Esperanza Rising

                I recently reread the book, Esperanza Rising, a beautifully written novel by Pam Muñoz, Esperanza is a young Mexican girl whose father was attacked and killed in an ambush. Her home, which was a luxurious ranch, is burned, and she and her family are left with nothing. They are given two choices; the first option is to escape to America with little money. The second option is to stay in Mexico and have her mother marry her greedy, power hungry uncle who wishes to send Esperanza away. Esperanza escapes to America with her mother and her former servants, who are close family friends, Hortensia, Alfonso, and their son Miguel. She leaves behind her grandmother and a life of luxury.  The novel shares an important life lesson that wherever you go,  the separation of social classes follows you, and makes life complicated.

                The social class barrier is emphasized greatly in Mexico where the social divide is strong. If you are not rich you are automatically poor, a beggar. Fortunately for her, Esperanza was born into a family of wealth, but her friend Miguel and his family are not. They take jobs as servants on Esperanza’s father’s ranch, and are treated as family. However not all servants or people of the lower class were as lucky as Miguel’s family, which is why there was a war in Mexico over class separation. Esperanza first realized this separation was too strong, and that they could not be together even if they wanted to. “But now that she was a young woman, she understood that Miguel was the housekeeper’s son and she was the ranch owner’s daughter and between them ran a deep river. Esperanza stood on one side and Miguel stood on the other and the river could never be crossed.” This is a beautiful metaphor that indicates Esperanza is from a high social class, and Miguel is from a poor background and although they would like to grow closer to each other, they can’t because they stand on opposite ends of the barrier of social classes, and it can’t be crossed. In other words although they would like to, there is only so far these two social classes can go when interacting with each other. This passage confirms that the social class barrier separates the two classes, and prevents them from interacting to closely with each other, so they don’t go against the unspoken rules.

                 The social class barrier does more than prevent people seeing each other as human beings, treating others in different classes with respect, and preventing people from interacting with others from different social classes, it also strains friendships. On page 37, Esperanza and Miguel are sitting together in her father’s rose garden, and he tries to console her about her recently deceased father. “Surprised at her own blush she pulled away from him. She stood and stared at the roses. An awkward silence built a wall between them. She glanced quickly at him. He was still looking at her, with eyes full of hurt. Before Miguel left here there he said softly, “you were right, Esperanza. In Mexico we stand on different sides of the river.” While Miguel attempts to reach out to her, Esperanza continually pushes him away because she believes that the social barrier between them is too strong. This is a strong example of the fact that even though they both would like to reach out to each other they cannot because people of two separate social classes can’t mix. In this example especially, the social class barrier prevents two close friends from being together at a time when they booth need a little comforting. Through this passage Muñoz shows her readers that even the strongest of friendships cannot surpass the barrier between social classes.

             It is hard to understand others who do not have the same privileges as you do because they do not see the world as such an easy going place. This is a thought provoking lesson, because it challenges readers to try and understand why people of different social classes do not see each other as equals. They do not even try, the just make assumptions about each other. It definitely challenged me to think about if I’ve ever done, or seen this happen. I realized that even though it isn’t as big for me personally, I realized that I could relate because sometimes money issues can make things feel awkward between my friends and I. I’m definitely glad I decided to read this book because it has helped me notice the separation of different social classes, and makes me think about if I let it control me the way Esperanza does. Maybe in America, it may not be seen as much, but maybe we too stand on different sides of the river?