AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
BERBUDI YUDOSUNU CANDRAJIWA Student Number: 024214008
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
my brother Hapsoro Widi Wibowo, my sister Philia Sampaguita.
In the Memory of
my late father Soebijanto Wirojoedo
for me in my search of faith. Mr. Jesus. I owe Him a lot and I would like to know Him better.
I owe an enormous debt to Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S., M.Hum, for her outrageous counsel, encouragement, prayer, patience, and much more in guiding my in my thesis.
My deep gratitude is for my family, my mom Nunuk Supriyati, my late father Soebijanto Wirojoedo, my dad Yudi Mulya, my brother Hapsoro Widi Wibowo, my sister Philia Sampaguita and my little hairy brother Bule, and all my relatives, thanks for being one.
My sincere gratitude is for my beloved Mira, for being someone special in my life. Thanks for the encouragement, prayer and love that motivate me in finishing this thesis.
My second family, Te’ Puji, Eyang Bantar, Mogi, thanks for the valuable support.
My friends, Galang Wijaya, Jati ‘Kocak’, Andika ‘Jaran’, Tiara Dewi, Dyah Putri ‘Tiwik’, Gideon Widyatmoko, Budi Utomo, Ari ‘Inyong’, Dimas Jantri, Teguh Sujarwadi, Putu Jodi, Pius Agung ‘Badu’, Adi Ariep, Yudha ‘Cumi’, lilik, q-zer, Widi Martiningsih, Wahyu Ginting, Yabes Elia, Sugeng Utomo, Ditto, Frida, Bigar Sanyata, Nikodemus, Wahmuji, Anna Elfira, Tyas P Pamungkas, Prita, and all the names I have not mentioned here, that have shared
lecturers, and staffs of Fakultas Sastra Sanata Dharma University.
Berbudi Yudosunu Candrajiwa
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN……… iv
DEDICATION PAGE………..…….. v
ACKNOWLEGDEMENTS……….………..….…… vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS…... viii
ABSTRACT……….……….….. ix
ABSTRAK………..……… x
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION……….………… 1
A. Background of the Study………....… 1
B. Problem Formulation………....…. 4
C. Objectives of the Study………... 4
D. Definition of Terms……….….…..… 5
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW……….…...……… 7
A. Review of Related Studies……….…… 7
B. Review of Related Theories………...……. 8
1. Theory of Characterization……….….…………. 8
2. The Relation between Literature and Society………..…… 10
3. Theory of Class……….…..……....…. 11
4. Theory of Race Discrimination………...…….….... 13
5. Review of Chicanos’ Experience in California in 1900s.… 15
C. Theoretical Framework……….…..……… 22
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY……….….………... 24
A. Object of the Study………. 24
B. Approach of the Study……… 25
C. Method of the Study……….…….. 26
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS………...…… 28
A. The Chicanos’ Experience in California in the 1900s presented through the Characters Life Experiences in Under the Feet of Jesus……….. 28
B. The Social Criticism on the American Labor System Presented through Characters’ Life Experience...……….……….. 44
1. Capitalist Exploitation toward Chicano Farm Workers…… 44
2. Race Discrimination………..………….…… 58
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION…….………….………... 64
BIBLIOGRAPHY……….……..……… 68
Jesus. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2008.
This undergraduate thesis analyzes one of Helena Maria Viramontes’ novels entitled Under the Feet of Jesus. The writer focuses the discussion on the social criticisms as reflected through characters’ life experiences. The thesis discuses the Chicanos’ experiences in California in the 1900s.
This undergraduate thesis analyzes two main problems. The first problem deals with the representation the Chicano experiences in California in the 1900s through the main characters’ life experience. The second one deals with the social criticisms that are reflected through the characters’ life experiences in the novel.
To conduct this study, sociocultural-historical approach was employed. This thesis applied a library research to collect data from books and internet resources. Theories of characterization, representation, class, race discrimination, and the review on the historical background of Chicanos’ experience in California in 1900s are used to analyze the problems.
The result of this study shows that Chicano farm workers in California in 1900s experience the poverty, exploitation from the capitalist, and race discrimination. They live in poverty and also deal with poor housing, child laboring problem, problem in education and problem in health care. Viramontes criticizes the capitalist’s exploitation which forces the labor to work in inhumane conditions; pays them with low wage and gives them fewer facilities. Moreover, she also criticizes the American society that puts the farmworkers under racial discrimination because they are considered to have lower status of race.
Jesus. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2008.
Skripsi ini menganalisa salah satu novel karya Helena Maria Viramontes yang berjudul Under the Feet of Jesus. Penulis menitikberatkan pembahasan pada kritik sosial yang direfleksikan melalui pengalaman hidup karakter-karakter di dalam novel tersebut. Skripsi ini membahas pengalaman hidup kaum Chicano di Kalifornia pada tahun 1900an.
Skripsi ini menganalisa dua permasalahan utama. Permasalahan pertama berkaitan dengan representasi dari pengalaman hidup kaum Chicano di Kalifornia pada tahun 1900an. Permasalahan kedua berkaitan dengan kritik sosial yang direfleksikan melalui pengalaman hidup karakter-karakter didalam novel.
Dalam proses analisa, penulis menggunakan pendekatan sosial budaya dan sejarah. Skripsi ini menggunakan metode kepustakaan untuk mengumpulkan data-data yang dibutuhkan dari pelbagai buku dan sumber on-line. Dalam menganalisa novel ini, penulis menggunakan teori perwatakan, representasi, kelas, diskriminasi ras, dan gambaran keadaan kaum Chicano di Kalifornia pada tahun 1900an.
Hasil analisa menunjukkan bahwa kaum Chicano di Kalifornia pada tahun 1900an mengalami kemiskinan, eksploitasi dari kaum kapitalis, dan diskriminasi ras. Mereka hidup dalam kemiskinan dan harus tinggal di pemukiman kumuh. Mereka juga harus menghadapi masalah buruh anak-anak, masalah pendidikan, dan masalah kesehatan. Viramontes mengkritik eksploitasi kaum kapitalis yang membuat para buruh bekerja pada kondisi yang sangat buruk dan membayar gaji rendah kepada mereka serta tidak memberikan fasilitas yang memadai. Lebih lagi, Viramontes mengkritik masyarakat Amerika yang membuat mereka mengalami diskriminasi ras karena mereka dianggap datang dari ras yang lebih rendah.
A. Background of the Study
“Literature is a social institution, using its medium language, a social creation” as Rene Wellek and Austin Warren state in their books Theory of Literature (1956:94). Graham Little says in Approach of Literature that literature functions “as a representation of the situation and the thoughts happening in a certain setting time and place,” (1963:1). Literature produces a path for us to understand about the social happenings, to be specific, about how people are being treated and how they deal with problem that they face under socio-economic roof.
Another benefit of literature, according to Georg Lukacs, is that literature has a great social power to “depicts the human being directly and with the full richness of his inward and outward life […] is able to portray the contradictions, struggles and conflicts of social life in the same way as they appear in the mind and life of actual human beings,” (Lukacs, 1980:143). From literature, we can obtain not only pleasure but also many great findings concerning the human struggle in getting a mere life. The study of a culture that struggle under oppression can be a good lesson for the reader to be more critical and able to appreciate life. Authors often bring their own culture into novel to be a consideration for the readers to make a better life
One of the authors, who succeeded in delivering the reality of her culture face, is Maria Helena Viramontes. She is one of the key authors of the Chicano Literature. She was born in East Los Angeles, California, on February 26, 1954. She attended Immaculate Heart College, majoring in English Literature, and received her B.A. in 1975. It was in the college that she began writing, first poetry and then fiction. She won a National Endowment for the Arts grant in 1989 and received the John Dos Passos Prize for Literature in 1995 (http:// instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/engl206/virbio.htm). She concerns in the development of her people and most likely to write about place where she comes. Her works mostly tell about the struggle of Chicano that experiencing many unfortunate things in achieving life. Her works, The Moths & Other Stories (1985), Under the Feet of Jesus (1995), Their Dogs Came With Them (2007) are the reflection of her social criticism.
When readers read Under the Feet of Jesus they can feel the thick atmosphere of the life of a Mexican-American migrant in California, “but soon becomes an indictment of corporate agriculture in California and its practices of child labor and pesticide poisoning.”, says Yolanda Alaniz, a writer on the
Chicano movement and women's rights (http://cemaweb.library.ucsb.edu/viramontes_helena.html). The reality that they
have to face in dealing with problems living as labor is brought with fluency, as if we are present among them. The story is presented through a young girl point of view, Estrella. Her family, which moved to a new place to seek a better opportunity, consists of her mother Petra, her two twin sisters Cuca and Perla, her brothers Ricky and Arnulfo, and Perfecto Flores, a friend of her mother. The family has to face the harsh life of migrant and working as a labor along with the Piscadores, Mexican Labor.
B. Problems Formulation
To have a vivid analysis, the writer formulates the problems as follow: 1. How do the main characters’ life experiences, in the novel Under the
Feet of Jesus, represent the Chicano experience in California in the 1900s?
2. What are the social criticisms presented through the characters’ life experiences in Under the Feet of Jesus?
C. Objectives of the Study
D. Definition of Terms
To help understand the thesis, it is better for the reader to comprehend some terms below.
1. Chicana/ Chicano
Chicana refers to women of Mexican descent born and/or raised in the United States. The term Chicana (and Chicano) came into popular usage during the Chicano movimiento of the 1960s and 70s as Mexican-American activists sought to define a cultural and political identity for themselves. Some believe that the term derives from the indigenous Mexica (Meh-sheik-a) tribes of Mesoamerica; others point out that the term was used as a derogatory reference to Mexican-Americans in the Southwest U.S. for many years, until it was reappropriated by activists (http://www.chicanas.com/whowhat.html#Who).
2. Criticism
of the society that is fiction represents or to which the work is addressed,” (Abrams, 1981:178).
3.Capitalism
A. Review of Related Studies
Under the Feet of Jesus is set in a beautiful land of California. This California is not the legendary destination of blissful contemplation, but rather the landscape one drives over and hikes across to get to the next job. When Viramontes describes Estrella's family trying to cross a highway, the immediacy of the narrative moment is striking, and the images of their hard labor are extraordinary. Viramontes has dedicated this novel to her parents, who met each others while picking cotton, and to the memory of Cesar Chavez, leader of the United Farm Workers (http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/engl206/virbio.htm).
Infused with the beauty of the California landscape and shifting splendors of the passing seasons juxtaposed with the bleakness of poverty, this vividly imagined novel, so observant and full of wisdom, is worthy of the people it celebrates and whose story it tells so magnificently. The simple lyrical beauty of Viramontes's prose, her haunting use of image and metaphor, and the urgency of her themes all announce Under the Feet of Jesus as a landmark work of American fiction (http://www.harrygamboajr.com/csun/text/098/098bk2.html).
“Finding the Metaphorical Key Under the Feet of Jesus,“ written by Norma Helsper, State University of New York College at Cortland, prepared for delivery at the 2001 meeting of the Latin American Studies Association, Washington, DC, September 6-8, 2001, is found as a related study to the thesis.
This study is mainly about the style of Viramontes using metaphor in Under the Feet of Jesus and the relation between the symbol and also in the reality.
“Ethnic, Feminist, Universal?: Helena Maria Viramontes’s Under The Feet of Jesus” by Michael Nieto Garcia, an article in Phenomena: Journal of Language and Literature vol. 7- No.3 February 2004 discusses about the ethnic-feminist character of the novel and the question of the universality of Chicana literature. This essay concludes that Chicana Literature is universal and it has the regard to be counted as one of the best literature in the world.
Different from the early discussion that has been made to the novel, this thesis wants to reveal what are the social criticisms that the author wants to deliver to the reader. As far as the writer is concerned this topic has not been taken as a research yet.
B. Review of Related Theories
The theories that the writer would use in this thesis are stated above: 1. Theories of Characterization
a. Main or Major Character
A major character is usually the centre of the story. He or she is the most important character in the story. Usually, the acts of the story are focused on this character from the beginning up to the ending parts. The core of the story is highlighted through this characters experience.
b. Minor character
Minor characters appear in a certain setting, just necessarily to become the background for the major characters. Their roles are less important than the major character because they are not fully developed characters and their roles in a story are just to support the development of the major character (Abrams, 1981:20).
Characterization refers to “the representation of person in narrative or dramative works” (Baldick, 1991: 34). According to Perrine, (1974:68-69), characterization can be presented in two ways:
a. Direct Presentation
The author who chooses direct presentation simply tells the readers about the qualities of the characters in exposition or analysis or has someone else in the story to tell the readers what they are like.
b. Indirect Presentation.
In Approach to Literature, Little (1981:93) explains that a character can be studied, first, from his or her basic characteristics that can be seen from the physical condition of the character; the social relationship in the work whether their personal relationship with other characters or the wider social relationship due to his or her social class or occupation; and the mental qualities, which are the ways of thinking, feeling, and acting. The second is his or her appearance from various points of view that includes how the characters sees himself or herself, how various other characters see him or her, and how s /he develops, or fail to develops, during the course of the story. The third is his or her place in the work that includes the treatment of the author (portrayed descriptively or dramatically), his or her place in the story (major or minor character), and his or her relation to the theme.
2. The Relation between Literature and Society
Literature is a social institution that uses language, one of the social creations, as its medium. Literary tools such as symbols used in the literary works represent social conventions and norms that are used in the society. The object of the literature, the world and the people, are the imitation of social reality. Therefore, literature with its medium devices and objects is the representation of life itself (Wellek and Warren, 1956: 94).
reader because indeed literature has a close relationship with particular social issues. Therefore many problems that discussed studies on social reality in the literary work are social questions, for example economic, sociocultural, and political problems (Wellek and Warren, 1956: 94).
The relation between literature and society is that literature is an expression of society (Wellek and Warren, 1956: 94). Also, literary work can play its role as a document that record social realities, happening in society, which is artistically portrayed by authors (Wellek and Warren, 1956: 102). The author expresses the truth, historical truth and social truth that happen in the exact world through literary world.
3. Theory of Class
In virtually all societies, argued Marx, there have been two major social groups: a ruling class and a subject class. In capitalist era, there are two main classes: the bourgeoisie, or capitalist class, which own the means of production, and the proletariat, or working class, whose members only own their labor power which they hire out in return for wages. The power of the ruling class is to exploit and to oppress the subject class derived from their ownership and control the means of productions. The various institution of the society, such as the legal and political system are instruments of ruling class domination and serve further to their interests (Haralambos, 1996:37).
own a part of the means of production and lack the means to produce the goods independently. They depend, therefore, for their livelihood on the capitalist and the wages offered. The capitalist as the non-producers depend on the labor power wage since, without it, there would be no production. However the dependency of the two classes is not an equal relationship. Instead, it is a relationship of the exploiter and exploited, oppressor and oppressed (Haralambos, 1996: 38).
Marx argues that a social group only fully becomes a class when it becomes a class for itself. At this stage, the members of a social group have class consciousness and class solidarity. Class consciousness means that the class is fully aware of the true situation, by realization of the nature of exploitation. Member of a class develop a common identity, recognize their share interest, and unite, to produce class solidarity. The final stage of class consciousness and class solidarity is reached when the members, realized only by collective action, can overthrow the ruling class, and takes positive steps to do so. Particular collective behavior, for example strike, often occurs as the protest of the workers due to wages, redundancies and working conditions (Haralambos, 1996: 40).
Whites as inferior. By 1900 they were already a subordinated population, having lost title to their land because they could not supply proof of ownership. The Whites settlers made no distinction between the original Mexican inhabitants—the “old timers”—and the immigrant newcomers; they all were consigned to the same low status (Kitano, 1985:158). He also said that, before the American invasion, the upper class was reserved for the Spanish, when the United States acquired the territories, most retained this status, the “half-breeds” (mestizos) and the native Indians filling the lower class (Kitano, 1985:173).
4. Theory of Race Discrimination
According to Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary racism is a belief that such race determines the abilities and the superiority of human being, and an action that follows this belief, or racial prejudice, or discrimination (1995:192). In the International Encyclopedia of Ethics discrimination means differential treatment based on physical and social affiliation (Roth, 1995:156).
problem of Mexican because their position is in the lower state of poverty that deals with discrimination. Their race is also considered lower than the Whites that cause the Mexican to have discrimination.
The discrimination also happens in school where the Chicano children study. They undergo discrimination from the Whites. The ethnic community blames the irrelevance of the school curriculum and Anglo teachers’ prejudiced, stereotyped responses to Mexican students are often arbitrarily advised to take non academic courses; sometimes they are placed in classes for the mentally retarded (Kitano, 1985: 179). This kind of discrimination is happening because of a reason that the Mexicans come from lower community and also have bad effect toward the white student. School district board minutes show that segregation was also intended to protect the interests of white students and shield them from contact with Mexicans who were perceived as “dirty, lawless…stupid and lazy.” According to one teacher in California, the separation of Mexicans was necessary because: “the Mexican is a menace to the health and morals of the rest of the community (http://www.chicano.ucla.edu/center/events/mendez_052104/052104_mendez. pdf).”
5. Review on Chicanos’ Experiences in California in 1900s
By the 1920s, at least three quarters of California's 200,000 farm workers were Mexican or Mexican American (http://www.museumca.org/picturethis/3_2
.html).
The Mexican work force was critical in developing the economy and prosperity of the United States. The Mexican workers in numerous accounts were regarded as strong and efficient. As well, they were willing to work for low wages, in working conditions that were questionably humane. Another measure of control was imposed on the Mexican immigrant workers during the depression: visas were denied to all Mexicans who failed to prove they had secure employment in the United States. The Mexicans who were deported under this act were warned that, if they came back to the United States, they would be considered outlaws
(http://www.pbs.org/kpbs/theborder/history/timeline/17.html).
communities that were promised the Mexicans were only staying temporarily, Mexicans were segregated, victimized, and resented by the surrounding Whites population (http://amath.colorado.edu/carnegie/lit/lynch/migrant.html).
As this rapid shift of Mexico's working population occurred, the first labor agreement between the United States and Mexico was formed. Mexico required that U.S. farm owners provide legal contracts for all Mexican workers guaranteeing conditions such as wages and work schedules. The U.S. government, in turn, enforced the border between the United States and Mexico, checking that all Mexican immigrants had the proper work contract so they would not be exploited
(http://www.museumca.org/picturethis/3_2.html).
From 1962 to 1965, Cesar Chavez and a small group of organizers traveled up and down California’s agricultural valleys, talking to people, holding house meetings, helping with problems, and inviting farm workers to join their new organization. They did not call the National Farm workers Association (NFWA) a labor union because people had such bad memories of lost strikes and unfulfilled promises. It was a slow and tedious process (http://www.pbs.org/itvs/fightfields/cesarchavez1.html).
a. Poverty
As can be inferred from the occupational picture, the most pressing problem for Mexican families is poverty. They are consistently at the bottom of the economic ladder, and as a population they remain greatly overrepresented in the lowest income categories (Kitano, 1985:169).
The relationship between poverty and other variables is well documented. Generally, the poor receive the worst in healthcare, housing, and education; they are regarded with disfavor by the police, teachers and the representatives of the dominant culture; and there is a high correlation between poverty and crime, delinquency, drug usage, and mental illness. For Mexicans, as well as for most ethnic minorities, poverty compounds the prejudice and discrimination already present because of race and nationality (Kitano, 1985:169). They have to live in a house that almost can be called a shack. The walls and roofs of the shack are patched together from different materials, reminiscent of the quote above. Migrant farm workers of all races lived in temporary camps like this as they moved from farm to farm to follow the seasonal work.
drought in the Midwest, while California was relatively untouched - the farm owners had a chance to profit immensely from the supply of cheap labor, but not if these protests succeeded
(http://www.museumca.org/picturethis/3_2.html).
b. Pesticides Danger
A study on California farmworkers shows a stunning result of the pesticide exposure. This study is an environmental (rather than occupational) study, so the exposed population was likely to have experienced lower-level exposures than workers would. The researchers identified other risk factors in the mothers and statistically screened them out. Another strength of the study was the researchers’ ability to narrow in on the period of organogenesis (the third through eighth week of pregnancy) for each of the babies, when fetal development is most sensitive to birth defects from environmental factors. The authors found that “in ten agricultural counties of California, proximity to commercial pesticide applications was associated with an elevated risk of fetal death due to congenital anomalies…the largest risks for fetal death due to congenital anomalies were from pesticide exposure during the 3rd-8th weeks of pregnancy.” In other words, mothers who live near agricultural spray sites are at elevated risk for birth defects, especially during the 3rd – 8th weeks of their pregnancies (http://www.beyondpesticides.org/documents/Evidence_ May06.pdf).
Most of these farm labor families live in old, sub-standard housing in close proximity to pesticide applications. One of the families in our pilot study lives approximately twenty feet from strawberry and lettuce fields where pesticides are applied, in a trailer with holes in the walls and no screens on the windows. Such housing conditions allow for greater penetration of airborne pesticides, which settle on surfaces contacted by children (e.g., carpets, floors, clothing, food). The crowded conditions of the houses (e.g., eleven people living in five rooms) may also lead to greater potential for contact with pesticides (http://ccsre.stanford.edu/pdfs/wps49.pdf).
c. Child Labor
The Chicanos children experience working as their elder. They start school later in life and remain in school in shorter time than the general U.S. population. Moreover, in their working place and also neighborhood they have some problems that they have to deal with.
in a number of ways. In agriculture, [deaths] are more likely to occur among the youngest workers. About three-quarters of all deaths to young workers under the age of 15 occurred in agriculture.” The same report also noted that “the risk of a fatality (per hour worked) in an agricultural wage and salary job is over 4 times as great as the average risk for all working youth.” (www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/ngos/usa/USHRN37.doc).
The standard age for working children in most sectors of the economy is set at 16 whereas the minimum age for agriculture at 14 years of age. Furthermore, loopholes and exceptions allow younger children to work on farms with fewer restrictions. Children as young as 12 and 13 may legally work in a farm performing non-hazardous jobs. In other industries, the age limit is set at 14. Furthermore, a 14 year-old child may only work up to 18 hours per week in a retail industry during school, while a child of the same age may work in unlimited hours, harvesting crops so long as the work is not performed during school hours. In most industries, a child may not begin work before 7 a.m. while a child working on farms may start at any hour. Some farm workers begin as early as 4 a.m. (www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/ngos/usa/USHRN37.doc).
C. Theoretical Framework
Some theories that the writer mentioned before were used for helping the writer answers the problems formulated in Chapter I. The theory of character and characterization is to analysis the characters’ experiences that are going to be analyzed furthermore. Here the writer will analyze the prominent characters and their experiences. Then, the writer will match the characteristic of the Chicano’s life in California in 1900s with the characterization of the characters’ life experiences.
A. Object of the Study
The object of the study is a novel entitled Under the Feet of Jesus (1995). This work was written by Helena Maria Viramontes. This book was Viramontes’ first novel. Before this, her work was The Moth and Other Stories which is an anthology of short stories. She conferred the story of Chicano through this and successfully brought the life of Chicanos to the world.
Theedition used in this thesis is the first edition. The novel was published by Penguin Books in United States in the city of New York in 1995.
Under the Feet of Jesus consists of 188 pages, three pages consist of some comments from readers and reviewers which contain of regard and compliment for the novel. Some are authors and others are publisher and newspaper. The next pages were from publisher and also dedication page. Under the Feet of Jesus is dedicated to César Cháves, the most important Latino leader in U.S. history and also the leader of United Farmworkers Union (UFW). The rest is the story, which is divided into 5 chapters.
Under the Feet of Jesus is generally a story about life of migrant farm workers who move to California. Estrella is in the center of the story, a daughter just coming into adulthood. Around her revolves Petra, the mother, who tries to hold her family together in the hopeless poverty in which they live; Perfecto, the man who accompanied the family, whose dreams, at his older age, lead him
backwards into times of strength and beauty; and Alejo, a young man who wakens Estrella to first love. This is the story of people who work from the age of four, from daylight to dusk, in the broiling summer sun, and who are exposed to deadly pesticides and early death. In the title is mentioned Jesus. It does not mean that this book is a religious book. Jesus here has the role to stand guard over the family's birth certificates, and to provide the fragile lifeline to whatever tiny feeling of safety these people can find. The title Under the Feet of Jesus was given by the author, based on the personal experience. She said "That's what my mother used to do. My mother used to slip all the important papers under the feet of Jesus. She has an altar at home(Heredia, 2000: 34).”
B. Approach of the Study
The writer used sociocultural-historical approach because this is the most suitable approach to understand the social, cultural and historical background of the work.
C. Method of the Study
The method of the study used in this thesis was library research. It is a research in which the writer gathers data from various source and reference, either from library or Internet. The data consisted of two, primary and secondary data. The primary datum of the study was Viramontes’ Under the Feet of Jesus. The secondary data were the books of approaches and theories. The socio historical approach was taken from Reading and Writing About Literature by Marry Rohberger, and Samuel H. Woods, Jr. The theories used in the analysis were theories of character and characterization from A Glossary of Literary Terms by M. H. Abrams, the theory of relation between literature and society was taken from Rene Wellek and Austin Warren’s Theory of Literature, Theory of class is taken from Sociology: Themes and Perspectives written by Michael Haralambos and friends, the theory on race discrimination was taken from Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary and a book entitled Race Relation by Harry L. Kitano, and the last was the review of Chicano historical background that is retrieved from www.museumca.org and www.pbs.org.
In this chapter, the writer will answer the problems formulatied in previous
chapter II. The analysis will be conducted in two subchapters. The first, the
analysis will be focused on the characterization of three prominent characters,
Estrella, Petra, and Alejo and their life experiences. The findings will be
compared with the actual condition of Chicanos in California in 1900s. In this
part, the writer will find out the three characters’ life experiences which
particularly reflect the Chicanos experiences in California in 1900s. This will be
the evidence of the quality of the prominent characters and their life experiences
as a representation of Chicanos in that era. The second part will find out the social
criticisms that are presented through the characterization and life experiences of
characters in the story.
A. The Chicanos’ Experience in California in the 1900s Presented through the Characters Life Experiences in Under the Feet of Jesus.
The following analysis will give the description of three main characters in
the story, namely Estrella, Petra, and Alejo, as the figures that will be discussed.
These three characters are chosen because they are considered to be the most
suitable representation of the Chicanos. Their life experiences and characteristics
will be analyzed as the representation of the Chicanos’ experiences in California
in 1900s.
In California, regarding the relationship between Chicano and the Whites,
the society is divided in two classes. Upper and lower, this class is race based. The
Whites are having the position in the upper and the Mexican or Chicano are
positioned in the lower. Kitano said that all Mexican, whether they are the
land-owning “pure” Spanish or “half-breed” laborers were perceived by the Whites as
inferior. By 1900 they were already a subordinated population, having lost title to
their land because they could not supply proof of ownership. The Whites settlers
made no distinction between the original Mexican inhabitants—the “old timers”—
and the immigrant newcomers; the all were consigned to the same low status
(1985:158). He also said that before the American invasion, the upper class was
reserved for the Spanish. When the United States acquired the territories, most
retained this status, while the “half-breeds” (mestizos) and the native Indians
filling the lower class (1985:173). The Chicanos are not only positioned lower
than the Whites in case of race-based society, but also retain the position of the
lower class society in the working field. They are “half breed” working class
obliged to work for the Whites.
According to Marx a class is determined by its relationship to the means of
production. By this what is meant is that the existence of class is determined by its
ownership or non-ownership of the means of production: raw materials, factories,
and land (Giddens, 1971:15). He identified classes as the capitalist (bourgeois),
who own the means of production and the control of the jobs, and the worker
(proletariat), who survives by selling their labor power to capitalist. In this case,
exploit workers (Johnson, 1986: 315-317). Their status as labor and “half breed”
make them undergo the exploitation. When the workers realize their true situation,
in which they are exploited by the capitalist, they create collective actions to
struggle against the capitalist’s law and order. To maintain their domination, the
capitalist uses various institutions in the society—legal and political system
(Haralambos, 1996: 37).
Mexicans become the finest choice for the capitalist to be the labor
because the Mexicans are willing to work in low wage and they have the
experience in some fields. In California, “California farmers paid Mexican and
Mexican American workers significantly less than white American workers,”
(http://www.museumca.org/picturethis/3_2.html). Beside that “The Mexican was
experienced in farming, ranching, and mining,” (Kitano, 1985: 159). In addition,
Mexican labors were also easier to organize into work gangs because of their
(padrone-peon) master servant system. Thus the Anglo employer had an efficient
way of dealing with the labor force (1985: 159).
The Mexicans, later called Chicanos in Under the Feet of Jesus are grape
fruit labors who have problems in their own family and in their working ground,
the orchard. The representation of the grape fruit labors is the example of the
exploitation of the capitalist toward the labor. In the story, the capitalist is
represented with pronoun “they” which refers to the land owner or the farm
owner(Viramontes, 1995: 45). The land owner is the employer who controls these
that they experience causes their children to be the victims. The Chicanos children
quit from school to be labors to help their family financial problem.
Estrella represents a Chicano grape fruit labor who works in the grape
orchard. She is a 13 years old girl who broke out from her school to follow her
family to work in the grape fruit (Viramontes, 1995: 14, 50). Retrieved from
haas.stanford.edu/files/Rivas%20thesis%20partial.pdf, there is condition that
migrant labors move around the country looking for work, depending on crops
and seasons. A study of migrant students for the Michigan Department of
Education, for example, found that at the average, farm workers move from one
residence to another around six times per year, each time taking their children
with them. This condition makes Estrella quits from school and starts to work in
that early age. Many of Chicano children are experiencing the same condition
with Estrella. From www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/ngos/usa/
USHRN37.doc, it is found that each move interrupts children’s academic
instruction and other related school activities such as building and maintaining
meaningful relationships with their peers and teachers. Some children of farm
workers start school much later than their peers while others leave school earlier
as they and their parents move to find a new place to work
Although Estrella has worked as a labor in the orchard, it is still not
enough to fulfill her family basic needs. Working as a labor in the grape fruit does
not give her a better condition. Her family lives in a small house that is surely not
enough for her and the rest of the family.
slept, where she would snuggle between the warm bodies of the twins (Viramontes, 1995:41).
The illustration depicts the house situation with which she has to deal when she
wants to sleep. She has to be in one room with the rest of the family, her mother,
Perfecto, her twin sisters and her two brothers.
The environment also becomes a threat for her and the rest of the family.
The family uses the water from a river that flow near their neighborhood for
cooking, taking bath, washing their clothes, and doing the other daily activities.
The primary water source that they use for daily needs is dangerous. Estrella
knows this fact when accidentally heard it from the foreman.
Estrella heard through the grapevine about the water, and knew Big Mac the Foreman lied about the pesticides not spilling into the ditch; but the water seemed clear and cool and irresistible on such hot day (Viramontes, 1995:32).
The illustration shows that the primary water source is intoxicated with pesticides.
She actually knows that and has become afraid to use the water. She is afraid to
jump into the water and swim when her friend asks her. She also thinks that it will
be dangerous to her body. As retrieved from
http://ccsre.stanford.edu/pdfs/wps49.pdf, it is found that “there are numerous
opportunities for contact to pesticides through all three exposure pathways. Most
of these farm labor families live in old, sub-standard housing in close proximity to
pesticide applications.” The Chicano farm workers live in the house that is near to
orchard and the chance to be exposed by the pesticide. One of the ways through
The water that she has to drink every day is dangerous and not favorable to
drink. She could see the inside of her water bottle when she held it up to measure
its content. “The water was tepid with particles floating like pieces of exploded
stars in space and she drank in deep gulps, long and hard,” (Viramontes, 1995:52).
This condition is very dangerous for her but it is the condition that she has to face.
The river is the primary water source and there is no other source that she could
use. This poor condition is the result of the landowner carelessness for the labors’
welfare. The landowner only thinks about the profit he/she will get. The
landowner uses the foreman to manage a lie so that there will be no protest over
the pesticide intoxication through the water.
Another unfavorable condition she has to face is a dangerous condition in
the orchard. She and the other workers work from morning until the afternoon
under the piercing sun and dusty field.
She retied her bandana across her nose and securely fastened it with large black bobby pins which weighed it down to protect her lungs on days like today when the fields were becoming dust-swept (Viramontes, 1995:55).
The illustration shows that she and other piscadores, the term that is used for
calling Chicano labors, have to use bandana to cover their mouth so that the dust
will not get into their lungs and cause another problem. Moreover, the sun is very
hot, “a white sun so mighty”; it can toast the green grapes vines to black raisin
(Viramontes, 1995:50). This condition is very dangerous, because it could result
in death. “Child farm workers work stooped over, using knives and other
dangerous tools in scorching temperatures for long hours…in agriculture, deaths
(www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/ngos/usa/USHRN37.doc). The state of
the place where the Chicano farm workers work is very dangerous. The
temperature is very high, and the dust could also harm their lungs. Moreover, the
Chicano children also have to use knife to cut the branches, this knife could be
dangerous to the children when they use it inappropriately. (Viramontes, 1995: 50,
55)
On that torching condition, Estrella deals with heavy and exhausted
activities. She has to carry the heavy baskets of grapes which resisted her muscles,
pulling their magnetic weight back to earth. She has to pour the basket of grapes
inside the frame gently and spread the bunches evenly on top of the newsprint
paper. After that she has to remove the frame, straighten her creaking knees, the
bend of her back, set down another sheet of newsprint paper, reset the frame, and
then return to the pisca again with empty basket, row after row, sun after sun
(Viramontes, 1995: 50). This kind of laboring is the work she deals with everyday
just for being lucky to bring some money home for her family. The landowner
does not provide any facilities that could support the labors. The labors have to
bring their home made lunch for themselves. She sometimes brings taco that her
mother makes for her before she works, but when there is nothing in the house to
be brought she usually only brings fruit for her lunch.
When her close friend, Alejo, is sick and has to be brought to the clinic,
the nurse does not give Alejo proper treatment and also judges them because of
nurse to give their money back. The money is the last they have and will be used
to buy gasoline to take Alejo to the hospital (Viramontes, 1995:137-150).
She did not feel like herself holding the money. She felt like two Estrellas. One was silent phantom who obediently marked a circle with a stick around the bungalow as the mother had requested, while the other held the crowbar and the money. The money felt wet and ugly and sweaty like the
swamp between her legs. (Viramontes, 1995:150)
She realizes that she has given her last money but her friend does not get a good
treatment. This condition forces her to take the money back. The illustration
shows Estrella feeling’s of discomfort and her reaction toward the injustice.
This unfair condition for the grape field labor is felt by all the labors. The
dissatisfaction leads to a protest. In the story, a clue that shows the protest is an
invitation to a movement against the Chicano condition through leaflets. “The
driver passed water in paper cups and when the foreman left, a few passed out
white leaflets with black eagles on them. Estrella received one, folded it in half
carefully and placed it in her back pocket for later reading” (Viramontes,
1995:84). The illustration mentions about the black eagle logo. The black eagle
logo actually is the logo of United Farm Worker (UFW). An organization led by
Cesar Chaves which at first brought a protest for the unfair condition, but then
concentrated on educating the public on the dangers of pesticides, both to
consumers and farmworkers. The farmworkers built a network of radio stations,
and created low cost housing for farmworkers
(http://www.pbs.org/itvs/fightfields/cesarchavez1.html). This organization leads
the farm worker to unite and struggle for their right to get better condition at
Before working in the orchard, Estrella studies in school. She experiences
bad treatments from the teacher. In class, the teacher never gives her responses
she needs but cares more to her fingers and hairs. The teacher does not teach her
as she does to the other white student. She never gets proper education and is
rarely able to catch up the lesson.
The teachers in the schools did the same, never giving her the information she wanted. Estrella would ask over and over, so what is this, and point to the diagonal lines written in the chalk on the black board with the dirty fingers. The scripts A’s had the curlicue of a pry bar, a hammerhead split like a V. The small i’s resembled nails. So tell me. But some of the teachers were more concerned about the dirt under her fingernails. …they scrubbed her fingers with a toothbrush until they were so sore she couldn’t hold a pencil. (Viramontes, 1995:24)
The illustration shows that it is hard for her to follow the lesson because she is
more accustomed to the shape of her tools of trade rather than English alphabets.
Her teacher does not help her and makes the condition worsened. She gets
treatment from the teacher that makes her more difficult to study. The teacher
brushes her fingers so hard that makes her fingers feel hurt and cannot hold a
pencil, then, to write is not a possible thing to do. This racial discrimination is
also experienced by other migrant children. They are “reserving the desks in the
back room,” (Viramontes, 1995:25). She and other migrant friends experience
unfair treatments at school. They are separated from the white students and also
placed in the back of the class room, making them difficult to study. Another
experience at school is coming from a white teacher named Mrs. Horn. Her
experience below shows what her teacher does to her.
the wet towel wiped on her resistant face each morning, the vigorous brushing and tight braids her mother nearly weaved were not enough for Mr. Horn. And for the first time, Estrella realized that words could become as excruciating as rusted nails piercing the heels of her bare feet. (Viramontes, 1995:25)
To Mrs. Horn, her appearance is never considered neat enough; although she has
tried to make herself neat. Her mother does the brushing every morning and her
tight braid is not enough for the white teacher and always becomes a problem.
Although she has wiped her face every morning, it still becomes problem for her
teacher. She feels that it upsets her because she has tried to clean herself and to be
neat every time she goes to school, but it seems that every attempt is worthless.
Another unpleasant experience of Estrella is being chased by the border
patrol. When she goes home from the fruit field and takes some rest in the some
hill near the wire mesh which separates the labor camp and the Whites
neighborhood, she meets the border patrol which points their spotlight to her. She
is scared because her mother once said that the border patrol often catches pisca
and did not return them to their families.
The border patrol, she thought, and she tried to remember which side she was on and which side of the wire mesh she was safe in.…Estrella fisted her knife and ran, her shadow fading into the approaching night. (Viramontes, 1995:59)
….
She opened the tool chest, her breathing hard, and rummaged though Perfecto’s tools until she found a thick pry bar.
— Put that away
— Someone’s trying to get me
— It’s La Migra. Everybody’s feeling it, the mother explained.
(Viramontes, 1995:61)
The illustration shows that Estrella takes a pry bar to defend herself. The reason is
their incomplete personal document. In fact, her mother has convinced her that
she has her birth certificates (Viramontes, 1995:63). This experience shows that
the Chicanos feel insecure because the border patrol chases after them. The
Chicanos have to complete their documents so that they will not be arrested.
Another character that becomes the representation of the Chicano is Petra;
Estrella’s mother. She raises her children alone after her husband left her
(Viramontes, 1995: 23). Petra, once, was also a labor worker back in the time
when she was young and strong. Now she has a varicose that often makes her
difficult to take steps (Viramontes, 1995: 9, 52). She no longer could work in the
orchard and then her daughter has to replace them to work in the orchard as a
labor. She knows that working in the orchard means working with a low wage.
“For the pay we get, they’re lucky we don’t burn the orchards down. This comes
from the mother,” (Viramontes, 1995: 45). This dialog shows that the wage the
labor receives is very low. She is so angry with the situation. This problem is also
experienced by the Chicanos. They also are being paid in the lowest wage. As
retrieved from http://www.museumca.org/picturethis/3_2.html, it is understood
that “The law is very unfastened. California was relatively untouched - the farm
owners had a chance to profit immensely from the supply of cheap labor.” Petra is
angry because the wage is not equal to the hard work. The land owner has the
authority to give low wage to the labors without concerning their welfare. In the
novel, the landowner or the capitalist is presented in the story with pronoun
“they”. The result is the labor life in poverty. The illustration below shows that
—Making a garlic soup? He asked in a tone which, if one were cynical, could be taken as sarcasm.
—I’ll sell you a pot, Petra replied —For some eggs, Estrella added —I don’t have any, he said.
—I didn’t think so, Petra said, handing a bag to Estrella (Viramontes, 1995: 113).
Petra intends to buy some eggs for her children and offers to barter a pot of
garlic soup. The store owner refuses her offering by saying that he does not have a
stock of eggs. But Petra knows the truth; the store owner does not give the eggs
because he knows that Petra does not have any money. Therefore, she usually
pays her groceries with services.
In the empty sack, the mother poured six tin cups of pinto beans from a ten-pound sack that Perfecto had managed to get out of the store owner after snaking the man’s backroom toilet until it flushed. (44-45)
Here the illustration depicts the barter for goods and services. Perfecto is a friend
of Petra who also lives with her in the family. Often his skills in fixing things are
used to pay the groceries. This shows that the family deals with poor condition.
They live in poverty so that they find trouble in fulfilling their basic needs.
As Kitano stated in his book Race Relation the most pressing problem for
Mexican families is poverty. They are consistently at the bottom of the economic ladder, and as a population they remain greatly overrepresented in the lowest income categories. The relationship between poverty and other variables is well documented. Generally, the poor receive the worst in healthcare, housing, and education (1985:169).
The poverty they experience leads them to suffer more. Because of the state of
their poverty, the Chicano cannot access healthcare since they cannot pay the bill.
The inappropriate housing also becomes a problem because they cannot afford to
different treatment which makes them (their children) cannot study appropriately.
The land owner does not provide any facilities that could help the labor to
improve their life.
—If we don’t take care of each other, who would take care of us? Petra asked. We have to look out for our own (Viramontes, 1995:96).
From her dialog it could be clearly seen that the labors have to take care of them
selves. The land owner does not provide any health care facilities, even though the
environment where the labors live is dangerous. Pesticide poisoning threaten their
health.
Petra thought of the lima bean in her, the bean floating in the night of her belly . . . Would the child be born without a mouth, would the poisons of the fields harden in its tiny little veins? (Viramontes, 1995:125).
Petra feels afraid because the poison might hurt her unborn baby. She thinks that
her baby will be born without a mouth. This terrifying feeling that Petra feels is
actually reasonable. There is a research retrieved from
http://www.beyondpesticides.org/documents/Evidence_May06.pdf stated that
“mothers who live near agricultural spray sites are at elevated risk for birth
defects, especially during the 3rd – 8th weeks of their pregnancies.”
Petra always keeps important things under the feet of a statue of Jesus, for
instance the birth certificates and other important documents.
Petra puts Estrella’s Birth Certificates under the Feet of Jesus because she feels
that it is the safest place at her home. The birth certificates become very important
because there is La Migra or the Border Patrol that always runs after labors who
cannot show their complete documents. Stated by Kitano, there are no exact
figures provided on the current number of undocumented Mexican in the United
States (1985:166). Because this La Migra often runs after and captures labors to
be interrogated for the completion of their document, it becomes another threat to
the other labors. Even labors with complete document are often afraid of the
Border Patrol. The Chicanos have insecure feeling that they will be arrested by the
authority.
Another character in the story, who represents the Chicano farm worker, is
Alejo. He is sixteen year old boy who also works as a labor in the same orchard as
Estrella. He, later, becomes Estrella’s close friend. He lives in the labor camp only
with his cousin, Gumecindo. He comes from Texas and his dream has led him to
the labor camp. He gets the information about the labor work from the newspaper.
He thinks it is the way to gain money and reach his dream. He intends to enter
school after he gets some money from working as a grape picker in the orchard.
By using the money he gets, he plans to go to school and takes major in Geology
because he really loves stone and its history.
wonder of his connection to it all, he not only became a part of the earth history, but would exist as the boulders did, for eternity. (1995:52)
Unfortunately his dream has been swept away, since he lives in poverty like the
other farm workers. His dream to be a geologist ends here. He works in the
orchard to be a grape picker. Alejo’s dream is almost similar to the other workers.
They want to find better opportunities in the United States to improve their life.
This is the reason of Chicanos migration to California. After the Mexican
Revolution in 1910, the Mexican government was unable to improve the lives of
its citizens. By the late 1930s, the crop fields in Mexico were harvesting smaller
and smaller bounties, and employment became scarce. The Mexican people
needed to look elsewhere for survival. Agencies in Mexico recruited for the
agriculture and railway industries in the United States
(http://www.pbs.org/kpbs/theborder/history/timeline/17.html).
The hope of having better opportunities fades away because of the
exploitation of the farm owner. The low wage and less facility for the labors
become the reasons that the labors could not fulfill their dream. Alejo feels that he
cannot fulfill his needs, let alone his dream. He reacts toward the low wage by
stealing. He and his cousin steal peach in the orchard and sell it in the market.
They labored before sunset, right after work, when others would not see them
(Viramontes, 1995:5). The reason why Alejo steals is because the wage is too low
for him whereas he still has to send some of his money to her old grand ma in
(Kitano, 1985:169). The crime that Alejo manages to do is the result of his
poverty.
As stated previously, generally “the poor receive the worst in healthcare,
housing, and education (Kitano, 1985:169).” Alejo is almost dead because of the
less facility that the land owner provides for the welfare of the workers. When he
is sick because of the pesticide struck in the orchard, and there is no health care
institution nearby, he only stays in Estrella’s house. Petra tries to cure him with
custom treatment (Viramontes, 1995: 98-100). After a few moments Alejo’s
condition is worsen. The family decides to bring him to the doctor. They arrive at
the local clinic and find there is no doctor. There is only a “white” nurse who does
not properly take care of Alejo. She does not give accurate diagnoses and tells
them to bring Alejo to the hospital (Viramontes, 1995:142-149).
—I think the boy’s got dysentery. But I’m not a doctor, and I got no lab for sampling. You gonna have to get him to the main hospital in Corazόn. He’s got all the sign of dehydration.
….
—Hon you gotta understand. I gotta pick up my child in Daisyfield by
six the nurse checked her watch a third time, a pile of keys in her hand. (1995:142-149)
The illustration shows that the nurse does not concern with Alejo sickness.
Instead, she cares more about picking her children up. As a medical expert the
nurse should not do this because it is her responsibility to take care of a patient.
This condition happens because the nurse underestimates them due to their
poverty, and she regards them lower than her.
The above explanation shows that the Chicanos deal with poverty and
risky environment. Moreover the landowner also gives less access to the
healthcare even though the condition in the orchard is very dangerous.
Furthermore, The Chicano children also become the victim of the situation. They
have to quit from school to help their parents working in the orchard. From the
elaboration presented above, it is logical to say that the three characters represent
the Chicano who experience harsh life as farm workers.
B. The Social Criticism Presented through the Characters’ Life Experiences.
In Under the Feet of Jesus, Viramontes brings the life of Chicano farm
workers. Through the experiences of Estrella, Petra, and Alejo living as poor and
discriminated farm workers, she criticizes the capitalist, or the Whites, who make
Chicanos experience exploitation resulting in poverty. In their interaction with the
Whites, they undergo race discrimination.
1. Capitalist Exploitation toward Chicano Farm Workers
The capitalist in the novel is presented with the pronoun “they” and refers
to the land owner, who owns the means of production. Often the capitalist appears
in the form of the foreman. The foreman is a guard that works for the capitalist,
managing and controls labors. The exploitation of the capitalist occurs in the sense
of that the capitalist uses the labor service and does not give the proper wage. This
condition makes the Chicanos deal with poverty.
Kitano says in his book Race and Relations that, as can be seen from the
occupational picture, the most critical problem for Mexican families is poverty.
they remain greatly overrepresented in the lowest income categories,” (1985:169).
The cause of the poverty of the Chicano society starts from the economic
condition in Mexico. As retrieved from http://www.museumca.org/picturethis/
3_2.html, “in 1910, the crop fields in Mexico were harvesting smaller and smaller
bounties, and employment became scarce.” Mexico government cannot provide
sufficient working field in consequences of the Mexican Revolution and this
situation made the Chicano unable to improve their lives. Chicano has to manage
to find jobs outside Mexico.
United States needs worker for their land and the Chicano is becoming the
wanted by the American landowner because of the fact that “The Mexican were
experienced in farming, ranching, and mining…Mexican labors were also easier
to organize into work gangs because of their (padrone-peon) master servant
system,” (Kitano, 1985: 159). So, the landowners have a lot of advantages in
dealing with the Chicanos as their labors. They can easily organize the Chicanos
as farm workers. Moreover, the land owner has another advantage that the
Chicano work force is important in developing the economy and prosperity of the
United States. The Chicano can work under any situation improper for working
and are willing to take low wage. “The Mexican workers in numerous accounts
were regarded as strong and efficient. As well, they were willing to work for low
wages, in working conditions that were questionably humane,”
(http://www.pbs.org/kpbs/theborder/history/timeline/17.html). Because of the
characteristics of the Chicanos, the capitalist easily exploit them for their own
remain poor. This condition is potential for the capitalist exploitation. “Marx
appears to blame the capitalists’ exploitation in the sense that worker are said to
be cheated through underpayment for their services,” (Encyclopedia Britannica,
1970: 843).
Viramontes shows, in the story, that the land owner pays Estrella and Petra
with low wage which makes them live in poverty. As the result, they cannot
afford a good housing and adequate food. The food that they eat is paid with their
service or bartered with some of their belongings. This happens also to Alejo. He
receives low wage which causes his poverty. He reacts to his condition by stealing
fruit. The stolen fruits, then, are sold to earn some more money. As retrieved from
http://www.museumca.org/picturethis/3_2.html, it is found that “California
farmers paid Mexican and Mexican American workers significantly less than
white American workers.” This different treatment in giving wage is caused by
the capitalist. The capitalist is free to set different wages for Chicanos workers.
The California landowner or the capitalist concerns only to their profit and
does not concern with the welfare of the Chicano farm workers. Estrella, Petra,
and Alejo deal with problems that come because of the state of poverty they
undergo. Kitano stated that the relationship between poverty and other variables is
well documented. “Generally, the poor receive the worst in healthcare, housing,
and education; they are regarded with disfavor by the police, teachers and the
representatives of the dominant culture,” (Kitano, 1985:169). Viramontes
makes use of the labor service and without giving a proper payback, such as
proper wage, and basic facilities, such as housing and health institution.
Chicanos farm workers meet problems such as they have to live in a house
that is not appropriate for living with unhealthy surrounding. As the result of their
poverty, Chicano children quit from school and work in the orchard. They also
realize that it is hard to get medical treatment from the doctor when they are sick.
These three problems will be explained in the next sub chapters.
a. Poor Housing and Dangerous Environment
Viramontes shows Estrella and her family’s experience to criticize the
exploitation of the capitalist. In the story Estrella and her family live in a house
that is so small and is not preferable for living. Estrella’s family consists of seven
people and they have to sleep together in a room. This condition is also
experienced by the Chicano farm workers in California. The Californian Chicano
families usually consist of large number of people. They live in a small house that
made from patched materials. As retrieved from
http://www.museumca.org/picturethis/3_2.html, the depiction of the Chicano farm
workers house is “the walls and roofs of the shack are patched together from
different materials.” This kind of house is inhabited by ten or more members of
the family. This large amount of people has to live in a small house because the
capitalist does not facilitate them with the proper ones.
Estrella and her mom, Petra, together with the family, also deal with the
dangerous condition of the neighborhood. The dangerous condition may endanger
surrounding is intoxicated because the process of spreading the pesticide to the
orchard is by plane. “The biplane circled, banking steeply over the trees and then
released the shower of the white pesticide,” (Viramontes, 1995: 76). This
pesticide shower spread not only to the orchard but also to the place where the
labor lived. The primary water source, that they use to do daily activity such as to
bath, to cook and to rinse, is intoxicated with the pesticide. Estrella and her
mother are aware of the pesticide poisoning. They are afraid that the pesticide
poisoning will affect their body. Estrella knows the fact about pesticide
intoxication when she overheard the foreman’s conversation. Her mother, Petra is
afraid that the poison that comes from pesticide is going to affect her unborn baby.
As retrieved from http://ccsre.stanford.edu/pdfs/wps49.pdf, it is found that “Most
of these farm labor families live in old, sub-standard housing in close proximity to
pesticide applications.” The fact that they live in the environment that is close to
the orchard make them have to be aware of the pesticide poisoning. The spray
from the plane might otherwise reach their neighborhood and threatens their life
too.
Estrella’s house is too small for seven people. She lives there with her
mother, Petra, her twin sisters, Perla and Cuca, her brothers, Ricky and Arnulfo,
and also a friend of her mother, Perfecto Flores. All of these people live in a small
house that make them have to sleep in a room altogether. The Chicanos who live
in California are also dealing with the same situation as Estrella’s family’s. The
research that is found in http://ccsre.stanford.edu/pdfs/wps49.pdf shows that “the
also lead to greater potential for contact with pesticides.” This condition is also
another cause of the pesticide poisoning. A large number of member in the family
are living together in one small house close to the exposure area. It is very
possible for all of them to get pesticide exposure because they live, consume,
bath, and do daily activities in the same area.
This contact to the pesticide frightens Petra. She is afraid that her unborn
baby will get no mouth. This kind of anxiety is actually reasonable because like
the evidence that is found in a research, which is retrieved from
http://www.beyondpesticides.org/documents/Evidence_May06.pdf, shows that the
period of organogenesis (the third through eighth week of pregnancy) for each of
the 73 babies, when fetal development is most sensitive to birth defects from
environmental factors. The authors found that “in ten agricultural counties of
California, proximity to commercial pesticide
