[.ca] Under The Feet Of Jesus (ISBN 0452273870)

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The scorching hot midday sun beats down upon the bare necks of migrant Mexican workers, ready to do back-breaking work for meager wages. One of the characters of the story, Perfecto, observes the scene described in wonderful detail: clouds ready to burst like cotton plants, an old decaying barn nearby, and a silence interrupted only by the wisps of wind that ruffle the peach trees. As he observes these images, reality quickly sinks in: "The silence and the barn and the clouds meant many things. It was always a question of work, and work depended on the harvest, the car running, their health, the conditions of the road, how long the money held out, and the weather, which meant they could depend on nothing" (4). Set in the harsh, poverty-stricken world of the migrant Mexican worker, Under the Feet of Jesus, by Helena Maria Viramontes, is a story about a Latino family in California, trying to get by in a society that turns a cold shoulder to their every woe. As the characters endure hardship upon hardship throughout the book, the author's own ideology manifests itself in their slow loss of faith. Religion is no substitute for gritty human spirit in times such as these. By the end of the novel it seems clear that Perfecto's observation holds partly true: they can depend on nothing but themselves. The novel centers primarily around Estrella, a young girl on the verge of womanhood, and her relationship with Alejo, another migrant worker of the same age. Throughout the story, the characters are confronted time and time again with hardships they must endure, each time further questioning their faith. After Alejo is poisoned by a crop duster and falls ill, the family takes care of him, spending what little money they have for his treatment. Alejo, no stranger to harsh reality in his life, bleakly ponders if this is some sort of punishment from God. As his condition deteriorates and things look grim, Estrella curses God, thinking He "did not care," and that now renouncing Him, she "was alone to fend for herself" (139). At the end of the novel, in a scene that perhaps represents Viramontes' ideology the best, Estrella is perched on a rooftop, "on the verge of faith," yet she does not let herself fall (176). She doesn't trust "blindly" anymore, instead choosing to "trust the soles of her feet, her hands, the shovel of her back, and the pounding bells of her heart" (175). In the end, Estrella has learned that it is her own strength she must trust in, not God's, to carry her through the hardships she faces. Under the Feet of Jesus by Helena Maria Viramontes, is at its heart, a novel that reveals to the reader through vivid metaphorical detail, the harsh world of the Mexican migrant worker. The book pulls its characters away from grasping blindly at faith in a benevolent God, and brings them to take comfort in the only constant that is rooted in their ever-changing environment: their own spirit to go on. Perhaps reflective of Viramontes' own ideology, this novel provides an excellent view of the loss of religious faith, replaced by gritty human spirit that can overcome any hardship. Inspirational and beautifully written, I highly recommend Under the Feet of Jesus to anyone!

Review:
The book, Under the Feet of Jesus, is a juxtaposition of the beautiful landscape of California and harsh life of a migrant worker. This story focuses on one migrant family who went through much turmoil. The mother, Petra has to live with the fact that her first husband abandoned his family, leaving the family to look for back breaking work in the country side. The father, Perfecto is much older than Petra and is struggling to do as Petra's first husband did, to abandon the family and go back to his hometown. The main character in the story, Estrella is a fourteen year old girl who works long hours under the unforgiving sun, is looked down by her teachers, and learns the meaning of sacrifice and love when she loses her first love, Alejo. Each character undergoes their own personal battles when they meet Alejo. Alejo is a migrant worker boy who becomes engulfed in poisons by a crop duster as he picks peaches in a field. Estrella's family takes him under their care out of pity. They become strained as they have to both work and nurse Alejo. Nothing that they do can help Alejo, as his conditions diminishes everyday. It is at this time Estrella falls in love with Alejo. Days go by and Alejo becomes critically ill. Estrella is faced with the horrible situation that her family will have to abandon Alejo because they simply cannot take care of him. Out of this struggle, Estrella comes out even stronger, knowing both the joy and pain that comes from love. The author Vermonters challenges us to look beyond our perceptions of others, especially the lower classes of society. There is so much more to these people then their poverty. They are real people with families and emotions, trying to go by on what little they have. This story illustrates grim life of the immigrant workers and then glorifies them by showing their struggle and triumphs over their problems. These people are able to go beyond what society labels them and their poverty by forging their own identity. Through their sacrifices and their unity in spirit, they can break free of the word poverty and find meaning in themselves.

Great Book!:
Under the Feet of Jesus vividly portrays the life of poverty, exploitation, and inferiority that migrant farm workers in California battled with on a daily basis while chasing their aspirations of a better life. We follow the footsteps of a family that has fallen prey to misfortune as they grapple with their new reality of hardships. The mother, Petra, has been abandoned by her husband and has been left with no choice but to return to the fields working for mere pennies. The protagonist of the story is Estrella, the eldest daughter of the family who is transitioning into puberty and has started to recognize the thick line that stands between her and the rest of society. For being a work of fiction, Veramontes does an amazing job of developing the characters as the story progresses. Wonderful imagery and near-poetic metaphors combine to create a vibrant picture of sorrow and frustration that can be experienced by all. Written toward the end of the 20th century, Under the Feet of Jesus emerges during a period of reflection and heavy criticism for the field of Chicano/a studies. Scholars were just beginning to explore Latino and Cuban influences in the subject while critics claim that the field has become tainted with defensiveness and the ideology of portraying Latinos as victims and Euroamericans as the agressors.1 Much debate has been centered on the attempts to lump Chicano/a, Latino, Cuban, and Puerto Rican studies into one generic field of study. Viramontes chooses to transcend this debate and instead chooses to portray an image of unification and kinship that exists within the migrant worker community. The idea that a shared sense of inferiority can transcend differences in age, ethnicity, and background is very provocative when attempting to analyze Chicano/a pieces. Whether it be the simple act of Alejo giving Petra the peaches that he and his cousin had spent the entire afternoon gathering, asking nothing in return, to Perfecto surrendering his dream of returning to his home so that Alejo could be taken to the hospital, the concept of community is held together by mutual circumstance and an existing cultural hybridity. Whether you are looking for a short and entertaining book to occupy a lazy afternoon, or a novel that will have you thinking for days, I highly recommend that you choose Under the Feet of Jesus.

Beautifully written:
The book, Under the Feet of Jesus, is a juxtaposition of the beautiful landscape of California and harsh life of a migrant worker. This story focuses on one migrant family who went through much turmoil. The mother, Petra has to live with the fact that her first husband abandoned his family, leaving the family to look for back breaking work in the country side. The father, Perfecto is much older than Petra and is struggling to do as Petra's first husband did, to abandon the family and go back to his hometown. The main character in the story, Estrella is a fourteen year old girl who works long hours under the unforgiving sun, is looked down by her teachers, and learns the meaning of sacrifice and love when she loses her first love, Alejo. Each character undergoes their own personal battles when they meet Alejo. Alejo is a migrant worker boy who becomes engulfed in poisons by a crop duster as he picks peaches in a field. Estrella's family takes him under their care out of pity. They become strained as they have to both work and nurse Alejo. Nothing that they do can help Alejo, as his conditions diminishes everyday. It is at this time Estrella falls in love with Alejo. Days go by and Alejo becomes critically ill. Estrella is faced with the horrible situation that her family will have to abandon Alejo because they simply cannot take care of him. Out of this struggle, Estrella comes out even stronger, knowing both the joy and pain that comes from love. The author Vermonters challenges us to look beyond our perceptions of others, especially the lower classes of society. There is so much more to these people then their poverty. They are real people with families and emotions, trying to go by on what little they have. This story illustrates grim life of the immigrant workers and then glorifies them by showing their struggle and triumphs over their problems. These people are able to go beyond what society labels them and their poverty by forging their own identity. Through their sacrifices and their unity in spirit, they can break free of the word poverty and find meaning in themselves.

A fine piece of literature:
This is a short novel, 176 pages. The stories characters, a Chicano migrant family, are very finely crafted. They are very real. Perfecto is probably the most powerfully drawn. He is probably about 73, with a wife about 40 years younger than himself and several stepchildren including thirteen year old Estrella who could be said to be the novel's main character. Estrella's father abandoned Petra, the mother and her children. Perfecto feels the urge to do just that towards the end of the book during a particularly difficult period. I'd have to say that the description of Perfecto's turmoil is probably a close second in the book to the scene where Estrella explodes in the medical clinic, where her class resentments are taken out on the poor white nurse. Now, I got the feeling through reading this book that it might have been better edited. The author just might be the greatest confector of similes in the history of humanity though I thought she might have laid them on in the book a bit too heavy. There are streches in the book where the writing is first rate, full of vigor; then other periods when it is less vigorous but still well done. But after I finished the book, I thought to myself that the book could not have been written any other way for better or for worse. In conclusion, this is a very finely crafted story of a poor migrant family, perhaps very typical, as they engage in back breacking labor for long hours at ten cents an hour under terrible working and living conditions, breathing in pesticides, enriching their bosses and giving us cheap fruit and vegetables.