America As A Symbol

In our last class, we discussed the idea of Acosta's inner self manifesting to plague his outer self. Because Acosta's mind is in chaos, the life he lives must also be indicative of this same chaos. However, taking a closer look at the more tangible aspects of Acosta's life, it is possible that food may be a symbol for America or those naive, untrue ideals of Acosta's life that he simply cannot accept.

The food that Acosta eats while living in America is on one hand tastes "good" and cheap both characteristics that satisfy Acosta's short term goals. However, in the long run, this same food is damaging Acosta's stomach, and Acosta is complicit in self-destruction by continuing to eat this food. In many ways, this self-destructive cycle is in many ways indicative of the American dream. For many foreigners, the American dream at first glance is the ideal opportunity: to live in a country where your pay is simply is based on merit. However, once many immigrants arrive within America, they find their dreams shattered, and due to the costs of arriving in America, they are unable to move out. And in the end, Acosta's vomiting represents his own inability to accept these American ideals.