One of my favorite novels when I was growing up was Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan. I was reminded of the book after we read about the second main character named Esperanza this semester. Just like House on Mango Street, and Picture Me Rollin, Esperanza Rising is a coming of age novel about a Latina girl.  If you have never read it, the basic plot involves a “riches to rags” story, set in 1930, in which Esperanza grows up in a wealthy family on a ranch/vineyard in Aguascalientes, Mexico, only to have everything taken away when her father is killed and his brothers take over the ranch. The only option for Ezperanza and her mother is to move to California with their former house servants to become farm workers. They move together, but Esperanza’s abuelita stays behind due to health, and Esperanza and her mother plan to save up for abuelita to eventually move up with them. Obviously, life becomes very different and difficult for Esperanza, because although she is only 13, she has lived her whole life basically as a princess, and within a few weeks becomes a migrant worker in a foreign land, with no money and no respect.

There are several moments of coming to age for Esperanza in this novel. The first being the tragic murder of her father, with whom she was extremely close. When he was killed, the day before her thirteenth birthday, “Esperanza an only child and Papa’s pride and glory” (4). His death changes her life drastically, forcing her into a new life with new values. When her father was still alive, and her family was extremely wealthy and respected, all Esperanza looked forward to do was the huge, extravagant birthday celebration her parents threw her every year. Once her father is killed, and she moves to California with her mother, her values and hopes eventually change. All she looks forward to is working and saving enough to bring her Abuelita from Mexico. Once her mother gets sick with pneumonia after a few months of work, Esperanza becomes the sole worker and provider, and she shows a selflessness that only comes from growing up. When she visits her mother on one of the rare occasion the doctor allows it, Esperanza tells her mother, “Don’t worry, Mama. Remember, I will take care of everything. I am working and I can pay the bills. I love you” (184). Even at 13, she is beginning to work for her and her mother. A few months later, with her mother still in the hospital, Esperanza reveals that she has been buying money orders to save until she has enough to send for her grandmother. She also buys a small pinata that resembles one her mother gave her once as a child: “I bought it for Mama. I’m going to ask the nurses to put it near her bed, so she’ll know that I’m thinking of her. We can stop by the hospital on the way back. Will you cut a whole in the top for me so I can put caramels inside? The nurses can eat them.” These lines show how caring and selfless Esperanza has become. She no longer thinks of herself, but only of making her mom happy and even doing little nice things for the nurses caring for her mom.

On a side note, its interesting to see how the quinceanera tradition was viewed in 1930 as Esperanza describes it: “They still had two more years to wait, but so much to discuss – the beautiful white gowns they would wear, the big celebrations where they would be presented, and the sons of the richest families who would dance with them. After…they would be old enough to be courted, marry, and become las patronas, the heads of their households, rising to the position of their mothers before them” (8). This was before Esperanza’s life changed forever, and its interesting to see that although she didn’t have the ceremony, dress, or marriage, Esperanza did in a way become the head of her household as she worked to support her, her mother and abuelita. And she didn’t have to wait two years either. The quinceanera is a symbolic coming of age, but what Esperanza went through was a real life coming of age.

More coming of age moments come for Esperanza as her eyes are opened to the harsh realities of illegal immigration and unjust prejudice against minorities. Just like “Las Hijas de Juan,” and “Barefoot Jesus,” Esperanza witnesses people being forcibly taken by la migra, families broken apart, even sometimes legal citizens with papers. She becomes frustrated with the injustices of her people and confused as to why nothing can be done. In Mexico, her privileged life never involved the trials and harsh realities that her life in Mexico did. Just like Josie in “Las Hijas de Jaun” she constantly pines to return to Mexico, where life was actually wonderful in comparison, ironically even though so many came to America for better lives.

Translating, into “hope,” it is no surprise that the name Esperanza is common in chicana or latina coming of age stories. Each girl with the name lives in situations where the odds are against them, where they often to have to fight very hard for a chance to escape to a better life. In their own way, they each symbolize hope because they each prove that beauty and possibility are still present in their difficult and often heartbreaking circumstances.