Imagine a little girl, dreaming of the endless possibilities that she could be when she is older, then being rejected of her imagination because of her gender. In House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros and Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, the reader is forced to consider personal dreams for the future, which is seen when Esperanza is left to choose what she wants her future to look like after seeing how the women in her neighborhood live, and when Marjane starts to think about what she wants to be when she grows up; this demonstrates that gender may impact your future it does not limit what you can be.
Esperanza sees how there is a pattern and many of the women in her neighborhood are treated the same. Esperanza desires to be something that
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Esperanza is challenged to think about her career options in the future she discusses what she desires to be to her classmates and to her surprised, is laughed at. “I wanted to be a Prophet, because the maid didn’t eat with us…” (Satrapi 6). Marjane deals with social inequality first hand while speaking to her classmates.Marji’s country considers being a prophet a male duty. Gender should never have an impact on career opportunities. There is an uprising in her country, many protests are going on where Marji’s parents participate Marji has always desired to go but her parents restrained her from doing so because it was dangerous. “Tomorrow we are going to demonstrate” (Satrapi 38). Mari, desires to be active in political disputes and and is present when she persists her parents to go to one. This explains the maturity Marji has and the mind set that is shown with her passion for politics.
In conclusion, Marji and esperanza faces challenges with personal dreams for the future because of their gender and age. Esperanza faces fear when looking at the pattern of women’s future in her neighborhood. Marji is rejected her imagination when discussing her plans for the future. Gender should not be linked to plans for the future. Gender does not limit what you should be, the possibilities should be endless. No young girl should be rejected of her imagination, regardless
In an earlier chapter, Esperanza meets with a witch, whom she hopes will tell her future only to be told, “Come back again on a Thursday when the stars are stronger” (72). However, when speaking to The Three Sisters toward the end of the story, they tell her to make a wish and say “You will always be Esperanza. You will always be Mango Street” (113). Rather than seek out her fate, the Fates (three sisters from Greek Mythology) have come seeking Esperanza. It has been confirmed that her wish to leave will come true, but remind her to remember her experiences as they have shaped who she is. In the article, “Interview with Sandra Cisneros”, Cisneros will tell her students to “make a list of the things that make you different from anyone in this room...in your community...your family...your gender (1). Cisneros uses this very idea in her writings of Esperanza: Her individuality is key- Esperanza’s identity as a writer and her background give her a unique voice that will allow her to speak up for those who have no
Esperanza sees all of the women around her, and most of them are the same. The overall idea of the women on Mango Street is they are property to their husbands. They cannot do anything unless their husbands allow them to. It also starts out at a young age. The young girls like Esperanza see the women that live around them and think that is the way to live. They admire them so they start to mature faster than they should. Sally is one of them. Sally loves the attention that she gets from boys, but her father does not like that. Sally grew up and got married at a young age.
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
Modern society believes in the difficult yet essential nature of coming of age. Adolescents must face difficult obstacles in life, whether it be familial, academic, or fiscal obstacles. In the House on Mango Street, Esperanza longs for a life where she will no longer be chained to Mango Street and aspires to escape. As Esperanza grows up on Mango Street, she witnesses the effect of poverty, violence, and loss of dreams on her friends and family, leading her to feel confused and broken, clinging to the dream of leaving Mango Street. Cisneros uses a reflective tone to argue that a change in one’s identity is inevitable, but ultimately for the worst.
Esperanza begins her journal by stating where she has been and where she has temporarily ended at. When she finally moved with her family, Esperanza immediately realizes that her place in the world was not going to be in the “small and red”
Women are seen as failure and can’t strive without men in the Mexican-American community. In this novel you can see a cultural approach which examines a particular aspect of a culture and a gender studies approach which examines how literature either perpetuates or challenges gender stereotypes. Over and over, Esperanza battled with how people perceived her and how she wished to be perceived. In the beginning of the book, Esperanza speaks of all the times her family has moved from one place to another. “Before that we lived on Loomis on the third floor, and before that we lived on Keeler.
Throughout The House on Mango Street Esperanza learns to resist the gender norms that are deeply imbedded in her community. The majority of the other female characters in the novel have internalized the male viewpoint and they believe that it is their husbands or fathers responsibility to care for them and make any crucial decisions for them. However, despite the influence of other female characters that are “immasculated”, according to Judith Fetterley, Esperanza’s experiences lead her to become a “resisting reader” in Fettereley’s terminology because she does not want to become like the women that she observes, stuck under a man’s authority. She desires to leave Mango Street and have a “home of her own” so that she will never be forced to depend on a man (Cisneros 108). During the course of the novel Esperanza eventually realizes that it is also her duty to go back to Mango Street “For the ones that cannot out”, or the women who do not challenge the norms (110). Esperanza eventually turns to her writing as a way to escape from her situation without having to marry a man that she would be forced to rely on like some of her friends do.
In the society that Esperanza and her friends live in, love takes a back seat
“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.
Esperanza, a strong- willed girl who dreams big despite her surroundings and restrictions, is the main character in The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. Esperanza represents the females of her poor and impoverished neighborhood who wish to change and better themselves. She desires both sexuality and autonomy of marriage, hoping to break the typical life cycle of woman in her family and neighborhood. Throughout the novel, she goes through many different changes in search of identity and maturity, seeking self-reliance and interdependence, through insecure ideas such as owning her own house, instead of seeking comfort and in one’s self. Esperanza matures as she begins to see the difference. She evolves from an insecure girl to a mature young lady through her difficult life experiences and the people she comes across. It is through personal encounters and experiences that Esperanza begins to become sexually aware and acceptance her place and self-definition in her community.
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.
The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, is a book about the obstacles Latin women encounter while residing on Mango Street. In their community, males dominate and women are treated as if they as inferior. A woman's merit is placed on her outward appearance, as well as her loyalty to the men in her life. Throughout The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros utilizes the first-person frame of reference, portraying her struggle to augment her sexuality in a feminine fashion along with the firmly embedded longing for independence, amongst a community influenced by societal male gender roles. Critical observation is included throughout The House on Mango Street as Cisneros scrutinizes
On pages 88 to 89, the novel reads, “My mother says when I get older my dusty hair will settles and my blouse will learn to stay clean, but I have decided not to grow up tame like the others who lay their necks on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain..I have begun my own quiet war...I am the one who leaves the table like a man, without putting back the chair or picking up the plate.”. This quote expresses how Esperanza leaves gender roles behind. She chooses not to proceed as how people think she should be (as a female): as in, polite, clean, settled and
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros explores a year in the life of Esperanza who is a thirteen year-old Mexican- American Girl. Experanza’s innocence and ignorance allows her to examine and define the power she has to develop and examine her true moral self. The theme of social construction plays heavily throughout The House on Mango Street, specifically through gender. Social construction is the way in which society groups and categorizes individuals. Social construction can give privileges to one group or another, and we see it often defines who we are. Further, women occupy a central role in The House on Mango Street. Experanza’s understanding of her own femininity propels much of the story. Esperanza understands beauty to be a major source of feminine power, yet she also understands that beauty can backfire. Throughout the novel, Esperanza is
I was the first girl in the family since my aunt who is 10 years older than me. I live in a small river tourist town with beautiful country roads and views of endless corn fields. My environment and experiences have shaped me into who I am in very different ways than Esperanza, in (The House on Mango Street) and Marji, in (Persepolis). Both characters reflect on their difficult life with Esperanza living in a male dominant Latino environment, and Marji living under new rulers and a war torn country.