Esperanza Similes

“Until then I am a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor.” (Page 9)
In this chapter the author begin to suggest character trait for Esperanza and the younger sister, Nenny. The author uses a simile to capture her current state; without some she can rely on and be close to. The author most likely used the color red to compare the amount of energy and potential she has as well as the fact that she stands out from the rest of the crowd. The balloon symbolizes the amount of potential she has because balloon are often associated with flying away. However, being tied to her anchor limits her from reaching her full potential. In this quote, the anchor represents the current conditions she lives in. The conditions that limit her include her current

The speaker uses a simile to compare the laughter of both families to the jiggle of ice cream bells and dishes breaking. This simile is effective in the context of the story because it clarifies the reader’s understanding of the laughter of each family to allow reader to understand that Esperanza has a close relationship with her family. This is shown in this quote because her family is not afraid of being judged, unlike Rachel’s and Lucy’s family; where they bring their laughter to a minimum in order to maintain good manners. The speaker also uses personification of each sound effect to clarify how the simile works by comparing the two laughters. Interestingly, Cisneros does not use complete sentences to convey her ideas. This may have been used to create the effect that Esperanza is young. This technique works because young children generally do not know how to form a proper sentence with both a subject and a predicate. As the story progresses, Cisneros improved Esperanza’s sentence structure to show

In this chapter, Esperanza compares herself to the four skinny trees. She grows “down” by adjusting to her new setting, the house on Mango Street. She grows “up” by maturing into a young woman. This particular quote show the motif of “self-identity” it is one of the many times Esperanza uses inanimate objects to describe and reveal her self-identity. The sentence “Their strength is secret.” Suggests that like Esperanza, the trees are underdogs. Furthermore, Cisneros uses strong word choice to describe both the trees and Esperanza. The words “bite”, “violent”, and “anger” show strong word choice from the author. This particular word choice creates a mood tone despite the irony of the trees and Esperanza perceived of being weak, thus further proving the fact that Esperanza is a underdog. Esperanza may be perceived of being weak due to her female gender and her youth. The perception of Esperanza being weak brings up the motif of “gender stereotypes” because females, such as Esperanza, are generally perceived as weak while males are perceived as dominant and