Esperanza rising how old is esperanza

Eventually Esperanza learns not just to deal with being poor, but also to have compassion for those who are even poorer than she is. Check out how much Esperanza changes. In Mexico, she didn't understand why anyone should bother giving food to beggars, when there's plenty of food at the store. She says to Miguel: "But why does Carmen need to take care of the beggar at all? Only a few yards away is the farmer's market with carts of fresh food" 5.

But after a few months of working in the United States, Esperanza understands that poverty can be a problem even in the middle of great wealth. Can this really be the same girl who was afraid to sit next to peasants on the train? Back in the day, Esperanza thought that her birthday presents were everything.

But when she finally recognizes that her most precious possession is her family, she becomes very generous with the few material things she has. For example, the doll that she once jealously guarded from the grubby hands of a peasant child becomes a new gift to cheer up little Isabel.

Esperanza tells Isabel, "I want you to have something that will last more than one day," and she reassure the little girl that "Mama would be very proud that she belongs to you" We think Mama would be proud, too.

Proud of how Esperanza has learned to value other people's emotions over her own material possessions. Esperanza has dropped the diva act, and she doesn't lose her temper at the drop of a hat. But she definitely hasn't lost her spark. When Esperanza's friends and family are treated unfairly because they are Mexican, she throws down. Near the end of the novel, Esperanza has a fight with Miguel in which she gives voice to the injustice she's seen since arriving in the U.

Isabel will certainly not be queen no matter how badly she wants it because she is Mexican. You cannot work on engines because you are Mexican. We have gone to work through angry crowds of our own people who threw rocks at us, and I'm afraid they might have been right! They send people back to Mexico even if they don't belong there, just for speaking up. We live in a horse stall. And none of this bothers you? Bandits capture and kill Papa while he's out working on the ranch, and as if that weren't bad enough, Papa's evil stepbrother takes over Papa's land.

When Mama refuses to sell him the house, he burns it down. Homeless and penniless, Mama has to make a decision—marry Mr. Evil to get her fortune back, or flee the country with Esperanza. Like Mama was really going to marry that jerk. Mama and Esperanza tag along with their former household servants, Hortensia, Alfonso, and Miguel, who hope to become more than servants when they make it to the United States.

Soon enough, they join Alfonso's brother and his family on a company farm in the San Joaquin Valley in California. But sadly, Esperanza's grandmother, Abuelita, has to stay behind. This new life is entirely different from the one Esperanza had grown accustomed to. Living conditions are shabby and crowded, and Esperanza has to work for the first time in her life. When Mama gets sick, Esperanza realizes it's up to her to take care of the family, so she stops complaining about all the things she has lost and womans up.

She knows Mama will get better if she can bring Abuelita to the United States, but that will take something she doesn't have—money. At only thirteen years old, Esperanza starts working in the farm sheds, packing produce for pitiful wages. Now we get down to serious. The unfairness of the working conditions inspires many Mexican workers to strike or stop working until the employers agree to pay them more. Esperanza isn't too psyched about it, but when a bunch of the strikers are rounded up and deported, she changes her tune.

Newly penniless, Esperanza struggles to adjust to her new social status during the journey to the United States. After several days on the train, the group arrives in California. Alfonso's brother, Juan , comes to pick them up. Juan and his wife, Josefina , have three children: Isabel , who is a bit younger than Esperanza, and twin babies, Pepe and Lupe.

Esperanza is shocked to see her new home: a cramped, shared cabin in a migrant workers' camp. Isabel teaches Esperanza how to do household chores. Once Isabel goes to school, Esperanza must care for the babies and the house on her own while everyone else works in the fields.

She has never done manual labor before and struggles to learn. She develops a rivalry with Marta , a young politically-minded woman who is organizing the migrant workers to strike for better living conditions. One day, a dust storm ravages the San Joaquin Valley. Everyone returns home safely, but Mama becomes sick with Valley Fever. Unwell and unable to work, Mama stays at home while Esperanza starts working in the field. Mama becomes sicker and must be moved to the hospital.

In order to pay the medical bills, Esperanza takes on more work, despite the danger that the upcoming strike may pose. The strike occurs during the asparagus harvest.