There are always outcasts, and they are not always outcasts for the same reasons. An outcast is a person who does not like what is popular. They do not do what is popular. They have may have issues like disabilities. Sandra Cisneros's The House on Mango Street shows us how society often treats outcasts. Outcasts often like unusual things. "But I like them. Their clothes are crooked and old. They are wearing shiny Sunday shoes without socks. It makes their bald ankles all red, but I like them. Especially the big one who laughs with all her teeth. I like her even though she lets the little one do all the talking." (Our good day pg 15) They might not have the best appearance, but they are still good people. "Is a good girl, my friend, studies …show more content…
all night, and sees the mice, the ones her father says do not exist." (Alicia who sees mice pg 32) She may hallucinate, but she is still a smart person. "They think suffering is good for you ever since they saw that movie three hundred Spartans." (a rice sandwich pg 44) Outcasts often think unusual things. "But most important hips are scientific, I say repeating what Alicia told me." (Hips pg 50) Outcasts often do or say unusual things.
"But next year Louie's parents are going to send her back to her mother with a letter saying she's too much trouble, and that is too bad, because I like Marin." (Marin pg 27) Marin may be troublesome, but Esperanza still likes her, anyway. "They're not like ordinary playing cards, these cards. They're strange, with blond men on horses and crazy baseball bats with thorns. Golden goblets, sad-looking women in old-fashioned dresses, and roses that cry."(Elenita, cards, palm, water pg 63) People do not usually understand fortune tellers. "Ruthie sees lovely things everywhere. I might be telling her a joke and she'll stop and say: The moon is beautiful like a balloon. Or somebody might be singing and she'll point to a few clouds: look Marlon Brando. Or a sphinx winking. Or my left shoe." (Edna's Ruthie pg 68) Outcasts can have a poor train of thought. "Bums, I'll say, and I'll be happy." (Bums in the attic pg 87) Esperanza may have bums in her attic, but it will not bother her. "My mother says when I get older my dusty hair will settle and my blouse will learn to stay clean, but I have decided not grow up tame like the others who lay their necks on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain." ( beautiful and cruel pg 88) Esperanza has decided to stay
messy. Unusual things often happen to outcasts. "Most likely I will go to hell and most likely I deserve to be there." (Born bad pg 58) Esperanza was born on a bad day, so her and her mother believe something bad will happen to her when she dies. "But the night he comes back and sends a big rock through the window. Then he is sorry and she lets him in again. Same story." (Minerva writes poems pg 85) Minerva's man is abusive, but she cannot seem to escape that cycle. They had the power and could sense what was what. (Linoleum roses pg 104) It appears that some outcasts have an unusual ability. In Sandra Cisneros's The House on Mango Street, she shows us how awful outcasts are often treated. Outcasts often, act strangely, or speak strangely, or think strangely. They often have strange events happen to them. Outcasts should be treated better by society.
In an earlier chapter, Esperanza meets with a witch, whom she hopes will tell her future only to be told, “Come back again on a Thursday when the stars are stronger” (72). However, when speaking to The Three Sisters toward the end of the story, they tell her to make a wish and say “You will always be Esperanza. You will always be Mango Street” (113). Rather than seek out her fate, the Fates (three sisters from Greek Mythology) have come seeking Esperanza. It has been confirmed that her wish to leave will come true, but remind her to remember her experiences as they have shaped who she is. In the article, “Interview with Sandra Cisneros”, Cisneros will tell her students to “make a list of the things that make you different from anyone in this room...in your community...your family...your gender (1). Cisneros uses this very idea in her writings of Esperanza: Her individuality is key- Esperanza’s identity as a writer and her background give her a unique voice that will allow her to speak up for those who have no
Sally is a common occurrence in Esperanza’s community; she lacks self-confidence and determination. In “Linoleum Roses,” Esperanza describes Sally’s post-marriage life. She says, “Sally says she likes being married because now she gets to buy her own things when her husband gives her money… Except he won’t let her talk on the telephone. And he doesn’t let her look out the window. And he doesn’t like her friends, so nobody gets to visit her unless he is working. She sits at home because she is afraid to go outside without his permission.” Sally lacks the qualities of self-confidence and determination; due to this, she lets herself fall into a trap disguised as marriage. Now, she has no control over her life. Her husband decides everything for her, and she is afraid to say no to him. Sally’s lack of two important qualities lets her give herself away to her husband. Now, her fate lies solely in his
Esperanza realizes her femininity . Esperanza did not understand that the things she wears can affect her well-being. Esperanza, Rachel, and Lucy found shoes and each adored them when they state,
by John Steinbeck, there are many characters who are considered to be outcasts. An outcast is a person who does not fit in. Through many differences on the ranch, different people are put into the category of being an outcast. Because of their differences, Crooks, Curley’s wife, and Lennie are all outcasts on the ranch.
Many are confined in a marriage in which they are unhappy with, and are reductant to make a change. Some are committed to make a change for themselves. Esperanza ponders each one of these women's lives. Through each role model Esperanza gains crucial life lessons on how to overcome different life hardships. Through some women like her great-grandmother and Ruthie, Esperanza learns she must take control her fate, to avoid marrying young, and not let a male figure dictate her future. Other women like Alicia, Esperanza learns to keep pursuing goals in life and to take control of her destiny no matter what obstruction may lay ahead. From Esperanza’s role models, the moral lesson that can be taken away is to be proactive about your life and to shape your own future. Everyone is a role model to somebody in their life. Strive to leave a positive message behind for the ones shadowing in your
Throughout the story, Esperanza faces difficulties and hardships that help her become who she is. Her environment, her home, and her friends are the ones who shape her to be who she is. Though she may not be grateful for what she has, and who she has, it’s what makes Esperanza who she
Esperanza's overwhelmed tone reveals her fear and doggedness to adversity when sally's game defiles the garden's innocence/purity, exposing Esperanza to the realization that she cannot remain a kid forever.
High school can be a place full of cliques and groups of friends but some people aren’t always in cliques. If there is a person who doesn’t always like the same things as other people they might not fit in with a group of people. In high school a person may become different and not find a group of friends that they fit in with. With no group of friends a person in high school may start to become an outcast. Laurie Halse Anderson, the author of Speak used Melinda to show that any high school student can become an outcast.
She says, “The water pipes broke and the landlord wouldn’t fix them because the house was to old” (p. 4). But the shame of living in these poor conditions inspires her to dream of, “A real house that would be ours for always so we wouldn’t have to move every year” (P. 4). Esperanza also feels ashamed when the nun is shocked by where she lives asking, “you live there?” (P. 5). Being harshly judged by the nun makes Esperanza plan to have, “A real house, one I could point to” (P. 5). In the chapter “Boys and Girls,” Esperanza is ashamed by Nenny because she’s immature and doesn’t understand anything. The text says, “Nenny is too young to be my friend” (P. 6). Due to the fact that she’s ashamed of Nenny, she turns to her dreams, thinking up, “a best friend all my own” (P. 9). Even Esperanza’s own name makes her feel ashamed. She says, “In English my name means ‘hope.’ In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means ‘waiting’.” (P. 10). When she learns it means waiting in Spanish, she decided to grow from it and focuses on the fact that in English it means ‘hope.’
At first, Esperanza is young, insecure, and immature. Her immaturity is apparent when she talks about her mom holding her, saying it is, “sweet to put your nose into when she is holding you and you feel safe” (Cisneros 6-7). This shows Esperanza’s insecurity because her mom is still a big comfort source to her. She feels a false sense of comfort because her mom is there and will protect her. In addition, Esperanza’s immaturity is shown through her dislike for outsiders of the neighborhood when she says, “They are stupid people who are lost and got here by mistake” (Cisneros 28). This indicates how defensive and protective Esperanza is towards her barrio by calling outsiders stupid for reacting the way they do, even though she dislikes Mango Street....
Society is filled with outcasts. Everywhere one looks, there is someone who is different and has been labeled as an outcast by the others around them. People fear disturbance of their regular lives, so they do their best to keep them free of people who could do just that. An example of this in our society is shown in people of color. Whites label people who do not look the same as them as and treat them as if they are less important as they are. The white people in our society, many times unconsciously, degrade people of color because they fear the intuition that they could cause in their everyday lives. Society creates outcasts when people are different from the “norm.”
There is always a very big difference in between the two the types of people. The 1960’s were a great yet tragic example for this. For example, “The girls who were bright-eyed and had their dresses a decent length and acted as if they’d like to spit on us if given a chance. Some were afraid of us, and remembering Dallas Winston, I didn’t blame them. But most looked at us like we were dirt.” In this example, a young greaser gang boy named Ponyboy Curtis was reacting on the comments other Socials, or Socs made one them. He tells us about the variety of ways people talked about them, some of them were afraid, whereas some would spit and throw dirt on them. The Outsiders, the novel which the quote is based in the 1960’s. This decade was a very “sorry your poor” kind of decade. The decade was very violent mainly because they were a lot of fights between kids who were rich and kids who were poor: Greasers and the Socs. One of the kids from the Greaser family was Ponyboy Curtis. He was smart. That was very very uncommon in the Greaser family. Most of the greasers were all drop out or either just didn’t have the money to go to school in the first place. So technically, he wasn’t rich(opposite of the Socs), yet he was smart(opposite of the Greasers). That would mean that he was an outsider in his own community. Isis-Sapp
An outcast, an odd and aberrant person, is someone who usually lives in isolation and follows their own way of life
In ”Revenge of the Geeks” ,an example can be found in this quote:“...Taylor Swift’s classmates left the lunch table as soon as she sat down because they disdained her taste for country music. Last year, the Grammy winner was the nation’s top-selling recording artist.” pg. 201. In other words, Taylor Swift was excluded from her friend group because they didn’t share the same interests. Similarly, in the poem “Sonnet, With Bird” it states “...I traveled to London to promote my first internationally published book. A Native American in England!” pg. 214. This shows that even Native Americans who travel the world can still feel like a foreigner at times. Lastly, from my own personal experience, I have a family member who always was an outcast during their teen years, but then when they matured as an adult they become very successful with their created business and they didn’t rely on being popular to boost their activity. On the other hand, some may think that kids who were outsiders choose to be by their actions and that people can only be an outsider if they want to be. In “Revenge of the Geeks” an 8th grader says “The smart thing repels girls.” pg. 226. He talks about how his intellectual abilities prevent him from attracting girls. However, many cannot control how they are and can’t control how they’re labeled, and will continuously be called an
“Everybody feels like an outcast because the world is so large and every fingerprint is so vastly different from one another and yet all these standards and beliefs, and dogmatic systems of judgment and ranking in almost all the societies of the world” -Ezra Miller. All around us, cliches and standards are seen throughout culture. This is because judgment is a constant challenge in today's society. If one dress, acts or plays out of the considered normal, then those people are put into rankings and are distanced from everyone else. In today’s world, the experience of being an outcast is universal.