Esperanza Rising Analysis

The American Dream is “a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position” (Adams, 1931). It is the guarantee that with hard work and passion anyone can achieve upward mobility regardless of their origin. Many Americans believe in this promise, hoping that one day their first circumstance will not dictate the outcome of the rest of their lives. However the American Dream can be elusive without any real he American Dream eludes The novel Ragged Dick; or, Street Life in New York with the

America still to this day holds on to the idea of the “American Dream”. This is rather surprising in today’s society and the ups and downs that the nation is facing. The dream in the past was more about freedom and equality. Moving through the decades, this dream has morphed into something quite different. Instead of what America means for all of its inhabitants, the nation has become more individualized. Society has moved to interpret the dream of what America can do for the one. Instead of the unified nation, America has been known for in the past, a shift has started creating an inconsistency in who can realize the dream. The myth of the “American Dream” has been hugely affected by increased materialism, the gap in economic status, and the fantasy of “rags to riches” idea.

Esperanza rising takes place in 1930 in the country of mexico.pam Munoz Ryan opens the novel in the town of Rachncho de Las Rosas in Aguascalientes Mexico. The story starts by telling you who Esperanze is .she is a 12 year old who lives a wealth life on her family vineyard farm with her papa, mother, and abuelita. Esperanze is very close to her papa. Her papa has dedicated to his vineyards and he try to show esperanze to listen to the earth. Esperanze had a big birthday coming up. it was the day of her 13 birthday esperanze went to pick rosé and got a thorn stuck in her figure. When esperanze took the thorn out the wound would not stop bleeding. in the three culture that means bad luck. That next morning espreanze wok up and it was the day of her 13 birthday. And every birthday esperanze woke up to her papa and the servants singing feliz cumpleanos (happy birthday) to her out her window. But that day esperanze didn’t wake up to that. Then a few minutes later she got bad news. Her father had been killed by the bandits. Papas stepbrothers tio luis and tio marco were both really powerful men in the town Aguascalientes. They tried to take over the land from mama, esperanze and abuelita. But mama was not having. The laware came and told mama that papa had given the land to the step brothers if he had every dies .tioi luis offered to married mama so they could still live on the land. But mama was noting going to marry him just to stay on the land when she didn’t

I believe that most people who arrive to America don’t have much access to the American dream. Roberto Acuna talks about farm workers on page 71 “When we try organization to better our live, they are afraid. Suffering people never dreamed it could be different.” People who are put into categories of the lower class, don’t believe in themselves into pursuing their dream because they don’t have the freedom in order to do that. “ They have cotton machines that took jobs away from thousands of farm workers. Those people wind up in the ghettos of the cities, their culture, their families their unity destroyed.” So as you can see the evidence speaks for itself. The American dream: education,

The book Esperanza Rising, by Pam Munoz Ryan, gives readers a reason to never be afraid of starting over. The main character named Esperanza, is faced with several challenging situations as a young girl. These challenging events are life changing at times, which forces her to make adult decisions at young age. The life Esperanza is forced to live is unfortunately a reality to many Mexican families that made the move to the United States in search of the American Dream. Events faced by Esperanza’s family alongside workers of the El Rancho de las Rosas, which Esperanza’s family owned, forces Esperanza to change into a mature young teenage female. Munoz Ryan shows Esperanza’s character change by challenges she is faced with. The outcome of these events show growth within her young life by the emotions Esperanza expresses. Throughout the book Munoz Ryan uses symbolism to show growth and change within all characters. However; it is obvious to see the symbolic aspects the author provides related to Esperanza’s changes. The author faces Esperanza with different events to help remind her of a once wealthy life along with her current immigrant life style. As a whole many factors influence Esperanza's change. In the onset of Esperanza Rising, Esperanza is a wealthy, spoiled and dependent eight year old child, due to life changing events, she matures into an independent and mature teenage female.

Thesis Statement: The achievement of the American Dream, represented by social classes and opportunities available for social advancement, is unrealistic. The American Dream is propaganda for capitalism, rooted into the minds of believers that are used for labor. Capitalism’s fixed social classes leave no room for immigrants or for the hopeful to move up towards material success and wealth.

In her 1961 essay “What Has Happened to the American Dream?”, Eleanor Roosevelt stated that “no single individual and no single group has an exclusive claim to the American dream...but we have all a vision of what it is, not merely as a hope and an aspiration, but as a way of life, which we can come ever closer to attaining its ideal form if we keep our belief in its essential value”. The belief of pursuing the American dream is one that has been instilled since the formation of the country itself, and with those beliefs come those who pursue it. Unfortunately, achieving this dream is not without difficulty, and those who realize the true obstacles in front of them turn to other ways to sustain themselves in this nation. Not everyone has an equal opportunity to pursue the American dream because of social exclusion, the government prioritizing the wrong issues, and economic gaps, which has thus led to organized crime, however some say that all citizens do have the equal opportunity.

The American dream glamorizes the fantasy of equality where each American citizen experience the characteristics

Esperanza Facing Challenges “Don’t be afraid to start over”. Being forced to leave your home, and make a new life for yourself and your family. Esperanza young Hispanic girl who was born a princess, than all of a sudden she’s facing challenges that she never thought she would have to deal with. Since her Papa’s death, Esperanza had to face many challenges as an immigrant. Such as learning how to do chores, dealing with Mama becoming sick with Valley Fever, than Esperanza and other Mexicans having to face discrimination in the U.S.

There is a stigma of being an American. If an individual works day in and day out, that person will achieve their life goal. This is pursuing the American dream, because all citizens have equal opportunity to become successful and live a prosperous life. Now all Americans can have equal rights, so each and every one can strive for success equally. We banned slavery, segregation, and institutional racism. Women are viewed as equally under the law as men, and homosexuals can legally marry. Equality took a many hard fought years to cover everyone, but now everyone is content. Wrong! In the novel Rereading America many different cultural contexts explains that if you are born into poverty, was a women, or was of color, then life was not as equal as a wealthy white born male to become successful and have equally opportunities.

America historically owns the reputation of being the land of opportunity, and for generations immigrants have fled to the United States to experience the freedom and equality our government lays claim to. At the root of this reputation is the American Dream, the belief that with hard work anyone can succeed based solely on his or her merits. While definitions of success vary, the American Dream defines it as the ability to become a "self-made man," thereby rising to a more-than-comfortable state of living. The American Dream is believed to be blind to race, sex, or socio-economic status and at a first glance, seems to be almost Utopian. Conversely, repeated examples and statistics of the lower-classes, those continually facing the harsh

“There is no rose without thorns.” This means for everybody especially immigrants your life is unperfect there is always problems in your life. In our Esperanza Rising Esperanza has her ups and downs in the book. Since the book is historical fiction there was a real Esperanza, the author Pam Munoz Ryan her grandmother was the real Esperanza, so for a great book she wrote about her grandmother. Since her papa’s death, Esperanza had to face many other challenges as an immigrant such as mama getting sick with valley fever, being discriminated, and moving to mexico.

The American Dream is defined as the “idea that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative” (Adams). This idea has been relevant to Americans ever since the creation of the United States of America. Everyone has their own interpretation of it and embody it in their own way. Over time, the American Dream has been altered and changed in regards to how our society has evolved. During the 1920s, the American Dream became corrupt and America’s main focus was on materialism and wealth. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, he depicts the corruption of the American Dream based on greed and false prosperity which strayed from the true version of it which valued hard-work, and initiative.

When one visualizes Latino culture, the prevalent images are often bright colors, dancing, and celebrations. This imagery paints a false portrait of the life of many Latino’s, especially those that are forced to leave their home countries. Latinos often face intense poverty and oppression, whether in a Latin country, or a foreign country, such is true in Pam Ryan’s novel Esperanza Rising. Ryan chronicles the issues that many Latino immigrants face. The first is the pressure from the home country. Many of the countries face turmoil, and many are forced to leave their homes and culture. Once in a foreign place, people often struggle with standing by their own culture or assimilating to the new culture. Latino authors frequently use young adult literature as a platform to discuss the issues they face, as young adults are coming of age they struggle with their identities, personifying the struggle of old culture against the new culture.

The American Dream is surely based on the concept of “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” but it is above all, a matter of ambition. James Truslow Adams, an American writer and historian, in 1931 states: "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement”, which not only points towards a better standard of living for Americans but also denounces a degree of greed in the US society. Ambition not only “killed the cat” but killed relationships as well in texts like Sister Carrie and Death of a Salesman. While the American Dream was supposed to be a collective success at its initial stage, ambition, along with a pinch of greed and materialism were perfect ingredients