Feet of Jesus, a Work of Realism

¶ … Feet of Jesus, a Work of Realism

Helena Viramontes' book, From Under the Feet of Jesus, is a novel that explores the difficulties of life that Chicanos faced in the United States from the 1930's through the 1970's. Her work is an exercise in realism as it does not trivialize the trials of Chicano life with grand political statements or symbolism. Instead, it is a very clean portrait of a family and their friends who are all attempting, at times desperately, to live their lives in a land that, more often than not, does not want them there. A realist work find the truth paramount. Viramontes faithfully reconstructs life in a series of pictures, that puts a perspective of reality, of truth, and of hopefulness for a people long suffering in this nation. It is the purpose of this paper to demonstrate the elements of realism in Viramontes' book and to explore its impact on the reader because of its realism.

The realist movement began in the mid 19th century. The realists believed that writing should be an accurate, not idealized, reflection of the material. Therefore, while many levels of truth may exist on both the ideal and metaphorical levels, the permanent truths are those that are visible in the moment, in the here and now. Therefore, in order to create truth and beauty in literature, only a careful and faithful study of nature can be employed. There are several defining characteristics to realism. First, the subject is something that is part of the life of the author. These subjects come from the community in which the author lives and works. Second, realism employs language that is reflective of the true forms of communication, language, and diction that are common to the community (the details of Viramontes' book is clearly confirmed by "Chicano! Episode Four: Fighting for Political Power" and by Garrison). Third, the events of the work should be patterned on the natural flow of life, not a forced, unnatural structure made arbitrary under traditional novel forms. Forth, an attempt to focus the vision of the subject in such a way that all classes of people may be able to become involved in the story. Finally, through their vision into the life of the subject, the author must also achieve a psychological vision and understanding of the characters as well. Given these defining factors of realism, we can then apply their filter to Viramontes' book.

It would be easy to turn the characters of From Under the Feet of Jesus into those of a Grapes of Wrath-like tragedy. But, life is rarely so poetic or pathetic. Instead of marginalizing her work with complete fiction, the author intensely describes life as a migrant worker, floating from town to town during the agricultural production seasons, Estrella ('Star') and her family shift from situations described in simple, yet highly effective, images that focus attention on the world in which they live. What is evident in this story is that the lives of Perfecto and his family are not tragic, they are simply what they are. Perfecto thinks about the nurse, he imagines that she talks to her husband while "stirring cream into her decaffeinated coffee," while her husband sat on the couch watching television, "because that is how Perfecto imagined people who had couches and living rooms and television sets and who drank coffee even at night." In this one sentence, we know of a man who not only does not have these things, but perhaps never has.

This is a truth about Perfecto and a truth about his life. It is not tragic or false that he makes this observation, it is simply his perspective - and that perspective tells us a great deal about him.