Esperanza Rising

Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan received the Pura Belpré Award.

Exposition: Esperanza is twelve years old, her parents are Ramona and Sixto Ortega, her grandmother is Abuelita.  Esperanza’s father is a wealthy rancher and landowner in Aguascalientes, Mexico in 1930.  The setting is also the migrant labor camps in San Joaquin Valley California near Arvin, where Esperanza and her mother flee.

Conflict:  The conflict is survival against, evil, prejudice and sickness.

Rising Action:  Esperanza’s father is murdered the night before her thirteenth birthday.  Women are not allowed to inherit land, so the land is given to her father’s evil brother.  They are given the house and the grapes.  The Brother wants to marry Ramona, Esperanza’s mother.  Ramona tells him no, their house is burned to the ground that night and they lose everything.  Abuelita is injured in the fire and goes to the nunnery to be taken care of by her sisters.  Esperanza, her mother, and the ranch foreman, Alfonso, his wife, Hortensia, and son, Miguel, flee to the United States.  Esperanza has been treated like a princess and doesn’t know how to do anything.  She has to learn how to work.  Esperanza’s mother, Ramona becomes very sick and is hospitalized for months.  Esperanza has to learn how to work in the packing sheds and in the fields to pay for her mother’s care.  She puts back a little money from every paycheck to eventually bring her grandmother, Abuelita to them.

Climax:  Miguel leaves abruptly and Esperanza feels that she chased him away with her words.  She then discovers all of her money is gone and only Miguel knew where it was.  One day, Miguel’s father comes to the packing shed to get Esperanza.  They drive to the bus station and Esperanza’s grandmother, Abuelita, is the last one off the bus.

Falling action:  Esperanza’s mother recovers now that her mother is with her.  Esperanza forgives Miguel.

Resolution:  Esperanza wakes up the next morning to the men singing the birthday song.  There is a celebration.    

The theme of this story is very powerful.  It is one of never being afraid to start over and the importance of sacrifice and love family and friends.  The story provides a window to look back into history and allows the reader to gain insight into the difficulties and prejudices faced during the depression.

Ryan, P. M. (2000). Esperanza Rising. New York: Scholastic Inc.