Quote 73
Home. Home. Home is a house in a photograph, a pink house, pink as hollyhocks with lots of startled light. The man paints the walls of the apartment pink, but it's not the same, you know. She still sighs for her pink house, and then I think she cries. I would. (30.9)
Esperanza is able to relate to Mamacita's feelings of isolation and longing for home.
Quote 74
She sits at home because she is afraid to go outside without his permission. She looks at all the things they own: the towels and the toaster, the alarm clock and the drapes. She likes looking at the walls, at how neatly their corners meet, the linoleum roses on the floor, the ceiling smooth as wedding cake. (40.3)
Sally's new house doesn't feel much like a home – it feels more like a cage.
Quote 75
No, this isn't my house I say and shake my head as if shaking could undo the year I've lived here. You have a home, Alicia, and one day you'll go there, to a town you remember, but me I never had a house, not even a photograph…only one I dream of. (42.3)
Esperanza envies Alicia for at least having the memory of a home to think about.