In Search of Respect

by

Philippe Bourgois

Esperanza Character Analysis

Felix’s sister, whom Bourgois repeatedly interviews for the 2003 Epilogue to his book. She struggles with how to address the neighbors’ severe child abuse and tells Bourgois that the police are trying to use his book to manipulate her son, who is incarcerated and never actually appears in the book, into confessing to a crime.
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Esperanza Character Timeline in In Search of Respect

The timeline below shows where the character Esperanza appears in In Search of Respect. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Epilogue 2003
Anthropological Research and its Consequences Theme Icon
Gender Roles and Family Violence Theme Icon
...whose father remains in prison for life on a murder conviction. The woman, Felix’s sister Esperanza, sees another family in her building openly abuse their daughter. In fact, their five-year-old son... (full context)
Gender Roles and Family Violence Theme Icon
A “marijuana-selling, wannabe boxer” shows up to chat with Esperanza’s reclusive daughter, and Bourgois learns that this man is Luis’s son, whom he had last... (full context)
Poverty, History, and Public Policy Theme Icon
Street Culture and Drug Use  Theme Icon
...might think I will demand a sexual favor in repayment.” He goes uptown to visit Esperanza. (full context)
Anthropological Research and its Consequences Theme Icon
The Crack Trade and the Underground Economy Theme Icon
Poverty, History, and Public Policy Theme Icon
Some time later, Primo calls saying that Esperanza has sent her imprisoned son Bourgois’s book, and the prison guards have confiscated it and... (full context)