Esperanza Rising

“He picked up a handful of earth and studied it. ‘Did you know that when you lie down on the land, you can feel it breathe? That you can feel its heart beating?’”

Esperanza’s father is teaching her that the earth is a living organism. He values it as more than something to be exploited. The cycles of nature provide sustenance and are to be respected. Esperanza will echo her father’s reverence for the land at the end of the book in her new homeland.

“Esperanza preferred to think, though, that she and her someday-husband would live with Mama and Papa forever. Because she couldn’t imagine living anywhere other than El Rancho de las Rosas.’”

At the beginning of the novel, Esperanza naively assumes that her future will unfold in an orderly fashion. She has no idea what fate holds in store for her. At a later point, she bitterly confides to Miguel that she saw her life laid out in straight rows. She eventually learns to value a different course for her future.

“At first, they stayed only a few hours, but soon they became like la calabaza, the squash plant in Alfonso’s garden, whose giant leaves spread out, encroaching upon anything smaller.

Much of the imagery in the novel consists of references to fruits and vegetables. This seems fitting given the agricultural occupation of the characters. In this instance, Esperanza describes her greedy uncles as predatory plants that steal sustenance from anything too weak to resist.