The House on Mango Street Group Essay Questions 3. "My Name" What does Esperanza find shameful or burdensome about her name? Why might Cisneros have chosen this name for her protagonist? “In Spanish, it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting. It is like the number line. A muddy color. It is the Mexican records my father plays on Sunday mornings when he is shaving, songs like sobbing” (10). Esperanza says herself in Spanish her name has more of a sorrow meaning. Since her name means this, it makes sense to see why she has a problem with it. Also, “Esperanza” was her great-grandmother's name. It is said that she lived most of her life in sadness so this adds to the meaning and mood of the story. Going along with that, she …show more content…
does not like it because she feels it is too long. Esperanza says, “ At school, they say my name funny as the syllables were made of tin and hurt the roof of your mouth” (11). People saying her name strange, most likely gets on her nerves. Only 152 words 8. "Meme Ortiz" How do the residents of Mango Street interact with one another? In the novel The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, the residents of Mango street interact in a way to help one another get free from their lives, they try to build their own appearance through interactions, and these interactions are mired with shame. The children of Mango street play together constantly, and through their playing, they symbolize trying to break from their current life, evident when Cisneros writes, “This is the tree we chose for the First Annual Tarzan Jumping Contest. Meme won. And broke both arms” (22). This quote shows how the children play and how the children do what they can to have fun and fly away, shown how Meme failed to fly, breaking his arms. This means the interactions are mainly meant for finding ways of escape evident with flirting lessons, or basic education. Another way the residents interact with one another is through developing their individual identities. Evident when Cisneros writes, “His name isn’t actually Meme. His name is Juan. But when we asked him what his name is he said Meme, and that’s what everybody calls him except his mother”(21). Each of the kids is from Latin America or Spanish, and they all have a unique culture which they are trying to create. Cathy, who was white, and her family lived in this house before Meme, shows the past of this neighborhood and what it was, but Meme moving in reflects what this neighborhood has become reflecting the cultural identity these kids are trying to escape. Evident where Juan and his dog has two names showing the divide of the culture these kids are trying to break free of. This divide is evident in the interactions, with Meme introducing himself in a way not to reflect his Latin heritage. As one can see the residents interact with each other through trying to change their status and through the development of their own identities to work to escape from this cycle and create their own paths however failing. 13. "Alicia Who Sees Mice" How has Esperanza’s relationships with Alicia changed since "Cathy Queen of Cats"? How does Esperanza’s portrait of Alicia compare to her portrait of Marin? What do these portraits indicate about the differences between the two girls, and about Esperanza herself? Since “Cathy Queen of Cats,” Esperanza has grown to like Alicia rather than considering her as stuck-up. In “Cathy Queen of Cats,” the text states, “Alicia is stuck-up ever since she went to college” (12). However, this changes in “Alicia Who Sees Mice,” when Esperanza shows her newfound appreciation for Alicia. She says, “Is a good girl, my friend, studies all night and sees the mice, the ones her father says do not exist” (32). The description that Esperanza uses in reference to Alicia helps the reader to see how their relationship has changed. Esperanza can use her own perspective as another girl who wants to escape the community where she grew up and improve her life to judge Alicia less harshly and to sympathize with her advancements in education. However, Esperanza’s portrait of Alicia distinctly contrasts with her portrait of Marin. She feels that Marin is beautiful and has useful information about relationships, and has a much warmer description of Marin than she does of Alicia. She says, “... I like Marin. She is older and knows lots of things… What matters, Marin says, is for the boys to see us and for us to see them” (27). This is different from how she describes Alicia, as she says, “Alicia, who inherited her mama’s rolling pin and sleepiness, is young and smart and studies for the first time at a university” (31). Ultimately, the reader learns that Esperanza looks up to both Alicia and Marin, but for extremely different reasons. She sees Marin as being a valuable role model for her beauty and knowledge of relationships, while she sees Alicia as being a valuable role model for her intelligence. Esperanza’s development in her perception of Alicia also helps to reveal her own progression. At first, Esperanza believes that beauty is the best way to success, and strives to be like Marin. However, as she grows older and more mature, she realizes that the best way to change her life is through college and the pursuit of knowledge and education. 18. "Chanclas" What stage in Esperanza’s life does this story capture, and how is this stage portrayed? How has Esperanza’s voice changed from the previous stories "And Some More" and "The Family of Little Feet," and in what ways is her voice still the same? "Chanclas" captures a stage in Esperanza's life when Esperanza has become older and more mature.
You can tell that she is older and more mature by the way her voice changes throughout the three chapters “And Some More,” “The Family of Little Feet,” and “Chanclas.” “The Eskimos got thirty different names for snow… And clouds got at least ten different names” (35-36). This example from “And Some More” shows her immaturity during this period of her life. The grammar she uses shows how she is in a younger less mature stage of her life. Using “got” instead of have is a sign of younger age and immaturity. “Today we are Cinderella because our feet fit exactly” (40). This other early account of Esperanza’s life in “The Family of Little Feet” shows her liking herself. Specifically what she says in that she likes or is okay with the size of her own feet. It also shows how she does not really care how she looks or what she wears. “What about the shoes?... Everybody laughing except me, because I'm wearing… the old saddle shoes I wear to school” (46-47). This excerpt from “Chanclas” helps show a change in voice through that she has changed into consciously thinking about how she looks. What this change in voice shows is that she has become older. “I open up and she’s… got the socks and a new slip with a little rose on it and a pink-and-white striped dress. Her voice within this shows that she has matured since “And Some More” as well as “The Family of Little Feet” because she is using …show more content…
full, grammatically sound sentences. Using full, grammatically sound sentences shows a big difference in her voice maturity especially between “And Some More” and “Chanclas.” In the end, "Chanclas" captures a stage in Esperanza's life when Esperanza has become older and more mature. 3. How do the children who inhabit Mango Street become the men and women portrayed in the novel? For instance, what circumstances explain how the Vargas children, Meme Ortiz, the girls Esperanza plays with, and her own sisters grow into the adults of Mango street such as Esperanza’s parents, the husbands and fathers in the neighborhood, the young wives, and the older single adults such as Earl and Ruthie? Is the children’s fate inevitable? How does Esperanza set an example for how they can shape their own futures? The children who inhabit Mango Street become the men and women portrayed in the novel through the fact they will stay in the vicious cycle of Mango Street.
This is shown when Esperanza is talking to the sisters and the sisters say “When you leave you must remember to come back for the others. A circle, understand? You will always be Esperanza. You will always be Mango street…. You must remember to come back. For the ones who cannot leave as easily as you” (105). This how the children of Mango street will become the adults of Mango Street because they will never leave and fly away as Esperanza dreamed. The children will all stay put because they, unlike Esperanza, don’t work to change their status. They stay stationary demonstrated by the Vargas family when Nenny isn’t allowed to play with them because they are bad. This negative idea is shown when Cisneros writes, “She cannot play with those Vargas kids or she will turn out just like them” (8). These kids are bad, unlike Esperanza they lack loving parents and do not care enough to change. This shows how the fate of the children is inevitable because the circle if no steps in to stop the rotation through care and nurturing it will never stop and will just continue to rotate ruining lives. Esperanza sets an example for how the other kids of Mango Street can shape their own futures by that she gets her own house and decides that she will leave to go somewhere better. “A house all my own” (108). Esperanza getting a house for
herself helps set an example for the other kids by that it shows them that they can work hard enough to achieve things without marrying to survive. Also, it helps convey the fact that they are not completely stuck in Mango Street. It proves to them that they can get out of the loop. “One day I will say goodbye to Mango. I am too strong for her to keep me here forever” (110). What helps set an example for the people of Mango Street is the fact that Esperanza believes that she can leave and is planning to leave. The people can look up to Esperanza through her leaving, and it can show them that it is possible to get out.
In the book, Esperanza doesn’t want to follow the norms of the life around her; she wants to be independent. Esperanza states her independence by stating, “Not a man’s house. Not a daddy’s. A house all my own,” (Cisneros 108.) The syntax of these sentences stick out and are not complete thoughts, yet they convey much meaning and establish Esperanza’s feeling of not belonging. Esperanza’s feeling of not belonging is also emphasized when her sisters tell her that the events of her life have made her who she is and that is something she can not get rid of. Her sisters explain that the things she has experienced made her who she is by saying, “You will always be esperanza. You will always be mango street. You can’t erase what you know” (105.) What her sisters are trying to tell her is that the past has changed her but it doesn’t have to be a negative thing; it can be used to make her a better person who is stronger and more independent. Esperanza realizes that the things around her don’t really add up to what she believes is right, which also conveys the sense of not
Esperanza is a young girl who struggles with feelings of loneliness and feeling that she doesn’t fit in because she is poor. She always wanted to fit in with the other kids and feel like she was one of them. She loves to write because it helps her feel better about herself writing about her life and her community. Writing helps her with
Esperanza begins as a very wealthy girl in Mexico, and doesn’t think about how lucky she is to have the privileges that she has. She can have almost anything she wants and has to do little work. Esperanza barely even thinks about the lower classes. They are not part of her life. But when her ranch is burned down and her father killed, she has to leave Mexico and enter the United States as an illegal immigrant. But by doing so, she is forced into contact with many people far less wealthy and well-off than her. When Esperanza enters Zacatecas to board the train, she is surprised that they are not in the fancy section. Instead, they are in a car with peasants and beggars. “Esperanza had never been so close to so many peasants before. When she went to school, all of her friends were like her. When she went to town, she was escorted and hurried around any beggars. And the peasants always kept their distance. That was simply the way it was. She couldn’t help but wonder if they would steal her things.” (p. 67). Esperanza has an obvious suspicion of the peasants during her train ride. She tells her mother that she cannot travel in this car , and that the people didn’t look trustworthy. A little bit into the trainride ...
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.
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.
A name given to a person at birth is out of his or her control. Esperanza had no choice in the name she was given. Changing her name would give her some control.
Esperanza was a cowardly child who transformed into a brave woman. Alicia and Esperanza had a conversation about Mango Street and Alicia says, “Like it or not you are Mango Street, and one day you’ll come back too,” (Cisneros 107). Esperanza replies with, “Not me. Not until somebody makes it better,” (Cisneros 107). Alicia tells Esperanza that even though she does not like Mango Street, she will still come back, but Esperanza says she will not until someone makes it better. Esperanza does not want to go back to Mango Street even though she is a part of it. Esperanza wants to leave Mango Street for good. Although Esperanza knows she is a part of Mango Street, she does not want to be. The ignorant child believed she could leave Mango behind and forget about where she came from, but little does she know that someone will. When Esperanza decides to leave Mango Street, she says, “They will not know I have gone away to come back. For the ones I left behind. For the ones who cannot out,” (Cisneros 110). Esperanza will leave Mango Street to come back and help those who cannot escape. Esperanza is leaving not for herself, but for others. She grasped the understanding that nobody would do anything to help Mango Street, or care about what happens to it, and decides to take matters into her own hands. Esperanza realizes that she has to be the one to change Mango Street. Throughout the story
Esperanza encountered a few tense situations: “The seventh time we drove into the alley we heard sirens… real quiet at first, but then louder. Louie’s cousin stopped the car right there where we were and said, Everybody out of the car. Then he took off flooring that car into a yellow blur” (24). This being told by Esperanza makes the intense situation seem more innocent. The reader is put into Esperanza’s shoes while she is going through theses situations. This point of view expresses Esperanza’s feelings in a better way and gives the book some excitement in what would be dull places. It also helps readers understand what Esperanza is feeling and connects them to adolescent feelings. This helps the reader connect to Esperanza and her
Esperanza, the most liberated of the sisters, devoted her life to make other people’s lives better. She became a reporter and later on died while covering the Gulf Crisis. She returned home, to her family as a spirit. At first, she spoke through La Llorona, a messenger who informed La Loca that her sister has died. All her family members saw her. She appeared to her mother as a little girl who had a nightmare and went near to her mother for comfort. Caridad had conversations with her about politics and La Loca talked to her by the river behind their home.
Esperanza is relying on her childhood to help her through life she feels like “a red balloon tied to an anchor” (9,1,3) This passage describes that Esperanza singles herself out for her differences instead of her similarities and she knows it. She also sees her differences as a source of her isolating herself. She floats in the sky for all of the rest of us to see, dangling from a string. Esperanza is longing on for an escape like a balloon similar to her experiences with our society. However against the face that Cisneroz gives her a light voice, doesn't mean that it's not just as strong and
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.
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....
Esperanza is a very strong woman in herself. Her goals are not to forget her "reason for being" and "to grow despite the concrete" so as to achieve a freedom that's not separate from togetherness.
Esperanza dreams of someday having a satisfying life. She doesn't want her path of freedom to be cleared by having a baby or finding a husband. She has no desires to fall into the trap of dependency. As the author writes, "Her power is her own. She will not give it away" (Cisneros 89).
In class we read the book House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, the main character Esperanza lives in a lower working class neighborhood and street called Mango Street dealing with poverty. Her house is an important symbol in House on Mango Street. It represents Eperanza’s process of maturing as a person and the change in her perspective of poverty and struggle being shameful, to it being something to embrace and use as motivation. This is a very important part of the story because it is in many aspects where we are from that make us who we become. This is interesting to see in the book as her opinions and perspective of things inside and outside of her neighborhood are shaped by her experiences.