“In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting. It is like the number nine. A muddy color. It is the Mexican records my father plays on Sunday mornings when he is shaving, songs like sobbing” (10).

This quote sticks out to me, because it symbolizes and foreshadows the sadness that have happened and will happen. Esperanza might be the main character, but the quote says the dad is listening to sad music. Why is the dad listening to sad music? Is it because he is sad that his life has not turned out how he wanted, or because he is sad he can’t provide nice things for his family. The author most likely wrote that Esperanza means sadness to help foreshadow the events to come.  Her name means hope in English, and sadness in Spanish. The reader can conclude that this was added into the book on purpose in order to show that there is hope in America for a better life, and in Mexico, where they previously lived, there is only sadness. There are many different themes in this section, which makes it a very good quote to analyze. The major theme in this is sadness. Many people say that we are defined by our name. Our name is our identity. Even though her name means hope, she has no hope in America. She is a Mexican girl, with no money, and no body knows who she is. There is not much chance for her to have a good life. Maybe her name actually does mean sadness.