Explotation toward migrant farm workers and viramontes` worldview reflected in the characterization of the major characters in under the feet of Jesus - USD Repository

EXPLOITATION TOWARD MIGRANT FARM WORKERS AND

  VIRAMONTES’ WORLDVIEW REFLECTED IN

THE CHARACTERIZATION OF THE MAJOR CHARACTERS

  Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

  By

VINCENSIUS ISMOYOJATI

  Student Number: 044214010

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2008

EXPLOITATION TOWARD MIGRANT FARM WORKERS AND

IN UNDER THE FEET OF JESUS AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

  i

  

VIRAMONTES’ WORLDVIEW REFLECTED IN

THE CHARACTERIZATION OF THE MAJOR CHARACTERS

  Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

  By

VINCENSIUS ISMOYOJATI

  Student Number: 044214010

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2008

  

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  When I ponder my journey to get schooling in Sanata Dharma University so far, I realize that it is His love lingering on me makes my peace with my conscience in battling the fights I always wonder whether I can win or not, especially when home becomes a hell. I have been trapped on His love and my journey to get schooling in Sanata Dharma University ensures me that I cannot escape from His love. In Te confido.

  Time passes so rapidly and I have to finish my journey to get schooling in Sanata Dharma University, making my undergraduate thesis complete. Thinking about completing my undergraduate thesis, I want to recall all people through the years that have influenced and helped me. Particularly, I want to express my sincere gratitude to my undergraduate thesis advisor, Maria Ananta Tri Suryandari S.S., M.Ed. I would not finish this undergraduate thesis without her patience, guidance, help, tolerance, and generosity. I also would like to give my deep appreciation to my Co-advisor, Dewi Widyastuti S.Pd., M.Hum. for her very careful reading, informed suggestions, and tactful advice.

  In particular, I must thank Ibu who always encourages me to continue my study, supports me financially and prays for my future, though I sometimes hurt her heart. I wish to thank my eldest sister Mbak Rosa, my brother in law Mas Yogo, and my ‘naughty’ niece Angel in Pulo Merak for motivating me to finish my study and helping me financially. I am very grateful to my younger brother Unggul in Cilegon for his support and prayer to me, especially for the money he has sent to me and Ria so far. I also want to thank my youngest sister Ria, who gives me at least one reason to stay at home in order to continue my study and prays for my future. Somehow, I would like to

  

iv thank Bapak and I am sorry for what have happened between us. I also gratefully acknowledge Mbah Gito in heaven, Mbah Warno, and Pakde Marno for their love, protection, guidance, support, advice, and many things in my life that have opened my mind for a different view. I am greatly indebted to Bulik Hesti, Dik Alex, and Dik Dinan for letting me to use their computer any time I need. My special thanks go to Soni, Siswanto, and Ignas who always help me when everything is going to be a mess.

  My sincere gratitude also goes to all lectures who have taught me and all staff in English Letters secretary for serving me during my study in Sanata Dharma University. I also thank all my friends in Sanata Dharma University for everything we have shared together so far.

  Vincensius Ismoyojati

  

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  v TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE

  …………………………………………….. 1 A. Background of the Study ……………………………………………….. 1 B. Problem Formulation ……………………………………………………. 3 C. Objectives of the Study …………………………………………………. 3 D.

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  ………………………………………………. 59

  CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION

  Estrella ………………………………………………………………. 23 2. Alejo ………………………………………………………………… 30 3. Petra …………………………………………………………………. 35 4. Perfecto Flores ………………………………………………………. 39 B. The Exploitation toward the Migrant Farm Workers …………………… 45 C. Viramontes’ Worldview ………………………………………………… 55

  …………………………………………………... 22 A. The Characterization of the Major Characters ………………………….. 22 1.

  CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS

  …………………………………………... 18 A. Object of the Study ……………………………………………………… 18 B. Approach of the Study …………………………………………………... 19 C. Method of the Study …………………………………………………….. 20

  CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY

  Theory of Character and Characterization …………………………... 9 2. Theory of Exploitation ………………………………………………. 12 3. Lukacs’ Theory of Reflectionism ……………………………………. 15 C. Theoretical Framework ………………………………………………….. 17

  ……………………………………... 6 A. Review of Related Studies ……………………………………………… 6 B. Review of Related Theories …………………………………………….. 9 1.

  CHAPTER II: THEORICAL REVIEW

  Definition of Terms ……………………………………………………... 4

  CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

  …………………………………………………………………… i

  ……………………………………………………………………..... viii

  ABSTRAK

  …………………………………………………………………...... vii

  ABSTRACT

  ……………………………………………………..... vi

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  ………………………………………………….... iv

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  ………………………………………………………… iii

  ACCEPTANCE PAGE

  ……………………………………………………………. ii

  APPROVAL PAGE

  ……………………………………………………………... 62

  

ABSTRACT

  VINCENSIUS ISMOYOJATI. Exploitation toward Migrant Farm Workers and

  Viramo ntes’ Worldview Reflected in the Characterization of the Major Characters

in Under the Feet of Jesus. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of

Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2008.

  According to Lukacs, a good literary work reflects reality, and a detailed analysis of its literary devices, such as the characterization, can reveal the essence of truth of a particular historical and material condition of society. In this undergraduate thesis, the writer analyzes the characterization of the major characters in Helena Maria Viramontes’

  

Under the Feet of Jesus as the reflection of exploitation toward migrant farm workers in

the United States of America.

  In this undergraduate thesis, there are three objectives to guide the analysis. The first is to see how Viramontes characterizes her major characters. Secondly, it is to understand how the characterization of the major characters reflects the exploitation toward the migrant farm workers by showing that the major characters are typical exploited migrant farm workers. The last is to find out Viramontes’ worldview, her view of the exploitation toward the migrant farm workers.

  In order to accomplish the objectives, the library research is used since the data and theories are collected from some books (written sources). Reflectionism approach is applied to show that the major characters are typical exploited migrant farm workers and Viramontes’ worldview.

  The analysis shows that there are four major characters in the novel, Estrella, Alejo, Petra, and Perfecto Flores that have been specially created by Viramontes to show their poverty and how they have to work hard for long hours at low wage under terrible working and living condition. Viramontes has created the major characters as typical exploited migrant farm workers under capitalism in the United Stated of America and by doing so, her characterization of the major characters reflects the exploitation toward the migrant farm workers.

  Viramontes’ realistic image of the lives of the migrant farm workers reveals her worldview. Viramontes rejects to see and understand the world of the harsh reality of the daily existence of the migrant farm workers who are exploited in relation to religious faith, and through the novel, she speaks up for social change to make a better condition for the migrant farm workers as she realizes that the exploitation toward them results from a certain unjust form of organization of society under capitalism.

  

vi

  

ABSTRAK

  VINCENSIUS ISMOYOJATI. Exploitation toward Migrant Farm Workers and

  Vi

ramontes’ Worldview Reflected in the Characterization of the Major Characters

in Under the Feet of Jesus. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra,

  Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2008.

  Menurut Lukacs, karya sastra yang baik itu merefleksikan kenyataan, dan penelitian yang mendalam pada unsur-unsur kesusastraannya, misalnya penokohan, dapat menunjukkan intisari dari kebenaran tentang kondisi historis dan material dari masyarakat. Dalam studi ini, penulis meneliti penokohan tokoh-tokoh utama dalam novel karya Viramontes yang berjudul Under the Feet of Jesus sebagai refleksi atas eksploitasi terhadap para pekerja pengembara di perkebunan yang terjadi di Amerika Serikat.

  Dalam studi ini, terdapat tiga pertanyaan yang dirumuskan untuk memandu analisis. Pertanyaan pertama adalah untuk melihat bagaimana Viramontes menampilkan tokoh-tokoh utama novel tersebut. Pertanyaan kedua adalah untuk memahami bagaimana ponokohan tokoh-tokoh utama itu merefleksikan exploitasi terhadap para pekerja tersebut dengan menunjukkan bahwa tokoh-tokoh utama itu merupakan tipe pekerja pengembara di perkebunan yang dieksploitasi. Pertanyaan yang terakhir adalah untuk menemukan pandangan Viramontes tentang eksploitasi yang dialami oleh para pekerja tersebut.

  Dalam tujuan untuk menyelesaikan analisis, metode kepustakaan digunakan karena data dan teori diperoleh dari beberapa buku (sumber tertulis). Pendekatan refleksionisme digunakan untuk menunjukkan bahwa tokoh-tokoh utama novel tersebut merupakan tipe pekerja pengembara di perkebunan yang dieksploitasi dan pandangan Viramontes tentang eksploitasi yang dialami oleh para pekerja tersebut.

  Analisis ini akan menunjukkan bahwa ada empat tokoh utama dalam novel tersebut, yaitu Estrella, Alejo, Petra, dan Perfecto Flores yang secara khusus diciptakan oleh Viramontes untuk menunjukkan kemiskinan mereka dan bagaimana mereka harus bekerja keras berjam-jam dengan upah yang rendah dalam kondisi kerja dan kehidupan yang buruk. Viramontes menciptakan tokoh-tokoh utama yang merupakan tipe pekerja pengembara di perkebunan yang dieksploitasi dalam kapitalisme di Amerika Serikat sehingga penokohan tokoh-tokoh utama tersebut merefleksikan eksploitasi yang dialami oleh para pekerja itu. Gambaran Viramontes yang realistis tentang kehidupan para pekerja itu mengungkapkan pandangan Viramontes tentang eksplotasi yang dialami oleh para pekerja tersebut. Viramontes menolak untuk melihat dan mehamami eksploitasi tersebut dalam hubungannya dengan agama, dan melalui novelnya, Viramontes menyerukan perubahan keadaan yang lebih baik bagi para pekerja tersebut sebab dia mengerti bahwa eksploitasi yang dialami oleh para pekerja itu disebabkan oleh suatu bentuk organisasi yang tidak adil dalam masyarakat di bawah kapitalisme.

  

vii

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Georg Lukacs of Hungary (1885-1971) viewed that a literary work had to be

  assessed on its ability to reflect realities of life and felt that only realistic forms of literary works were artistically and politically valid (Webster, 1990: 66). Lukacs and his followers adapted and applied the techniques of formalism, believing that literature reflected realities of life and a detailed analysis of literary devices could reveal the essence of truth of a particular socio-historical situation, and this approach to literary analysis was known as reflectionism or vulgar Marxism (Bressler, 1999: 215).

  Based on Lukacs’ view above, it can be said that novels as a kind of genres of literature are reflections of life, and a detailed analysis of intrinsic elements of a novel such as its characterization can reveal the essence of truth of a particular socio- historical situation the author of the novel has tried to depict in the novel. When a critic gives a novel a close reading

  , declares reflectionism, it is the critic’s job to show how the characters within the novel are typical of their socio-historical situation and the author’s worldview (Bressler, 1999: 215).

  Helena Maria Viramontes’ Under the Feet of Jesus is a novel which is realistic. The novel depicts the peripatetic life of the major characters within the novel in the context of harsh migrant life, including exploitation, poverty, hard labor, bad living condition, low wages, significant health risks of working, and discrimination. The novel conveys a realistic image of the lives of migrant farm workers (Mexican- American migrant farm workers) in the fruit fields of California.

  Through her novel, it seems that Viramontes wants to convey social issues experienced by the migrant farm workers. In relation to the social issues experienced by the migrant farm workers, James A. Henretta, David Brody, and Lynn Dumenil in their book entitled America: A Concise History, Volume 2 state that in the United States of America, discrimination and exploitation were omnipresent in the Mexican community during 1930’s until 1990’s (1999: 685). It is also understandable why Viramontes wants to convey the social issues in her novel because Viramontes herself states that she dedicates her novel to her parents, Mary Louise LaBrada Viramontes and Serafin Bermudes Viramontes who met in Button Willow picking cotton (Viramontes, 1996: vii). Viramontes, as the daughter of migrant cotton-pickers, uses the harsh reality of the daily existence of migrant farm workers as the theme of her novel. It seems that the novel reflects what happens to the migrant farm workers in the fruit of fields of California. Viramontes tells and shows how the major characters are exploited for merely the sake of profit without regarding human life as primary in her novel as a reflection of what happens to the migrant farm workers in the United States of America.

  In relation to Lukacs’ view that a novel must be assessed on its ability to reflect realities of life and it is the c ritic’s job to show how the characters within the novel are typical of their socio- historical situation and the author’s worldview, the writer decides to analyze the characterization of the major characters in Viramontes’

  

Under the Feet of Jesus as the reflection of the exploitation toward the migrant farm reflects the exploitation toward the migrant farm workers by showing that the major characters are typical exploited migrant farm workers and to find out Viramontes’ worldview, her view of the exploitation toward the migrant farm workers.

  Furthermore, in the study, the writer focuses on the analysis on the characterization of the major characters as Henkle also states that it is the major characters in a novel that deserve the fullest attention and the focal experiences of the novel is presumably understood by understanding the major characters (1977: 92).

  Through analyzing how Viramontes has depicted her major characters’ struggles and actions, hopefully, it may heighten the awareness of the social issues involved in the novel, especially, the issues about the exploitation toward the migrant farm workers. Therefore, the writer chooses the topic.

B. Problem Formulation

  There are three problems which have been formulized in the study. The three problems are:

1. How does Viramontes characterize her major characters? 2.

  How does the characterization of the major characters reflect the exploitation toward the migrant farm workers?

  3. What is Viramontes’ worldview, her view of the exploitation toward the migrant farm workers?

C. Objectives of the Study

  This undergraduate thesis emphasizes the analysis on the characterization of objectives of this study. The first is to see how Viramontes characterizes her major characters. Secondly, it is to understand how the characterization of the major characters reflects the exploitation toward the migrant farm workers by showing that the major characters are typical exploited migrant farm workers. The last is to find out Viramontes’ worldview, her view of the exploitation toward the migrant farm workers.

D. Definition of Terms

  There are several terms which are going to be used in this undergraduate thesis. To avoid confusion and misunderstanding, it is important to define those terms.

  1. Worldview Worldview is a comprehensive conception or image of the universe and of humanity’s relation to it. Daiches states that worldview is the overall perspective from which a person sees and interprets the world (the experience of life) (1981: 367). An author’s worldview is an overall perspective that sums up what he or she knows about the world (the experience of life), how he or she evaluates it emotionally, how he or she responds to it volitionally, so his or her work can reveal the essence of truth of a particular socio-historical situation by creating typical characters, actions, and events (Daiches, 1981: 367-370).

  2. To reflect (Reflection) In Lukacs’ view, to reflect is to create an image of richness and complexity of society, and from this emerges a sense of order within the complexity and and his followers stressed litera ture’s reflection. Reflection here is not just a reflection of a flood of realistic detail but a reflection of the essence of a society. In Lukacs’ view, “reflection” means more than rendering the surface appearance, but it means providing truer, more complete, more vivid, and more dynamic view of the world around (Widdowson and Brooker, 1997: 94). A novel is a reflection of life, so the novel is not itself reality but rather a particular form of reflecting reality, but the author depicts what he or she really sees, not what he or she prefers to see and reveals the essence of truth of a particular socio-historical situation by creating typical characters, actions, and events (Daiches, 1981: 366-371).

3. Exploited Workers

  Barry points out that exploitation happens when workers are treated as tools in the process of production because the workers become alienated and undergo the process of reification (2002: 157). Exploited workers are alienated from products of their labor, the act of production, other workers and society as whole, their own peculiar essences as humans, and nature. Consequently, the exploited workers also have undergone the process of reification which is literally the transformation of something subjective or human into an inanimate object. The exploited workers become things and their existences are regarded for merely the sake of profit without regarding their human lives as primary.

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies A related study done by a researcher on Viramontes’ works can be found in Introduction of The Moths and Other Stories

  , Viramontes’ collection of stories. The stories in the collection are The Moths, Growing, Birthday, The Broken Web, The

  

Cariboo Café, The Long Reconciliation, Snapshots, and Neighbors. Yvonne Yarbro-

  Bejarano from Stanford University gives important comment on Viramontes’ The Moths

  

and Other Stories . In the introduction, Yvonne Yarbro-Bejarano firstly expresses her

  opinion about Chicana writers in general and then gives comment on the stories anthologized in the collection of stories, especially on the characterization of the female characters of the stories.

  Yvonne Yarbro-Bejarano is of the opinion that the Chicana writers shares with all women writers the problem of breaking into a male-dominated industry, but the Chicana writers must overcome others related to class and race as well, and the current effervescence of Chicana writers is a tribute to their strength and determination to be heard, given the nature of the obstacles which lie in their path (Viramontes, 1995: 9). According to Yvonne Yarbro-Bejarano, the Chicana writers must draw strength from the conditions seen as sources of inferiority by the oppressor: their sex, their race and culture, and their class as well as in searching for their authentic voice, the Chicana writers have been led to explore the personal in relationship to a collective identity (Viramontes, 1995: 10). She is also of the opinion that the Chicana writers are riding a

  

6 wave of creative expression that is carrying them to the forefront in the literary creativity in the United States of America which has been most apparent in the area of poetry, where a verita ble explosion of Chicanas’ creative energies has occurred, and Chicana writers have moved more recently into fiction (Viramontes, 1995: 9).

  According to Yvonne Yarbro-Bejarano, with The Moth and Other Stories, Viramontes makes an important contribution to the growing body writing by Chicanas and Latinas in the United States of America whose art speaks to the reality of color women (Viramontes, 1995: 9). She states that Viramontes does not create idealized versions of feminists successfully battling patriarchy and remarks that Viramontes who is acutely aware of women’s dilemmas creates female characters that are a contradictory blend of strengths and weakness, struggling against lives of unfulfilled potential and restriction forced upon them because of their sex (Viramontes, 1995: 10). The female characters in the stories are aware that something is wrong with their lives, and what is wrong is linked to the rigid gender roles imposed on them by their men and their culture, often with the aid of the Church, and it is clearly seen in the presentation of female characters in Growing, The Long Reconciliation, and The Broken Web (Viramontes, 1995: 10).

  In more specific about the stories, Yvonne Yarbro-Bejarano also states that Viramontes focuses her narrative lens on the struggle of women within the Chicano family and culture, although larger social and economic conflicts often form a backdrop or frame for the main action (Viramontes, 1995: 10). She adds that racial prejudice and the economic and social oppression of Chicanos in the United States of America are rarely the central theme of Viramontes’ stories (Viramontes, 1995: 11). Yvonne Yarbro- Bejarano also points out that Viramontes is mainly concerned with the social and cultural values which shape women’s lives and against which they struggle with varying degrees of success, and Yvonne Yarbro-Bejarano remarks that most of the stories develop a conflict between a female character and the man who represents the maximum authority in her life, either father or husband (Viramontes, 1995: 11). She states that Viramontes also shows the collusion of the Catholic Church in the socialization of women in rigid gender roles in her stories and it can be found in The Moths, Birthday, and The Long Reconciliation (Viramontes, 1995: 11-12).

  Moreover, Viramontes’ female characters in the stories pay dearly for getting away from traditional values concerning women, and the exploration of their sexuality often brings negative consequences and Yvonne Yarbro-Bejarano gives examples about it in the explanation of the characterization of female characters in Birthday, Neighbors,

  

Snapshots, The Long Reconciliation , and The Broken Web (Viramontes, 1995: 12-20). In

  her explanation about The Cariboo Cafe, she states that Viramontes reveals another facet of her social consciousness as a writer, one with which Viramontes has been increasingly concerned lately since the story, The Cariboo Café, places the conflict in Central America at the center of Viramontes’ narrative world (Viramontes, 1995: 20).

  Finally, Yvonne Yarbro- Bejarano concludes that on the whole, Viramontes’ language is terse and innovative and she also states that Viramontes’ exploration of narrative structure and her constant struggle with words to make them yield fresh insights co nstitute an ongoing concern with craft in order to form a vehicle for the women’s stories which need to be told and heard (Viramontes,1995: 21).

  In this study, the writer does not analyze the characterization of the female characters of Viramontes’ The Moths and Other Stories as Yvonne Yarbro-Bejarano has done. The writer analyzes the characterization of the major characters in Viramontes’

  

Under the Feet of Jesus. By analyzing the characterization of the major characters and

  using Lukacs’ view, that a novel must be assessed on its ability to reflect realities of life and it is the critic’s job to show how the characters within the novel are typical of their socio- historical situation and the author’s worldview, the writer wants to understand how the characterization of the major characters reflects the exploitation toward the migrant farm by showing that the major characters are typical exploited migrant farm workers and tries to find out Viramontes’ worldview, her view of the exploitation toward the migrant farm workers.

B. Review of Related Theories 1. Theory of Character and Characterization

  According to Robert Gill in his book entitled Mastering English Literature, a character is a person in a literary work and characterization is the way in which a character is created (1995: 127). People that are met in a literary work are the characters of the literary work and the author’s craft employed in presenting the characters is what so called as characterization. The author of the literary work, of course, has attempted to make the characters understandable and come alive for the readers, hence Gill states that the characters as literary creations have all sorts of links with the people in reality (1995: 128). The author has created the people in the literary work in particular ways, so Gill points out that the characters are what they are like because the author has made up their personalities and selected some which are then put together (1995: 127). The characters have some sorts of identities which the author has chosen to characterize the characters.

  The identities of the characters can be made up by the appearances of the characters, the conversations done by the characters, the actions done by the characters, thoughts going on the characters’ heads and so on (Gill, 1995: 127) and the author uses the individual elements of the characters as the means to present what the characters are like (Gill, 1995: 135). In short, Gill remarks that characterization is a method and character is the product (1995: 127) in explaining the distinction between character and characterization.

  As mentioned above, that characters are literary creations so the characters as the product of a method which is called as characterization are not real people, therefore the characters can only be met in literary works. The characters in literary works are not real people but figures who have been specially created by the author using characterization, and in relation to that, Gill points out that some individual elements which make identities of a character what they are become important aspects used by an author to make his or her characters understandable and come alive for the readers (1995: 135- 145). According to Gill, it is very important to concentrate on individual elements of a characters such as how characters speak (1995: 135), how characters think (1995: 136), the appearances of characters (1995: 138), how characters dress (1995:39), the social standing of characters (1995: 141), the name of characters (1995: 143), the company of characters (1995: 143), and what characters do (1995: 144) in analyzing characters since identities of the characters are presented in the individual elements that make them what they are.

  In relation to the characterization, Henkle adds that there are three factors of characterization employed to give a character the stature of a major character. He demonstrates the factors in characterization which enable authors to communicate human qualities of the characters and guide readers to an understanding of the human themes of novels. Those factors are: the complexity of the characterization (Henkle, 1977: 88), the attention given to certain figures (Henkle, 1977: 90), and the personal intensity which a character seems to transmit (Henkle, 1977: 90). He also adds that major characters in a novel are portrayed, and given their prominence as major characters, through those factors (Henkle, 1977: 87).

  Henkle divides characters within novels in two categories, major characters and secondary characters, in order to distinguish between those prominence in novels and those whose functions which are largely supportive or projective (1977: 88). Of course, major characters in novels perform crucial functions in elucidating themes of novels.

  Major characters have projective roles in novels. Major characters are very significant in novels as Henkle states that major characters which emerge in novels are largely projective because the dramatizations of issues of human experience in novels are convinced by major characters’ presentations (1977: 93-94). Major characters’ appearances have projective roles in which the significance of experiences in the novel is always almost inherent in those characters.

  On the contrary, secondary characters perform limited functions. Secondary characters have roles which are largely supportive in novels. Henkle explains that the most obvious function of secondary characters is to populate the world of novels (1977: 94). An author creates secondary characters in his or her novel as elements of the society that make up the human context in his or her novel. Henkle also adds that secondary characters can act as foils to major characters in novels (1977: 95). Another group of secondary characters acts within the shadow of the major characters, reduplicating, in different ways, the experiences that engross major characters in novels (Henkle, 1977: 97). Secondary characters also have function to construct a composite picture of the human condition that is at issue in a particular novel (Henkle, 1977: 99) and in this way, secondary characters function as composite renditions of human situation in a particular novel (Henkle, 1977: 100).

2. Theory of Exploitation

  Peter Barry in his book entitled Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary

  

and Cultural Theory points out that exploitation happens when people (workers) are

  treated as tools in the process of production because the workers experience what so called as alienation which is the state which comes about when the workers are estranged from products of their labor, the act of production, other workers and society as whole, their own peculiar essences as humans, and nature as well as they, consequently, undergo the process of reification in which the workers are turned into commodities useful in market exchange (2002: 157). Exploited workers are workers who become alienated and undergo the process of reification in the process of production. The exploited workers become things and their existences are regarded for merely the sake of profit without regarding their human lives as primary.

  In the book, Barry also states that the exploitation of people (workers) by another is seen especially in the process of production of modern industrial capitalism (2002:

  157). Of course, the workers belong to the working class (the subordinate class within capitalism) which are exploited by the ruling class (capitalists) and the working class are characterized by having to exchange their capacity to labor for the goods (commodities) that they require in order to survive (Edgar and Sedgwick, 2002: 204).

  As mentioned before, the exploitative process of production above makes workers experience alienation and as the result, they also undergo the process of reification. According Andrew Edgar and Peter Sedgwick in their book entitled Cultural

  

Theory: The Key Concepts , the process of production leads to five manifestations of

alienation which injure the workers in many ways.

  First, the worker is alienated from the product of his or her labor (Edgar and Sedgwick, 2002: 19). It is understandable since the products of his or her labor become the property of the boss (the employer). When the worker has sold his or her labor power for a certain part of his or her life to the boss (the employer), the products of his or her labor are not his or her own.

  Second, the worker is alienated from the act of production, so that it ceases to have any intrinsic satisfaction, and in this case the ability to labor itself is just regarded as commodity in market exchange (Edgar and Sedgwick, 2002: 19). In this way, work is no longer a means of self-expression for the worker who sells his or her labor time. Work is just a means to attain a goal which is to get money, some income to be able to buy goods (commodities) necessary to satisfy his or her needs as a human being. The worker does not affirm him/herself in his or her work but denies him/herself. The worker does not feel contented but dissatisfied. The worker therefore only feels him/herself outside his or her work, and in his or her work the worker feels outside him/herself. The worker is at home when he or she is not working, and when the worker is working, he or she is not at home.

  Third, the worker is alienated from other workers and from society as a whole, and this way, the worker is treated as an isolated individual and is judged by his or her ability to fulfill a pre-existing function within the production process (Edgar and Sedgwick, 2002: 19). Therefore, the worker is separated from his or her fellow human beings. The worker experiences separation from other human beings.

  Fourth, the worker is alienated from his or her full humanity, and in this way, the worker is bereft of his or her humanity’s potential to determine his or her own destiny (Edgar and Sedgwick, 2002: 19). The worker is estranged from his or her own peculiar essence as a human being because his or her special traits and abilities are not needed, used, or developed by his or her economic activities which degrade the worker to the level of a mere physical force and the worker even is estranged from his or her own body which must be maintained as a physical subject, not because it is part of his or herself, but also that it can function as an element of the production process.

  The last, Edgar and Sedgwick also add that the worker is also estranged from nature (2002: 18), and it is understandable since the process of production under capitalism makes the worker just spend most of his or her time working to get money in order to survive as the demands of working and surviving in the capitalist society.

  Consequently, the workers also undergo the process of reification which is literally the transformation of something subjective or human into an inanimate object (Edgar and Sedgwick, 2002: 332). The workers, in a word, become things because the workers are bereft of their full humanity and are thought of as “hands” or “the labor force” when capitalists place profit ahead of human life (Barry, 2002: 157). Thus, the workers are turned into commodities useful in market exchange.

  Bressler gives an example of the exploitation. In America the capitalists exploit the working class by determining their salaries, and working conditions, among many other elements of their lives (Bressler, 1999: 219).

3. Lukacs’ Theory of Reflectionism

  Georg Lukacs of Hungary (1885-1971) viewed that a good literary work had to be assessed on its ability to reflect realities of life and felt that only realistic forms of literary works were artistically and politically valid because his theory was based on the assumption that good literature revealed the essence of truth of a particular socio- historical situation (Webster, 1990: 66-67).

  Lukacs and his followers believed that an author attained the stature of a great author when the author depicted the significant truth about what was happening in society he or she saw which revealed his or her worldview, an overall perspective that summed up what he or she knew about the world, how he or she evaluated it emotionally, how he or she responded to it volitionally, so his or her work could reveal the essence of truth of a particular socio-historical situation by creating typical characters, actions, and events (Daiches, 1981: 366-371). According to Daiches, typical characters are characters within a novel which exemplify, in at least some important traits, a larger trend common to a great many individuals in the society of their time (1981: 368-369). Typical characters are characters that are typical of a particular socio- historical situation.

  In addition, Peter Widdowson and Peter Brooker in their book entitled

  A Reader’s Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory

  shows that in Lukacs’ view, “reflection” means more than rendering the surface appearance, but it means providing truer, more complete, more vivid, and more dynamic view of the world around (1997: 94). A novel is reflection of life, and therefore it is not real, but it nonetheless involves the mental framing which eludes photographic representation (Widdowson and Brooker, 1997: 94). An author creates an image of the richness and complexity of life from which emerges a sense of the order within the complexity and subtlety of lived experience (Widdowson and Brooker, 1997: 94-95). It means that the text the author has created is not just a reflection of a mere realistic detail but a reflection of the essence of a society.

  Furthermore, in Marxism, history is understood as the determinate succession of distinct forms of social and economic organization or modes of production (Edgar and Sedgwick, 2002: 241). Marx cites four historical periods of forms of social and economic organization: feudalism, capitalism, socialism, and communism (Bressler, 1999: 212).

  Feudalism which is a form of social and economic organization based on inherited wealth and status precedes capitalism (Edgar and Sedgwick, 2002: 145). Capitalism is a form of social and economic organization based on the ownership of private property (Bressler, 212: 212). Capitalism develops by destroying the feudal mode of production and replacing it with a new mode of production based on absolute private property which makes possible capitalists (the ruling class) enslave and exploit the working class (Widdowson and Brooker, 1997: 95). For Marx, socialism is not a true historical period but a transitional stage between capitalism and communism which is the goal of society or what Marx called as “the worker’s paradise” (Bressler: 1999: 212). In relation to capitalism, Lukacs and his followers tend to emphasize the negative effects of capitalism such as exploitation (Bressler, 1999: 215).

C. Theoretical Framework

  This study requires theory of character and characterization to analyze major characters within Viramontes’ Under the Feet of Jesus. Theory of character is very useful to strengthen the illustration of the major characters which are going to be analyzed. Then, theory of characterization is going to be used to see how the author characterizes her major characters. Furthermore, theory of exploitation and Lukacs’s theory of relectionism are needed to understand how the characterization of the major characters reflects the exploitation toward the migrant farm workers by showing that the major characters are typical exploited migrant farm workers. By using theory of exploitation and Lukacs’s theory of relectionism, the writer also will show Viramontes’ worldview, her view of the exploitation toward the migrant farm workers.