Divided By A River

Esperanza Rising is one lens through which our California Wealth project is being investigated this year. The story centers around Esperanza, a young girl who is living a life of luxury on her father’s ranch in Mexico. At the very start of the story, the night before Esperanza’s birthday, her father is tragically attacked and killed by bandits. Esperanza’s luxurious life very quickly becomes a life of turmoil and danger. Almost immediately after Esperanza’s father passes away, the uncles try to obtain all of the influence that her father had. When Esperanza’s mother initially disagrees, there is a very suspicious house fire that occurs. This part of the story — the house fire — led the Jianai class to have an interesting discussion about power and social class. The students analyzed a story that Esperanza told, where she and Miguel (one of the servants in her household) were divided by a river, a metaphor for social class. We wondered what the river represented and discussed what must happen to both Esperanza and Miguel in order for them to be on the same side of the river. 

The students are relating to Esperanza, who has been placed an impossible situation, and are wondering what is going to happen next. The story is bringing a thoughtful perspective to the children about a time when California’s wealth was still developing.