Identities can be stolen, lost, forgotten, but most importantly, they can be found. In the novella, The House On Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros portrays a girl who does not know her identity. Esperanza is living in a very impovershed part of her city, and this gives her a very negative outlook on her life and her surroundings. This negative outlook causes her to reject her own identity and who she is. Esperanza’s negative view of herself slowly changes, though, as she begins to focus on her larger community and her place within it. Hroug this, Cisneros shows that knowing and accepting where one comes from is an important part of growing up and determining one’s identity. Her name was one of the main reasons she rejected her identity. She did not want to end up like her grandmother, who she was …show more content…
named after. She states, “And the story goes she never forgave him. She looked out the window her whole life, the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow. I wonder if she made the best with what she got or was she sorry because she couldn't be all the things she wanted to be. Esperanza. I have inherited her name, but I don't want to inherit her place by the window” (Cisneros 10). She does not like her name because she shares it with a woman who gave up and hated her life. Esperanza wants to make her own choices and to live her own life instead of picking up where her grandmother left off. She wants to go out and enjoy her life and create her own identity instead of assuming the role of her grandmother. She does not want to watch other people from a window having fun; she wants to have fun too. As she grows up, she determines her own future and ignores who her grandmother was, and focuses on who she is. She does not let her name drag her down and this lifts the negative outlook she has on her life. Her tone becomes more positive and she finds her place in the community and her own identity. As Esperanza grows up, she grows into her identity by remembering her past.
She does not let it define her, instead she learns from it. She talks about her future and mentions that she will let bums live in her attic. She states, “People who live on hills sleep so close to the stars they forget those of us who live too much on earth. They don't look down at all except to be content to live on hills. They have nothing to do with last week's garbage or fear of rats. Night comes. Nothing wakes them but the wind...Rats? they'll ask. Bums, I'll say, and I'll be happy”(Cisneros 86) This shows that she remembers her past and being impoverished. Instead of letting this get to her, she remembers it and lets it mold her into a more caring person. She relates to these people and because of this, she lets them stay in her attic. She smiles because she knows she is doing a good thing that nobody ever did for her or her family. Her accepting her past shows her maturity and it made her into a more caring person. She found her role in the community and it changed her very negative point of view. She turned her negative, cynical, and impoverished view into that of a caring, happy
person’s. A part of her growing up, was accepting her surroundings and her identity. She was ashamed of where she came from, but realized it was a part of her. She states, “But today she is listening to my sadness because I don't have a house. You live right here, 4006 Mango, Alicia says and points to the house I am ashamed of. No, this isn't my house I say and shake my head as if shaking could undo the year I've lived here”(Cisneros 106). As Alicia pointed out this was her home and is was a part of of who she is. As much as she may try to forget it, it is still a part of her. Her maturity shown through when she bacame embarressed about what she had said. She realized that she was lucky because she could return home, but others, like Alicia, were less fortunate because they could not return home. Her house was a part of her identity and it was important for her to remember where she came from. It was important to remember that she was poor because it gave her humility. Her embarrasment showed her maturity and acceptance of her identity, even if her past was not that great. Her growth as a person and acceptance of her identity shows her new found maturity. She realized that her past was not everything and she should enjoy her life through her grandmother. She found out that she should also remember her past, but not let it define her future. She should remember her past to help her become a better person through her poverty. She does things for the impoverished that no one ever did for her family. She needed to remember her home because there are people less fortunate that can never return home like Alicia. She has become more mature, which has helped her define her identity and has changed her outlook on her life.
The House on Mango Street, a fictional book written by Sandra Cisneros is a book filled with many hidden messages. The book revolves around a young girl named Esperanza who feels out of place with the life she has. She sees that the things around her don’t really add up. The story is told from Esperanza’s perspective and the events she goes through to find herself. Through the strategy of fragmenting sentences, Cisneros establishes that the sense of not belonging, creates a person’s individuality that makes them who they are.
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.
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is about a girl who struggles finding her true self. Esperanza sees the typical figures like Sally and Rafaela. There is also her neighbor Marin shows the “true” identity for women on Mango Street. She also sees her mother is and is not like that at the same time. The main struggle that Esperanza has is with beauty. This explains why most of the negative people that Esperanza meets on Mango Street, and her gender, helped her see the mold she needed to fill in order to give herself an identity.
“The House on Mango Street” emphasizes on this issue, even broadens to explain other controversial matters such as abuse, misogynistic views, and stereotypes. The protagonist, Esperanza Cordero moves to Mango Street where she must witness the abuse affecting her friends, neighbors, and family. Either Sally a close friend, Mamacita a neighbor, or her own mother handling 4 children. Over the course of the novel Esperanza changes physically and mentally. Through the use of imagery as well as complex, descriptive vignettes Cisneros epitomizes the misogynistic views within Esperanza’s
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.
In the poor slums of Chicago, a family living in poverty struggles to get by. In the book, House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, Esperanza is a twelve year old girl who lives with her family in the Windy City. She lives with her three siblings and both parents on Mango Street. Esperanza has no control over her life and family’s poverty. People who have no control over their life desperately seek change. Esperanza seeks to change her name, her home, and her destiny as a way to control her life.
...ors to describe her life and situation. This comes primarily from the fact that in her therapy sessions that is how she is taught to deal with everything. For example, one metaphor she talks about is “… she comes up with the idea of lighting candles to symbolize my past, present, and future…I’ve noticed my past melting… my present candle has stayed pretty much the same,” (D 266). She explains them as her past is become less controlling, her present is her and concrete ideas and her future is bright and untouched. These metaphors show how much she has grown and allow the things she is learning to have more meaning. All of these combine to make the piece very effective and insightful. They help to get her point across and call people to action to help against these crimes.
In The House on Mango Street, Cisneroz agitates the theme of diversity through her use of characters and setting. Cisneroz paints a multitude of events that follow a young girl named Esperanza growing up in the diverse section of Chicago. She is dealing with searching for a release from the low expectations that the Latino communities often put women whether young or old are put against. Cisneroz often draws from her life growing up that she was able to base Esperanza's life experiences on and portray an accurate view on Latino societies today. Cisneroz used the chapter “Boys and Girls” and “Beautiful and cruel” to portray Esperanzas growth from a young curious girl to a wise woman. She came into her own personal awareness and her actions that she has to now be held accountable for.
“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.
Cisneros depicts Mango Street as a rough neighborhood, but she also conveys a sense of community. She writes down that “we are safe,” (Cisneros, 28) to indicate that she can find the sense of community. Even if the author does not think she belongs to Mango Street, she does not deny that her community lives there. At the beginning of The House on Mango Street, Cisneros states that “I had to have a house. A real house,” (Cisneros, 5) illustrating that after knowing the American society’s evaluation criteria of success, she wants to follow the upward mobility and be viewed as a successful figure not only because she wants to be appreciated but also because white people will change their stereotypes of Hispanic people if they see that a Hispanic woman can be as successful as other whites. Her ambition triggers her to want to explore the meaning of being a Hispanic girl in the real world. Furthermore, in the “My name” session, the author depicts her great-grandmother’s life. “She looked out the window her whole life… but I don’t want to inherit her place by the window.” (Cisneros, 11) Cisneros wants a marriage formed because of love, like most white people do; her desire indicates that she wants to live like the whites, so that they will respect her and the Hispanic race later. In addition, Cisneros points out that she
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.
Sandra Cisneros' strong cultural values greatly influence The House on Mango Street. Esperanza's life is the medium that Cisneros uses to bring the Latin community to her audience. The novel deals with the Catholic Church and its position in the Latin community. The deep family connection within the barrio also plays an important role in the novel. Esperanza's struggle to become a part of the world outside of Mango Street represents the desire many Chicanos have to grow beyond their neighborhoods.
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.
The Famous Actor Richard Vernon once said, “A truly strong person does not need the approval of others any more than a lion needs the approval of sheep.” Vernon speaks about how a person with self-confidence only needs to care about their own opinion, not that of others. Someone who exemplifies the importance of self-confidence is Sandra Cisneros in her novel The House on Mango Street. The House on Mango Street tells the story of the young girl Esperanza and her struggles with poverty, racism and growing up. Esperanza struggles to find her own inner strength, often ending up trying to blend in with the crowd. One vignette that illustrates her battle for recognition is “A Rice Sandwich”. In the vignette, Esperanza longs to eat lunch in her school's
Sandra’s family was a hard one to grow up in due to the split opinion on what kind of