Jesse

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1994

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-5

Chapters 6-12

Chapters 13-19

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Background

Historical Context: United Farm Workers Union

Jesse incorporates allusions to and context regarding American labor leader César Chávez and the United Farm Workers Union. Chávez served in civil rights movements, calling the struggle for migrant and farm labor rights la causa or, the cause. Specifically, he was a practitioner of nonviolent civil disobedience. He led rallies and worker strikes to push for policy changes that positively influenced the rights and wellbeing of workers, especially Mexican and Mexican American migrant workers in the American West. One of Chávez’s greatest achievements was organizing and leading the 1965 strike and boycott of California grapes. The strike lasted five years and led to collective bargaining that won workers higher wages and safer working conditions. In 1975, California passed the Agricultural Labor Relations Act, a major victory earned through the work of the United Farm Workers Union; this act granted the right for farm workers to unionize.

In this novel, Chávez is used as a symbol of hope and activism. As a Mexican American, Jesse has few role models in American society, which comprises a racist, white-dominated culture. Chávez is a beacon of change, positive representation for Jesse and other young Mexican Americans. Jesse works as a field laborer, so his attachment to the United Farm Workers Union is direct and poignant. Activism is also a challenge for Jesse. He wants to be a part of the Chicano movement, but he often finds himself in situations characterized by violence, such as when he is around schoolmate Raul. Jesse considers Chávez an idol, he but has to develop his own way of advocating for himself and others’ civil rights.

Historical Context: The Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a deadly armed conflict that took place in 1955-1975. The primary conflict was between communist North Vietnam (backed by communist powers such as China and the Soviet Union) and South Vietnam (backed by powers such as the United States). Because part of the conflict included the possibility of Vietnam becoming a communist country (a classless society grounded in common ownership), the United States entered the war with Cold War-related concerns (i.e., geopolitical tension between it and the Soviet Union). After decades of colonization by the French, Vietnam fought over their national identity when the time came for decolonization. Northern Vietnamese regions were interested in adapting a communist government, inspired by the Soviet Union, but Southern Vietnamese regions were desperate to avoid the brutal rules of a communist regime (as the ideology is often reinforced via suppressing or killing “political dissidents”). Over half of the three million casualties were Vietnamese civilians. The United States was so invested in preventing the presence of another communist country that they instituted a draft forcing young American men into service; over 58,000 Americans died.

The Vietnam War was extremely unpopular, domestically and internationally. American college students were chief among the activists protesting against the injustice and violence of the war. The war caused a bitter division between Americans, and soldiers who returned were traumatized by the brutality they witnessed and inflicted abroad.

In this novel, the Vietnam War is a looming threat to brothers Jesse and Abel. Jesse is about to turn 18 years old, which makes him eligible for the draft. The older Abel is drafted into the war, forcing him away from home and into a war he doesn’t believe in. The cultural ethos surrounding the war helps Gary Soto give the novel a tone of resignation.