Helen Viramontes
Helen Viramontes presents several interesting aspects of literary creativity that I would like to discuss. Her book gave me insight, honestly, into a new cultural perspective. Now, I understand her book is fiction, but all the same, it provides a different cultural perspective.
I grew up with a Mother, Father, and one Sister. More or less, this is a traditional family in the United States. My Father works in the production sector, and my mother works in business and both have worked hard to provide incomes that support my sister and myself. We have not lived in either the wealthy class, nor the under the poverty line, but rather right in the middle, comfortably enjoying the life that has been bestowed upon us.
What really strikes me in this fictional novel is the difference in culture between families of different ethnicities. For example, in the opening scenes, and in several other parts throughout the novel, we see how the children have had to live in order to help the family live. Alejo and Gumecindo work in the fields before they have even achieved adulthood. I mean, honestly, can a parent justify sending their kid to provide for the family, instead of giving them the opportunity to attend school and better their education.
I am a firm believer that adolescents should not have to worry about all the complications of the “real world”, but instead should focus their time and energy advancing their education. Now, this is most likely attributed to the fact that I grew up in a very traditional, western family, but none-the-less, it came off as shocking while I read this story.
She also provides a different sense to how we view the environment. Personally, I feel that Americans, as a whole society, view nature as something that we can use for fiscal or economical benefits. In this novel, we see a very different perspective. We see the children and family using the land not for monetary value, but as a means of survival.
He had been picking peaches, ripe form the direct sun, and handed his selections to his cousin, Gumecindo, who clutched a flour sack and doubled as a lookout. They labored before sunset, right after work, when others would not see them.” (Viramontes, 4-5)
Whilst the two cousins were indeed earning a wage, the monetary value was not their primary reason for being there. Instead, it was in order to survive. I drew a connection between this and Charles Darwin’s book, where he emphasized the importance of nature as a from of natural selection, where the strongest species will survive and the weakest ones will be depleted of resources until the become extinct. I feel that, in this novel, the cousins are the stronger “species” whereas we traditional western families are the weakest and, unless we step increase our competition, will eventually become extinct.
It still shocks me too when I read this and think about the fact that these characters have been working in the fields their entire lives. They work in the fields as toddlers (like Estrella’s siblings), as adolescents (like Estrella), as young and old adults (like Petra and Perfecto). I also agree with you that ideally parents shouldn’t send their children to work but should make sure that the children have the opportunities to go to school. But Viramontes dramatizes a group of people who don’t have this option. Because of their precarious economic and social position they can’t afford to pay for childcare or pay to send their children to summer camp or other activities in the summer (as we might have done as kids), and during the summers children have to work to help the family make ends meet (like Alejo is trying to make enough money to help his grandmother and support them while he attends school in the fall and winter). Thus, I think the monetary reasons is the primary reason why the characters are there, even if, as you note, they need that money to survive. I would just point out that the reason that the children are working is not because in their Mexican-American culture that is something that is okay, but because they need to work to make money to buy food.
Exactly. It’s still shocks me when I see kids working instead of going to school. I feel that is a fundamental right of all youth, and is of the utmost importance for parents to work to achieve this goal. I see you point at the bottom of your comment an agree with you. They do need to work to make money in order to buy food, or in the cousins case, work extra on the land to steal peaches for the family. I’ve seen this before when I used to work on a farm. Many people used to try and take food home for their families when they weren’t supposed to.