Commentary On Esperanza's Rising

Imagine losing everything you had, your house, your dad, and all your possessions all of that at the age of 12. Ghastly isn’t it? Well in the story, Esperanza Rising by: Pam Munoz Ryan, Esperanza had to go through all that and shift to America during the Great Depression, and even if you don’t know what that is, you probably know by the looks of it that it is not the most marvelous thing. And you would be right, it’s not. When Esperanza goes to work in America to earn money, there are strikes going on about how people don’t get paid enough for working. Esperanza takes the job because she needs the money to help her mom who is sick and in the hospital and to earn money, so that her grandma can come to America. Esperanza is a brave 12 year-old

She learns that she has to work hard to achieve what she wants to. Which, in this case, is getting her grandma to come to America from Mexico. She needs to earn the money herself by working in the fields, since her mother is sick. She needs the money for her Mom’s medicines. She is willing to do anything to get money. “Isabel, I will tell you about how I used to live. About parties and private school and the beautiful doll my papa bought me, if you will teach me how to pin diapers, how to wash, and…”(p120). This is significant because it proves that Esperanza will do anything to get that job. She doesn’t want to work, but in order to achieve her goals, she has to. And she is willing to do that for her family. She takes care of two babies while the adults are away, but if she goes to work, then she won’t have anyone to take care of the babies. The text states, “ I could work in the fields or in the sheds, and Melina and Irene have already offered to watch Pepe and Lupe.”(p166) This supports that she is prepared to do anything to get that job since she found two babysitters to look out for Pepe and Lupe. This shows that she is ready to do more work in order to get money. She can work hard if she has to, and this quote proves that. If you are not convinced that Esperanza is valiant, keep

She had to go through the death of her dad, the fire, the threats, moving to America. If I was in her place, I wouldn’t have known what to do, I would’ve been miserable for days, but she stayed strong and did her best. She became stronger and stronger as the story went on, as the problems got worse. It was such a tragedy when Esperanza’s mom became sick. Esperanza was really mournful, but she managed to get it together and help as much as she could. She started helping around the house, but when she figured out that it wasn’t much, she got a job at the fields and even though she had no experience in it she still went ahead and did it. “Mama had been strong for her. Now it was her turn to be strong for Mama. She must show her that she didn’t need to worry anymore.”(p163) Based on this quote, I can tell that she knew she had to be strong and her Mom’s sickness didn’t make her more sad than she already was, it motivated her to be strong for her mom and whatever was coming up. She wanted to repay it to her mom for always being there and helping her in whatever she was going through. Esperanza became more and more stronger as she faced more and more problems. She was a scared girl who used to be afraid, but now she’s a lot braver. All these incidents gave her a message, that she was stronger than she knew she was. “Don’t worry Mama. Remember, I will take care of everything. I am