Main Character and Point of View Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan is told in 3rd person limited. The narrator tells the reader what the main character, Esperanza is thinking and feeling. “Esperanza felt that sinking feeling again.”(p.74) Esperanza Ortega is rich, elegant, and not used to hard labor and being a poor peasant. Esperanza is 12 years old and always thought her life would be wonderful with many fancy dresses and servants. "Esperanza looked at her Mama in surprise. Why was she apologizing to these people? She and Mama shouldn't even be sitting in this car." (p.69) Supporting Characters The supporting characters are Esperanza’s Mama, Ramona, Abuelita, Miguel, and Tio Luis. Ramona is just like Esperanza. She motivates Esperanza to …show more content…
The story starts in Aguascalientes, Mexico, at El Rancho de las Rosas, where Esperanza lives. Later in the story, Esperanza moves to a Mexican immigrant worker camp in California. Main Problem and Resolution Esperanza and her family must flee to a Mexican immigrant worker camp in California. Work is hard for Esperanza, especially when her Mama gets Valley Fever, her Papa is dead, and there’s a strike for better wages. "Esperanza felt anger crawling up her throat. ‘Mama, we are living like horses! How can you sing? How can you be happy? We don't even have room to call our own."'(p.103) After a year of working at the immigrant camp, Esperanza got used to the work, Esperanza's mother gets better and her family gets reunited. "'She always gets called to work in the sheds, she cooks now, and takes care of the babies as well as their own mother.'"(p.230) Esperanza learns to accept the fact that she may never have her old life back. "Miguel had been right about never giving up."(p.250) Theme The theme of this book is perseverance. “Do not be afraid to start over” (p.253 ) Esperanza never gave up while fighting through many difficult times. "It is no wonder that in Spanish, esperanza means
“Don’t be afraid to start over. ”These are the words that come from immigrants all over the universe. Immigrants have a rigid life. Some of them may have been very rich, but lost everything. Esperanza is just like one of these immigrants in the book Esperanza Rising by Pam Munzos Ryan.
There are so many life lessons in this book that are very important for people of all ages to know. One of the many themes in this book is simply having hope. Sure, it sounds like it shouldn’t be a theme but it is because of all the hope Esperanza had when she saw others not giving up. While reading this book, Ryan shows that it 's very difficult to be an adult or adolescent and to cope through all events of
She is also one of the strongest women in the plot of the story. This makes Esperanza look up to her mom and make herself want to be a strong woman when she grows up. Esperanza's mom helps influence the way Esperanza wants to live her life in the future. The last of the three most influential characters is Marin.
These problems coming to light through the many women Esperanza looks up to, drive her to rise above her obstacles, and become more than just another poorly treated woman. Despite the variety of girls in the neighborhood, one of Esperanza’s closest friends ends up being Sally, who has moved from one abusive home to the next. Sally’s father was a very strict man and she constantly disobeyed him once out of his sight. Whenever Sally is caught dressing “provocative” or acting “too old” her father decides to teach her a lesson.
I am too strong for her to keep me here forever. One day I will go away.” (Cisneros 110). At the end of the book, Esperanza has fully accepted who she is. She accepts that fact that she grew up on Mango Street, but that will not hold her back from moving away and growing as a person.
The main protagonist Esperanza, matures from a childish girl to a young confident woman through many critical and life changing events in the story. Ultimately, the author, Sandra Cisneros implements the symbols of confidence, the house on mango street and the metaphor of shoes to show how Esperanza develops into a more mature state. Sandra Cisneros
“In the meantime they’ll just have to move a little farther north from Mango Street, a little farther away every time people like us keep moving in (Cisneros 13).” This quote is a significant part of the story because it shows how Esperanza truly feels about herself and her family. She thinks that because she is poor and lives and a bad neighborhood people move away from her family. Esperanza doesn’t think very much of her or her family at all. She thinks that it is because of their race that people do not want to be near them.
Esperanza is often humiliated not only by where she lives, but also by her physical appearance, hence causing a restriction in her climb to a higher social class. Esperanza is frequently ashamed of her family’s broken-down house in an urban, poor
She knows she is lucky to have a less problematic family to support and her during good choices or bad decisions. Esperanza talks about the relationships of each family on Mango Street until she leaves and finds a better place. The other families on Mango Street also have it hard, but they don’t have the bond of the Esperanza’s
But immediately she feels intimidated because she doesn’t understand the rules of the workplace, and is too afraid to ask. “… and I didn’t know if I could sit down or not, and then I started sitting down when the two ladies next to me did.” (54). Yet again Esperanza proves that she is still a child because she feels too timid to ask a basic question. The lunch room turns out to be a scary place for Esperanza as well.
She dreams “One day I will pack my bags of books and paper. One day I will say goodbye to Mango. I am too strong for her to keep me here forever” (707). Esperanza believes that she can change the way she is living and live a better life. She is trying to get a good education to become a more improved and intelligent person so one day she does not have to be poor.
The male-dominated society that Esperanza grows up in forces the idea that women are weak and should stay locked in their houses while men go off to work. The men are immoral and seedy, as expressed in the chapter in which a homeless man leers and asks for a kiss from the little girls. Esperanza experiences the evil of her community when she is sexually assaulted, causing her to lose her previous desire to explore her sexuality. Before being assaulted, she wanted to be “beautiful and cruel” like her friend Sally, because Sally was what she understood to be a perfect woman. However, after her rape she decides that she needs to discover her own identity for herself.
Esperanza’s interest is writing poem, appears in many of the chapters where it explains a way of bonding with her community by sharing poems with one another. Because Esperanza has become a writer her observations strengthen throughout the novel. One example of how she matures through writing is in the beginning of the book she told stories that were obviously meant for a younger audiences but through the middle of the book she started to use more observation based upon what she saw which helped develop the story more for the reader. This change shows that she is becoming an artist, and also that she is starting to distance herself from her community, since she focuses more on capturing experiences than living through them, she starts to further her self from interaction and focuses more on observation of the people around her. By the end of The House on Mango Street, she knows that she underwent a huge transformation and her relationship with mango st is starting to weaken.
“Not a flat, not an apartment in the back. Not a man’s house. Not daddy’s house. A house all my own”(108). Esperanza no longer strives to be popular, pretty or to be with boys.
Have you ever had to eat a rice sandwich? If so, you might identify with a certain little girl named Esperanza. Esperanza Cordero is the main character of the book The House on Mango Street. Esperanza exhibits many strong character traits. Esperanza is a very timid, or shy girl.