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What message might cisneros be trying to convey on the topic of growing up in a house on mango street
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Identity Cisneros’ “The House on Mango Street” beautifully illustrates a young girl’s journey to discovering who she really is. To figure out identity one must go through difficulties to discover themselves that shape a person into a better version of themselves such as Esperanza had to do. She faces many struggles to figure out who she is such as finding her place in a society where men are seen as stronger, living in a place her heart does not connect to, and responsibilities she has towards her family. Furthermore, Esperanza was born the year of the horse which is considered bad luck only if you are a female, her great-grandmother was also born under this year whom she attained her name from. Esperanza believes she will be different from her great-grandmother as she claims, “Esperanza. I have inherited her name, but I don’t want to inherit her place by the window” (Cisneros 10). In addition, growing up she has seen many women obtain a spot by the window which describes their helplessness to their situations like Rafaela. Rafaela is not allowed to go outside and is kept inside due to her husband so she requests the kids to get her juice,” … Rafaela, who is still young but getting …show more content…
old from leaning out the window so much gets locked indoors because her husband is afraid Rafaela will run away…” (Cisneros 79). Also, she has to accept a place as home that she despises. Esperanza lives in a house that is far from the one she always imagined therefore it makes her feel shame since her identity is associated with it.
She expresses, “ I knew then I had to have a house. A real house. One I could point to. But this isn’t it. The house on Mango Street isn’t it” (Cisneros 5). She tries so hard to be distant from her house, to believe there is no way she can live in that ugly, small house. However, no matter what Esperanza does she will always be apart of the house. She wants to pretend she does not live in that house, that her memories were all fake as she mentions, “You have a home, Alicia, and one day you’ll go there, to a town you remember, but me I never had a house, not even a photograph … only one I dream of” (Cisneros
107). Meanwhile, Esperanza is figuring out her place with family with the responsibilities that come with it. The responsibilities she has towards her younger sister so she looks up to her. Esperanza finds the need to have to look smart in front of Nenny, “And then I don’t know why, but I have to turn around and pretend I don’t care about the box so Nenny won’t see how stupid I am” (Cisneros 20). She has a tough time finding her way around the family. This can be seen when she has no idea how to respond to her father when he cries or gets upset her mother did not write a convincing letter to her school. Finally, Esperanza looks forward to changing her identity somehow as she does not accept the House on Mango Street as her home. Her identity is linked to her place in society, her home, and her family therefore she can not change it.
Esperanza, the main character of The House on Mango Street, a novella written by Sandra Cisneros in 1984, has always felt like she didn’t belong. Esperanza sought a different life than the ones that people around her were living. She wanted to be in control of her life, and not be taken away by men as so many others around her had. Esperanza wanted to move away from Mango Street and find the house, and life she had always looked for. Through the use of repetition, Sandra Cisneros conveys a sense of not belonging, that can make a person strong enough to aspire to a better life.
Esperanza meets up with 3 elderly sisters at a wake. One of the older women affirms Esperanza’s secret wish to leave Mango Street, but makes her promise that she will come back one day. Esperanza tells Alicia that she feels like she doesn’t have a home but Alicia convinces her that like it or not that Mango Street is her home and no matter what she will have to come back to make Mango Street a better place because the mayor is
In the beginning of the story Esperana is told that her new house on Mango Street will be the answer to her dreams. She is told that, in their new house, her family will be able to live like other families. “They always told us that one day we would move into a house, a real house that would be ours for always so we wouldn’t have to move each year”. Esperanza is told that in her new house there will be plumbing that worked, “real” stairs, a basement...
“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
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.
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.
Everyone has grown up in an environment that has shaped who they are as a person. Poverty-stricken areas shape a person's identity and how they value certain things in life. Sandra Cisneros's character Esperanza is shaped through her struggles with poverty and identity. The novella tells a story how hardships and penury have affected Esperanza as a person and how she yearns for the need of liberation from her poor life on Mango Street. Cisneros's novella The House on Mango Street has taught me that identity is shaped through a person's environment.
“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....
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.
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.
" They always told me that one day we would move into a real house, that would be ours. A house with trees, a white picket fence, real stairs and running water. The house on Mango Street isn't it. " (Cisneros, 4). This quote gives the reader a better understanding on why Esperanza is so frustrated with her poverty. Esperanza is constantly being let down because her poverty gets in the way. Her parents make all these promises to her that they cannot keep, because they do not have the money. Esperanza is still young and so far her life has been full of disappointment. When Esperanza's family moved into The House on Mango Street Esperanza's was excited, she expected to be moving into her dream house. Yet, once again her family's poverty gets in the way and they move into a shabby house. Esperanza's constant disappointment causes her a great deal of emotional pain, and all this pain leads back to her family's
Patriarchal Chicana culture can certainly contribute to the feeling of confinement for female characters, such as Mamacita, Esperanza’s great-grandmother, and Rafaela, as they “lean out the window and lean on [their] elbow and dream” (Cisneros 78). Furthermore, readers see how Rafaela “gets locked indoors because her husband is afraid Rafaela will run away since she is too beautiful to look at” even though “Rafaela wishes she could go dance” (Cisneros 79). Therefore, she “submit[s to] the hegemony of the man and the society by which [she is] encompassed” (Kalay 119) due to her husband’s machismo. However, Esperanza serves as an example of women who view the home as a symbol of liberation and independence. For example, Esperanza claims that she does “Not [want] a flat. Not an apartment. Not a man’s house. Not a daddy’s house. A house all on my own…Nobody to shake a stick at. Nobody’s garbage to pick up after” (Cisneros 108). Therefore, her house is an expression of independence because she recognizes “her power is her own,” and “She will not give it away” (Cisneros 89). Therefore, she views owning a house of her own as a symbol of success, independence, and liberation from her patriarchal culture and proletariat status. Certainly, the house represents the intersectionality of gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status through its foundational and