In the inspiring novel Under the Feet of Jesus, Helena Maria Viramontes has utilized effective literary devices, namely tone shift, selection of detail, and figurative language, to convey Estrella's desire to learn being discouraged by the treatment she received, and how it was reignited with the correct guidance and deep connection, ultimately revealing the importance of going in the right direction and having the right inspiration on the journey of exploring the world through the words.

Early into the excerpt, Helena Maria Viramontes established a shift in tone in order to illustrate Estrella's problem with comprehending the yet unknown knowledge. When Estrella saw the red tool chest for the first time, she was unable to comprehend "the iron bars and things with handles, the funny-shaped objects" because they were "confusing and foreign" (Viramontes). By using the confusing tone highlighted by the unserious word choices, Viramotes is developing Estrella as a person with the inability to understand what seems to be basic knowledge. But considering the tone at the moment, it can also be inferred that Estrella may be curious about the new things she just saw, and maybe she would want to learn about them. That said, right after that, Estrella "slammed the lid closed" and became "silent with rage" (Viramontes). The author has created a tone shift from a playful and full-of-curiosity tone to that of anger and rage. The action and behavior of Estrella seems to suggest a problem with how she received and comprehended things that she did not know, contradicting with the expectation of a curious young girl. By effective utilizing a tone shift, Helena Maria Viramontes has developed Estrella's character as a girl who was discouraged by the exploration of new knowledge at first. But just like how there is no smoke without fire, there is a reason explaining the weird feeling and behavior of Estrella to be established later on.

Immediately following the upset feeling of Estrella, Helena Maria Viramontes introduced new details about Estrella's experience at school, revealing Estrella's actual desire to learn and how it was not reciprocated by the people around her. It is revealed that "Estrella hated when things were kept from her," that people "never g[ave] her the information she wanted" (Viramontes). By introducing this selected detail, Viramontes has established the reason behind Estrella's upset feeling after finding out about the tool as because Estrella felt betrayed after finding out the things that were kept away from her. Emphasized by the angry calling "So tell me," Estrella is revealed to be a girl with full of curiosity and desire to learn at first, but her desire was slowly discouraged by the people around her, even the teachers, who "boxed [things] away in tool chests and kept to themselves." The anger of Estrella was exemplified even further, when Mrs. Horn revealed her thought about Estrella's dirtiness after a long time, that "for the first time" she actually felt the pain "as excruciating as rusted nails piercing the heels of her bare feet" (Viramontes). The indication of a long timespan of hidden thoughts has highlighted the mistreat Estrella received at where she should feel supported. She felt even more upset because they did not just "box" the knowledge away, but also the thoughts they had about Estrella. This moment when she realized words can cause unexplainable pain, was the moment her trust in the people around her totally collapsed; she was exposed to the world unprepared due to the lack of knowledge. Ironically, her lack of knowledge came directly from the people who did not give her the knowledge she wanted, yet, intentionally or unintentionally, wanted to hurt her feeling. The use of selection of detail and the continuation of an angry tone by Helena Maria Viramontes has successfully developed Estrella's character as a girl full of desire to explore the world, but was also mistreated by the world. But the flame of desire always burns in everyone's heart, including Estrella's, and she only needed the correct guidance to ignite that flame bright.

Towards the end of the excerpt, Helena Maria Viramontes excellently used a combination of a selection of detail, and figurative language, to ultimately reveal Estrella's desire to learn being reignited by the correct people with the correct guidance. To achieve this, Viramontes introduced the details about Perfecto Flores, who would be willing to help Estrella learn about the tiny yet crucial things, like "a chisel and hammer" or how to "remove a door" or how to "twist the pliers with [her] hammer" (Viramontes). The large chunk of vivid and descriptive details was not just about conveying Perfecto's "perfect" guidance, but more so about the fact that Estrella actually paid attention and wanted to pick up the new knowledge. It was the contrasting image of the "learning" environment she had at school, and a confirmation of Estrella's actual desire to learn, developing Estrella's character as a girl who seemed not to be interested in learning at first, to become the girl who was more than willing to explore new things in the world. During that exploration, Estrella learned about the "names that gave meaning to the tools," the way she lifted the "pry bar" and felt "power of function" and the "significance it awarded her," marking the moment "when she began to read" (Viramontes). The beatifully established figurative language at the end of this excerpt has revealed that things were never about the tools in a tool chest. The pry bar she used, the hammer, the chisels, everything was actually about the letters, the words, and the literacy. Similar to how all the tools have a meaning, everything in this world has a meaning; Estrella's exploration of the tool chest was a representation of her journey to explore the meaning of life, the beauty of the world, through the letters and the words she learned. This turning point created by the figurative language supported by the selection of detail at the end of the excerpt has ultimately demonstrated Viramontes' art of developing Estrella's character from the girl who wanted to learn about the world but was discouraged by the surrounding people, to the one continued to, with the right guiding light, explore the beauty of it all.

To conclude, the essence of exploring knowledge and beauty of the world in the right direction was conveyed beautifully through Helena Maria Viramontes' use of effective tone shift, selection of detail, and figurative language, as seen in the complex character development of Estrella. This could be an inspiring lesson to the next generations about the importance of knowledge, the desire for lifelong learning, and how it is the key to many opportunities in the world.