In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting.
This quotation, from the section “My
Name,” occurs before Esperanza says her name for the first time.
Esperanza’s characterization of her name shows how she channels
her dissatisfaction with her given name into creativity and word
play. What Esperanza says here about the word
On a more literal level, the words Esperanza has chosen
to associate with the Spanish meaning of her name are very negative.
She has taken a positive word,