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Esperanza character development in a house on mango street
The house as the topic for the house on mango street
In what page describes esperanza in the book the house on mango street
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Angel Vargas is the first character to die in The House on Mango Street, and Esperanza does not take his death to heart. She compares him to a falling doughnut: it is a death that causes no noise from him or from the community, and it has no emotional resonance for her. When her grandfather dies, however, Esperanza must look at death more seriously. Angel’s death does not lead Esperanza to imagine what it would be like if one of her siblings were to die, but when her grandfather dies, she tries to put herself in her father’s shoes and imagine how she would feel if he died. When Esperanza’s Aunt Lupe dies in the following chapter, Esperanza does not need to feel empathy. She feels both sad and responsible for her aunt’s death. This escalation
of feeling suggests that Esperanza is maturing emotionally. By the end of the novel, Esperanza is still working on the process of coming to terms with death. She attends Rachel and Lucy’s sister’s wake and feels uncomfortable and out of place. However, she is beginning to perceive death as something with real consequences. The three sisters Esperanza meets at the wake encourage her to help the living by remembering the other women in her community.
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
The back panel of 1 Dead in Attic: Post-Katrina Stories by columnist Chris Rose does not summarize his self-publication. Rather, it dedicates the book to a man named Thomas Coleman who met his demise in his attic with a can of juice and the comforts of a bedspread at his side. This dedication closes with “There were more than a thousand like him.” That is the life force of Rose’s book. It is not a narrative, it does not feature a clear conclusion, and there is not a distinct beginning, middle, or end. Rather, it exists as a chronology of Rose’s struggle to reestablish normalcy following a time of turmoil. Rose himself states in his introduction “After the storm, I just started writing, not attempting to carve out any niche but just to tell
Esperanza finally comes to the conclusion that she does not need to fit into the mold of Mango Street. She also realizes that by making her own world, she can do bigger and better things and come back to help others on Mango Street. Not everybody can fit into the same mold and Esperanza made her own. . Esperanza leaving shows that she is a leader and hopefully she will have the others from Mango Street follow in her path. Maybe other people will fit into Esperanza’s mold or they will use her as an example. Esperanza used the other women as an example to make something of herself so all of the negative people she meets and has in her life, they made her the person she wanted to be.
Throughout the course of Mango Street, Esperanza’s relationship towards her house change. As time passes her feelings about the house itself change and the emotional impact of the house of her changes as well. Esperanza’s house on Mango Street symbolizes her Mexican culture. For so long she has wanted to leave it. She envisions a different type of life than what she is used to - moving from house to house. “this house is going to be different / my life is going to be different”. One can look at all the things she envisions - the "trappings of the good life" such as the running water, the garden etc. as symbols for the new life.
Esperanza tries to be a good friend to Sally, but ends up appearing immature and silly. Esperanza feels shame, as she “wanted to be dead”, to “turn into the rain”, and have “my eyes melt into the ground like black snails” (Cisneros 97). With sensory-rich imagery, the author uses similes and metaphors to describe Esperanza’s feelings of utter mortification as she embarrasses herself in front of Sally. Esperanza becomes confused about her newfound sexuality and her loss of innocence when she begins acting strangely, yet awkwardly around boys. She doesn’t know whether to act like a child or an adult because although she wants to be mature and glamorous like Sally, and she gets exposed to the harsh nature of society. The disillusioned view of becoming mature and having boys notice her is especially realized by Esperanza when she gets raped at a carnival. Through detailed imagery, Cisneros describes the dirtiness of the boy, elaborating on “his dirty fingernails against my skin” and “his sour smell again” (Cisneros 100) and the confusion and anger from Esperanza. After this experience, Esperanza blames Sally instead for covering up the truth about boys and is heartbroken about the real truth of sexuality and men. It is clear that Esperanza vividly remembers this awful experience, and just reflecting on this experience causes her thoughts to
In The House on Mango Street, the vignette "My Name," Esperanza was named after her great grandmother, desires a life outside her interior walls of the barrio. Esperanza’s name means hope in English, while it means sadness and waiting in Spanish. Her great grandmother was wild as a young lady, but was tamed by her Mexican husband. Cisneros states, "She looked out her window her whole life, the way so many women sit with sadness on an elbow . . . I have inherited her name, but I don’t want to inherit her place by the window" (11). Esperanza is proud of her namesake...
Esperanza was a cowardly child who transformed into a brave woman. Alicia and Esperanza had a conversation about Mango Street and Alicia says, “Like it or not you are Mango Street, and one day you’ll come back too,” (Cisneros 107). Esperanza replies with, “Not me. Not until somebody makes it better,” (Cisneros 107). Alicia tells Esperanza that even though she does not like Mango Street, she will still come back, but Esperanza says she will not until someone makes it better. Esperanza does not want to go back to Mango Street even though she is a part of it. Esperanza wants to leave Mango Street for good. Although Esperanza knows she is a part of Mango Street, she does not want to be. The ignorant child believed she could leave Mango behind and forget about where she came from, but little does she know that someone will. When Esperanza decides to leave Mango Street, she says, “They will not know I have gone away to come back. For the ones I left behind. For the ones who cannot out,” (Cisneros 110). Esperanza will leave Mango Street to come back and help those who cannot escape. Esperanza is leaving not for herself, but for others. She grasped the understanding that nobody would do anything to help Mango Street, or care about what happens to it, and decides to take matters into her own hands. Esperanza realizes that she has to be the one to change Mango Street. Throughout the story
“I was so scared to eat alone in the company lunchroom with all those men and women looking.”(Pg. 54) She is worried about being judged by others that she can’t eat alone. She doesn’t think she belongs. “Most likely I will go to hell and most likely I deserve to be there.”(Pg. 58) She doesn’t believe in herself and doesn’t think anyone believes in her. Later in the story, Esperanza and Sally were hanging out with a few boys. Esperanza wasn’t comfortable and told Sally to come hang out with the younger kids. Sally ignored Esperanza and got into some trouble. The boys took Sally’s keys and said she could only have them back if she kissed all of them. Sally, being her daring self decided to kiss all the boys. Esperanza did not want Sally to kiss all the boys and went to one of the boy’s mother’s. The mother didn’t do anything and left Esperanza. When Esperanza came back they all told her to go home. Esperanza having no confidence to stand up to them, ran away. “I wanted to will my blood to stop, my heart to quit it’s pumping; I wanted to be dead, to turn into the rain, my eyes melt into the ground like two black snails.” Esperanza’s self esteem was so low that just one person can make her burst into
Esperanza, the most liberated of the sisters, devoted her life to make other people’s lives better. She became a reporter and later on died while covering the Gulf Crisis. She returned home, to her family as a spirit. At first, she spoke through La Llorona, a messenger who informed La Loca that her sister has died. All her family members saw her. She appeared to her mother as a little girl who had a nightmare and went near to her mother for comfort. Caridad had conversations with her about politics and La Loca talked to her by the river behind their home.
The feeling of having been betrayed by a trusted or important figure in your life can result in emotional damage, which can eventually lead to personal destruction. “Stone Angel” by Margaret Lawrence and “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller, are two works of literature that put that very statement into context. Although, the theme of betrayal is evident in both pieces, the protagonists of the different plots – Hagar Shipley and Willy Loman – experience betrayal in two very different fashions. Hagar Shipley is destroyed by her loss of independence and Willy Loman is forced into taking drastic and unnecessary actions. Acts of betrayal are scattered throughout the lives of the two protagonists. Betrayal put them off the path of life on which they originally began, and drops them on a path of destruction, which in time leads to their premature end.
Overall, Esperanza experienced multiple events that shaped her into the person she is. The experiences she had built the foundation for what she values by exposing her to the world around her. By moving to the house on Mango Street and experiencing the traumatic events along with the social norms Esperanza became the person she wanted to be even when the circumstances weren’t in her
Although Esperanza is constantly reaffirming that she wants to move away from Mango Street, we know by the end novel that she will one day return to help those who will not have the opportunities Esperanza has had in her life. Indeed, in the closing pages Esperanza admits that she cannot escape Mango Street. She can never again call it home, but it has influenced her dreams, formed her personality, and she has learned valuable life lessons from its inhabitants. That is why, explains Esperanza, she tells stories about the house on Mango Street, revealing the beauty amidst dirty streets and unveiling her true inner self, the peace of knowing that her “home is where her heart is.”
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....
Esperanza is the type of person who easily trusts others which makes her susceptible to betrayal. Her naïveté and inexperience is a common recurrence throughout the book as she begins to mature. Esperanza finds a friend in Sally, whose promiscuity often make Esperanza uncomfortable and what ultimately puts her in danger. It is presumed that she gets raped by a group of boys while waiting for Sally at a carnival. Esperanza encounter was not what she had thought it would be. She feels betrayed by how the storybooks and movies depict it (sex) but most importantly she feels betrayed by Sally whom she trusted the most in to come and save her.
Family is one of the most important institutions in society. Family influences different aspects of a person’s life, such as their religion, values, morals and behavior. Unfortunately, problems may arise when an individual’s belief system or behavior does not coincide with that of family standards. Consequently, individuals may be forced to repress their emotions or avoid acting in ways that that are not acceptable to the family. In the novel The Rain God, written by Arturo Islas, we are presented with a story about a matriarchal family that deals with various conflicts. One major internal conflict is repression. Throughout the novel the characters act in strange ways and many of the family members have internal “monsters” that represent the past that they are repressing. In his article, “The Historical Imagination in Arturo Islas’s The Rain God and Migrant Souls”, Antonio C. Marquez’s implicitly asserts a true idea that The Rain God is a story about repression. Marquez’s idea can be supported from an analysis of secondary sources and a reading of the primary text.