Most contemporary people express their liberal opinions regarding immigrants in the U.S.T.C. Boyle's Tortilla Curtain goes at proving how while some have apparently changed their discriminatory principles, they tend to act against their reasoning when encountering a difficult situation. Delaney claims to be a freedom promoter, and one who cannot accept racist theories. Matters seem to have changed significantly ever since the times when squatters robbed Californian dons of their lands and Chinese immigrants were considered to be different from immigrants of other nationalities.

In Candido's opinion, Delaney lives the perfect life, being a legal U.S. citizen, owning a house in a good neighborhood, and a Japanese car for which he pays little insurance money...

However, the general public fails from noticing that people like Delaney live in a lie, having been brain washed with liberal theories all across their lives for nothing. When he runs across a situation he cannot handle all of his principles turn to dust and he chooses the easy way out, even if this involves him abandoning his victim, who is in urgent need for medical assistance.
All three books are attempting to open the eyes of people, proving that society's general values are being trampled on when they involve the well-being of a certain social group. California has always been a land where the rich and the poor fought a constant battle, the latter having less chances of thriving in an environment dominated by the wealthy.