Under The Feet Of Jesus

Under the Feet of Jesus opens with a question, as Estrella wonders whether her family “[has] been heading for the barn all along?” (3). This is a somewhat unusual way to begin a novel; rather than establishing the story’s setting and the characters’ relationship to it, Viramontes begins on an uncertain note, leaving the reader to wonder why the family is traveling to the barn, and even whether they intend to do so. Although Petra eventually confirms that the barn is in fact the family’s destination, the ambiguity of the novel’s first few sentences is thematically important, because it alerts readers to the precariousness of the lives led by the novel’s characters. As migrant workers, Estrella and her family have no settled home, so the confusion surrounding their relationship to the barn is part of a more general confusion surrounding the very concept of what home means to people who are always on the move.

Even more than that, however, the uncertainty of the novel’s opening reflects the uncertainty that defines almost every aspect of life for Viramontes’s characters. The episode with the Quaker Oats box reveals that Petra often struggled to provide food for her children in the aftermath of her husband’s departure. Perfecto’s presence has provided the family with a bit more security, but basic necessities like food and shelter are still not guaranteed; instead, the family has to compromise and haggle (often literally, as when Perfecto barters his skills as a handyman) to make ends meet. Worse still, the characters themselves are ambiguous in the sense that they exist on the fringe of American society. Although Petra’s children were born in the United States, even the novel’s documented migrant workers are effectively invisible to society at-large; the work they do goes unacknowledged, as do the terrible conditions they work and live in. Alejo’s encounter with the crying boy introduces one of the major symbols Viramontes will use to describe this invisibility: missing or distorted mouths. The boy has a cleft lip (which is itself a commentary on the pollution of the labor camps and the toxic effects of exposure to pesticides), and makes no noise while crying; the implication is that he has no voice in the society he lives in.

Under the Feet of Jesus is therefore a critique of a society that at best ignores and at worst exploits the laborers who put food on its tables. However, Viramontes is also interested in the ways in which those laborers respond to the precariousness of their existence. Alejo’s kindness to the young boy demonstrates the importance of turning to one another for support—something Alejo will himself benefit from when he falls ill later in the novel. Meanwhile, the reference to “Petra’s altar with Jesucristo, La Virgen María y José” suggests another approach to the problem: looking to religious faith as a source of stability and comfort (8).

Ultimately, however, it is perhaps Estrella whose responses are the most significant. Already, differences are beginning to emerge between Estrella and the other characters—particularly her mother, Petra. This is especially clear in their varying responses to the departure of Estrella’s father; when Petra is on the verge of a breakdown, Estrella yells at her to pull herself together and then cheers her siblings up. This is presumably the kind of thing Petra has in mind when she worries that her children have had to grow up too fast, but Under the Feet of Jesus is also a coming-of-age story, and in that sense it celebrates Estrella’s growing faith in her own abilities. Although Estrella’s respect for bold and decisive action is clear early on—she admires Perfecto’s tools, for instance, in part because of the “significance” handling them lends to her—her confidence in herself will increase over the course of the novel, thanks in part to her developing romantic relationship with Alejo (26).