In the story Esperanza Rising 

Pam Muñoz Ryan leads us into the journey of the little girl
Esperanza Ortega, who was the only child for her parents. We are introduced to her and her
family as a wealthy and happy girl living in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Thing start developing for
her and her family in 1920s. Esperanza is introduced as a young girl wearing nice clothes and
enjoying her life. At the beginning of the story, Esperanza lived in a house where she had
servant to help with everything. She also used to go to a private school where her parents
wanted her to get the best education. However, things change and we start to experience the
turning point in her life and the life of those around her.

In the novel Esperanza Rising, the author addresses many important themes by
narrating the story of the young girl Esperanza and her family. We learn about the
different changes that Esperanza goes through along with her mother. However,
starting over is one of the important themes that I would like to focus on in my
paper.

In the story, it is so fascinating to read about the changes that occurred to

Esperanza and her family back in Mexico. Obviously, after Esperanza and her
parents lived a comfortable life in Mexico where they were rich and had everything
they wanted, the family went into many catastrophic events that changed their life
dramatically. It might be the hidden fate that Esperanza had to face. Her father is
killed by robbers, and then we are shocked to learn about how her father’s
stepbrothers try to take control of everything which caused her and her mother to
flee to the U.S where they can start over again.

Life does not go they way they expected again, even in the U.S Esperanza and her
mother are living now in a labor camp. None of them have ever expected that.
Instead of being the masters of yesterday, they are the servants of this new life.
However, these new difficulties and changes taught Esperanza how to start over
again. She is now again trying to stand up and support her mom survive this new
life. Her mother who started that new life by working in the fields could not even
continue as she got sick from an elegy, she developed because of a dust storm
which made her stay in a hospital for a while. Esperanza from her side, had to start
work in order to cover the cost of her mother’s medication. The changes end in a
good way after her mother recovered and is back home.

We can see that Esperanza moved from a life where she lived in prosperity to a life
that is full of difficulties. Nevertheless, this did not stop her, and she was able to
fight back and start over again once they arrived to the United States. It is also
important to mention that as a loving daughter, Esperanza also had to handle the
pain she had when her dad was killed. At the end, she succeeded in making that
needed changes and starting over again.