Chicano Identity in Literature
Culture
In "My Name" by Sandra Cisneros, the principle character's name is Esperanza. Esperanza's problem, at first, seems only to be displeasure with her name. She is certainly displeased with her name. She is disappointed with the meaning of her name in her native tongue, Spanish. She is frustrated and perplexed with the persistent difficulty that Americans have pronouncing her Chicana name. Esperanza wishes she could be lucky, like her sister, who can come home and have a different name, a prettier name, an easier name than her proper first name.
As the story progresses, readers learn that Esperanza's central problem is greater than her name. Her problem is with the history and the legacy of her name. She was named after her grandmother. Esperanza is somewhat conflicted about her connection and her similarities with her grandmother. One on hand, she does not like her name, but on the other, she reveres being similarly strong-willed, like a horse, just like her grandmother. Esperanza contends that one shared trait between Mexican culture and Chinese culture is their great dislike and fear of strong women. The elder Esperanza was abducted by a man who would later marry her and become the younger Esperanza's grandfather. The elder Esperanza was strong willed and wild. She preferred to be single and free. One day, her future husband threw a sack over her head, dragged her away from her home, and married her. Esperanza says her grandmother never forgave him; readers may infer that the younger Esperanza has not forgiven her grandfather either.
Esperanza's grandmother was restricted and confined to a life of domesticity because of the position of
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