Motherhood Theme Analysis

Under the Feet of Jesus chronicles a Latino family’s struggle to escape poverty and establish a secure life. In particular, the novel focuses on the challenges of motherhood amid the abysmal working conditions that prevail for migrant workers. For Petra, newly pregnant with her sixth child, and her oldest daughter Estrella, who has become a surrogate parent to her younger siblings, motherhood is a source of pride and strength. However, the women’s devotion to their children contrasts with the indifference of their male partners and of the larger society in which they live. Given this complete lack of support, both Petra and Estrella often find parenting oppressive and overwhelming. While the novel’s mother figures are portrayed as heroes, motherhood itself emerges as an isolating experience that emphasizes the particular ways in which migrant women suffer from their social conditions.

The novel gives careful attention to the thankless tasks of mothering, and these depictions are some of its most touching scenes. One of Estrella’s strongest childhood memories is being carried through the fields by Petra as her mother worked. Now that she herself is a laborer, she understands how exhausting that must have been for Petra, and appreciates her mother’s sacrifice. In another chapter, Estrella watches as her mother carefully bathes and dries her twins Cookie and Perla, even though the two fight her continuously and proceed to get dirty as soon as she’s finished.

Moreover, Estrella herself is becoming a mother to her younger siblings. In a flashback, Petra remembers her daughter’s brave efforts to distract her siblings from their hunger during a particularly harsh period. Now, as they ride to the fields in the morning, she cradles Ricky’s tired face; when her brothers are exhausted and thirsty in the fields she keeps them from wandering off or becoming dehydrated. Her behavior at these moments indicates her growing maturity.

Despite the conditions in which they live, the novel’s mothers remain gentle with their children and constantly strive to protect them. By focusing on the effort of these everyday tasks, the novel casts motherhood as an act of heroism and even defiance of their degrading circumstances.

However, the love and value with which women treat their children contrasts with the callousness and absence of their male partners. A large section of the novel focuses on Estrella’s father’s abandonment, which occurred several years before the present action. In the lead-up to this catastrophe, Petra feels that she has to struggle to maintain her partner’s interest in their family, even though it’s a mutual responsibility. While to her the children represent a set of permanent obligations, he still feels that “his life belonged to no one but him” and is able to discard his family at will.

In many ways, Perfecto is a much better replacement for Estrella’s “real” father; he’s dutiful about providing for his adopted family, even though the children aren’t his. However, he wants to return to his hometown and is contemplating leaving the family to do so, despite Petra’s new pregnancy. Much as it does for Estrella’s father, fatherhood falls below personal concerns on Perfecto’s list of priorities.

Especially after her first husband leaves, Petra feels overwhelmed by the task of caring for her children and “almost jealous” of his decision to pursue individual happiness at the expense of his family. She doesn’t always want to be a mother, but for her it’s not a choice. While Petra’s interactions with her children show motherhood as an act of willing devotion, the contrast between her behavior and that of her male partners shows that because of social gender norms, motherhood is constraining and burdensome in a way that fatherhood is not.

Just as motherhood occurs without the support of male partners, it also takes place against a backdrop of pernicious social indifference. In one of Estrella’s childhood memories, a teacher asks her “how come her mama never gave her a bath,” a rude question that contrasts with the image of Petra bathing the twins. This moment shows that social insitutions don’t actually care about the welfare of migrant children; rather, they judge them for the desperate circumstances in which they live.

After Estrella’s father leaves and the family is faced with economic crisis, Estrella tries to distract her hungry siblings by dancing in front of them with an empty can of Quaker oatmeal. Since consumer goods symbolize the middle class throughout the novel, the oatmeal can represents this more privileged group’s lack of interest in poor children, and their refusal to create social conditions in which mothers can actually take care of their children. This social critique suggests that Estrella’s desperate attempts to make her siblings feel better will lead to nothing as long as society is indifferent to their welfare.

Throughout the novel, the possibility of birth defects caused by pesticides is also constant concern for Estrella and Petra. Petra always covers her mouth in the field to minimize exposure, and now that she’s a teenager Estrella frequently worries that her children will be born “without mouths.” This recurring image represents mothers’ lack of agency to protect their children. For Estrella, the constant striving that motherhood entails contrasts with the unwillingness of her corporate employers to take action against the most preventable of dangers.

By depicting motherhood within extremely harsh conditions, Viramontes brings attention to the bravery and determination demonstrated by individual mothers. At the same time, she criticizes the refusal of men and social institutions to provide desperately needed support and resources, ultimately evincing a deep ambivalence about becoming a mother in such an indifferent world.