The Mojave Mindset As Coretta Scott King once said, “The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.” In “Mojave Rats”, there is a lack of compassion in the trailer park community, which contributes to their lack of connections. Residents do not put in effort in spending time and getting to know their neighbors and instead make flash judgements, which is representative of many American communities. The short story “Mojave Rats” by Kirstin Valdez Quade explores the relationship between Monica, who offers no compassion to the people around her, her daughters Cordelia and Beatrice, and her second husband Elliot. They moved from Los Angeles to Shady Lanes RV park in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and …show more content…
Her trailer park is a perfect representation of the divides in America. Even though it is a temporary community of people who all want something more in their lives, if they were to support each other, a cohesive community could be formed. There are clear hierarchies regarding communities, not only having to do with their wealth, but also various social aspects. Just because people have different levels of education, occupations, or class, there is a belief that they are incompatible. Conversely, if Americans would accept variation and try to look deeper into other people, everyone would have many more perspectives and broader, two sided, views of the world around them. Everyone would learn to sympathize and walk in other people’s shoes. Neighbors in America mostly keep to themselves in fear of bothering the people around them, but Americans need to see that whether they are Middle Class or millionaires, they need to look past people’s outside layer and political beliefs and instead look at them as human beings. As expressed in Monica’s isolation which is a result of her condescending nature, most Americans have an inability to accept being surrounded by people who they feel are inferior to themselves, because of personal insecurities, which is not of help to American communities or