Esperanza Rising

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2000

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-4

Chapters 5-7

Chapters 8-11

Chapters 12-14

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Chapters 5-7Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 5 Summary: “Las Guayabas (Guavas)”

At the Rodríguez ranch, a wagon is waiting for the fugitives. Ramona, Hortensia, and Esperanza must hide in a secret compartment since someone might come looking for them. The truck is filled with guavas to disguise its purpose, and Alfonso and Miguel appear as farmers riding to market. Esperanza becomes claustrophobic, so Hortensia and Ramona distract her with a happy memory of a train ride years earlier.

Hortensia tells the story of when Miguel saved her and Esperanza from a home invasion by bandits. As a reward for Miguel’s bravery, Sixto had taken Esperanza and Miguel on the train ride to Zacatecas. In the wagon, Esperanza “wished she could get to Zacatecas as fast as she had that day on the train instead of traveling on back roads, hidden in a slow wagon. But this time, she was buried beneath a mountain of guavas and could not wave to anyone” (65).

Once on board the train, Esperanza is disturbed by the grubby seats they must take in a lower-class compartment. She is disdainful of the filthy peasants who surround them. A peasant girl tries to sneak a look at Esperanza’s porcelain doll until she snatches it away. Ramona makes the peasant a yarn doll as a consolation and rebukes her daughter for her rudeness. Esperanza is even more appalled when a woman carrying cages of live chickens takes a seat beside her mother. The two women strike up a conversation. Later, Ramona reminds Esperanza that they are also peasants now.

Chapter 6 Summary: “Los Melones (Cantaloupes)”

The next morning, the group reaches the border at Mexicali. Esperanza is nervous that their papers might not be in order, but Ramona convinces the immigration official to let them pass. They see other people being turned away. Ramona explains, “They had no papers, false ones, or no proof of work. Or there might have been a problem with just one member of the family so they all chose to go back instead of being separated” (83-84).

After crossing the border, they stay on the train to Los Angeles, where Alfonso’s brother Juan and his wife Josefina are waiting to greet them. They have two twin babies and an eight-year-old daughter named Isabel, who is fascinated by tales of Esperanza’s former wealth.

The large group climbs into a truck headed for the San Joaquin Valley. Juan has arranged jobs for everyone. Along the way, they stop to gather cantaloupes from a field that has already been picked. When they get near their camp, Juan stops to give a ride to a girl named Marta, who is related to their neighbors. She has a waspish disposition and takes an immediate dislike to the haughty Esperanza, who dislikes her in return.

Chapter 7 Summary: “Las Cebollas (Onions)”

When the group arrives at the small cabin assigned to them, Esperanza is shocked to learn that they must all share two small rooms. Ramona explains, “They will only give one cabin for each man with a family. There is no housing for single women. This is a family camp so we must have a male head of household to live and work here” (102).

The following day, the adults are assigned the work of picking and packing grapes. Esperanza and Isabel will stay behind to tend the babies, and later Esperanza will be expected to sweep the camp’s wooden platform in exchange for a reduction in their rent.

Isabel teaches Esperanza how to wash diapers. She is repelled by the smell but even more repelled by the odor of the onion trucks that frequently pass by their door. Later, Marta and her friends laugh at Esperanza as she tries to sweep for the first time. Humiliated, she returns to the cabin. Isabel promises to teach Esperanza the art of washing laundry. Miguel also coaches her on the proper way to handle a broom.

Chapters 5-7 Analysis

This segment illustrates the sharp contrast between Esperanza’s old life in Mexico and her new life in California. Wealth and the lack of it feature prominently here. Again, the author uses a description of Esperanza’s past to help the reader understand her current struggles. She recalls a luxurious train ride to Zacatecas years earlier that stands in stark relief to her current ride in a third-class carriage. Not only is the train car lacking in amenities, but its peasant passengers cause Esperanza to recoil in distaste.

Her interactions with the lower orders are contrasted with Ramona’s willingness to treat peasants as equals. Esperanza’s mother has already adjusted to the family’s changed circumstances. However, Esperanza is still clinging to notions of material wealth and its loss. Her porcelain doll makes an appearance and demonstrates her rigid refusal to change. The yarn doll that Ramona fashions for the peasant girl demonstrates just the opposite. She already understands the value of generosity and the need to be flexible in the face of life’s challenges.

This segment also revisits the theme of family loyalty when Ramona and Esperanza witness people being turned away at the border. Rather than be separated from their loved ones, those with valid travel papers are willing to go back to Mexico. Apparently, the Ortega family shares the same values as their humble compatriots in this regard.

The reader is also introduced to Marta in these chapters. While her union sympathies will be revealed later, she already shows her contempt for wealth and privilege and makes fun of Esperanza, who doesn’t know how to do laundry or sweep a floor. Marta is an ambivalent character in the novel. Although she seems to be fighting for a good cause, much of her crusading behavior is motivated by envy of the upper classes, as her bad treatment of Esperanza in this segment demonstrates.