Helena Maria Viramontes Under The Feet Of Jesus

Under the Feet of Jesus
In the story, Under the Feet of Jesus author Helena Maria Viramontes tells the story of a young laborer named Estrella and her family. The settings are in the Western United States and it is connecting through a summer harvest, the novel characterizes the callous working environment that influence Cesar Chavez to unionize farm laborers. Indeed, Under the Feet of Jesus is dedicated to the representative's memory. In the book, Maria Helena Viramontes tackles themes of marginalization and erasure, listening to the experience of women. The novel is important not only for its content, but for its unique switching perspective and agenda, which allows readers to see events from several perspectives. Estrella and Petra’s statements, actions and attitudes in the story comply with feminist. Feminist is a

person who supports feminism.

An example of feminist is in the beginning of the twenty-first century, feminist literary theory, criticism, and scholarship were used to form a field in feminism studies with the knowledge of every category. The mother and daughter relationship, Petra believes in God as Estrella believes in herself.
The mother and daughter relationship represent the beliefs and values they both shared. Throughout the novel, Petra is portrayed as someone who relies on religion and superstition to guide her; she traces circles in the dirt to chase away scorpions and prays to a statue of Jesus for strength. She is also submissive, accepting the authority of the nurse at the clinic, even as she dislikes it. In contrast, Estrella is portrayed as someone who turns not to God, but to herself. Through action, Estrella secures medical treatment for Alejo, challenging the nurse and the worldview she represents. Despite their

differences, both characters are deeply dedicated to family. The barn in the novel is more than a decrepit building, the barn represents a space where Estrella can complete her transformation and empowerment. The structure is described as a "cathedral," a place of religious contemplation (9). Estrella continues to use the building as a place for reflection. By the end of the novel, Estrella uses the barn as a platform, realizing her own power and believing herself strong enough to help people. In this way, the barn functions as a sort of secular church, where Estrella launches a new religion of self-empowerment. As oppose to Estrella’s mother, Petra, the Christ Statue in the novel, represents the Christian religion that Petra believes in. Estrella's mother treats the statue, like Christianity, with great respect and turns to it for guidance. Unfortunately, in her time of need, Petra leans on her altar, causing the statue to fall and break. The decapitated statue mirror's Estrella's rejection of religion and Petra's growing doubt of its power. Christianity has failed the family; Estrella fills this void by relying on herself instead of God or Jesus.