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House on mango street character analysis
The house on mango street literary analysis
House on mango street character analysis
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he story is a coming-of-age tale of a girl named Esperanza Cordero. Esperanza tells her story through small vignettes, which are brief descriptions or accounts of what happened. Each vignette is a new chapter, some chapters so short it’s like a short poem. Initially, Esperanza’s first vignette, titled “The House on Mango Street,” shows her disappointment on the new house. Their whole family would have to share a bedroom, and the house was in a horrible condition. Throughout the next few chapters, Esperanza takes the reader throughout the neighborhood, and describes the kind of people that live there. This is the main conflict, with Esperanza’s narrative, the reader can see the amount of poverty and crime present on Mango Street. Another conflict
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.
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.
My vignette “Him” is based off of “Sire”, a vignette in The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. In the book, the main character Esperanza talks about her feelings and experiences relating to a boy named Sire. She describes his eyes with a metaphor, comparing them to “dusty cat fur” which portrays them as easily moved and shifted, like cat fur blown by the wind (Cisneros 72). In my vignette “Him”, I incorporated a metaphor by using words like: “Dark melted chocolate” (Curry 1). I used this figurative language to illustrate my perception of the boy’s eyes as I know them: warm like a melted dessert and comforting, but excitingly different like dark chocolate.
Throughout the course of Mango Street, Esperanza’s relationship towards her house change. As time passes her feelings about the house itself change and the emotional impact of the house of her changes as well. Esperanza’s house on Mango Street symbolizes her Mexican culture. For so long she has wanted to leave it. She envisions a different type of life than what she is used to - moving from house to house. “this house is going to be different / my life is going to be different”. One can look at all the things she envisions - the "trappings of the good life" such as the running water, the garden etc. as symbols for the new life.
“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.
Symbolism is the key to understanding Sandra Cisneros’ novel, “The House on Mango Street”. By unraveling the symbolism, the reader truly exposes the role of not only Latina women but women of any background. Esperanza, a girl from a Mexican background living in Chicago, writes down what she witnesses while growing up. As a result of her sheltered upbringing, Esperanza hardly comprehends the actions that take place around her, but what she did understand she wrote in her journal. Cisneros used this technique of the point of view of a child, to her advantage by giving the readers enough information of what is taking place on Mango Street so that they can gather the pieces of the puzzle a get the big picture.
“I would like to baptize myself under a new name, a name more like the real me, the one nobody sees” (11). Adolescence brings on many changes in one’s life and is the time when a person is shaped into who they will be forever. Sandra Cisneros shows the experiences one may go through while growing up through this book. A child, especially during their adolescence, is a very moldable person. The situations they go through and their position socially can greatly impact who they become. Cisneros touches on the importance of friends, life at home, and experiences in the real world that can influence a child’s life. In The House On Mango Street, Cisneros uses strong descriptive words, first person point of view, and suspense
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.
At the other end of the spectrum, the novel is a series of vignettes. "I would affirm that, although some of the narratives of Mango Street are 'short stories,' most are vignettes, that is, literary sketches, like small illustrations nonetheless..." says critic Julian Olivares (145). Cisneros has stated that she wants a reader to be able to pick up the novel and understand its meaning from any point within; therefore, the novel is told in a series of vignettes, each of which makes it own point. The vignettes are combined to create a larger story (Olivares 145). "Chanclas" is an example of Cisneros's sound prose vignettes. "Meanwhile that boy who is my cousin... asks me to dance and I can't" (Cisneros 47).This chapter is a literary sketch which illustrates Esperanza's insecurity about being poor.
Through the Characterization of Esperanza and her father, Cisneros portrays the theme of that throughout multiple generation’s culture, ideals, and family are lost. Culture, family, and ideals are very evident in the house on mango street, mainly in Esperanza’s father and in his family. Esperanza’s father is very sensitive when it comes to his family and culture. For example, his reaction to hearing the news of his mother while he informed Esperanza about her death explains his sensitivity, “Crumbles like a coat and cries, my brave papa cries. I have never seen my papa cry and I don't know what to do” (Cisneros 56). Esperanza’s father is very sensitive to the news of his mother's death.His sensitivity is portrayed when Esperanza says she has
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.
Most of the neighborhood's citizens are of diverse ethnicities including Esperanza, whose dad is Mexican and whose mom is Latina. The opening of this book shows us a lot of different characters and the discoveries of their ethnic backgrounds and how they are affected by poverty, loss, and the struggles in everyday life. After moving into the dilapidated red house on Mango Street, Esperanza suddenly becomes close friends with Lucy and Rachel, two girls who live in the same neighborhood. All the girls act liked they’ve known each other their entire life, but they obviously didn’t. Lucy, Rachel, Esperanza, and Esperanza's little sister, Nenny, have many exciting adventures on Mango Street like walking around in heels, buying a bike together and just having
I chose the first quote about Esperanza name because it shows the importance of language. I believe that language is the number one symbol of cultures and it is an expression of who we are as individuals. In this passage, Esperanza struggles to find her identity through the history of her name. We learned that Esperanza had inherited the name of her grandmother, but does not want to inherit her grandmother place of being locked into a house through marriage, and spending the rest of her life looking out the window in sadness. Esperanza says her name mean hope in English, which has a positive connotation, but then, chooses negative words such as sadness, too many letters, and a muddy color to associate with the meaning of her name in Spanish.