Esperanza - Esperanza is the narrator of the story and heroine of the story. Esperanza is young and going through her teenage faze. This can be shown in the First chapter when she quotes “Before keeler it was paulina, and before that I can't remember” Esperanza saying she can't remember must mean she must of been really young perhaps around three or four years old. Cisneros does this through diction, by saying she can't remember. This is important, since Esperanza is young it effects structure. Since the reader gets the perspective of a child. Esperanza is an unreliable narrator. Her being a child makes her an unreliable child since she does not yet understand the things that happen to her nor what happen to the characters around her. This …show more content…
can be seen in chapter “the Earl of Tennesse” when she quotes “They walk fast into the apartment, lock the door behind them and never stay long”. In this chapter Earl is having intercourse with prostitutes, however Esperanza does not see this and does not understand prostitution. She believes the person walking inside the apartment is Earls wife in reality its a prostitute. This shows she is to young to understand. This is important because it affects the reader. Since she does not understand, the reader gets this perspective of a narrator who does not know what's going on, and the reader has dig deep and analysis what is going on. However Cisneros does this on purpose and lets the reader miss these things. Throughout the story Esperanza grows up, and Cisneros does this by denotation, and structure. This can be proven by how long the chapters our, for example each chapter tends to get longer, if you compare the chapter “Hairs” and “the first job” the chapter pages go to one pages to two. It comes to show that she has more to write about, in terms she can write longer sentences compared to the early chapters where she wrote small ones. Esperanza is ambitious and crafty.
This can be seen in the chapter “A Rice Sandwich” when she quotes “Okay, Okay my mother says after three days of this.” We see how Esperanza is ambitious because she has this strong desire to eat and school and is clever at achieving by nonstop giving her mother excuses to go. This is important because it affects her. Since she has this strong desire to eat in school because she taught it was best thing and amazing thing ever. When in reality it wasn’t. In this same chapter she quotes “In the Canteen, Which was nothing special, lots of boys and girls watched while I cried and ate my sandwich” Esperanza thought that eating in school was going to be great, when it wasen't. Cisneros trys to show her readers that things arent always what they seem to be, and cineros shows this Through Esperanza. Esperanza is observer which ultimately effects plot because since she observes so much she's able to tell the reader the stories of other people. Also at Early age Esperanza she starts recognizing stuff. In the First Chapter she quotes “For the time being make says. Temporary, says papa. But I know how those things go.”She realizes that Her parents dream of things they can't get and lie to her to comfort her. This is important because it effects structure, since throughout the story we get this motif of lying to comfort someone or comfort one
selves. Also throughout the story since Esperanza grows up, with growing up she gets insecurities. This is can be show through the plot but especially in the chapter “Chanclas” she quotes “My feet just scuffed and found and the heels all crooked that look dumb with this dress, so I just sit” Esperanza starts getting insecurities about her appearance, Which could be as simple as her feet. She doesn’t like the way she looks and is worried about what people will think. The reader see this transition of Esperanza from child to adolescence, Which is important because it effects plot, since she will approach things more differently and act differently Since she's maturing. Also because she's transitioning from a child to adolescence she not only starts getting insecurities but starts experimenting sexually. In the chapter “Sire” she quotes I want to sit out bad at night, a boy around my neck” In this chapter Esperanza stares at a boy to prove she's not scared and strong just like Marin, however she starts getting sexual desires, sexual maturity and experiments with the boys by staring at them. This overall effects tone, since we gets this tone of experimenting with new things.
In the book, Esperanza doesn’t want to follow the norms of the life around her; she wants to be independent. Esperanza states her independence by stating, “Not a man’s house. Not a daddy’s. A house all my own,” (Cisneros 108.) The syntax of these sentences stick out and are not complete thoughts, yet they convey much meaning and establish Esperanza’s feeling of not belonging. Esperanza’s feeling of not belonging is also emphasized when her sisters tell her that the events of her life have made her who she is and that is something she can not get rid of. Her sisters explain that the things she has experienced made her who she is by saying, “You will always be esperanza. You will always be mango street. You can’t erase what you know” (105.) What her sisters are trying to tell her is that the past has changed her but it doesn’t have to be a negative thing; it can be used to make her a better person who is stronger and more independent. Esperanza realizes that the things around her don’t really add up to what she believes is right, which also conveys the sense of not
Esperanza is relying on her childhood to help her through life she feels like “a red balloon tied to an anchor” (9,1,3) This passage describes that Esperanza singles herself out for her differences instead of her similarities and she knows it. She also sees her differences as a source of her isolating herself. She floats in the sky for all of the rest of us to see, dangling from a string. Esperanza is longing on for an escape like a balloon similar to her experiences with our society. However against the face that Cisneroz gives her a light voice, doesn't mean that it's not just as strong and
Esperanza is constantly influenced by the women in her own family including her mother, sister and other various family members. Even early in the novel Esperanza recognizes that the boys hold more powers than the girl. She states “The boys and the girls live in different worlds” and how once outside of the house her brothers will not talk to the girls (10). Her brothers recognize that if the other boys in the neighborhood see them with their sisters, they will be mocked. This signals that Esperanza has internalized that the men hold more power even from an early age and her male siblings hold mor...
At first, Esperanza is young, insecure, and immature. Her immaturity is apparent when she talks about her mom holding her, saying it is, “sweet to put your nose into when she is holding you and you feel safe” (Cisneros 6-7). This shows Esperanza’s insecurity because her mom is still a big comfort source to her. She feels a false sense of comfort because her mom is there and will protect her. In addition, Esperanza’s immaturity is shown through her dislike for outsiders of the neighborhood when she says, “They are stupid people who are lost and got here by mistake” (Cisneros 28). This indicates how defensive and protective Esperanza is towards her barrio by calling outsiders stupid for reacting the way they do, even though she dislikes Mango Street....
“In Spanish, it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting. It is like the number line. A muddy color. It is the Mexican records my father plays on Sunday mornings when he is shaving, songs like sobbing” (10). Esperanza says herself in Spanish her name has more of a sorrow meaning. Since her name means this, it makes sense to see why she has a problem with it. Also, “Esperanza” was her great-grandmother's name. It is said that she lived most of her life in sadness so this adds to the meaning and mood of the story. Going along with that, she
Esperanza is a very strong woman in herself. Her goals are not to forget her "reason for being" and "to grow despite the concrete" so as to achieve a freedom that's not separate from togetherness.
Esperanza dreams of someday having a satisfying life. She doesn't want her path of freedom to be cleared by having a baby or finding a husband. She has no desires to fall into the trap of dependency. As the author writes, "Her power is her own. She will not give it away" (Cisneros 89).
In the Book women are looked upon as objects by men whether they are boyfriends, friends fathers or husbands. The girls in the novel grow up with the mentality that looks and appearance are the most important things to a woman. Cisneros also shows how Latino women are expected to be loyal to their husbands, and that a husband should have complete control of the relationship. Yet on the other hand, Cisneros describes the character Esperanza as being different. Even though she is born and raised in the same culture as the women around her, she is not happy with it, and knows that someday she will break free from its ties, because she is mentally strong and has a talent for telling stories. She comes back through her stories by showing the women that they can be independent and live their own lives. In a way this is Cinceros' way of coming back and giving back to the women in her community.
e the baby’s kept on filling their diapers.Esperanza's biggest problem was when her dad died,when she had to leave abuelita in aguascalientes,and when her mama got sick with fever valley,so she had to get a job to be able to pay the hospital bill.The most important part of the book that Esperanza had to deal with was marta and her friends,because all marta and her friends did was getting people to strike with
Esperanza got a job so she could pay for catholic school,. She wants to go to catholic school so she can become a strong independent person. She also rejects the Cinderella complex. The Cinderella complex is when a girl waits for a man to come and take her away. She doesn't believe in this because she wants to be her own women and not depend on others.
She is judgemental and unsatisfied child, which can be shown through her disappointment when she describes the house that she moved into and her dream house and her hatred of her name. By her giving $5 to a some young children to make friends, it shows how desperate she is to connect with people. Though a longing to be connected within a neighborhood is typical of a child, a child should not have to pay money in order to make friends. I also feel as if there are many misunderstandings in her childhood. This can be depicted when Esperanza sees the fear in the outsiders’ eyes when they first visit the neighborhood.
To begin with, Esperanza is a very unkind to people that she thinks she is better than. She misjudges people also. For example, the dirty young peasant girl on the train really likes Esperanza’s doll that she has gotten from her Papa and Esperanza will not even let the little girl look at it. She thinks the girl is too “poor and dirty.” She doesn’t think she and mama should even be sitting in the train car with all these poor people. Also, she is used to having lots of money and nice things and looks down on other people not like her. She had to learn that she is like the people she was judging because she is poor now also. At the end of the story, Esperanza gives her special doll from Papa to little Isabel and this shows how she has learned to treat others and be kind.
It is possible that even as young as the girl is, she is depressed. Her family has moved many times, and she does not have any close friends. The plot revolves around the many things that could add to this. While there are many conflicts and struggles, the story lacks a resolution. By the end of the book, the reader is left wondering what ever happened to Esperanza. The plot is poorly constructed with a lot of questions that remained unanswered throughout the
At the beginning of the novel, Esperanza is not quite ready to emerge from the
In “Beautiful and Cruel,” Esperanza decides to follow her own path and stray from what is expected of her, “I have begun my own quiet war. Simple. Sure. I am one who leaves the table like a man, without putting back the chair or picking up the plate,” (89). She does not want to end up like any of the unhappy women on Mango Street. As one of the last vignettes, this shows that Esperanza has decided to do what she wants and not just what others expect her to do. Throughout the story, Esperanza gets conflicting opinions on what she should do with her life but in “Smart Cookie,” her mother shares some good advice, “I could’ve been somebody, you know? Esperanza, you go to school. Study hard,” (91). Most people look to their parents as the people who influence them the most. Even though her mother didn’t go to school and follow what she wanted to do, she tells Esperanza to and that solidifies her choice in the last vignette. She decides to follow her own