Similarities Between The Body And The House On Mango Street

The Harsh Reality
The Body by Stephen King and The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros are two books that do not have a lot of things in common superficially. As far as the underlying issues that are talked about and addressed in the two books, The Body and The House on Mango Street do tackle the tough problems that most people try to avoid or turn the conversation away from in general. That is the main similarity that both stories share.That is what makes these two stories so interesting. After reading both stories, the reader sees their similarities through their true hardship.
To begin with The House on Mango Street, this is a story told from the perspective of a girl, Esperanza, as she grows up and deals with the problems of living

in a “bad” neighborhood. As the reader, Esperanza appears like the underdog that everyone wants to root for; the main problem that Esperanza faces is the disadvantages and problems that she has to face on a daily basis that can be a bit overwhelming. In The Body, four boys embark on the search for the body of a young boy who has apparently been missing for quite a bit of time. What makes this story interesting is the fact that the boys start out on the search for the young boy’s body but they end up finding out more about the underlying problems in each of their lives.

This is the root of the argument of what these two novels have in common. Both of these stories really look into the underlying issues of the main characters while telling an fascinating story. In The House on Mango Street, Esperanza tries desperately to get out of the bad situation that she is in and she makes it known at the beginning of the story what she really wants in life. Despite her realizations, when the story reaches the end, she has a more harsh grip on reality due to her coming to true terms with her situation. The Body has that similar effect on the reader. By the end of the story, the four boys will not have really changed their ending situations. Gordon is the only member of their gang that has serious aspirations set for his future. Teddy, Chris, and Vern all set their minds on the enrollment in trade schools for general task. Gordon, however, enrolls in college preparatory classes. Reiterating on the discussion of the conclusion of both books, at the end of The House on Mango Street as much as Esperanza wants to leave Mango Street behind her, as a dark part of her past, she realizes that she cannot go through with picking up and leaving. She is reminded, by the

other women of Mango Street, that by being the first person to make it out of Mango Street she is the only person that can help everyone else who is condemned to stay there. In The Body, Gordon is the only character to actually experience an actual “happy ending.” Gordon, however, did take part in the Vietnam War, so his “happy ending” is not necessarily considered exactly “winning.” The other main characters(Teddy, Vern, and Chris) actually die before reaching adulthood. Teddy drives his car while under the influence of alcohol and he crashes his car, killing himself and his passengers. Vern dies in a similar sporadic fashion by dying in a house fire after attending a party. Chris had one of the more impressive finishes. He cleaned up his act a bit with the aid of Gordon. Chris did well in high school and prospered throughout college. He unfortunately met his dreadful demise during his second year of law school. He gets stabbed after trying to stop an argument between two strangers at a restaurant. The Body and The House on Mango Street both key in on the fact that everything is not always what it seems. Despite the appearance of infantile settings, the rose tinted glasses effect in place over the reality seen in both books shares the common trait of its temporary existence.
The Body and The House on Mango Street have large similarities primarily based on their mutual acknowledgement of the difficult transition to adulthood.

However, this is mainly where the similarities end. Both books actually appear vastly different and have completely different backgrounds. To begin, The House on Mango Street is seen from the perspective of a girl who has a hispanic background growing up in Chicago. The Body is seen from the perspective of a boy at different stages of his life. The differences continue into the small town backgrounds of The Body. While Esperanza is exposed to many people in her environment, thus causing her problems later on in life, the characters in The Body experience a similar discomfort with their environment. The close-knit setting of the small town can be seen as a double edged sword in their case. After the boys have a standoff with their brothers at the site of the body, they experience their wrath days later. Although Chris pulling out the gun resolved the situation at the moment, it was only temporary. The boys experienced very intense beatings that would have been worse had there been no interference by a

neighbor.
The Body and The House on Mango Street both do a great job demonstrating the combination harsh realities with childhood bliss. Both stories had happy endings in a conventional sense. The main characters in both stories experience a lot of pain and suffering, but it is their pain and suffering that make these characters into who they are at the end of both books. Esperanza and Gordon both can be considered wiser due to the turmoil they both experienced. Proof of that can be seen when Gordon returns back to his hometown after his success as a writer and his time in the war. Gordon is happy that he can return back to his hometown and not have to worry about experiencing the same trauma he is accustomed too in that setting. Esperanza had a bit of the same revelation towards the end of The House on Mango Street. She realized that she could not simply pick up and leave. As much as she wanted to follow through with leaving Mango Street forever, she could not do it simply due to how bad she knew her situation was there. The fact that she knew that their were other girls that suffered like she did but did not have the good fortune of being able to leave made Esperanza adhere more to their situation. She knew that she needed to help the other girls of Mango Street make it out of this bad situation. By the end of the story, Esperanza has accepted her role as an aid to all of the girls growing up on Mango Street.