Migration and immigration are considered the third globalization wave, secondary to capital and goods. The migration issue is extending in scope, impacts, and complexity. The refugees experience several challenges during their course of movement and other difficulties in the areas they settle in as varying factors drive them out of their homes. The novels The Grapes of Wrath (1939) and Under the Feet of Jesus (1996) depict that human migration is mainly influenced by culture, disasters, and livelihoods rather than the will of exploitation. The novels elaborate on the causes of migration, the importance of migrants’ rights activists, and how the public unknowingly participates in oppressing the immigrants, thus aiming to change the readers’ perceptions about the refugees.
The refugees (migrants and immigrants) move primarily for survival and thus should not be exposed to further abuse and hostility. The Joads are exploited by the gas stations, land, and store owners whose intentions are to benefit from the refugees’ despair. Moreover, the locals attack the refugee camps due to the fear of refugees (Steinbeck 309). I am massively troubled by the inhumane treatment the Joads and other migrants experience en route to and upon arriving in California. The refugees in the novel and real life are mostly innocent civilians who are victims of occasions they cannot control. Therefore, my opinion of the refugees is improved as I consider them fellow citizens whose rights should be guarded and received warmly to help them overcome the misfortunes that befell them.
The Grapes of Wrath has also altered my view of the activists who fight for the rights and welfare of refugees. Tom claims, “Wherever there’s a fight so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there…wherever there’s a cop beatin’ up a guy, I’ll be there” (Steinbeck 463). Tom’s statement implies the mistreatments the refugees experience, especially in the refugee camps where they face enormous hunger and police brutality. His statement also highlights the fundamental human rights related to the migration discussion: right to decent living, travel when obliged to leave your home, and freedom of work. Learning how immigrants are denied fundamental human rights in the containment centers has challenged me to have an alternate view of standing up for the unfortunate refugees to fight for their rights. Fighting for the refugees is heroism, political consciousness, and a fight for justice and decency.
Viramontes’ Under the Feet of Jesus makes me realize that most of us are either directly or indirectly guilty of oppressing the immigrants. The author says that “Carrying the full basket to the paper was not like the picture on the red raisin boxes Estrella saw in the markets, not like the woman wearing a fluffy bonnet, holding out the grapes with her smiling, ruby lips, the sun a flat orange behind her” (Viramontes 26). The quote likens Estrella’s brutal labor with the perfect farming display as depicted in supermarkets in the country. The corporates do not display the experience of the workers involved in producing the foods. Therefore, we often indirectly enjoy products of the brutal labor experienced by the workers on the farms.
Circumstances beyond our control cause migration; thus, we should advocate for the rights of refugees rather than unfairly ripping off their hard work. Migrants move to survive; hence we should strive to protect their rights as ordinary citizens. Failure to advocate for their welfare as we enjoy the products of their labor makes us perpetrators of the inhumanity pelted on them on the farms. Therefore, the novels broadened my view on migration and human rights.
Works Cited
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. Penguin Books, 1939.
ViramontesHelena María. Under the Feet of Jesus. Penguin, 1996.