Sandra Cisneros Eleven

Stories like “Eleven” demonstrate Sandra Cisneros’s mastery at conveying big themes in only a few pages of words. At first glance, the reader may think that this is simply a sad story about a mean teacher ruining and innocent little girl’s birthday. However, when taking a closer look, the reader is able to identify and investigate the brilliantly layered symbolism of this short story and piece together the deeper meaning behind it. Cisneros successfully utilizes the red sweater as a tool of symbolism for multiple themes: overwhelment, social stigmas, and characterization of Rachel’s complex personality. Each of these different themes, represented in one symbol, add new aspects or “layers” to this elaborate short story.

The first thing the

reader notices about the sweater is its color: red.

Before she begins to describe it, the reader can gain a bit of insight into what it might represent. The color is clearly representative of something because the sweater never appears without its color being mentioned alongside it. It is never the “sweater”, but always the “red sweater”. In literature, the color red is symbolic of aggression or anger. It has also come to signify emergency or danger in many cultures, including our own (stop signs, ambulances etc.). In this way, the color of the red sweater portrays the seriousness of the situation in the narrator’s eyes, and makes the whole situation seem more urgent, almost like an emergency, as the reader senses her rising panick. In addition to being inherently symbolic, the color red can actually have a physical effect on the human brain and emotions. Studies have found that the color red enhances attention to detail, while blue enhances creativity (University of British Columbia). This would explain why the

narrator experiences heightened senses as the sweater incident continues to drag out. For example, the smell of cottage cheese and the sleeves that are “itchy and full of germs” (Cisneros 8) are both very distinct observations about the sweater that could possibly be caused by and increase in attention to detail. The fact that the narrator is also forced to not only accept the sweater, but also wear it against her will, could also represent the lack of control that she feels in this situation, which adds to her stress. This simply adds another layer to the chaotic and overwhelming nature of the story and allows the reader to gain insight into what the narrator is feeling, adding a more personal and relatable aspect to her story.
Another representation that the sweater brings to the story is that of a social stigma that is present in the classroom.

Rachel mentions that the sweater is, “raggedy and old”, “an ugly sweater with red plastic buttons and a collar and sleeves all stretched out like a jump rope” and that even if it did belong to her, she wouldn’t say so (Cisneros 7). Why would she be embarrassed to wear or take ownership of this sweater? Perhaps the “old and raggedy” nature of the sweater could suggest that she is from a poor family who cannot afford to buy her a new one. Whatever the social stigma, be it race, economic class or gender, it was enough to make Phyllis Lopez too afraid to claim the sweater in front of the

class.
Another thing that points to the sweater as a symbol of social stigmas is the fact that one of the other students immediately associated the sweater with Rachel. If this isn’t bad enough, the teacher believes her even when Rachel insists that the sweater does not belong to her. “‘Not mine’, I say finally…… ‘of course it’s yours’, Mrs Price says….because she’s older and the teacher, she’s right and I’m not” (Cisneros 7). There is something about this other girl that makes her word more credible to the teacher than Rachel’s word. Or perhaps, the teacher already has a preconceived notion concerning Rachel and the kind of person she is. Whatever the case may be, Mrs. Price refuses to hear what Rachel has to say. This underlying symbolism, specifically pointed at social stigmas, builds on the theme of layers in this story. It conveys the idea that, although there is more to Rachel than meets the eye, it is difficult for other people to see much deeper than the surface.
The final and most prominent representation that the red sweater provides is the symbolism of Rachel’s complex and layered personality. The various ways in which Rachel describes the sweater give the reader insight into her current life and her past life. It is clear to see, based on the way the narrator articulates her thoughts, that she still thinks like a child. However, the fact that she can connect every feeling she has to a different age or layer of her life shows that she has some very mature thoughts as well. By using the imagery of an onion or a tree trunk, she conveys the idea that people never “grow up”, but rather, each year builds on the next and they layer over one another. However, the early years are still inside of us. In the same way, the different descriptions of red sweater encompass some of the early years of the narrator’s past life.
For example, Rachel’s comparison of the sleeves of the red sweater to a jump rope is highly symbolic of her youthful past life. When thinking of parallels for a stretched out object, the first thing that came to mind was a popular childhood toy. This could represent her past self between the ages of 6 and 9 that enjoyed playing jump rope. Also, the description of the scent of the sweater as smelling of cottage cheese is telling of a young child within her. Children tend to dislike stronger tasting foods, especially at a young age. As their taste buds begin to develop, they become less picky and generate an acquired taste for foods that are spicy or sour, or cheeses that have a stronger flavor. The fact that smelling like cottage cheese is used as a negative descriptor points to the fact that the narrator has not developed much variety in taste, or maybe it reminds her of a time in her life when she ate a strong cheese and didn’t like it.
The description of the sweater as, “shoved to the corner of the desk and it’s hanging all over the edge like a waterfall” (Cisneros 8), is symbolic of Rachel’s emotional state at this point in her life. She is trapped between elementary and adolescent life, almost a teenager, but not quite. The reader can sense the struggle between the childish characteristics that lie within her and her desire to mature. She even wishes that she is “one hundred and two instead of eleven” (Cisneros 7), because she wants to be wise and know how to react in difficult situations. Yet, ironically, “one hundred and two” is a clearly childish exaggeration. The red sweater is representative of this struggle in the way that she pushes it as far away from her as it can get, but this only results in it cascading over the edge of the desk. In the same manner, she attempts to suppress the prior years and immaturity within her, but this eventually leads to an involuntary pouring out of her emotions when she begins to cry uncontrollably after being forced to wear the red sweater (Cisneros, 9). This intricate symbolism further expands on the “onion theme” and allows the reader to view it from another angle.
Cisneros successfully utilizes the red sweater as a tool of symbolism for multiple themes: overwhelment, social stigmas, and characterization of Rachel’s complex personality. Each of these different themes, represented in one symbol, add new aspects or “layers” to this elaborate short story. By allowing the reader to see Rachel’s perspective through various literary techniques, point of view, symbolism, and pointed criticism of social stigmas, Cisneros effectively conveys the overwhelming theme of this story. No one is exactly what they seem, under the many layers of every mature person is the three year old that they once were, and that’s ok.