What are the motifs in The Underground Gardens by T. Coraghessan Boyle?

Appearances are a recurring idea. Baldasare, hiring the cabriolet makes it seem like he is trying to appear like a millionaire. Baldasare is a man obsessed with appearances. Baldasare's initial dream is to create vineyards on his American land, not only because he was raised in the business inItaly, but because it fits into his vision of what the American dream should look like. In his mind's eye, he sees "his seventy acres buried in grapes," a large "house of four rooms" for his wife and children, "four sons and three daughters"—in other words, an excessive, unrestricted lifestyle.