On page 110, during Esperanza’s first conversation with Mrs. Hernandez, the topic quickly turns to their children:
- “Tienes hijos?”
- “Two.”
- “Watch them, mija. The streets are a magnet for trouble.”
- “Yeah, but my kids don’t get into trouble. They good all around.”
- “You say that now, but the next thing you know, you have a kid in prison and the other knocked up. It happens every day.” (Cruz)
Looking back on this after further reading, the wording makes it seem too obvious (although Hush technically isn’t one of Esperanza’s children, she becomes part of the family anyway). Cruz couldn’t have made it any plainer if she wrote Mrs. Hernandez as someone who can see into the future, instead of just speaking from years of observation. Regardless, Esperanza keeps denying it, even when Bobby does wind up in prison – “My Bobby never did anything wrong. He’s a good kid. I swear to you.” (Cruz 135)
This case of foreshadowing feels like Esperanza is being prepared for the inevitable letdown of her Dallas-based fantasy world. She keeps insisting Bobby and Dallas are good kids, but what evidence does she use (aside from neither of them going to prison before now)? The more she says
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As stated above, what proof does she have that Bobby and Dallas are “good kids”? The only proof she has is her experience as a mother, which should be enough for her, but what about the reader? We’re not shown any memories of her children before Don Chan arrives; the most we get is mention of a very young Bobby in the Dominican Republic when Esperanza runs away to Puerto Rico – “[She] didn’t think about how her departure would make Santo feel, or that she might never see her son again.” (Cruz 18) The most reference Dallas gets is “He [Santo] wanted to be present when their daughter was born.” (19) There’s no pre-Don Chan scenes of their childhoods in Nueva