapped up in technology and school and making money, that we forget about the people who don’t have what we have, or we forget to “stop and smell the roses.”
Since media is a big part of the book, I feel it is also a big reason why we are so caught up in other things like what Iphone is coming out next, or who said what on Twitter.  We are surrounded by media and outside influence, and this is also the case in The Tropic of Orange.  The homeless taking over the freeway is a metaphor of what would happen if some force all of a sudden “stopped up” our communication/technology that we use every day.  Just like the people in L.A. use the freeway to bypass and get to where they need to go fast, we use texting, Facebook, all types of technology to bypass talking to people face to face and communicate quickly. 
           Once the freeway was blocked, people started to use other ways to get to where they needed to go.  They started to discover places they were bypassing every day, “smelling the roses” if you will.  People started walking and discovering places that they would have never discovered otherwise.  If we would just put down our technology for a little bit, walk on foot somewhere, or call someone as opposed to having a Facebook conversation, we would get more out of our everyday lives.  It is so easy to get wrapped up in technology and everything else around us that it is important to remember that we need to step outside of our busy lives sometimes and see what else is around us that we are too busy to notice, and not wait until the freeway is jammed

Disaster or Device

I don't recall discussing the purpose of the underlying purpose of catastrophes presented in Tropic of Orange in class but I think it is worthy of some notice. The Tropic of Orange is clearly written in the postmodern form and because of this it is important to notice that the aspect of disaster isn't meant to be just another part of the story. White Noise is another novel that is easily comparable to The Tropic of Orange. If you take a look at the cover of White Noise you see a small image of the airborne toxic event; if you look at the cover of a Tropic of orange you see a portrait of an orange and a city in turmoil with planes flying above. This means that when these books where published it was decided that the best way to sell these books where to advertise the catastrophe that would take place within its pages.
Today's society, especially the American society has become a society of people who desire catastrophe. We seek it out in our films, music and literature. For example any person in American society could quite easily name at least 5 movies they have seen in which the world comes to an end in some way, if asked to simply name films in which a major disaster takes place; the list would be endless. It is interesting that both Tropic of Orange and White Noise devout a chapter of the novel to the issue of disasters. American society craves these catastrophes and postmodern authors have caught on to this crave.
When an author writes a novel he/she has an agenda of controversial issues or ideas that we as readers are expected to pick up on. These issues are embedded within the narrative and it is the hope of the author that readers will be able to pick up on them and consider their meanings and answers. Postmodern writers, (Yamashita included) producers and artist in general have learned to use the social craze for catastrophe as a device to attract readers. Often times the catastrophe such as the Harbor Freeway Accident, itself is not the most important aspect of the novel but rather the means of attracting readers to the bigger issues.

Representations of the Media in Tropic of Orange


Through the events of the disaster on the freeway and a narrow focus on several characters, Karen Tei Yamashita explores the role of the news media throughout Tropic of Orange.  The book’s spotlight, Gabriel, is a reporter who believes in doing things the old-fashioned way, through detective-work, while Emi represents a more modern, entertainment-driven news perspective.  Gabriel’s sentimentality, which also emerges in his Mexican abode, conflicts with Emi’s pragmatic sensibilities, but Gabriel secretly agrees.  “She was right.  News was the spice of life… News was change (155).”  A third symbol for the media arrives when Buzzworm encounters Emi at the freeway event.  Before him, Yamashita wrote of the media spectacle at the freeway that “The average citizen viewed these events and felt overwhelmed with the problems, felt sympathy, or anger and impotence.  There was also an imminent collective sense of immediate live real-time action better than live sports (122)…”  Yamashita frequently invokes this discussion of the huge distance between viewers, who only see entertainment, and the subjects.  She often mentions that the viewers are disturbed by the ongoing events but none of them take any action toward resolving the problems.  Meanwhile, Buzzworm essentially hijacks Emi’s media outlet in order to provide a more humanistic coverage of the disaster, and to alert people to social issues.  Viewers love his show, which could be Yamashita’s way of indicating that people do not only crave entertainment, they also want substance.  Furthermore, Buzzworm complains of the constraints he still feels once he has his coverage.  Speaking of commercial interruptions, Emi responds that “You don’t choose the commercials.  They choose you (189).”  Here Yamashita reveals the ways in which capitalism distorts true journalism.  Because commercials are essentially sold off to the highest bidder, news organizations lose responsibility for the content that they present, and they must be constantly slashing time for commercial breaks in order to maintain a profit and stay afloat.  The news as entertainment theme reinforces this critique of capitalism, because consumers of the news will want their programs to be entertaining, therefore the most entertaining stations win out while the ones with the true substance may fail.  

Arcangel's Death

At the end of Tropic of Orange Arcangel's death is left ambiguous. Yamashita never comes out and says if Arcangel has actually died or if Rafael's orange has revived him. The ambiguity of Arcangel's death could add to Yamashita's stance on time being cyclical especially with the reference to the line of the Tropic of Orange being attached to Arcangel's supposed body. If we are to believe that Arcangel is dead--Bobby even thinks about him being buried under an orange tree--then are we also to believe that the entire disaster is going to start again, that history repeating itself is inevitable.
If however Arcangel is still by some miracle alive, then does this mean that SUPERNAFTA has won and that El Gran Mojado has been defeated or since he's still alive he has not been defeated and is back for another match? The ambiguity of Arcangel's death--or not death--is central to the ending of Tropic of Orange.

“The Buzz” – Authentic?

Media in contemporary United States culture thrives on exposing aspects of society not always visible by the public.  Yet, in the novel Tropic of Orange, Yamashita critiques this modern day society as being driven for knowledge in part by the use of technology as created by the media.  Therefore, Yamashita places Buzzworm in the underbelly of Los Angeles, the unseen vision of a lower income society in order to uncover the authenticity in media of the present era.
            When first establishing the character of Buzzworm in the first section, Yamashita brings attention to how people like Buzzworm believe in the news information they receive: “just about everybody thought they knew the truth” (25). It is through this authenticity gap that Buzzworm emerges. Truth due to the media seems to be indisputable with the spread of news. However, it is through this “truth” that Buzzworm appears in order to challenge these “truths” circulated throughout the city. Similarly, when talking about the watches he constantly wears, it is noted, “he figured he could be around when the time’s right. Time for everything” (26). By calling attention to the separate three-word fragment, “time for everything” it seems that Yamashita alludes to the more modern claim of “a time for change.” Is it through this same sentiment that authenticity and truth are called to question when time is a factor? Does a sentiment of timing create a desire for what is real and true? For this change, Yamashita critiques the media and their authenticity in a way that could suggest change.
            It is through this same desire for truth that an actual reporter Gabriel, describes Buzzworm as always craving for the news: “he wanted desperately to see in print the stories of the life surrounding him, to see the wretched truth, the dignity despite the indignity” (43).  Buzzworm thrives on knowledge of news whether how horrid or depressing the event. Even his name “Buzzworm” brings to mind a constant urge for the “buzz,” to be always in the know. The news it seems to Buzzworm, uncovers deep-rooted truths that only a reporter can showcase to the public. The media also breaks down layers that hide news from society, “if someone could break down all the layers of the real map, maybe he could get the real picture” (81). These layers that Buzzworm mentions, metaphorically represent the underbelly of society, the less talked about components that make up society. By releasing these layers through reporting and the media, the “real picture” becomes released opening up gaps in society. It is through this suggestion that change in the media would be possible to depict the authentic news to the public. Yet, it is the media’s responsibility to expose the issues within a society as suggested by Buzzworm throughout the novel.  

Borders in Tropic of Orange


The title of Tropic of Orange is significant because it brings together two key symbolic

components featured throughout the novel. These symbols are the tropic of cancer and oranges.

Much of Yamashita’s novel addresses issues surrounding borders, both real and imagined.

Tropic of Cancer is one of these borders which divide the planet’s climates. While theoretically

this is a border which serves a purpose, it is imaged by humans to explain a natural phenomenon.

This concept of imagined borders is important as Yamashita applies it to the reader’s

understanding of nearly everything. Stereotypes can be understood as imagined borders which

define behavior.  One example of a moment in the novel which exemplifies this issue that the title raises

occurs in the chapter Diamond Lane in the section Tuesday. A woman is selling oranges and

catches Buzzworm’s attention. She says, “Look. I got nice oranges. This not the season see. So

is imported from Florida.” Buzzworm corrects her, explaining that oranges from Florida are no

imported because they are shipped within the United States but that oranges from Mexico would

be imported. The woman responds, “Por que? Florida’s more far away than Mexico.” The

woman has a point. In a brief passage that shows an interaction between a street vendor and a

patron demonstrates the absurdity of these imagined borders. Geographically, Florida is much

further away from Los Angeles than Mexico but when it comes to trade, it is only national

borders which matter.  There are several other moments which address similar issues but this moment is

significant because of the cynical tone which draws attention to the absurdity of these borders.

Just Passing Through


            I think the concept of normative time comes into play in the ending between Buzzworm and Emi. Yamashita’s novel, Tropic of Orange, completely debunks the idea of normative time. Because the tropic of cancer, something that is supposed to be permanent, can move, then how can one rely on time being completely linear? A person’s death seems to go along very well with the idea of normative time; however, Emi’s death does not follow suit. Since she dies on camera, her death can be replayed over and over again. This event makes time seem more cyclical than linear.
            After Emi is shot, Buzzwork takes her to the top of the NewsNow truck to die on live, breaking news. As she drifts slowly away, “Buzzworm wondered what could be live in this sense. Emi, on the other hand, lived for this. And it would repeat itself again and again to remind the world what the beginning of the end looked like. In this sense, she would never die” (250). The idea of “beginning of the end” emphasizes the lack of permanence in ending, or death. Emi’s death could forever live on tape, so her life could as well. Technology, such as TV, could immortalize a person’s life, which completely debunks the idea of normative time being linear.
I don’t know why I was so stuck by this ending, but I think it may be the nonchalant attitude towards her death. Emi’s death would enrage the media, but there was no thought to trying to reverse her death; it was imminent. Also, her death would not end what was going on; it would just further the current crisis. This seems to further emphasize the cyclical nature of time. There is no beginning or end, just repetition. As Emi acknowledges, “The Big Sleep. Just cuz you get to the end doesn’t mean you know what happened” (252). How does one know when they arrive at the end? Maybe you never “get” there, maybe death is somewhere you just pass through.

Tropic of Orange Post

Megan Rippey
Tropic of Orange

             As I read Tropic of Orange by Karen Tei Yamashita, I was struck by the downtrodden feeling of guilt and depression that was evoked in me by the critique of our capitalist society and the notion of the global south that we discussed frequently in class.  As I consider globalization, one of the most prominent aspects of our future world is the bleeding of culture that is seemingly inevitable.  Individualized societies with unique quirks may very well cease to exist due to the standardization of goods and businesses practices.  Buzzworm best summarizes this when speaking to Emi,
“Buzzworm noted it would most likely be black, but he said ‘It’s all shades of gray, baby sister.  Shades of gray.’  Emi’s voice sank to a whisper.  ‘Abort. Retry. Ignore. Fail…’” (252).  Considering the larger thematic issues of globalization within the framework of the novel, a close reading of this can be done to dissect what shades of gray mean in a twenty-first century society. 
             Emi’s response to Buzzworm, “‘Abort. Retry. Ignore. Fail…’” brings to mind technology and the effects that the rapid development of technology has had on our society.  Without supply chain management systems, it would not be nearly as easy to facilitate outsourcing as discussed through NAFTA.  Similarly, Emi’s word choice can also be used to misconstrue the success that is often assumed of modern capitalistic technology systems.  The border history that we studied mirrors this comment nearly directly.  The United States demanded immigrants for service jobs only to then abort, then retry, ignore the issues at hand, and then ultimately fail… only to retry for hundreds of years.  Yamashita’s tone, is similarly destitute as Emi sounds nothing short of defeated when she sinks to a whisper. 
             Although Buzzworm notes that it will be black, he chooses to tell Emi that it will be gray.  His active choice to lessen the blow of the pain of the reality of the situation is also extremely evident in society today.  With the rise of globalization, we have seen many failures as well as countless hardships placed upon individuals living in developing countries; however, politicians, news sources, and global leaders choose to use euphemisms and make light of the severity of those who are not capitalizing from corporations within the production industry that evade taxes and cut costs by outsourcing jobs.

Blood Orange

Throughout Yamashita’s novel, Tropic of Orange, the character of Arcangel has been a one that is a connecting force in the novel. Fighting against his nemesis, SUPERNAFTA, Arcangel represents a view of globalization and progression that contrasts with the Western view, such that he is a colonizer OF North America, FROM South America. This is made especially obvious in that he says his name is Cristobal Colón, a Latin-Americanized Christopher Columbus, and he describes himself to the custom officials as, “Post-Columbian” (199), making this an obvious comparison. In addition to this equivalence, Arcangel represents the educated immigrant, the poet, one that speaks half in poetry and half in prose. His poetry is especially interesting because it exposes grand scale, broad, often extremely serious and austere issues that are taking place in the world, but in a manner that is eye-catching to the reader and more appealing than just spelling-it-out-for-everyone.

The scene in which he interacts with the custom officials is the most striking interaction of poetry and prose, and one that contains many themes of the novel: globalization, Westernization, ethnocentrism, forced white normativity, and progression. Arcangel, even after talking to the men about his education at Harvard which proves he is an learned person, the instant that he slips into Spanish as he is moving across the border, “slipping across as if from one dimension to another” (199), he is accosted with the words, “SPEAK ENGLISH NOW!” (199), showing the North American double standard when it comes to immigration and globalization. American’s desire the multicultural aspect of globalization, but only if that means their culture can still reign supreme. It is imperative for invaders, “The cockroach. The cockroach. The cockroach” (199), to know that their culture and their customs are not allowed to overshadow those of Americans. Especially in Arcangel's case, his education makes him even more of a threat, because education makes it much harder to get someone to blindly follow the rules of others. Additionally, he carries the orange, which symbolizes expansion and the movement of the Tropic of Cancer into North America. As Arcangel’s poem which immediately follows this scene describes, Americans dehumanize immigrants, making them into vermin, animals, and inanimate objects, “the cockroack…washing machines…vacuums…garbage disposals…aliens” (199-201); this dehumanization gives Americans the justification and reasoning to oppress and ignore the customs, traditions and rich history behind the cultures that are entering their country.