House On Mango Street

Women’s Escape into Misery Women’s need for male support and their husband’s constant degradation of them was a recurring theme in the book House on Mango Street. Many of Esperanza’s stories were about women’s dreams of marrying, the perfect husband and having the perfect family and home. Sally, Rafaela, and Minerva are women who gave me the impression of [damsel’s in distress].CLICHÉ, it’s ok though. It’s relevant They wished for a man to sweep them of their feet and rescue them from their present misery. These characters are inspiring and strong but they are unable to escape the repression of the surrounding environment. *Cisneros presents a rigid world in which they lived in, and left them no other hope but to get married. Esperanza, however, is a very tough girl who knows what she wants. She will keep dreaming and striving until she gets it. She says, "I am too strong for her [Mango Street] to keep me here" (110). Esperanza learned from all of these women that she was not going to be tied down. She said, "I have decided not to grow up tame like the others who lay their necks on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain" (88). **Especially after seeing that Sally was suffering so much. Sally’s father is making her want to leave home by beating her. Sally "said her mother rubs lard on the places were it hurts" (93). There is not enough lard in the world to be able to cure the pain within Sally’s heart. Sally, "met a marshmallow salesman at a school bazaar" (101). Pretty soon " sally got married, she has her house now, her pillowcases and her plates" (101). Her marriage seems to free her from her father, but in reality she has now stepped into a world of misery. This was supposed to help her heal; " she says she is in love, but I think she did it to escape." (101). Unlike the other women Sally has no escape, no poetry, not even papaya coconut juice, not to mention, " he does not let her look out the window" (102). That is why "she sits at home because she is afraid to go outside without his permission."(102). Rafaela’s situation also involves imprisonment in her own home. Cisneros introduced us to Rafaela, a young beautiful girl whose expectations from marriage were to obtain a sweet home to live in. Instead...

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...p;quot;ferocious roots beneath the ground" (74). Like the trees [???] (I don’t get the reference to the trees) these are, "Four who reach and do not forget to reach. Four whose only reason is to be and be" (75). These characters are inspiring and strong but they are unable to escape the repression of the surrounding environment. The only tree that was able to escape Mango Street was Esperanza. Her last words demonstrated growth as an independent woman. She concludes "She does not hold me with both arms. She sets me free" (110). This was good! There were minor corrections that I corrected, but didn’t make a note of it(like commas). If u have any ?’s call me n let me know! Nataly Buenrostro Writing 1 October 9, 2000 House on Mango Street Critical Analysis Professor Peterson I made many changes to my draft. First of all I made Esperanza a stronger focal point of my paper. I made it clear that she was the strong one in the book. I made the transitions have more of a flow by mentioning more events that involved Esperanza. I tried to make my subjects better known and my thesis clearer by stating more facts. I showed a lot more and told less.