Joni Mitchell was once known as the Queen of the Canyon.  She developed and refined  much of her songwriting genius  in L.A.’s Laurel Canyon in the Sixties. Who knows?   That might not be too far away from The Tortilla Curtain’s Blanco Arroyo.   Midway through the novel, I can hear Joni singing the perfect song  in the background where America finds herself alone in the woods.  In the shadows, America  goes face to face with a wild coyote and doesn't budge.

Joni’s song?  It’s called “Coyote,” of course:  “No regrets Coyote…We just come from different sets of circumstances…”  I believe Joni feels a deep love for the coyote’s  restless, creative soul.  They both journey this Earth for their freedom. They are both survivors.   

Likewise, America seems to connect the novel to the forces of nature. I mean her name itself represents the ground that everyone stands on. America’s dark skin, her jet black hair, and her tiny frame are all reminiscent of her Indian heritage.  In many Indian cultures, children are introduced to the elements at a very early age, so they develop more of a respect for nature, and less of a fear.   From the first time we see her in the novel walking along the Pacific Coast Highway, we know she feels part of it. 

“There’s no comprehending…Just how close to the bone and the skin and the eyes…And the lips you can get..” sings Joni.  “And feel so alone.”  Joni knows something about surviving harsh realities.  So does America. So I love the scene where America is sitting there all by herself in the shadows of the woods. It must be both frustrating and frightening . She’s tired and hungry and hurt, and she hears something but she doesn’t know what. It’s kind of like a dream, but it’s real – she’s staring face to face with a coyote. And instead of screaming or panicking, “she looked at that coyote so long and so hard that she began to hallucinate, to imagine herself inside those eyes looking out…”

The sky is blue, the leaves are green, and the coyotes eyes look like they are made of yellow glass.  Joni.  America.  The coyote.  They are soul sisters. They are kindred spirits in a harsh world.

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Below:  I ask my students to create a Song Lyrics/ Text Passage Chart.  It's not  always that EAZY.  But, it's FUN and MEANINGFUL

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"Coyote" by Joni Mitchell	The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle
I looked a coyote right in the face	then she saw movement and the thing materialized all at once,  as in one of the tick-of-the-eye drawings where you can look  and look forever and see nothing until you turn your head the  magic way. It was a coyote (178).
There's no comprehending Just how close to the bone and the skin and the eyes And the lips you can get And still feel so alone And still feel related	Bristle fur, tanned the precise shade of the dried hill grasses, one  paw lifted, ears high. It held there, sensing something amiss, and  looked right through her with eyes of yellow glass..(178).
No regrets Coyote We just come from such different sets of circumstance	The coyote is not to blame – he is only trying to survive, to make a living, to take advantage of the opportunities available to him (214).