Nato Nozadze – Discussion Board #15

Perhaps the book’s most important theme is Esperanza’ s progress from childhood to adulthood. It is no accident that the book takes place in approximately her twelfth year when she is too old for children’s games but not old enough to be a confident adult.  She thinks about what kind of power womanhood will bring but does not understand the responsibilities that accompany that power. She searches for role models in her mother and her older friends but finds none. Her mother and aunts are too domestic, with ambitions for their children and husbands and none of their own. Older girls like Sally and Marin seem more in control, but Esperanza quickly realizes that their power comes from their sensuality, and is fleeting and too dependent on men. From the start of the book, Esperanza realizes that men and women live in “separate worlds,” and that women are nearly powerless in her society. There is a constant conflict between being a sexual being and keeping one’s freedom, as most of the book’s female characters are trapped both by abusive husbands and needy children. Esperanza comes to recognize this dichotomy as she is caught between her own budding sexuality and her desire for freedom.