After reading “The Three Sister”, one realizes that Cisneros is cleverly using metaphors, similes, and short sentence structures to create an allusion to the Greek mythological characters known as the Fates. The purpose of this allusion is to convince the readers that Esperanza will do great things in life because there are greater forces at work. House on Mango Street, written by Sandra Cisneros is a coming of age tale told through a series of vignettes about a Chicana named Esperanza living in the house on Mango Street. Through these vignettes, the reader is able to experience the situations and obstacles she faces as not only a Latin American, but as a woman living in an oppressing society. In “The Three Sisters”, Esperanza is introduced to the three sisters known as las Comadres at her baby cousins’ funeral. There, the three …show more content…
sisters proceed to converse with Esperanza about her wishes and reveals that they will come true, but she must always come back to Mango Street as she is Mango Street. We first start to realize that the sisters are different in the very first sentence of the vignette, “They came with the wind that blows in August, thin as a spider web and barely noticed” (Cisneros, 103). Using a simile, Cisneros compares the sisters´ arrival to that of the wind, and ‘barely noticed’, almost similar to saying that their arrival was a surprise. Winds in August do not occur often, which would imply that the three sisters appear rarely. Seeing as they are barely noticed as well, this would mean the sisters are quiet or distant, explaining why they are described as rare and not visiting often. Their description is then continued using the metaphor, “Three who did not seem to be related to anything but the moon.”(Cisneros, 103). Comparing the sisters’ origins to those of the moon creates the image that they are mystical or special, almost supernatural. The three Fates were originally based off or linked to an ancient worship of a moon goddess in three different forms: ‘the new moon, the full moon, and the old moon’ (*). By comparing the three sisters to the moon, Cisneros is presenting an almost direct link to the Fates and shows her efforts in trying to create the allusion to the Fates. After speaking to Esperanza about her wishes, granting them, and giving her advice about Mango Street and how she must always come back as she is Mango Street, the three sisters had “smiled and waved in their smoky way” (Cisneros, 105) and were never to be seen. Using this metaphor to state that the sisters’ waves are smoky would lead readers to presume that the sisters are old or ancient as smoke and is a sign that there was once a fire that occurred around here a long time ago.
Making those sisters appear old and ancient proves to the readers that they are mystical. The mystical property that the sisters hold convinces readers that they are strong, smart, wise, almost godlike figures. Cisneros also uses short sentence structures in her vignettes to assure the confidence that certain characters posses, for example, when the sisters answer Esperanzas’ doubts over how her wishes will come true by simply stating, “We know, we know” (Cisneros, 105). Using the sentence structure where you have a subject and just an action verb, which is extremely short and simple, is what makes Esperanza believe that what the ladies are saying are true. Those simple words hold an air of self-confidence and assurance that makes Esperanza believe they are telling the truth. Esperanza had always seen the women around her having their lives being controlled by men, but these three self controlled women are
different. After carefully analyzing the metaphors and similes used by Cisneros to describe the three sisters, it becomes apparent that she is using them as an allusion to the Fates that are commonly found in Greek mythology. The fates are viewed as three sister deities who are the physical embodiment of destiny and life. One sister, whom spindles the thread or creates the life, one who holds the thread or observes the life, and one who cuts the thread or determines the end of life (*). The three fates are seen as old-looking ladies (*) and one can now understand or correlate why Cisneros describes them as ‘three old ladies’ (Cisneros, 105). However, we can clearly see that Cisneros is trying to create an allusion to the three fates when Esperanza thinks, “They must’ve known, the sisters. They had the power and could sense what was what…” (Cisneros, 104) when she saw them arrive. The time of the sister’s arrival was by no means a coincidence as the fates are in control of a person's life story, it is their job to appear at the beginning and endings of life. Their power to ‘sense what was what’ is what lead them to the baby’s wake and allow them to meet Esperanza, our heroine. This encounter is what leads to Esperanza being assured that she will leave Mango Street and doing greater things in life, although she will always be Mango Street. By including the allusion to the Fates using the similes, metaphors and short sentence structures, we can see that they are affecting Esperanza’s life, it makes the reader believe that there is something bigger out there waiting for Esperanza.
Throughout The House On Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, many symbols, themes, and motifs appear while analysing the story of Esperanza growing up on Mango Street, a poor neighborhood. Symbols are a very big part of this book, because without deeper consideration of the text, this book would just be a series of dull, unrelated stories. One of the most prominent symbols in this story is the symbol of shoes representing our main character, Esperanza, maturing and adjusting into womanhood and her sexuality.
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
Using repetition, Cisneros conveys a feeling of not belonging, that can make a person stronger. A sense of not belonging is created in the chapter,”House on Mango Street.” As Esperanza talks to a nun in this chapter about where she lives, Esperanza states,”The way she said it made me feel like nothing. There. I lived there”(Cisneros 5). Esperanza repeats that she,”lived there” many times to show how important it is to her that she doesn’t belong, or want to belong, to Mango Street. In ,” The Three Sisters” this point is shown again. As Esperanza talks to three Aunts, they say to her,”You will always be Esperanza. You will always be Mango Street. You can’t erase what
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is about a girl who struggles finding her true self. Esperanza sees the typical figures like Sally and Rafaela. There is also her neighbor Marin shows the “true” identity for women on Mango Street. She also sees her mother is and is not like that at the same time. The main struggle that Esperanza has is with beauty. This explains why most of the negative people that Esperanza meets on Mango Street, and her gender, helped her see the mold she needed to fill in order to give herself an identity.
“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
She was not a master of style, plot development or characterization, but the intensity of feeling and aspiration are evident in her narratives that overrides her imperfections. Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street, written in 1984, and Anzia Yezierska’s Bread Givers, published in 1925, are both aimed at adolescent and adult audiences that deal with deeply disturbing themes about serious social conditions and their effects on children as adults. Both books are told in the first person; both narrators are young girls living in destitute neighborhoods; and both young girls witness the harsh realities of life for those who are poor, abused, and hopeless. Although the narrators face these overwhelming obstacles, they manage to survive their tough environments with their wits and strength remaining intact. Esperanza, a Chicano with three sisters and one brother, has had a dream of having her own things since she was ten years old.
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.
Women are seen as failure and can’t strive without men in the Mexican-American community. In this novel you can see a cultural approach which examines a particular aspect of a culture and a gender studies approach which examines how literature either perpetuates or challenges gender stereotypes. Over and over, Esperanza battled with how people perceived her and how she wished to be perceived. In the beginning of the book, Esperanza speaks of all the times her family has moved from one place to another. “Before that we lived on Loomis on the third floor, and before that we lived on Keeler.
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.
“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.
Cisneros depicts Mango Street as a rough neighborhood, but she also conveys a sense of community. She writes down that “we are safe,” (Cisneros, 28) to indicate that she can find the sense of community. Even if the author does not think she belongs to Mango Street, she does not deny that her community lives there. At the beginning of The House on Mango Street, Cisneros states that “I had to have a house. A real house,” (Cisneros, 5) illustrating that after knowing the American society’s evaluation criteria of success, she wants to follow the upward mobility and be viewed as a successful figure not only because she wants to be appreciated but also because white people will change their stereotypes of Hispanic people if they see that a Hispanic woman can be as successful as other whites. Her ambition triggers her to want to explore the meaning of being a Hispanic girl in the real world. Furthermore, in the “My name” session, the author depicts her great-grandmother’s life. “She looked out the window her whole life… but I don’t want to inherit her place by the window.” (Cisneros, 11) Cisneros wants a marriage formed because of love, like most white people do; her desire indicates that she wants to live like the whites, so that they will respect her and the Hispanic race later. In addition, Cisneros points out that she
Each part contains short stories within them. These all consist of a heartwarming girl, Esperanza,who matures into a woman and how she faces these gender roles through love and violence. Cisneros alters the name Esperanza with Chayo, Rachel, Lupe, Ines, and Clemenica, to explain differences between them along with to give the story more lewd effectiveness. Sandra Cisnero's main focus throughout the novel was identity. Cisneros starts off in the first section (“My Lucy Friend Who Smells Like Corn), narrating as a young child and further matures into the final section (There was a Man, There was a Woman)....
“Home is where the heart is.” In The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros develops this famous statement to depict what a “home” really represents. What is a home? Is it a house with four walls and a roof, the neighborhood of kids while growing up, or a unique Cleaver household where everything is perfect and no problems arise? According to Cisneros, we all have our own home with which we identify; however, we cannot always go back to the environment we once considered our dwelling place. The home, which is characterized by who we are, and determined by how we view ourselves, is what makes every individual unique. A home is a personality, a depiction of who we are inside and how we grow through our life experiences. In her personal, Cisneros depicts Esperanza Cordero’s coming-of-age through a series of vignettes about her family, neighborhood, and personalized dreams. Although the novel does not follow a traditional chronological pattern, a story emerges, nevertheless, of Esperanza’s search to discover the meaning of her life and her personal identity. The novel begins when the Cordero family moves into a new house, the first they have ever owned, on Mango Street in the Latino section of Chicago. Esperanza is disappointed by the “small and red” house “with tight steps in front and bricks crumbling in places” (5). It is not at all the dream-house her parents had always talked about, nor is it the house on a hill that Esperanza vows to one day own for herself. Despite its location in a rough neighborhood and difficult lifestyle, Mango Street is the place with which she identifies at this time in her life.
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....
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.