“In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting. It is like the number nine. A muddy color. It is the Mexican records my father plays on Sunday mornings when he is shaving, songs like sobbing.” (4.1) This quote, to me, embodies every single one of Esperanza’s dilemmas pertaining to identity, which is a reoccurring theme in this coming of age novel. Esperanza considers her name to be a burden, “too many letters”, “a muddy color”. I imagine that she cringes when her name is mispronounced, hating the attention it brings. Early on, Esperanza fails to recognize the beauty of the name that she carries: hope. Her name, Esperanza, connects her directly to her Mexican heritage, which, in her …show more content…
Her desire to be free like the waves in the sea and the clouds in the wind reflect her feeling of entrapment to her setting and her heritage. She wants nothing more than to escape Mango Street, and she connects her search of finding herself to her desire to leave Mango Street, creating a better life for herself than the one she was given. “They always told us that one day we would move into a house, a real house that would be ours for always so we wouldn't have to move each year… Our house would be white with trees around it, a great big yard and grass growing without a fence. This was the house Papa talked about when he held a lottery ticket and this was the house Mama dreamed up in the stories she told us before we went to bed.” (1.4) Esperanza thinks and dreams a lot about what life outside of Mango Street could be for her. As she grows up, she focuses less on being admired by men and more on becoming self made. The idea of winning the lottery was mentioned early on in the novel, and this fantasy symbolizes the hopes and dreams that not only Esperanza has of leaving Mango Street, but that of her family collectively. This emphasizes the desire of being set free from Mango Street, as it is clear that Esperanza is not the only character that is having a difficult time coping with living in the
Esperanza, the main character of The House on Mango Street, a novella written by Sandra Cisneros in 1984, has always felt like she didn’t belong. Esperanza sought a different life than the ones that people around her were living. She wanted to be in control of her life, and not be taken away by men as so many others around her had. Esperanza wanted to move away from Mango Street and find the house, and life she had always looked for. Through the use of repetition, Sandra Cisneros conveys a sense of not belonging, that can make a person strong enough to aspire to a better life.
Have you ever seen someone going from rich to poor? If not, then this might be new to you. I read about this girl named “Esperanza”, from the book Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan, who has experienced this. She is a rich girl. She doesn't do anything by herself, her servants do everything for her. She only has her mom, dad, and her grandmother in her family. Her mom’s name is Ramona, Esperanza calls her dad “Papa”, and her grandmother’s name is Abuelita. She is living in Mexico. The change from innocence to experience can be painful.
Esperanza is a young girl who struggles with feelings of loneliness and feeling that she doesn’t fit in because she is poor. She always wanted to fit in with the other kids and feel like she was one of them. She loves to write because it helps her feel better about herself writing about her life and her community. Writing helps her with
People always struggle to pronounce Esperanza’s name. The kids pronounce it funny and Esperanza notices “at school they say my name funny as if the
“I would like to baptize myself under a new name, a name more like the real me, the one nobody sees” (11). Adolescence brings on many changes in one’s life and is the time when a person is shaped into who they will be forever. Sandra Cisneros shows the experiences one may go through while growing up through this book. A child, especially during their adolescence, is a very moldable person. The situations they go through and their position socially can greatly impact who they become. Cisneros touches on the importance of friends, life at home, and experiences in the real world that can influence a child’s life. In The House On Mango Street, Cisneros uses strong descriptive words, first person point of view, and suspense
Esperanza builds her strength off the mishaps that occur while living on Mango Street. In the vignettes, Esperanza describes some very interesting things that take place on Mango Street. She recalls a time when Sally befriended her and told Esperanza to leave her alone with the boys. Esperanza felt out of place and was very uncomfortable and very ashamed to be in that situation. She wanted more from life than that, so she left the scene.
“Someday, I will have a best friend all my own. One I can tell my secrets to. One who will understand my jokes without me having to explain them” (9). These are the longing words spoken by Esperanza. In the novel The House on Mango Street, Esperanza is young girl experiencing adolescence not only longing for a place to fit in but also wanting to be beautiful. This becomes complicated as Esperanza becomes more sexually aware. Throughout the novel, Cisneros argues the importance of beauty and how Esperanza deals with beauty as a part of her identity. When Esperanza meets Sally a new friend, Esperanza’s whole world is turned upside down. Esperanza’s views on beauty change from a positive outlook to a negative one by watching how beauty has damaged Sally’s life.
...will pack my bags of books and paper. One day I will say goodbye to Mango. I am too strong for her to keep me here forever. One day I will go away.” (Cinceros 110) This shows how Esperanza needs to break free of Mango Street and move on because Mango Street has nothing more to offer a young free mind like Esperanza. She will move far away so she can continue on with her American Dream as one person and not have the weight of her family’s American Dream on her shoulders.
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 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.
In class we read the book House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, the main character Esperanza lives in a lower working class neighborhood and street called Mango Street dealing with poverty. Her house is an important symbol in House on Mango Street. It represents Eperanza’s process of maturing as a person and the change in her perspective of poverty and struggle being shameful, to it being something to embrace and use as motivation. This is a very important part of the story because it is in many aspects where we are from that make us who we become. This is interesting to see in the book as her opinions and perspective of things inside and outside of her neighborhood are shaped by her experiences.
They show a person's intentions and desires. Esperanza’s goals are clear and express a lot about her. One of her biggest goals was to have a phantasmagorical house, a real house. She states this when she mentions “I want a house on a hill like the ones with the gardens where Papa works” (Cisneros 86). This particular goal has made Esperanza dreamy and still containing hope, but also fear humiliation. A more humble goal was to have a boyfriend, notwithstanding this wasn't such a colossal goal, it was still important as it expressed her desires and her maturity. This is shown when she says “I want to sit out bad at night, a boy around my neck and the wind under my skirt” (Cisneros 73). Esperanza also develops a substantial goal throughout her time on Mango Street, she plans to help all the citizens of Mango Street accomplish their goals or at least have a better future, but she understands that first she must be the one to leave Mango Street so that one day she will be able to come back to make a
Gender is an essential matter in this novel. Sandra Cisneros dedicated the book to women, particularly las mujeres. The amount of oppression suffered by women, mainly colored women is exhibited in this literacy piece. The woman that is repeatedly mentioned on the windowsill serves as a metaphor representing the women who are trapped in a home and must take on the role of a mother, daughter, or wife. As Esperanza describes her neighborhood, she mentions various women whom she does not wish to be like. There is for example, her grandmother whom she was named after. Esperanza hates her name for what it signifies, ‘hope’ and to ‘wait’. She felt that this name
Esperanza illustrates that she is a bad role model through her actions and words. She is afraid of white communities and of her future. Whenever she looks at things she cannot have or people mock her lifestyle, she feels ashamed. Her inconsistency in decisions also makes her a bad role model. The immigrant from Mexico appears shy and terrified because inside she truly has reasons to feel that way. Esperanza must learn to overcome her fears, past prejudices, and low expectations to become successful in all aspects of her life. Only then, will she become a positive role model.