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One recurring theme in the House on Mango Street is independence. In the novel, Esperanza dreams of the day she will leave Mango Street and the oppression from men, to become truly free. However, as she matures, she begins to desire love from men. In the vignette, “Beautiful and Cruel”, Esperanza describes her admiration for the women in the movies who are beautiful, desired my men, yet retain their own power. Sally Rafaela is an important character because she teaches Esperanza that such a dream is an insurmountable challenge. At first glance Sally Rafaela embodies the traits of the movie heroines; she is gorgeous, dresses nicely, and has the attention of the boys, but as we dive deeper into her life, we discover that she is not free. Scared that Sally will run away, her abusive father dominates her life by constant and savage beatings over miniscule issues. …show more content…
Esperanza observes, “One day Sally's father catches her talking to a boy and the next day she doesn't come to school.
And the next. Until the way Sally tells it, he just went crazy, he just forgot he was her father between the buckle and the belt.” (Cisceros 92) As a pitiful attempt to compensate the absence of love from her father, she allows boys to exploit herself. In the vignette “The Monkey Garden”, a group of boys steals her keys and says, “You can’t get them back unless you kiss us.” Sally agrees without hesitation, and shames Esperanza’s attempts to “rescue” her (Cisceros 96-97). Later, Esperanza and Sally attend a carnival, where Sally abandons Esperanza to spend time with a boy. Alone, Esperanza is sexually assaulted. Shortly after, Sally, who is not yet in the eighth grade, marries an older marshmallow salesman, who is just as jealous, cruel, and “protective” as her
father. Her experiences with Sally terminate her admiration of “beautiful and cruel” women. She resumes her desire to leave to a house of her own and become an independent and autonomous woman. Ruthie is another important character in the novel, since she is similar to Esperanza. She is creative, and poetic, and has the potential to become a writer. Esperanza explains, “There were many things Ruthie could have been if she wanted to […] She had lots of job offers but she never took them. She got married instead…” (Cisceros 69). This shows that even though she has potential, she lacks the strength that Esperanza possesses and chooses the conventional route of marrying. One day, Esperanza recites a poem to Ruthie, and although she is clearly touched, she cannot express herself and instead says, “You have the most beautiful teeth I have ever seen”. After Esperanza’s experience with Ruthie, she recognizes the strength and courage it will take for her to reach her full potential. Because Ruthie never finds her strength, she cannot use her potential to express herself, and remains stuck on Mango Street. I feel that Sandra Cisceros provided a satisfying conclusion. In the last vignette, “Mango says Goodbye Sometimes”, she tells the reader that writing is her escape from reality. In the last couple of lines, she is determined that writing will eventually set her free from the Mango Street, and does not forget those who are unable to leave. She promises that after she leaves, she will return to help them.
The House on Mango Street, a fictional book written by Sandra Cisneros is a book filled with many hidden messages. The book revolves around a young girl named Esperanza who feels out of place with the life she has. She sees that the things around her don’t really add up. The story is told from Esperanza’s perspective and the events she goes through to find herself. Through the strategy of fragmenting sentences, Cisneros establishes that the sense of not belonging, creates a person’s individuality that makes them who they are.
In the story the house on mango street there are both young girls, Sally and Esperanza. Both girls desire adventure, love, and beauty. However, Sally is more outgoing and confident than Esperanza. She has confidence that she is beautiful. She play the role of a strong female that never get hurt by any boys. Esperanza admires and looks up to Sally. Esperanza does not want to be a "weak woman" and she sees Sally as her role model. Their home lives contrast also Ironically. Sally is physically abused by her father each time he catches her with a boy. On the other side Esperanza and her family communicates well. Sally sees her self as a women and not the type of women a person that isn't confident of herself and that's what Esperanza likes.
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.
At the carnival, Esperanza arranges to meet Sally to hang out, but Sally never shows up to meet with Esperanza. While she was waiting for Sally to show up, a group of boys show up out of the blue and grab her, and one of them decides to rape her. Esperanza is really young so she doesn't understand what sex is like yet and gets mad a Sally for lying to her what it’s really like.
In the vignette During Sally’s time in Mango, she was approached by a few boys around the same age; they took her keys and stated that they would not give the keys back “unless she kissed [them]” (Cisneros p. 96). Furious at this statement Esperanza leaves to one of the boy’s mother and briefly summarizes the issue, sadly enough she asks “what do you want me to do” (Cisneros p. 97). Cisneros wants to convey that it is common for men to be contempt with women, especially young boys who look towards these men as role models. It is mandatory to present oneself in a respectful way to set a proper
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
In unique ways for each girl, “home is a prison” and the only way they escape it is through Esperanza (Kalay 123). Esperanza is a symbol of hope as her name foretells. From the beginning Esperanza attracts the girls of the neighborhood to her side. One of the older Latina girls in Esperanza’s life is Alicia. Being a young lady of about 18, Alicia, takes her mother’s place as the one who cooks and cleans. She works hard from sun up to sun down then goes to the university. Alicia symbolized all the young women who worked hard enough in life to one day escape from the poor streets of Chicago. But like many Latina females, Alicia had a difficult life with her father, who abused her as Cisneros suggests. Alicia could escape the poverty but in the end she was just another woman in a male dominant world and nothing more. Not many girls were like Alicia; Sally, for example, was the
As Esperanza grows there is much significance on her life experiences. Furthermore, she begins to understand the benefits and consequences of her actions. On the other hand, the producer of The Color Purple does not go in dept about Celie’s learning moments from life and instead spans over 40 years of Celie’s life. As a result, only so much can be covered in movie and is not able to cover the maturity of Celie and possibly her sister as well. Instead the movie focuses on Celie and her sister, Nettie, and their personal relationship. It can be seen that characters often times make the same mistake multiple times during the course of the movie. For example, Celie is not able to reflect on her experiences and instead just goes through the movement. Although she wanted to rebel many times, they were declined by her will preventing her from discovering who she truly was. In addition, she was lost with her identity and was classified as a African-American wife who is abused by her husband. However, The House on Mango Street is able to go in depth about the maturity of its main character, Esperanza. For example, “One day you wake up and they [hips] are there. Ready and waiting like a new Buick with the keys in ignition” (Cisneros 49). Esperanza is learning about her body as she undergoes physical and
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.
Throughout The House on Mango Street Esperanza learns to resist the gender norms that are deeply imbedded in her community. The majority of the other female characters in the novel have internalized the male viewpoint and they believe that it is their husbands or fathers responsibility to care for them and make any crucial decisions for them. However, despite the influence of other female characters that are “immasculated”, according to Judith Fetterley, Esperanza’s experiences lead her to become a “resisting reader” in Fettereley’s terminology because she does not want to become like the women that she observes, stuck under a man’s authority. She desires to leave Mango Street and have a “home of her own” so that she will never be forced to depend on a man (Cisneros 108). During the course of the novel Esperanza eventually realizes that it is also her duty to go back to Mango Street “For the ones that cannot out”, or the women who do not challenge the norms (110). Esperanza eventually turns to her writing as a way to escape from her situation without having to marry a man that she would be forced to rely on like some of her friends do.
“Someday, I will have a best friend all my own. One I can tell my secrets to. One who will understand my jokes without me having to explain them” (9). These are the longing words spoken by Esperanza. In the novel The House on Mango Street, Esperanza is young girl experiencing adolescence not only longing for a place to fit in but also wanting to be beautiful. This becomes complicated as Esperanza becomes more sexually aware. Throughout the novel, Cisneros argues the importance of beauty and how Esperanza deals with beauty as a part of her identity. When Esperanza meets Sally a new friend, Esperanza’s whole world is turned upside down. Esperanza’s views on beauty change from a positive outlook to a negative one by watching how beauty has damaged Sally’s life.
Characteristics are what define us as human beings. When comparing and contrasting one person to another, characteristics is used to do so. Characteristics such as physical appearance or emotional perceptions help define how a person is perceived, and how we do, or do not compare in such ways. Authors use descriptions of physical characteristics to help us paint a picture in our mind of characters’ appearance from their books while, characteristics of a character’s mentality help develop a personality for us to relate to. It is important for authors to develop personality so readers can relate or understand the differences from themselves and the characters of their stories. The house on mango street is a book written by Sandra Cisneros which, is about main character Esperanza coming to age. Esperanza speaks frequently about having a house she can be proud to call her own. The house in this story represents both physical and intangible wants and needs of the main character. I cannot compare myself physically due to the difference in sex but, Esperanza and I do have similarities
In “The House on Mango Street” the author Sandra Cisneros explores the ins and outs of a girl living in a neighborhood of poverty. The main character of the book experiences may things that ultimately shape her into the person she wants to become. Through the book Cisneros explains the experiences out of a person’s control creates a foundation for what they value in life by having Esperanza move houses, go through a traumatic event, and have social normalities forced upon her.
... They didn’t seem to be my feet anymore. And the garden that had been such a good place to play didn’t seem mine either” (Cisneros 98). The play place that was once so innocent and is now a junkyard that reciprocates Esperanza’s innocence that slowly turns into reality. She is growing up. Additionally, she gains enough confidence and maturity to make her own life decisions. This is shown when she makes the important decision of where she wants her life to take her. “I have decided not to grow up tame like the others who lay their necks on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain” (Cisneros 88). This shows Esperanza’s maturity to make her own life choices by herself. She is finally confident and independent enough to know where she wants her life to take her. Esperanza finally completes her evolution from young and immature to adult-like and confident.
The House on Mango Street” is a novel that will take you in a journey but not just any journey, a one year journey of a twelve year old Chicana girl (Mexican-American girl) named Esperanza Cordero.The journey of Esperanza begins when she moves in to her new house on Mango Street with her family,going thru puberty,having her first crush,sexual assault,coming of age,maturity and it ends with her becoming more aware of all the things around her.This novel is a great book because in a way you can actually understand what she is going thru as she becomes a teen and is trying to accept who she and trying to find her own path to take.