The House On Mango Street Esperanza Rising

In the story Esperanza Rising, Esperanza grows in many ways as a young woman from her experiences. She faces many obstacles and life lessons that help her to grow from a spoiled and selfish rich girl to a kind and responsible young woman. She learns to be thankful for what she has and not be sad about what she doesn’t have anymore.

To begin with, Esperanza is a very unkind to people that she thinks she is better than. She misjudges people also. For example, the dirty young peasant girl on the train really likes Esperanza’s doll that she has gotten from her Papa and Esperanza will not even let the little girl look at it. She thinks the girl is too “poor and dirty.” She doesn’t think she and mama should even be sitting in the train car with all these poor people. Also, she is used to having lots of money and nice things and looks down on other people not like her. She had to learn that she is like the people she was judging because she is poor now also. At the end of the story, Esperanza gives her special doll from Papa to little Isabel and this shows how she has learned to treat others and be kind.

When they meet a poor lady named Carmen on the train she tells them how she is poor but rich. Esperanza doesn’t really understand this until she faces some of her own problems at the camp. Once mama is home from the hospital and Abuelita comes from Mexico, Esperanza realizes that she is happy. She has dreams for her future, she has her family, and she has all she needs even if she doesn’t have a lot of money