Candice Magale English A10 Mrs. Steinley June 12, 2024. The Bite of the Mango Book Review The Bite of the Mango is an autobiographical book. Susan McLelland and Mariatu Kamara are the writers of this timely and powerful book. It tells the story of Mariatu’s struggles surviving in the country of Sierra Leone, which, during the time, was very corrupted by the civil war. The writer describes the hardships of living in a developing country, as well as the numerous challenges she survived during her childhood. The title of the book is The Bite of the Mango because it is one of the moments in Mariatu Kamara’s life that she remembers and considers one of the most important events in her life. This event was about a man who gave her a mango to eat …show more content…
She was taken care of by her aunt, Marie, and her uncle, Alie. She also lived with her “cousins” which were kids she was not related to but grew up with and considered family. She lived a very happy life until the rebels attacked her small town. They also cut off her hands so that she wouldn’t be able to vote, which changed her life forever. After this incident, Mariatu was compelled to drag herself to the next town, Freetown, to get medical help. When she arrived, she found out that she had a child on the way. She was raped before the rebels attacked her aunt’s good friend, Salieu. Sadly, Mariatu’s son died about ten months after he was born. The cause of his death was malnutrition. After living in a refugee camp for nearly two years, David, a white guy from London, sponsored Mariatu Kamara so that she could go to London and get prosthetic hands made for her. Afterwards, while living in London, Mariatu discovered that Bill, the guy from Canada who was sending her money and supplies, wanted her to come to Canada. This makes her incredibly happy and she insists on moving to Toronto. There, she starts going to school and learns English and later meets with a guy who used to be one of the rebels. He motivates her to write a book with her story, as he did. At the end of The Bite of the Mango, Mariatu Kamara returns to her home country. She meets her friends and family and is also the president of Sierra …show more content…
While reading the story, I could really feel what she was feeling. It made the book a hundred times better because even though I couldn’t relate to it, I could still sympathize with her. It felt as if I were there with her, or I was with her myself. I didn’t find the book boring at all, people said nearing the end of the book was a bit boring, but for me, I was just glad that she got a happy ending. Reading about the trials and tribulations she went through, such as being raped, having a baby, then losing her baby, and getting her hands cut off at the start, really opened my eyes. Despite all the suffering, Mariatu Kamara, determined, got through it all, and thrived later on. She made something of herself, like she promised to herself and to her aunt before she left Sierra Leone. She also found a way to live and deal with her trauma and experiences as well as heal from it, like by writing The Bite of the Mango along with meeting with the president to discuss all of the challenges that she herself faced and the problems that the people of Sierra Leone were going through. She always looked forward and refused to get stuck in the past, even with her feelings of suicide at different points in her life. I really liked the flashbacks in the story that gave more context and helped us understand her character better. The one thing I wish she could have done was write a second book explaining what
I found it very interesting and educational to learn about the history of Uganda, a country often forgotten by the Western World. Before reading this novel I had no idea about the struggle that Indians and Africans underwent during this countdown. As a result of this novel I also learned more about the issues of systematic racism and the various downsides of class systems. Before this novel I had learned about class systems, such as the caste system in India, but by infusing history with the struggles of a young girl really helped me connect with the themes in a stronger way.
Monique and the Mango Rains describes a companionship that progresses between the writer, Kris Holloway, and a local health care worker or midwife in the Nampossela village, Mali, for the period of the writer’s Peace Corps assignment there, from 1989 to 1991.
In “Monique and the Mango Rains”, Holloway describes her encounters with the difficulties of the women in the village of Nampossela and childbirth practices of midwifes in Mali. As a young white woman from Ohio, Holloway uses her unique perspective to write a description of her experiences of the rural midwifery practices of Monique and the hardships of the women she meets in Mali. Holloway uses her knowledge of the later events to enhance her description of her time as a Peace Corp volunteer and her observations of the village she lived in.
“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
Throughout life, many hardships will be encountered, however, despite the several obstacles life may present, the best way to overcome these hardships is with determination, perseverance, and optimism. In The House on Mango Street, this theme is represented on various occasions in many of the vignettes. For this reason, this theme is one of the major themes in The House on Mango Street. In many of the vignettes, the women of Mango Street do not make any attempts to overcome the hardships oppressive men have placed upon them. In opposition, Alicia (“Alicia Who Sees Mice”) and Esperanza are made aware that the hardships presented as a result of living on Mango Street can be overcome by working hard and endless dedication to reach personal hopes
Although, it is a relief that Mariatu was lucky enough to have her family with her through most of her journey, she depended on them far too much. It seemed as though whenever they were gone her emotions became overwhelmingly unstable. She trusted people she should not have, because that was the nature of family and how people were on...
Sandra Cisneros's writing style in the novel The House on Mango Street transcends two genres, poetry and the short story. The novel is written in a series of poetic vignettes that make it easy to read. These distinguishing attributes are combined to create the backbone of Cisneros's unique style and structure.
*All in all I would say that this novel is definitely a good read. I found my self at times relating my own thoughts and experiences to that of the characters in the book. This is the very reason I would recommend that you give your class next semester the option of reading either this book or another. From my point of view, I think that most men can not relate to certain situations that occur, which lessens the overall significance of her writing.
Some may consider this book bias, but I consider this book to be a true well written story of a woman who struggled and who never gave up. A story that actually used her diary entry that was implemented into the chapters. The author gave the reader the opportunity to see how hard her life was and how she withstood all that came at her, in a way this book an inspiration not only for women but rather to all of us.
Society set a standard many years ago that in a relationship, the woman depends on the man. In The House on Mango Street, woman tend to trust and not have power in relationships. Sandra Cisneros develops the theme that women are inferior to men. This is based on men’s view on power and women accepting their role through the motif of gender roles throughout the novella The House on Mango Street.
“The Bite of the Mango” is the powerful, excruciatingly detailed autobiography of Mariatu Kamara and how she triumphed over her past traumas and the atrocities of war. The book was written in collaboration by Susan McClelland, a prominent freelance journalist based in Toronto, and Mariatu is a survivor of the perilous Sierra Leone Civil War, which ravaged the country from 1991 to 2001. During the war, Mariatu would be brutally maimed and left with no hands. Needless to say, I find myself utterly sympathetic towards Mariatu; the naive and childlike manner of speech in the book only further tugs at my heartstrings. Furthermore, the overarching themes of the narrative are resilience and hope, with Mariatu’s immense perseverance after walking a
Jacob Ferreira Prof. Cervantes English 1A 01 March 2024. Loss shaped Esperanza into who she is, giving her her identity play on The Novella On Mango Street. Many factors come into play when deciding what to read these days. With a plethora of titles, from love stories with enigmatic characters to following the life of a developing teen in her struggles through life, we have quite the selection to choose from, lets take a look through the pages of the latter. The House on Mango Street is a critically acclaimed “Novella” written by the widely considered most famous Chicana writer of today, consisting of elaborate vignettes which allow quick glances into Esperanza Cordero’s thoughts and emotions as a growing teen in impoverished Chicago.
Through her creativity, she comes to inhabit the house of storytelling [.] It is clear, nonetheless, that a magical house is had through the creative imagination. The realization of the possibility of escape through the space of writing, as well as the determination to move away from Mango Street, are expressed in “Mango Says Goodbye Sometimes” (101-102)” (241). To conclude this essay I’d like to come back to my initial question, “Do the full intentions of the writer shine through when investigating the underlying themes of the book?” I’d say they do, apart from bringing issues that Chicana women face to light, it is also an inspiring coming-of-age story that shows you that you can achieve anything you want to, the right mindset to be successful.
I found it very insightful to read about what life is like for girls in Afghanistan. I didn’t know that girls over the age of 11 are not allowed to go to school in Afghanistan, which really shocked me. Girls are still being treated like this in some parts of the world, which is an example of how books teach us things. Something about this book that I loved is how the language Deborah Ellis used evokes a sense of understanding in the reader, because that made me feel really invested in the book. For example, Parvana says ‘for more than a year now, they had all been stuck inside one room’ which made me feel so sad because nobody should ever go through the things that Parvana went through.
Even though everything could all be gone soon she has lived her life to the fullest, and she is appreciative for everything that has happened to her and everyone who has impacted her. The theme in the book is inspiring and is communicated very