I think there should be some truth in fiction. One is able to tell their own story extremely well because they experience their day to day feelings like happiness, rage, hopelessness, disgust, and inner dialogue; while one from an outside perspective can only see dialogue, actions, and outward feelings. As well as this one may not tell the truth or the full truth when telling one's story to sway an outside audience in a certain direction to think something about a person. 

 Writers tend to portray another person by how they perceive them rather than the way they actually are. According to the beginning of The Tortilla Curtain when Delaney hits Candido with his car. Delaney's first thoughts when he hits another human being with his car was is the car okay? Will my insurance rates go up? When questioned about his judgment and if the person is okay he said it’s just a Mexican, it’s fine, it does not matter-- he brushed this off easily. I wonder how the same story would be told from Candido’s perspective. I think that Candido’s first reactions would be closer confusion and worry. And once he found out about how Delaney reacted to the situation he would feel offended and resentful. Being a sympathetic person myself it is hard to imagine not caring about someone because their heritage and background may be different than your own. Because Delaney grew up in an upper middle class white community called Arroyo Blanco, Delaney has a bias that he can not change easily. Seeing people of different races, colors, economic statuses, and people who are different then him is very uncommon.

In The Tortilla Curtain each chapter is told from a single perspective. Single perspectives are so dangerous especially in books and movies; even though they are not real they can influence real life situations and enhance already learned biases.