The Mossbachers

THE MOSSBACHERS:

Delaney, Kyra, and Jordan Mossbacher live with their dogs Osbert and Sacheverell and their Siamese cat Dame Edith in an exclusive housing development in Arroyo Blanco in Los Angeles, CA. They are agnostic liberals and they are members of the Sierra Club, Save the Children, the National Wildlife Federation, and the Democratic Party. They are joggers, non-smokers, and vegetarians. They attempt to live the American dream.

Delaney Mossbacher has lived in L.A. for two years. After his divorce from his first wife, he married Kyra and moved with her to Arroyo Blanco to live close to nature. From home he writes a monthly column called “Pilgrim at Topanga Creek” about the local ecology for `Wide Open Spaces`. When he does not write, he is out walking and observing nature. In Delaney`s life everything has its place. While Kyra works at her office, he takes care of Jordan. It is all right to him that she is the chief breadwinner. In the course of the story Delaney`s opinions about the wall, that is build around Arroyo Blanco, and about immigrants change. At the beginning of the story he is a liberal humanist who is interested in nature and in wild animals. His guiding principle is, “Immigrants are the lifeblood of this country”, but this view is put to the test when he hits Candido with his car and so his values begin to crumble. Delaney`s disgust even increases when he finds the dirty sleeping bags on his hike and when robbers steel Delaney`s car. As a result he directs his rage against all immigrants onto Candido. The guilt he feels after the accident turns into anger and outrage. Delaney believes that the Mexicans want to turn the world into a “garbage dump little Tijuana”. That is the reason why he begins to like the wall.

He moved to Arroyo Blanco because he wanted to live close to nature. That is why he does not like the wall but he accepts it. However at the end of the story Delaney likes the wall and puts up the cameras in addition to it. His driving a Japanese car is a symbol of his cosmopolitanism.

Kyra Mossbacher is Delaney`s second wife. She is a successful real estate agent in her middle thirties, working for Mike Bender Reality, Inc. Kyra is responsible for closing up