Feet of Jesus: Baseball

       Something I really enjoyed about this novel was the realistic-ness of the characters. I liked their descriptions, their references and I found it all so relatable. One of the instances in the story that I found interesting was when Estrella is at the railroad tracks and begins to discuss the lights from the baseball field.
     In the moment that the lights from the field turn on, Estrella is worried that it could possibly be border control, but then goes on to discuss what happens in baseball. Questioning as to "where is home", I felt that the baseball analogy made for a much larger metaphor. This brings up the question of where "home" is for Estrella herself, which may not actually be where her family is. When watching the game she on the field she describes the ball being hit in violent manners, "a ball, a blunt instrument, hit against the skull". Which could also allude to other things, such as the trials of finding a home, or being in one that is not the right one.
    I also liked her description of the ball as a peach. In talking about the players and questions their "hunger" which could allude to many other things. She also discusses one of the players as being a "stunned deer" in the lights of the field, which I felt alludes to her fear of being caught in the lights of border patrol. Overall I felt this passage exemplified how alienated and controlled the people in the novel must have felt. Seeing as if I came upon the same scene Estrella did, I would have enjoyed the view and watched a nice game of baseball, but to her it was foreign, violent, and based on survival.