house on mango street

In the fourth chapter we finally learn the narrator's name, Esperanza, which in English means "hope." Despite its literal meaning, the name connotes many negative ideas of melancholy and unfulfilled expectations. Esperanza explains that she was named after her great-grandmother, and that they share the Chinese birth year of the horse. She expresses a desire to have known her great-grandmother, who, according to family stories, was a wild woman until she was literally carried away to marry her great-grandfather. Esperanza expresses her conviction to avoid her predecessors fate- a life wasted in sadness and waiting by the window.

Esperanza then compares the beauty of her name's proper pronunciation with the way she addressed at school. In Spanish Nenny's proper name, Magdalena, is uglier; nevertheless, Esperanza resents the fact that her sister at least has a nickname at home. Esperanza expresses a desire to give herself a name that reflects her true self; the choice she settles upon is "Zeze the X."