Esperanza Rising

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.