Note 4: Esperanza by Judith Otiz Cofer

Esperanza

BY JUDITH ORTIZ COFER

My name mocks me

for I was born at the cost

of my mother’s life,

earning my father’s hatred

with my first breath.

All my life

I have scoured a house soiled

with the thick soot of his resentment.

It has left its mark on the walls,

in his eyes, and on me.

All of it I have tried to wipe away.

In my hands I hold a broom,

in my heart—

ashes, ashes.

The beginning lines of Esperanza, illustrating a girl's birth "at the cost of [her] mother's life" suggests the overwhelming burden the daughter must carry. Her Spanish originated name which means hope "mocks" her for her own existence, and with her "first breath", her livelihood earns nothing more than her "father's hatred." Her grim circumstances depicts a life overwhelmed with constant debt, as though she is in constant pressure to pay for all that she has done, which has only been to live. 


Leading into the second half of the poem, she describes the house she lives in as "soiled with the thick soot of his (her father's) resentment." The oppressive imagery of the emotions of both parties and the setting of the house exclaims that "it has left its mark on the walls, in his eyes, and on [her]." These lines emphasize the isolated and depressive lifestyle she leads, as though during her whole life she has been trying to "wipe [all of the mess] away." The ending scene of the girl holding "a broom in [her] heart", and the very last line of "ashes, ashes" draw the poem to its conclusion, that all of the mess and turmoil is still there, and she can't help but try to cleanse it all away even though it may be useless.