Social criticisms as reflected through characters` life experiences in viramontes` under the feet of Jesus - USD Repository

  

SOCIAL CRITICISMS AS REFLECTED THROUGH

CHARACTERS’ LIFE EXPERIENCES IN VIRAMONTES’

UNDER THE FEET OF JESUS

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

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

  

By

BERBUDI YUDOSUNU CANDRAJIWA

  Student Number: 024214008

  

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

2009

  

To my family

my mom Nunuk Supriyati,

my dad Yudi Mulya,

my brother Hapsoro Widi Wibowo,

my sister Philia Sampaguita.

  

In the Memory of

my late father Soebijanto Wirojoedo

  

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I would like to say thank you to someone over there who is always waiting for me in my search of faith. Mr. Jesus. I owe Him a lot and I would like to know Him better.

  I owe an enormous debt to Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S., M.Hum, for her outrageous counsel, encouragement, prayer, patience, and much more in guiding my in my thesis.

  My deep gratitude is for my family, my mom Nunuk Supriyati, my late father Soebijanto Wirojoedo, my dad Yudi Mulya, my brother Hapsoro Widi Wibowo, my sister Philia Sampaguita and my little hairy brother Bule, and all my relatives, thanks for being one.

  My sincere gratitude is for my beloved Mira, for being someone special in my life. Thanks for the encouragement, prayer and love that motivate me in finishing this thesis.

  My second family, Te’ Puji, Eyang Bantar, Mogi, thanks for the valuable support.

  My friends, Galang Wijaya, Jati ‘Kocak’, Andika ‘Jaran’, Tiara Dewi, Dyah Putri ‘Tiwik’, Gideon Widyatmoko, Budi Utomo, Ari ‘Inyong’, Dimas Jantri, Teguh Sujarwadi, Putu Jodi, Pius Agung ‘Badu’, Adi Ariep, Yudha ‘Cumi’, lilik, q-zer, Widi Martiningsih, Wahyu Ginting, Yabes Elia, Sugeng Utomo, Ditto, Frida, Bigar Sanyata, Nikodemus, Wahmuji, Anna Elfira, Tyas P Pamungkas, Prita, and all the names I have not mentioned here, that have shared great story, thought, and moments with me, thanks guys for the bitter-sweet story we made.

  Last but not least, I would like to give my gratitude for Mbak Nik, the lecturers, and staffs of Fakultas Sastra Sanata Dharma University.

  Berbudi Yudosunu Candrajiwa

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  TITLE PAGE…………………………………………………………….. i APPROVAL PAGE………………..…..………………………..……….. ii ACCEPTANCE PAGE……………………………………….…..……… iii LEMBAR PERNYATAAN……………………………………………… iv DEDICATION PAGE……………………………………………..…….. v ACKNOWLEGDEMENTS…………….………………………..….…… vi TABLE OF CONTENTS…........................................................................ viii ABSTRACT………………………………………………….……….….. ix ABSTRAK………………………………………………………..……… x

  CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION…………………………….…………

  1 A.

  1 Background of the Study…………………………………....… B.

  4 Problem Formulation……………………………………....….

  C.

  4 Objectives of the Study………………………………………...

  D.

  5 Definition of Terms………………………………….….…..…

  CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW……………….…...………

  7 A.

  7 Review of Related Studies……………………………….…… B.

  8 Review of Related Theories…………………………......…….

  1.

  8 Theory of Characterization………………….….………….

  2.

  10 The Relation between Literature and Society………..…… 3.

  11 Theory of Class…………………………….…..……....….

  4.

  13 Theory of Race Discrimination………………...…….…....

  5. Review of Chicanos’ Experience in California in 1900s.… 15 C.

  22 Theoretical Framework…………………………….…..……… CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY……………………….….………...

  24 A.

  24 Object of the Study…………………………………………….

  B.

  25 Approach of the Study………………………………………… C. Method of the Study…………………………………….…….. 26

  CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS………………………………………...……

  28 A. The Chicanos’ Experience in California in the 1900s presented through the Characters Life Experiences in Under the Feet of

   Jesus ………………………………………………………….. 28 B.

  The Social Criticism on the American Labor System Presented through Characters’ Life Experience...……………….………..

  44

  1. Capitalist Exploitation toward Chicano Farm Workers……

  44

  2. Race Discrimination………………………..………….……

  58 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION…….………….………………………...

  64 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………….……..………

  68

  

ABSTRACT

  BERBUDI YUDOSUNU CANDRAJIWA. Social Criticisms as Reflected

  

through Characters’ Life Experiences in Viramontes’ Under the Feet of

Jesus. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata

Dharma University, 2008.

  This undergraduate thesis analyzes one of Helena Maria Viramontes’ novels entitled Under the Feet of Jesus. The writer focuses the discussion on the social criticisms as reflected through characters’ life experiences. The thesis discuses the Chicanos’ experiences in California in the 1900s.

  This undergraduate thesis analyzes two main problems. The first problem deals with the representation the Chicano experiences in California in the 1900s through the main characters’ life experience. The second one deals with the social criticisms that are reflected through the characters’ life experiences in the novel.

  To conduct this study, sociocultural-historical approach was employed. This thesis applied a library research to collect data from books and internet resources. Theories of characterization, representation, class, race discrimination, and the review on the historical background of Chicanos’ experience in California in 1900s are used to analyze the problems.

  The result of this study shows that Chicano farm workers in California in 1900s experience the poverty, exploitation from the capitalist, and race discrimination. They live in poverty and also deal with poor housing, child laboring problem, problem in education and problem in health care. Viramontes criticizes the capitalist’s exploitation which forces the labor to work in inhumane conditions; pays them with low wage and gives them fewer facilities. Moreover, she also criticizes the American society that puts the farmworkers under racial discrimination because they are considered to have lower status of race.

  

ABSTRAK

  BERBUDI YUDOSUNU CANDRAJIWA. Social Criticisms as Reflected

  

through Characters’ Life Experiences in Viramontes’ Under the Feet of

Jesus. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata

Dharma, 2008.

  Skripsi ini menganalisa salah satu novel karya Helena Maria Viramontes yang berjudul Under the Feet of Jesus. Penulis menitikberatkan pembahasan pada kritik sosial yang direfleksikan melalui pengalaman hidup karakter-karakter di dalam novel tersebut. Skripsi ini membahas pengalaman hidup kaum Chicano di Kalifornia pada tahun 1900an.

  Skripsi ini menganalisa dua permasalahan utama. Permasalahan pertama berkaitan dengan representasi dari pengalaman hidup kaum Chicano di Kalifornia pada tahun 1900an. Permasalahan kedua berkaitan dengan kritik sosial yang direfleksikan melalui pengalaman hidup karakter-karakter didalam novel.

  Dalam proses analisa, penulis menggunakan pendekatan sosial budaya dan sejarah. Skripsi ini menggunakan metode kepustakaan untuk mengumpulkan data- data yang dibutuhkan dari pelbagai buku dan sumber on-line. Dalam menganalisa novel ini, penulis menggunakan teori perwatakan, representasi, kelas, diskriminasi ras, dan gambaran keadaan kaum Chicano di Kalifornia pada tahun 1900an.

  Hasil analisa menunjukkan bahwa kaum Chicano di Kalifornia pada tahun 1900an mengalami kemiskinan, eksploitasi dari kaum kapitalis, dan diskriminasi ras. Mereka hidup dalam kemiskinan dan harus tinggal di pemukiman kumuh.

  Mereka juga harus menghadapi masalah buruh anak-anak, masalah pendidikan, dan masalah kesehatan. Viramontes mengkritik eksploitasi kaum kapitalis yang membuat para buruh bekerja pada kondisi yang sangat buruk dan membayar gaji rendah kepada mereka serta tidak memberikan fasilitas yang memadai. Lebih lagi, Viramontes mengkritik masyarakat Amerika yang membuat mereka mengalami diskriminasi ras karena mereka dianggap datang dari ras yang lebih rendah.

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study

  “Literature is a social institution, using its medium language, a social creation” as Rene Wellek and Austin Warren state in their books Theory of

  

Literature (1956:94). Graham Little says in Approach of Literature that literature

  functions “as a representation of the situation and the thoughts happening in a certain setting time and place,” (1963:1). Literature produces a path for us to understand about the social happenings, to be specific, about how people are being treated and how they deal with problem that they face under socio- economic roof.

  Another benefit of literature, according to Georg Lukacs, is that literature has a great social power to “depicts the human being directly and with the full richness of his inward and outward life […] is able to portray the contradictions, struggles and conflicts of social life in the same way as they appear in the mind and life of actual human beings,” (Lukacs, 1980:143). From literature, we can obtain not only pleasure but also many great findings concerning the human struggle in getting a mere life. The study of a culture that struggle under oppression can be a good lesson for the reader to be more critical and able to appreciate life. Authors often bring their own culture into novel to be a consideration for the readers to make a better life

  One of the authors, who succeeded in delivering the reality of her culture face, is Maria Helena Viramontes. She is one of the key authors of the Chicano Literature. She was born in East Los Angeles, California, on February 26, 1954. She attended Immaculate Heart College, majoring in English Literature, and received her B.A. in 1975. It was in the college that she began writing, first poetry and then fiction. She won a National Endowment for the Arts grant in 1989 and received the John Dos Passos Prize for Literature in 1995 (http:// instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/engl206/virbio.htm). She concerns in the development of her people and most likely to write about place where she comes.

  Her works mostly tell about the struggle of Chicano that experiencing many unfortunate things in achieving life. Her works, The Moths & Other Stories (1985), Under the Feet of Jesus (1995), Their Dogs Came With Them (2007) are the reflection of her social criticism.

  The writer is interested in one of Viramontes’ works Under The Feet of

  

Jesus . This is a novel which was born under the condition of the struggle of

  Chicano movements in seeking for justice. The characters in the story are dealing with the hard life as grape pickers. They live in poverty with poor housing and money shortage. Moreover, the surrounding also becomes a threat. The danger of pesticide poisoning threatens them at the neighborhood. The high temperature and also the wind of dust have to be dealt every day when they are working in the orchard. Living as a poor farm worker leads to problems of health care and education. As Chicano, a problem also arises when they have to make an interaction with the Whites.

  When readers read Under the Feet of Jesus they can feel the thick atmosphere of the life of a Mexican-American migrant in California, “but soon becomes an indictment of corporate agriculture in California and its practices of child labor and pesticide poisoning.”, says Yolanda Alaniz, a writer on the Chicano movement and women's rights (http://cemaweb.library.ucsb.edu/viramontes_helena.html). The reality that they have to face in dealing with problems living as labor is brought with fluency, as if we are present among them. The story is presented through a young girl point of view, Estrella. Her family, which moved to a new place to seek a better opportunity, consists of her mother Petra, her two twin sisters Cuca and Perla, her brothers Ricky and Arnulfo, and Perfecto Flores, a friend of her mother. The family has to face the harsh life of migrant and working as a labor along with the Piscadores, Mexican Labor.

  Living as grape pickers, the Chicanos have less access to sources and development. Poverty has become a common matter for them; they have no opportunities to change for a better condition. They only know how to work as fruit pickers under the exploitation of the landowner. Moreover, health problem also arises and they have no security guarantee for their safety when working. Their children also have problem of being dropped out from school. Viramontes presents the harsh life of the Chicanos in California as a bridge to describe what actually her culture is facing.

  B. Problems Formulation

  To have a vivid analysis, the writer formulates the problems as follow:

  1. How do the main characters’ life experiences, in the novel Under the

  Feet of Jesus, represent the Chicano experience in California in the

  1900s?

  2. What are the social criticisms presented through the characters’ life experiences in Under the Feet of Jesus?

  C. Objectives of the Study Considering the problems stated in the previous part, the writer focuses on

  two objectives of the study. Primarily, this thesis will analyze all the experiences of the three prominent characters in the novel. Then the writer will compare the characterization of these characters to the characteristics of the Chicano experience in 1900s California. This step is taken to answer how the characters in the novel represent the society experiences in that era. The second is to reveal what are the social criticisms are in the novel that the author wants to deliver to the reader. In this study, the writer will analyze the representation found in the characterization of these prominent characters’ life experiences in Under the Feet

  

of Jesus as the representation of the Chicano's experience in California in 1900s.

  The social condition of Chicano presented in the novel will reveal Viramontes’ social criticism toward America.

D. Definition of Terms

  To help understand the thesis, it is better for the reader to comprehend some terms below.

  1. Chicana/ Chicano Chicana refers to women of Mexican descent born and/or raised in the

  United States. The term Chicana (and Chicano) came into popular usage during the Chicano movimiento of the 1960s and 70s as Mexican-American activists sought to define a cultural and political identity for themselves. Some believe that the term derives from the indigenous Mexica (Meh-sheik-a) tribes of Mesoamerica; others point out that the term was used as a derogatory reference to Mexican-Americans in the Southwest U.S. for many years, until it was reappropriated by activists (http://www.chicanas.com/whowhat.html#Who).

  2. Criticism Criticism in Webster New Twentieth Century Dictionary of English

  

Language is “the act of making judgments; analysis of qualities and evaluation of

  comparative worth; especially the definition and judgments of literary artistic work” (Webster, 1974: 432). Criticism, according to Baldick, is a discussion or study in understanding literature in its relation to history, politic, social class, linguistics, psychology, etc (Baldick, 1991:48). Abrams states that most literary historians and critics have taken some account on their writings about “the relation of individual authors to the circumstances of the social and cultural era in which they live and write, as well as the relation of a literary work to the segment of the society that is fiction represents or to which the work is addressed,” (Abrams, 1981:178).

3. Capitalism

  From The Encyclopedia Americana: International Edition, it is found that the definition of Capitalism is “ the type of economy in which capital is privately owned and maybe freely used by the owners as they wish in attempting to make profits from their economic enterprises,” (1978: 559). Capitalist class owns the means of production. The power of the ruling (capitalist) class is to exploit and to oppress the subject class derived from their ownership and control the means of productions. The various institution of the society, such as the legal and political system is instruments of ruling class domination and serve further to their interests (Haralambos, 1996:37).

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies Under the Feet of Jesus is set in a beautiful land of California. This California is not the legendary destination of blissful contemplation, but rather the

  landscape one drives over and hikes across to get to the next job. When Viramontes describes Estrella's family trying to cross a highway, the immediacy of the narrative moment is striking, and the images of their hard labor are extraordinary. Viramontes has dedicated this novel to her parents, who met each others while picking cotton, and to the memory of Cesar Chavez, leader of the United Farm Workers (http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/engl206/virbio.htm).

  Infused with the beauty of the California landscape and shifting splendors of the passing seasons juxtaposed with the bleakness of poverty, this vividly imagined novel, so observant and full of wisdom, is worthy of the people it celebrates and whose story it tells so magnificently. The simple lyrical beauty of Viramontes's prose, her haunting use of image and metaphor, and the urgency of her themes all announce Under the Feet of Jesus as a landmark work of American fiction (http://www.harrygamboajr.com/csun/text/098/098bk2.html).

  “Finding the Metaphorical Key Under the Feet of Jesus,“ written by Norma Helsper, State University of New York College at Cortland, prepared for delivery at the 2001 meeting of the Latin American Studies Association, Washington, DC, September 6-8, 2001, is found as a related study to the thesis. This study is mainly about the style of Viramontes using metaphor in Under the Feet of Jesus and the relation between the symbol and also in the reality.

  “Ethnic, Feminist, Universal?: Helena Maria Viramontes’s Under The

  

Feet of Jesus” by Michael Nieto Garcia, an article in Phenomena: Journal of

  Language and Literature vol. 7- No.3 February 2004 discusses about the ethnic- feminist character of the novel and the question of the universality of Chicana literature. This essay concludes that Chicana Literature is universal and it has the regard to be counted as one of the best literature in the world.

  Different from the early discussion that has been made to the novel, this thesis wants to reveal what are the social criticisms that the author wants to deliver to the reader. As far as the writer is concerned this topic has not been taken as a research yet.

B. Review of Related Theories

  The theories that the writer would use in this thesis are stated above:

1. Theories of Characterization

  M. H. Abrams in his book, A Glossary of Literary Terms, points out that characters are the persons presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the readers as being endowed with moral and disposition qualities that are expressed in what they say-- the dialogue-- and by what they do--the actions. (1981: 20). It means that characters in a story show moral and natural qualities of mind through the dialogue and the action of the characters in the story. Based on the importance, characters are categorized into: a. Main or Major Character A major character is usually the centre of the story. He or she is the most important character in the story. Usually, the acts of the story are focused on this character from the beginning up to the ending parts. The core of the story is highlighted through this characters experience.

  b. Minor character Minor characters appear in a certain setting, just necessarily to become the background for the major characters. Their roles are less important than the major character because they are not fully developed characters and their roles in a story are just to support the development of the major character (Abrams, 1981:20).

  Characterization refers to “the representation of person in narrative or dramative works” (Baldick, 1991: 34). According to Perrine, (1974:68-69), characterization can be presented in two ways: a.

  Direct Presentation The author who chooses direct presentation simply tells the readers about the qualities of the characters in exposition or analysis or has someone else in the story to tell the readers what they are like.

  b.

  Indirect Presentation. In indirect presentation, the author shows the readers the characters on actions and lets the readers infer what they are like from what they think, they say, or do.

  In Approach to Literature, Little (1981:93) explains that a character can be studied, first, from his or her basic characteristics that can be seen from the physical condition of the character; the social relationship in the work whether their personal relationship with other characters or the wider social relationship due to his or her social class or occupation; and the mental qualities, which are the ways of thinking, feeling, and acting. The second is his or her appearance from various points of view that includes how the characters sees himself or herself, how various other characters see him or her, and how s /he develops, or fail to develops, during the course of the story. The third is his or her place in the work that includes the treatment of the author (portrayed descriptively or dramatically), his or her place in the story (major or minor character), and his or her relation to the theme.

2. The Relation between Literature and Society

  Literature is a social institution that uses language, one of the social creations, as its medium. Literary tools such as symbols used in the literary works represent social conventions and norms that are used in the society. The object of the literature, the world and the people, are the imitation of social reality. Therefore, literature with its medium devices and objects is the representation of life itself (Wellek and Warren, 1956: 94).

  Literature has social function. An author himself is a member of society who has particular social conditions. The author gets some level of social acknowledgement and appreciation, and then presents his work to the reader because indeed literature has a close relationship with particular social issues. Therefore many problems that discussed studies on social reality in the literary work are social questions, for example economic, sociocultural, and political problems (Wellek and Warren, 1956: 94).

  The relation between literature and society is that literature is an expression of society (Wellek and Warren, 1956: 94). Also, literary work can play its role as a document that record social realities, happening in society, which is artistically portrayed by authors (Wellek and Warren, 1956: 102).

  The author expresses the truth, historical truth and social truth that happen in the exact world through literary world.

3. Theory of Class

  In virtually all societies, argued Marx, there have been two major social groups: a ruling class and a subject class. In capitalist era, there are two main classes: the bourgeoisie, or capitalist class, which own the means of production, and the proletariat, or working class, whose members only own their labor power which they hire out in return for wages. The power of the ruling class is to exploit and to oppress the subject class derived from their ownership and control the means of productions. The various institution of the society, such as the legal and political system are instruments of ruling class domination and serve further to their interests (Haralambos, 1996:37).

  The bourgeoisie and proletariat are dependent one another. The wage laborers must sell their laborers power in order to survive since they do not own a part of the means of production and lack the means to produce the goods independently. They depend, therefore, for their livelihood on the capitalist and the wages offered. The capitalist as the non-producers depend on the labor power wage since, without it, there would be no production.

  However the dependency of the two classes is not an equal relationship. Instead, it is a relationship of the exploiter and exploited, oppressor and oppressed (Haralambos, 1996: 38).

  Marx argues that a social group only fully becomes a class when it becomes a class for itself. At this stage, the members of a social group have class consciousness and class solidarity. Class consciousness means that the class is fully aware of the true situation, by realization of the nature of exploitation. Member of a class develop a common identity, recognize their share interest, and unite, to produce class solidarity. The final stage of class consciousness and class solidarity is reached when the members, realized only by collective action, can overthrow the ruling class, and takes positive steps to do so. Particular collective behavior, for example strike, often occurs as the protest of the workers due to wages, redundancies and working conditions (Haralambos, 1996: 40).

  In California, regarding the relationship between Chicano and Whites, the society is divided in two classes. Upper and lower, this class is race based.

  The Whites is having the position in the upper and the Mexican or Chicano is positioned in the lower. Kitano said that all Mexican, whether they are the land-owning “pure” Spanish or “half-breed” laborers were perceived by the

  Whites as inferior. By 1900 they were already a subordinated population, having lost title to their land because they could not supply proof of ownership. The Whites settlers made no distinction between the original Mexican inhabitants—the “old timers”—and the immigrant newcomers; they all were consigned to the same low status (Kitano, 1985:158). He also said that, before the American invasion, the upper class was reserved for the Spanish, when the United States acquired the territories, most retained this status, the “half-breeds” (mestizos) and the native Indians filling the lower class (Kitano, 1985:173).

4. Theory of Race Discrimination

  According to Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary racism is a belief that such race determines the abilities and the superiority of human being, and an action that follows this belief, or racial prejudice, or discrimination (1995:192). In the International Encyclopedia of Ethics discrimination means differential treatment based on physical and social affiliation (Roth, 1995:156).

  For Mexicans, as well as for most ethnic minorities, poverty compounds the prejudice and discrimination is already present because of race and nationality (Kitano, 1985:169). They are generally of mixed Indian and Spanish ancestry, so that, in addition to the ethnic, cultural, and linguistic discrimination faced by most immigrants, they are also victims of racial discrimination (Kitano, 1985: 168). Both poverty and race become the problem of Mexican because their position is in the lower state of poverty that deals with discrimination. Their race is also considered lower than the Whites that cause the Mexican to have discrimination.

  The discrimination also happens in school where the Chicano children study. They undergo discrimination from the Whites. The ethnic community blames the irrelevance of the school curriculum and Anglo teachers’ prejudiced, stereotyped responses to Mexican students are often arbitrarily advised to take non academic courses; sometimes they are placed in classes for the mentally retarded (Kitano, 1985: 179). This kind of discrimination is happening because of a reason that the Mexicans come from lower community and also have bad effect toward the white student. School district board minutes show that segregation was also intended to protect the interests of white students and shield them from contact with Mexicans who were perceived as “dirty, lawless…stupid and lazy.” According to one teacher in California, the separation of Mexicans was necessary because: “the Mexican is a menace to the health and morals of the rest of the community (http://www.chicano.ucla.edu/center/events/mendez_052104/052104_mendez. pdf).” 5.

   Review on Chicanos’ Experiences in California in 1900s

  In the aftermath of the Mexican Revolution in 1910, the Mexican government was unable to improve the lives of its citizens. By the late 1930s, the crop fields in Mexico were harvesting smaller and smaller bounties, and employment became scarce. The Mexican peasant needed to look elsewhere for survival. World War I also stoked the fire of Mexican immigration since Mexican workers performed well in the industry and service fields, working in trades such as machinists, mechanics, painters and plumbers. These years were ripened with employment opportunities for Mexicans because much of the U.S. labor force was overseas fighting the war. Agencies in Mexico recruited for the railway and agriculture industries in the United States (http://www.museumca.org/picturethis/3_2.html). United States needs worker for their land and the Chicanos are becoming the sought ones because the fact that The Mexican were experienced in farming, ranching, and mining…Mexican labor were also easier to organize into work gangs because of their familiarity to (padrone-peon) master servant system. Thus the Anglo employer had an efficient way of dealing with the labor force (Kitano, 1985: 159). Mexican and Mexican American migrant farm workers expected conditions like those pictured above as they sought farm work in California and other states in the early 1900s. At that time, the Mexican Revolution and the series of Mexican civil wars that followed pushed many Mexicans to flee to the United States. Many U.S. farm owners recruited Mexicans and Mexican Americans because they believed that these desperate workers would tolerate living conditions that workers of other races would not. Mexican and Mexican American workers often earned more in the United States than they could in Mexico's civil war economy, although California farmers paid Mexican and Mexican American workers significantly less than white American workers.

  By the 1920s, at least three quarters of California's 200,000 farm workers were Mexican or Mexican American (http://www.museumca.org/picturethis/3_2 .html).

  The Mexican work force was critical in developing the economy and prosperity of the United States. The Mexican workers in numerous accounts were regarded as strong and efficient. As well, they were willing to work for low wages, in working conditions that were questionably humane. Another measure of control was imposed on the Mexican immigrant workers during the depression: visas were denied to all Mexicans who failed to prove they had secure employment in the United States. The Mexicans who were deported under this act were warned that, if they came back to the United States, they would be considered outlaws (http://www.pbs.org/kpbs/theborder/history/timeline/17.html).

  As the Great Depression took a toll on California's economy during the 1930s, however, Mexicans and Mexican Americans became targets for discrimination and removal. White government officials claimed that Mexican immigrants made up the majority of the California unemployed. White trade unions claimed that Mexican immigrants were taking jobs that should go to white men. In reality, a new supply of white refugees desperate for jobs were flooding California from the Midwest, making up the majority of the unemployed (http://www.museumca.org/picturethis/3_2.html). Because these workers were forced to settle into communities that did not want them and in communities that were promised the Mexicans were only staying temporarily, Mexicans were segregated, victimized, and resented by the surrounding Whites population (http://amath.colorado.edu/carnegie/lit/lynch/migrant.html).

  As this rapid shift of Mexico's working population occurred, the first labor agreement between the United States and Mexico was formed. Mexico required that U.S. farm owners provide legal contracts for all Mexican workers guaranteeing conditions such as wages and work schedules. The U.S. government, in turn, enforced the border between the United States and Mexico, checking that all Mexican immigrants had the proper work contract so they would not be exploited (http://www.museumca.org/picturethis/3_2.html).

  From 1962 to 1965, Cesar Chavez and a small group of organizers traveled up and down California’s agricultural valleys, talking to people, holding house meetings, helping with problems, and inviting farm workers to join their new organization. They did not call the National Farm workers Association (NFWA) a labor union because people had such bad memories of lost strikes and unfulfilled promises. It was a slow and tedious process (http://www.pbs.org/itvs/fightfields/cesarchavez1.html).

  There are some problems that occurred in the life of the Chicanos in California in 1900s. Unfortunately, their migration is not the answer to their problem. In the new land they also face problems such poverty, pesticide danger, and child laboring.

a. Poverty

  As can be inferred from the occupational picture, the most pressing problem for Mexican families is poverty. They are consistently at the bottom of the economic ladder, and as a population they remain greatly overrepresented in the lowest income categories (Kitano, 1985:169).

  The relationship between poverty and other variables is well documented. Generally, the poor receive the worst in healthcare, housing, and education; they are regarded with disfavor by the police, teachers and the representatives of the dominant culture; and there is a high correlation between poverty and crime, delinquency, drug usage, and mental illness. For Mexicans, as well as for most ethnic minorities, poverty compounds the prejudice and discrimination already present because of race and nationality (Kitano, 1985:169). They have to live in a house that almost can be called a shack. The walls and roofs of the shack are patched together from different materials, reminiscent of the quote above. Migrant farm workers of all races lived in temporary camps like this as they moved from farm to farm to follow the seasonal work.

  At the same time that wages were dropping due to the new white refugee labor, established Mexican and Mexican American farm workers had become a threat by banding together, often with other non-whites, and organizing strikes to protest lowered wages and worsening living conditions.

  Agriculture in the United States was crippled due to the ongoing Dust Bowl drought in the Midwest, while California was relatively untouched - the farm owners had a chance to profit immensely from the supply of cheap labor, but not if these protests succeeded (http://www.museumca.org/picturethis/3_2.html).

b. Pesticides Danger

  A study on California farmworkers shows a stunning result of the pesticide exposure. This study is an environmental (rather than occupational) study, so the exposed population was likely to have experienced lower-level exposures than workers would. The researchers identified other risk factors in the mothers and statistically screened them out. Another strength of the study was the researchers’ ability to narrow in on the period of organogenesis (the third through eighth week of pregnancy) for each of the babies, when fetal development is most sensitive to birth defects from environmental factors. The authors found that “in ten agricultural counties of California, proximity to commercial pesticide applications was associated with an elevated risk of fetal death due to congenital anomalies…the largest risks for fetal death due to congenital anomalies were from pesticide exposure during the 3rd-8th weeks of pregnancy.” In other words, mothers who live near agricultural spray sites are at elevated risk for birth defects, especially during the 3rd – 8th weeks of their pregnancies (http://www.beyondpesticides.org/documents/Evidence_ May06.pdf).

  Most of these farm labor families live in old, sub-standard housing in close proximity to pesticide applications. One of the families in our pilot study lives approximately twenty feet from strawberry and lettuce fields where pesticides are applied, in a trailer with holes in the walls and no screens on the windows. Such housing conditions allow for greater penetration of airborne pesticides, which settle on surfaces contacted by children (e.g., carpets, floors, clothing, food). The crowded conditions of the houses (e.g., eleven people living in five rooms) may also lead to greater potential for contact with pesticides (http://ccsre.stanford.edu/pdfs/wps49.pdf).

c. Child Labor

  The Chicanos children experience working as their elder. They start school later in life and remain in school in shorter time than the general U.S. population. Moreover, in their working place and also neighborhood they have some problems that they have to deal with.

  Child farm workers work stooped over, using knives and other dangerous tools in scorching temperatures for long hours. Twelve to fourteen- hour days are not uncommon during peak harvesting seasons. Yet, despite the rigors of their labor, they are exempted in most cases from receiving minimum wage and overtime compensation. Many are exposed to pesticides and other toxic chemicals, affecting their growth and development. Agriculture has one of the highest rates of injury and death of all occupations in the United States. The U.S. Department of Labor’s June 2000 report, for example, noted that in a number of ways. In agriculture, [deaths] are more likely to occur among the youngest workers. About three-quarters of all deaths to young workers under the age of 15 occurred in agriculture.” The same report also noted that “the risk of a fatality (per hour worked) in an agricultural wage and salary job is over 4 times as great as the average risk for all working youth.” (www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/ngos/usa/USHRN37.doc).

  Children laboring in the agricultural industry face uphill battles in academic achievement. Migrant laborers move around the country looking for jobs, depending on crops and seasons. A study of migrant students for the Michigan Department of Education, for example, found that at average, farm workers move from one residence to another around six times per year, each time taking their children with them. Each move interrupts children’s academic instruction and other related school activities such as building and maintaining meaningful relationships with their peers and teachers. Some children of farm workers start school much later than their peers while others leave school earlier as they and their parents move to find a new place to work. Furthermore, child workers endure long hours in extreme conditions.

  Consequently, they often arrive in class tired, sleepy and unprepared. At times, they also arrive in ill health. As a result, they experience a high level of interruption in instruction and often are not able to maintain meaningful relationship with peers and build important social networks (www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/ngos/usa/USHRN37.doc).

  The standard age for working children in most sectors of the economy is set at 16 whereas the minimum age for agriculture at 14 years of age.

  Furthermore, loopholes and exceptions allow younger children to work on farms with fewer restrictions. Children as young as 12 and 13 may legally work in a farm performing non-hazardous jobs. In other industries, the age limit is set at 14. Furthermore, a 14 year-old child may only work up to 18 hours per week in a retail industry during school, while a child of the same age may work in unlimited hours, harvesting crops so long as the work is not performed during school hours. In most industries, a child may not begin work before 7 a.m. while a child working on farms may start at any hour.

  Some farm workers begin as early as 4 a.m. (www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/ngos/usa/USHRN37.doc).

C. Theoretical Framework

  Some theories that the writer mentioned before were used for helping the writer answers the problems formulated in Chapter I. The theory of character and characterization is to analysis the characters’ experiences that are going to be analyzed furthermore. Here the writer will analyze the prominent characters and their experiences. Then, the writer will match the characteristic of the Chicano’s life in California in 1900s with the characterization of the characters’ life experiences.

  A theory that explores the relationship between literature and society is applied in order to discover the relation between the literary works and the society of the works. This theory is important in this thesis since this thesis is dealing with the real condition of Chicano experiences in California on 1900s. Besides, the review of the Chicanos Experiences in California in 1900s will be very important in this thesis. The review will be used to understand the reality happening in the society, and also to prove quality the characters in the novel as the representation of Chicanos’ experiences in California on 1900s. In the analysis, theory on class will be used to explain the class position of the Chicanos in the society. This position affects the condition of the Chicanos. Theory on racial discrimination is used to understand the racial discrimination that happens in the society of Chicano in California on 1900s.