One of the first things Petra does after arriving at the bungalow is set up her prized icon of Jesus (whom she calls “Jesucristo”), the candles that surround it, and her children’s American birth certificates, which lie beneath his feet – the origin of the novel’s name. Jesucristo represents her Christian faith, which – intermixed with indigenous folk rituals – comforts her in times of need. Petra’s careful storage of the birth certificates underneath represents her desire for her children to have legal status in America and her faith that, presented with these proofs of their belonging, the state will treat them with respect and accept them. Despite her transitory lifestyle, the arrangement provides Petra with a limited sense of security; it represents her abiding faith in both religion and the state, even though neither entity has done much to help her thus far.
However, Estrella’s possession of a legal American birth certificate does little to assist her. She still has to flee from La Migra when she encounters border patrol cars, and she still receives substandard treatment when she has to take Alejo to the clinic. Moreover, after Petra makes an offering at the end of the novel, the statue of Jesucristo falls to the ground and breaks. Coming at a moment when the family’s resources are exhausted and crisis seems inevitable, this symbolic moment represents the failure of both institutions – religion and the state – to protect them.
Jesucristo and the Documents Quotes in Under the Feet of Jesus
Don’t run scared. You stay there and look them in the eye. Don’t let them make you feel you did a crime for picking the vegetables they’ll be eating for dinner. If they stop you, if they try to pull you into the green vans, you tell them the birth certificates are under the feet of Jesus, just tell them.
The head of Jesucristo broke from His neck and when His eyes stared up at her like pools of dark ominous water, she felt a wave of anger swelling against her chest.
