Under The Feet Of Jesus Character Analysis

From the excerpt from the novel, “Under the Feet of Jesus” by Helena Maria Viramontes, the main character is Estrella, a young Spanish girl with a powerful desire to learn to read. Although she is persistent, her teachers refuse to educate her because they are more concerned of Estrella’s personal hygiene. This leaves Estrella resentful because of the barrier between herself and knowledge. Estrella remains silent until a man named Perfecto Flores teaches her how to read by using his expertise in hardware and tools to represent the alphabet. Viramontes depicts the heartfelt growth of Estrella through her use of tone, figurative language, and detail. When the audience is first introduced to Estrella, she is portrayed as an angry and confused girl who is failed by the school system. From the use of the words such as “foreign” and “jumbled” the author creates the underlining tone of confusion. In the next scene Estrella remembers her teacher asking her why her mother has never given her a bath (33). Estrella realizes that in her teachers eyes she is dirty and not worth an education, and Estrella understands that “words could be as excruciating as rusted nails piercing the heels of her bare feet”

The tool chest in her house is temporary in Estrella’s eyes because it is compared to a suitcase (3). Estrella becomes distant with rage because knowledge is out of her reach. The author presents the tool chest as an entity taunting her and holding its secrets from her, “the tool chest stood guard by the door and she slammed the lid closed on the secret” (8-11). However, Perfecto “opened up the tool chest, as if bartering for her voice” (52-53). Once the exchange of her voice for knowledge occurs, Estrella has finally learned how to read. This opening of the chest sparks Estrella’s final growth when she “weighted the significance it awarded her” (72), and Estrella finally sees the bigger picture of learning the