They are all arrested and deported, and afterwards Esparanza and her family are safe, saying, 'We are loyal to the company, so the company takes care of us.' Oh, is that so? Where is the company when the dust storms happen and the workers are trapped in the blistering wind? Where is the company when the children have blistered hands form peeling starchy potatoes? Where is the company when Esperanza's mother nearly dies because of horrible working conditions and Esperanza is forced to pay for her medical bills? For standing up and saying that children should not have to work, that humane housing and sanitations conditions should be met, that everyone should be paid a living wage. They were demonized-Marta, the main girl who attempts to lead the strikes and revolts (? I think that's her name) is looked at as Esperanza's opposite. What makes it so especially questionable is the way that the strikers were portrayed. She should not be in that situation and there is very little outrage towards the fact that she's in it. If Esperanza were 18 or even 16 that sort of might fly, but the fact of the matter is that she is 13. Look! She knows how to cook now! Look! She knows how to work hard instead of being pampered! Look! She no longer has any selfish wants or needs! This is a terrible situation for a child to be in, but the close of the book lauds Esparanza for the great, strong person that she has become for her hard work. Esparanza is a 13-year old pulled out of school, subjected to backbreaking and agonizing child labor and essentially orphaned. I mean, that's a totally valid theme and it's in many ways honorable of her but given the horrible situation she's in, there are a lot of questions that arise.

It covers very difficult issues of race, class difference, child labor and death with tact and a certain amount of gentleness.īut overall after I was finished I could not help but be faced with the difficult feeling that Esparanza, while being an incredibly strong young woman and a good role model in that sense, often overlooks the immorality and unfairness of her situation in order to continue living and doing what she has to do.

This book was, I suppose, a good educational read: rather a beginner's Grapes of Wrath from a Mexican perspective.

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