Throughout the novel, Cisneros describes the hardships and obstacles faced by those in the neighborhood and uses them to strengthen their hopes for accomplishing their dreams. Nearly all of them are in extreme poverty. Their houses have “bricks crumbling” (Cisneros 4) and “paint peeling” (5). This reminds them every day of what they work for which, in return, motivates them to keep work hard. Another obstacle they face is the strong racial divide. Many of the people in the neighborhood, including Esperanza’s parents, are immigrants and struggle to assimilate and find a place in society. They are forced out and treated as second-class citizens. They even live together …show more content…
The most influential of these is Alicia, who hopes to avoid “spending her whole life in a factory or behind a rolling pin” (32). In their neighborhood, the women are often stuck at home doing chores and rely on their husbands for money. This leaves them unable to make a living for themselves and, in turn, accomplish their dreams. This also creates a cycle of poverty that leaves them and the next generation poor. Alicia realizes this and decides to “study for the first time at the university” (31). However, this was not always easy as she has to take “two trains and a bus” (31) in order to make it to school every morning. Similarly to Alicia, Esperanza dreams of making a living for herself, free from a husband “to pick up after”