The Madonnas of Echo Park

Chapter 1 is narrated from the perspective of Aurora Esperanza’s father, a Mexican immigrant and day laborer named Hector Esperanza. He opens the chapter with an account of his numerous losses in life, including his Chavez Ravine home (supplanted by the Dodger’s baseball stadium); his 18-year busboy job at an upscale restaurant called The Option; and his mistress, his wife, and his daughter, who all left him when he “ran out of excuses” (2). “What I thought I could not lose,” Hector explains, “was my place in this country. How can you lose something that never belonged to you?” (2).

Hector illuminates the daily process of life as a day laborer, whereby large groups of men congregate in hardware parking lots, waiting for patrons in trucks to select them for jobs. When trucks pull up, the men often jostle one another to be seen, and the pay itself is dismal ($100 for a ten-hour day, at best). Patrons typically favor easily exploitable Mexicans “fresh from the border” (3), and, as Hector explains, laborers must be careful which jobs they choose: “Get in the wrong [truck] and you’re broke, deported, or dead” (5).

Hector usually finds solace in the company of another day laborer named Diego, who is also middle-aged, experienced, and honest.