A Smart Cookie Analysis

One of the most painful emotions a person can experience is the feeling of regret. At any time, regret can can wash over someone, casting them into a vortex of misery that often leads to despondent depression and despair. In the vignette “A Smart Cookie”, Sandra Cisneros flawlessly captures the feeling of remorse that stems from naive and arrogant choices made as an adolescent or young adult, that can haunt our adult life for years on end.
Cisneros employs strategies such as imagery to represent Esperanza’s mother’s crushed dreams. There is a sudden subdued gracefulness within the text as the mom “sings with velvety lungs as powerful as morning glories,” where everything stops to focus purely on the talent of her voice. This moment, however

By inserting the last paragraph, where Esperanza’s mom states, “Yup, I was a smart cookie then.”, Cisneros uses situational irony to highlight the naive and credulous mindset that plagued Esperanza’s mother throughout her childhood. Although I cannot personally relate to the destitute situation she was financially put through during her school years, it is possible for all of us to empathize with the feeling of someone always being “better” than us, in one way or another. This sense of fierce competitiveness can have negative or positive results depending on the specific person, and the circumstances in which that person is growing up. We saw the harmful repercussions of one-upmanship cause Esperanza’s mother to quit school, and lead her down a path to never fully reach her goals. Of course, there were more factors involved in Esperanza’s mother’s failure to achieve success and personal satisfaction than the specific events specified in this vignette and throughout the book. The reader can assume that the lack of parental guidance and financial support definitely wilted the mom’s confidence. It is safe to infer that she was readily teased and mocked in school for her impecunious appearance, which played a substantial role in fostering a sense