Class Struggles In Under The Feet Of Jesus

526 Words3 Pages

Revolts, struggle, famine, these are a couple examples of the hardships that lower class and immigrant families and communities face. In the novel "Under the Feet of Jesus" by Helena Maria Viramontes, the relentlesss battle of the marginilized takes center stage, while Viramontes crafts a haunting narrative that immerses readers in the heart wrenching class struggle of farmworkers.Through vivid representations, Viramontes' novel UTFOJ powerfully captures the experience of migrant farmworkers, portraying their lives as an example for class struggle and the potential for revolutionary change. Viramontes powerfully captures the experience of marginilized migrant workers through representation of tar pits.The tar pits in the novel represent the class struggle inherent in farmworkers lives. The thick viscous tar further symbolizes the oppressive weight of the capitalist system that keeps farmworkers trapped in economic hardship. Through this example Viramontes is able to convey the way that societal norms pull down on immigrant families and these pits serve as a parallel to the thought process that no matter how long one can live in America there will still always be an immigrant part to a person and it becomes insult over injury if one is of lower class status, and one will always have that part of oneself pulling them …show more content…

Through the harvest, Viramontes also highlights the inherent class struggle within the lives of the farmworkers. The bountiful harvest represents the abundance that is amassed by landowners, while the farmworkers barely have enough to survive. This contrast between the wealth of landowners and poverty of farmworkers underscores the deep inequality portrayed by the capitalist system and serves as an example to help us understand the true struggle between