“I could’ve been somebody, you know? My mother says and sighs. She has lived in this city her whole life. She can speak two languages. She can sing an opera. She knows how to fix a T.V.” (Cisneros). In the vignette, “A Smart Cookie” by Sandra Cisneros, it states how the mother of a girl named Esperanza regrets not going to school and not becoming the person she wanted to be. Esperanza’s mother complains about not having done something with her life. The mother seemed disgusted with her younger self and told Esperanza not to be like her. The mother of Esperanza regrets her life choices she made. She wants Esperanza to have a better life and make better choices than what the mother made. “She used to draw when she had the time. Now she draws with a needle and thread...She borrows opera records from the public library and sings with velvety lungs powerful as morning glories” (Cisneros). The mother had so many talents that she could have made a career out of, but because of the choices she made, she did not pursue an occupation that her talents pertained to. As an effect, the mother regrets not being more than she could have been. “Shame is a bad thing, you know. It keeps you down. You want …show more content…
Because I didn’t have nice clothes. No clothes, but I had brains” (Cisneros). The mother was ashamed of not having nice clothes and had dropped school because of that. Quitting school ended up as one of the
Marie enjoyed learning, she looked up to her father who was a very smart man. Her father always said, “When you’re smart they can’t take that away, they can take your money, put you in jail and throw away a key, but they can’t take your education”. This quote she too lived by. Marie knew her only way out of poverty was to remain sharp on her education skills because this would take her far. Her father being a smart working man had more opportunity’s to learn rather than her
Esperanza feels sympathy for many people, and tries to help them as much as she
Esperanza only considered herself, not even thinking of the poor. In fact Esperanza didn’t even want the poor to be near her, let alone touch her. “Mama we can’t sit here papa would never allow us to sit here, the people are poor and dirty.” After Esperanza loses her father, she and her mother decide to flee to America. Esperanza shows that she still has not accepted the fact that she is now poor.
Imagine growing up on the streets, living in cars, in broken homes and then living in an apartment on Park Avenue in New York City. The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls, is a memoir about Jeanette and her siblings childhood, going through poverty and parents who were were irresponsible, neglectful and careless. The memoir talks about the many obstacles their family faced and how they overcame them. Jeanette moving to New York symbolizes a new chapter in her life and becoming independent from her family, and finally breaking the “skedaddle” streak. After high school, college is the next step in life.
After the extremely stressful experience of almost encountering her mother on the streets, the speaker returns to her home and begins to question the way that she's living. She recognizes that she's not living a happy life, saying that "[she'd] tried to make a home for myself here, tried to turn the apartment into the sort of place where the person [she] wanted to be would live. " This statement is extremely profound because the speaker recognizes
Coming from a poor family, being shy, and moving around a lot, Sandra learned she needed to overcome these problems by accomplishing her goals. When she finally settled down and ran away from home to go to college, she had more confidence in herself, and was heading towards her objectives. For example, “I’ve done all kinds of things I didn’t think I could do since then.” Eventually she learned life is what everyone makes of it.
She didn’t bother spending a minute of her stupid time struggling with her reduced intelligence. She just relaxed and went with it. Because she didn’t have any problems the real world would present to a stupid person, she got to enjoy all of the benefits and none of the drawbacks. She remembered the time with a fond nostalgia.
Her mom teaches Esperanza many life lessons throughout the story. The reader learns that the mom dropped out of school because she “didn't have nice clothes” (91). The mom regrets this decision as staying in school could have let her lead a better life in a wealthier place. Esperanza quickly realizes that she wants to stay in school to move out of Mango Street. This mom is also there for emotional support when Esperanza needed it.
Survival in the Glass Castle Survival is on top of the priority list for everyone, whether they are rich or poor. That was the case for Jeannette Walls. In her memoir, “The Glass Castle”, we can see how Jeannette becomes a strong and independent woman, despite of her harsh past. Her childhood was filled with adventure, obstacles, and poverty. Her mother, Rose Mary Walls, was indulged in her arts that she didn’t bother taking care of her children.
But immediately she feels intimidated because she doesn’t understand the rules of the workplace, and is too afraid to ask. “… and I didn’t know if I could sit down or not, and then I started sitting down when the two ladies next to me did.” (54). Yet again Esperanza proves that she is still a child because she feels too timid to ask a basic question. The lunch room turns out to be a scary place for Esperanza as well.
Immigration involves moving from your home country to another in order to start over and make a better life. In Esperanza Rising Esperanza faces losing everything when her Papa dies and has to immigrate to California for a job, work, and money. Esperanza has her house burnt and Mama and Esperanza is in a bad time and moved to California. After Esperanza faced many challenges as an immigrant, her hardest ones were Not knowing how to do chores and Marta and her friends starting a strike.
The family would always ask “why us?” or “maybe it’s a curse” or “she was fine for years”, and the list would go on and on. (225) She didn’t feel like she belonged and her family
Mama’s personality is sweet and kind her goal was for Esperanza to have everything she wanted. Miguel’s personality is calm and gentle. His goal was to make his family’s life is wise and courageous. Her goal was to keep her family together.
I had always anticipated what my future would hold. The thought of never living up to my dreams gave me aches in my stomach. My mother did not play a positive role during my childhood, I don’t believe she ever intended on being a role model for her children. I could not tolerate the thought of becoming like her. I did not ever want to depend on someone else to support me.