Four Raggedy Excuses Planted by The City In the book The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, the main character Esperanza compares herself to a group of four trees outside her house she never really liked. In the vignette she connects herself to the trees because they have skinny necks and pointy elbows just like her. A second way that Esperanza connects herself to the trees is by saying that they do not belong there, but are there anyway. Esperanza has always wanted to leave Mango Street and live in a house on a hill away from all the problems Mango Street has to offer. Esperanza is inspired by the strength of this sad group of trees “Their strength is secret. They send ferocious roots beneath the ground. They grow up and they grow down and grab the earth between their hairy toes and bite the sky with …show more content…
This is how they keep.” (pg.74). In the vignette Esperanza says that she turns to the trees when she feels depressed and that the trees remind her to keep going “When I am too sad and skinny to keep keeping, when I am a tiny thing against so many bricks, then it is I look at trees”(pg.75). Esperanza also says that the trees are the only ones who understand her and that she is the only one who understands them. Esperanza has a fondness for these trees, perhaps they inspire her because their only reason for being is to be. Esperanza’s sister, Nenny, does not appreciate the trees like Esperanza does. Esperanza is most likely the only one who can see the beauty and fortitude of the trees that grow outside her house despite concrete. Esperanza can take a life lesson from the trees. The lesson would be that determination can get you anywhere. Esperanza later moves away from Mango Street but does not forget where she came from and what made her the person she became. Esperanza does not truly leave Mango Street because she continues to write about it and help those that could not leave have a
When Esperanza is struck by the realization that she is not accepted in society, she aspires to bring a more hospitable environment to fruition. At the beginning of The House on Mango Street, Esperanza is questioned by a nun about where she lives. The condemning tone of the harridan shakes Esperanza, causing her to state, “There. I lived there… I knew then I had to have a house. A
“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
This passage in the novel The Bean Trees is complex, symbolic, and significant. It starts with a storm arriving towards Taylor and her friends while they observe the event. A storm can symbolize negativity or a cleansing of emotions. Despite the rainstorm, Taylor and the others are surprisingly in a joyous mood, dancing around with each other. The characters feel a relief from all that has happened, including Esperanza, who attempts to commit a suicide in the previous chapters. On the first few chapters, Taylor’s mindset has been focusing on being independent, but this passage shows a change about her. During their dance, Taylor reflects on how she has never been so happy before, therefore Taylor‘s happiness proportionally relates to her relationships
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 has many friends on Mango Street. Rachel, Lucy, and Alicia are all some of her friends. In other words, Esperanza has a good number of friends. Thus, they all are kind to Esperanza. Sometimes they will be rude but nobody's perfect. On the other hand, Esperanza learns from that her friends tell her. Lucy and Rachel's mother taught Esperanza that Jesus took Lucy and Rachel's sister. She learned that the monkey garden was a fun place. Esperanza learned a lot from her friends "The Four Skinny Trees." She learned that there is still hope when you are growing from concrete(p.75). Esperanza learned to not give up just like the trees on Mango Street.
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.
The phrase ‘literary merit' refers to a work of literature that endures time and appeals to a wide diversity of audiences. Works of literary merit have relatable qualities and relative concepts, not only to the time period it had been published in but also throughout time. These kinds novels also have in-depth and insightful qualities that go beyond the words printed on the page. To me, these elements greatly contribute to the definition of a work of literary merit, a work of literary merit also has engaging characters that the readers can be sympathetic to. With the understanding of this definition, the novel The House on Mango Street, written by Sandra Cisneros falls into the category of a work of literary merit. Reading works of literary
Who does not want a home? A shelter to sleep and a roof to dine under. Of course no one wanted to stay home forever, but once in awhile and even when far away, they will long to return to that sacred place, the place where they grew up and the place they have left behind, home. The desire for a home (or house to be precise, though there was not much of a different for this case) was realistically reflected through a fiction work of Sandra Cisneros, a Mexican American write, a story called The House on Mango Street, where we shall discuss about its setting, plot and character.
...will pack my bags of books and paper. One day I will say goodbye to Mango. I am too strong for her to keep me here forever. One day I will go away.” (Cinceros 110) This shows how Esperanza needs to break free of Mango Street and move on because Mango Street has nothing more to offer a young free mind like Esperanza. She will move far away so she can continue on with her American Dream as one person and not have the weight of her family’s American Dream on her shoulders.
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.
Although Esperanza is constantly reaffirming that she wants to move away from Mango Street, we know by the end novel that she will one day return to help those who will not have the opportunities Esperanza has had in her life. Indeed, in the closing pages Esperanza admits that she cannot escape Mango Street. She can never again call it home, but it has influenced her dreams, formed her personality, and she has learned valuable life lessons from its inhabitants. That is why, explains Esperanza, she tells stories about the house on Mango Street, revealing the beauty amidst dirty streets and unveiling her true inner self, the peace of knowing that her “home is where her heart is.”
In the novel, The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros describes the problems that Latino women face in a society that treats them as second class citizens. A society that is dominated by men, and a society that values women for what they look like, and not for what is on inside. In her Novel Cisneros wants us to envision the obstacles that Latino women must face everyday in order to be treated equally.
Because I didn’t have nice clothes. No clothes, but I had brains” prove that her parents instilled this belief in her at a young age. This belief leads to her biggest goal in life, to be successful and have the money to improve her state. However, she wants to do this while still being the girl who grew up on Mango Street and who people once looked down on. She expresses this in “Bums in the Attic”, “One day I’ll own my own house, but I won’t forget who I am or where I came from” (87). Because of these goals and beliefs, the trees from “Four Skinny Trees” are a good symbol for Esperanza. She herself experiences many of the traits she gives the trees, “Their strength is secret. They send ferocious roots beneath the ground. They grow up and they grow down and grab the earth between their hairy toes and bite the sky with violent teeth and never quit their anger” (74) and even goes as far as to compare herself to their trees in the ways she describes. Between everything in her life, Esperanza has learned to value others and success and therefore strives to achieve