During class Tuesday, we learned a new literary term, environmental racism, that plays in important role in the books that we have been reading this term. I especially noticed this in “Under the Feet of Jesus”. Environmental racism can be defined as the disproportionate effects of pollution, toxicity, and other environmental harms we see on racial minorities. There are many examples of this form of racism that we see in this novel, involving the main characters. The first example I thought of was the one we went over in class. This example was when Alejo and Gumecindo were stealing peaches in the orchard and the airplane went over the trees spraying pesticides. Continue reading →

I have found our recent class discussions about pesticides to be very intriguing and applicable to present environmental issues.  First, I was intrigued by the scientific, yet understandable writings of Rachael Carson in Silent Spring. I am also enjoying the fiction novel, Under the Feet of Jesus, by Viramontes.  I feel as thought the two complement each other well.  Silent Spring presents the factual results and consequences of careless pesticide use, while Under the Feet of Jesus portrays the emotional and more easily relatable aspects of such pesticide use.

I found the use of the familiar to evoke feelings of concern in both texts fascinating.  In the first chapter of Silent Spring, entitled “A Fable for Tomorrow”, Carson utilizes the familiar idea of fruitful life in spring and turns it into an apocalyptic vision of a miserable world.  She accomplishes this through vivid imagery such as seen in the use of, “browned and withered vegetation” (3) as well as, “The few birds seen anywhere were moribund; they trembled violently and could not fly.” (2).  She also employs a lack of auditory imagery, for example she states, “no bees droned” (2) and  “It was a spring without voices.” (2).  Both of these effects evoke feelings of sadness and revulsion when spring should be considered a time of happiness and renewal.  These results are then related to the actions of the people themselves (i.e. using pesticides carelessly).   She explains that all these incidences actually happened in real places and could potentially increase in commonality. This is supposed to have a shocking effect intended to awaken the reader to the seriousness of the problem.

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On Wednesday, August 24^th a hurricane warning is issued for the southeastern Florida coast. On Thursday, August 25^th Hurricane Katrina strikes. On Monday, August 29^th President Bush makes an emergency disaster declarations for Louisiana and Mississippi, free federal funds. On Tuesday, August 30^th, five days after Katrina hit, Bush cuts his vacation short to focus on the storm damage (Fox News).

On Monday, October 29^th Hurricane Sandy hits the East Coast. On that Monday morning Obama cancelled his planned Florida rally to fly back the White House to focus on hurricane relief. Eight days before the 2012 presidential election, Obama went from campaigner to hands on commander of the federal response to Hurricane Sandy (New York Times). Continue reading →

Reading Under the feet of Jesus is a very nice new experience. I don’t think I’ve ever read an actual novel dealing with environmental protection in which the author is so clear about where she stands. I think it is an easy read and a good one too. I really like Veramontes’ style. I love how she diconstructs the characteristics of a novel to stand out. It is very smart of her to insert some Spanish, I think it emphasizes the fact that Estrella, Alejo and all the others are a minority and suffer because of who they are.

With Silent Spring, Rachel Carson targeted a rather wide audience to advertise about the wrongful use of pesticides and she did a very good job at it. When Under the Feet of Jesus was published in 1995, the dangers of pesticides were well known already, but not necessarily dealt with. Addressing the problem through a novel gives a new angle on the issue, and Viramontes somehow humanized the victims of pesticides by giving names and histories, however fake those might be.

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When I first start reading this book I was not sure what to expect the title was different and the way that Stephen described it intrigued me. From the beginning the reader can tell that Estrella is the one that holds the family together. The only way for the family to survive is to live out of labor camps, which keeps their lives on the move as different crops need picking. Although she is only 13, she is wise in many ways.

She picks crops like everyone else and started at the young age of 5. She knows that there is something different about the way that she lives.  However, she learned this lesson from her teachers of all people, who asked her why her mother never bathes her. Before this point in Estrella’s life she had not realized that her life was as different due to being in poverty. The class distinctions found in the book seems unreal. At times when Estrella is in the field I think that this must be sent in the 1800’s but then she mentions watching the children play baseball. Something that she has never been able to do.

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In the most recent lecture for Environmental Literature, we took a look at a commercial for Sun Maid Raisins and how the company sells the product and how the environments in the commercial are depicted.

We went over this commercial as a class about how parts of the environment are depicted in the advertisement. There were phrases about how Hollywood is presented as an Edenic place where everyone is fit and healthy (likely not to be the case in reality). Beyond the Hollywood Hills, there is a pastoral landscape and in that area are grape vineyards where raisins are “naturally” made with sun and grapes without labor (hence the use of pastoral). However, the advertising does not take into account what goes on behind the scenes and there was even a parody of the Sun Maid Raisins packaging titled “Sun Mad Raisins”.The picture shows, essentially, the opposite of what the original packaging suggests. We discussed how the raisins are not made with just sun and grapes; there are a lot of other factors that go into the production of their raisins such as the labor of the workers, the processing in the factory and, as was also mentioned in class, the pesticides that were used on the grapes, which is also discussed in Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and Helena Maria Viramontes’s Under the Feet of Jesus.

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In advertisements such as the “Innocent Orange Juice” commercial the orchards where the fruit is grown is so aesthetically pleasing. This effect can also be seen in other commercials for main stream brands. The orchards are depicted as extensive, sunny havens where all the workers are happily going about their picking. The individuals harvesting the fruit are usually always older men with mustaches wearing denim. This particular advertisement chose to focus on the the natural aspects of the juice. Near the end of the commercial  it says, “Nature does the hard work we just squeeze her best bits”. I found it interesting that they chose to focus on this. I do not know to what extent farmers use nontoxic methods but it would be very ironic if those “natural” oranges were covered in pesticide.

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I found Viramontes’ use of imagery in her novel, Under the Feet of Jesus, very effective and beautiful. The reader is able to internalize the idea she’s presenting with vision and reflection, rather than just understanding the words. On page 70, Estrella and Alejo are newly acquainted and are starting to like each other. There’s an awkward silence between them, at which point Estrella doesn’t know how to express herself. Instead of stating it with a common phrase, like ‘she didn’t know how to carry on the conversation’, Viramontes writes, “she didn’t know how to build the house of words she could invite him into”. The image is very fitting since shelter means so much to people with so little materials, and an invitation into her home is much more meaningful and personal than the more generic summary of what was taking place… i.e. she didn’t know what to say. The novel is loaded with engaging imagery. It seems effortless and natural the way she’s able to use the technique effectively, even with topics you may never have thought you wanted imagery applied to. Like when the guard-dog scratches himself with his hind leg, “his purple testicles shaking like coin purses” (pg 114). Disgusting… but awesome imagery!

I was interested in how the name Perfecto was attached to the man Petra and Estrella meet in the store when Petra is rummaging for fresh garlic. It comes up when the man tells the proprietor he finished his repair job, and the proprietor says, “Perfecto!” not in addressing the man, but by indicating his satisfaction with the work (pg 112). He then gets referred to as Perfecto by the narration of the novel. One can assume this identification is through Petra’s perspective, which got me wondering about Perfecto Flores’ role in her life. The word ‘perfect’ is not a traditional name, but an abstract idea, which lends to Perfecto’s portrayal as less of a living person, and more of an interchangeable foil. The Perfecto in the store parallels the original Perfecto by also having a red tool chest. They’re both repair men, or utility men, and utility is what Perfecto represents for the family, and the story.

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