Jesu CristaSymbol for a Just Future in Helena María Viramontes's Under the Feet of Jesus

Helena María Viramontes's 1996 novel Under the Feet of Jesus centers on the lives of Hispanic migrant workers in California, and especially on the thirteen-year-old Latina protagonist, Estrella. This article builds on previous readings of the novel's Catholic themes and links them more explicitly to the text's feminist and environmental justice investments. As argued here, the novel radically reimagines Christ through the figure of Estrella and positions this young woman as a powerful beacon of hope. Displacing the usual focus on sacrifice in depictions of Christ, Estrella, by the end of the novel, instead becomes a messianic icon of righteous justice.