Imagine a little girl, dreaming of the endless possibilities that she could be when she is older, then being rejected of her imagination because of her gender. In House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros and Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, the reader is forced to consider personal dreams for the future, which is seen when Esperanza is left to choose what she wants her future to look like after seeing how the women in her neighborhood live, and when Marjane starts to think about what she wants to be when she grows up; this demonstrates that gender may impact your future it does not limit what you can be. Esperanza sees how there is a pattern and many of the women in her neighborhood are treated the same. Esperanza desires to be something that …show more content…
Esperanza is challenged to think about her career options in the future she discusses what she desires to be to her classmates and to her surprised, is laughed at. “I wanted to be a Prophet, because the maid didn’t eat with us…” (Satrapi 6). Marjane deals with social inequality first hand while speaking to her classmates.Marji’s country considers being a prophet a male duty. Gender should never have an impact on career opportunities. There is an uprising in her country, many protests are going on where Marji’s parents participate Marji has always desired to go but her parents restrained her from doing so because it was dangerous. “Tomorrow we are going to demonstrate” (Satrapi 38). Mari, desires to be active in political disputes and and is present when she persists her parents to go to one. This explains the maturity Marji has and the mind set that is shown with her passion for politics. In conclusion, Marji and esperanza faces challenges with personal dreams for the future because of their gender and age. Esperanza faces fear when looking at the pattern of women’s future in her neighborhood. Marji is rejected her imagination when discussing her plans for the future. Gender should not be linked to plans for the future. Gender does not limit what you should be, the possibilities should be endless. No young girl should be rejected of her imagination, regardless
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.
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
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.
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.
Women’s Escape into Misery Women’s need for male support and their husband’s constant degradation of them was a recurring theme in the book House on Mango Street. Many of Esperanza’s stories were about women’s dreams of marrying, the perfect husband and having the perfect family and home. Sally, Rafaela, and Minerva are women who gave me the impression of [damsel’s in distress].CLICHÉ, it’s ok though. It’s relevant They wished for a man to sweep them of their feet and rescue them from their present misery. These characters are inspiring and strong but they are unable to escape the repression of the surrounding environment. *Cisneros presents a rigid world in which they lived in, and left them no other hope but to get married. Esperanza, however, is a very tough girl who knows what she wants. She will keep dreaming and striving until she gets it. She says, "I am too strong for her [Mango Street] to keep me here" (110). Esperanza learned from all of these women that she was not going to be tied down. She said, "I have decided not to grow up tame like the others who lay their necks on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain" (88). **Especially after seeing that Sally was suffering so much. Sally’s father is making her want to leave home by beating her. Sally "said her mother rubs lard on the places were it hurts" (93). There is not enough lard in the world to be able to cure the pain within Sally’s heart. Sally, "met a marshmallow salesman at a school bazaar" (101). Pretty soon " sally got married, she has her house now, her pillowcases and her plates" (101). Her marriage seems to free her from her father, but in reality she has now stepped into a world of misery. This was supposed to help her heal; " she says she is in love, but I think she did it to escape." (101). Unlike the other women Sally has no escape, no poetry, not even papaya coconut juice, not to mention, " he does not let her look out the window" (102). That is why "she sits at home because she is afraid to go outside without his permission."(102). Rafaela’s situation also involves imprisonment in her own home. Cisneros introduced us to Rafaela, a young beautiful girl whose expectations from marriage were to obtain a sweet home to live in. Instead...
In the society that Esperanza and her friends live in, love takes a back seat
“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.
In the vignette titled Beautiful and Cruel Esperanza declares that she has “decided not to grow up tame like the others who lay their necks on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain” (88). She also remarks that “her power is her own. She will not give it away . . . I am one who leaves the table like a man, without putting back the chair or picking up the plate” (89). Esperanza is demonstrating that she does not want to become tied down in the traditional sense of marriage when she refers to it as a ball and chain. As she has been growing up within Mango Street she has been witness to relationship in which the women become objects of their husbands and loss the identity of themselves. Esperanza is aware of the power imbalance between the men and women in her Latino community and openly states that she wants to be powerful. When she writes that she will not give her power away she is demonstrating again that she will not hand over her power to the men in her life as Earl’s wife and Rafaela have done. In growing up on Mango Street Esperanza’s notions about the relationship between women and have begun to shape her outlook on life. In her last quotes she is clearly decided that she fight back against the stereotype of what is expected from a young girl or female. In stating that she
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
The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, is a book about the obstacles Latin women encounter while residing on Mango Street. In their community, males dominate and women are treated as if they as inferior. A woman's merit is placed on her outward appearance, as well as her loyalty to the men in her life. Throughout The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros utilizes the first-person frame of reference, portraying her struggle to augment her sexuality in a feminine fashion along with the firmly embedded longing for independence, amongst a community influenced by societal male gender roles. Critical observation is included throughout The House on Mango Street as Cisneros scrutinizes
To begin, in The House On Mango Street, Cisneros describes how her grandmother is affected by gender roles. On page 11, the text states, “...my great grandfather threw a sack over her head and carried her off. Just like that, as if she were a fancy chandelier...She looked out the window her whole life, the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow.”. This text reveals how gender roles impact one character’s life detrimentally. The grandfather of main character Esperanza regards Esperanza’s grandmother as an item, and thus leads a sad life, as most women do.
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros explores a year in the life of Esperanza who is a thirteen year-old Mexican- American Girl. Experanza’s innocence and ignorance allows her to examine and define the power she has to develop and examine her true moral self. The theme of social construction plays heavily throughout The House on Mango Street, specifically through gender. Social construction is the way in which society groups and categorizes individuals. Social construction can give privileges to one group or another, and we see it often defines who we are. Further, women occupy a central role in The House on Mango Street. Experanza’s understanding of her own femininity propels much of the story. Esperanza understands beauty to be a major source of feminine power, yet she also understands that beauty can backfire. Throughout the novel, Esperanza is
In the short story “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros, make Esperanza the main character. Esperanza expresses herself in traditional words, her own feelings about life. The image of the The House on Mango Street is located in a poor neighborhood, where this young girl and her family present emotions becoming into a hope of a better life. These feelings led Esperanza convert the idea to own a beautiful house into an obsession. The image of Esperanza and her House becomes a symbol of different ideas such as shame, fantasy, independence, confidence and hope.
I was the first girl in the family since my aunt who is 10 years older than me. I live in a small river tourist town with beautiful country roads and views of endless corn fields. My environment and experiences have shaped me into who I am in very different ways than Esperanza, in (The House on Mango Street) and Marji, in (Persepolis). Both characters reflect on their difficult life with Esperanza living in a male dominant Latino environment, and Marji living under new rulers and a war torn country.