Rosa Vargas Family In Sandra Cisneros's The House On Mango Street

In Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street, a young, impoverished girl with Hispanic origin, named Esperanza adapts to her new life in Chicago, on Mango Street. Throughout her time living on Mango Street Esperanza observes how other people are living around her, especially women and young girls like her. Esperanza has a variety of female role models in her life. Many are trapped in abusive relationships, waiting for others to change their lives. Some are actively trying to change things on their own. Through these women and Esperanza’s reactions to them, Cisneros’ shows not only the hardships women face, but also explores their lack of power to overcome them.

In Mexican American society , women are deemed inferior to men, evident in traditional family roles, the male is the head of the family who provides for the family , while the woman stays at home to look after the children she is expected to provide for her husband . In the third vignette of ‘The House on Mango Street’ titled ‘Boys and Girls’ the reader is informed of the division between men and women when Esperanza refers to herself and her sister Nenny , and her brothers, “They’ve got plenty to say to me and Nenny inside the house. But outside they can’t be seen talking to girls”. The male dominance begins at a very young age.

Thomas Jefferson once said,“I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.” This quote can be taken much deeper, with the understanding that the past is just that, history. Of course history still affects the future today, but people focus more on moving forward rather than dwelling on the past. In Sandra Cisneros’ “The House on Mango Street” the author illustrates the idea, using her family members’ past, other residents of Mango Street, and Esperanza discovering who she is, that while the past can make up parts of a person, it does not have to be their whole identity. Instead it can be a way in which the person can develop in the future.

Many kids on Mango Street are not expected to go to college, not only because of the low expectations, but also because their families do not have enough money. In a community where the main issue present is poverty, the kids are not expected to be successful in certain aspects and are not expected to achieve great things in life. The Vargas kids, who live on Esperanza’s street, “bend trees and bounce between cars and dangle upside down from knees and almost break like fancy museum vases you can’t replace. They are without respect for all living things, including themselves” (Cisneros 29). As one can see, when a family is deeply involved with poverty, the parents often tend to forget about the children and their success.

Thursday I stroll into my room, swing open my closet door, and I peer in to see what I am to wear for the night. As always, I end up closing that door after .2 seconds, turn on my heel towards my roommate’s room. “What do you want to wear of mine tonight?” I smile, and open her closet, “What have not worn yet? I want to look hot.”

The House on Mango Street is set in a poor, primarily Hispanic neighborhood. Author Sandra Cisneros creates an atypical, yet easily digestible world for the reader to experience while learning about Esperanza’s childhood. The culture of her environment influences Esperanza’s development as she becomes a young woman, and contributes to the book’s driving theme of self-empowerment. Mango Street is the source of Esperanza’s growth through her childhood, and it hides sadness and longing underneath stereotypes of Hispanic people. The characters that live in the broken-down neighborhood all seem to represent pigeonholed views of Latino individuals.

The House on Mango Street is a touching and timeless tale told in short vignettes. It tells the story of a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago. Her life, and the lives of the people around her, are laid bare to the readers in this touching novella. In the beginning, Esperanza is not accepting of herself. Her family’s poor financial situation, the sadness of the people around her, and the problems she faces in her daily life make her very cynical. However, Esperanza’s negative view of herself slowly changes as she begins to focus on her larger community and her place within it. Through this, Cisneros shows that knowing and accepting where we have come from is an important part of growing up and determining who we are.

“No, this isn’t my house I say and shake my head as if shaking could undo the year I’ve lived here (Cisneros 106).” This quote shows Esperanza’s unwillingness of accepting her poor neighbourhood because of the violence and inequality that has happened in it. In the House on Mango Street, the author, Sandra Cisneros, shows that there is a direct link between inequality, violence and poverty. The House on Mango Street shows women are held back by the inequalities that they face. Cisneros shows that racism prevents individuals from receiving job opportunities which leads to poverty and violence.

“Enrique feels he would rather be with his mother than get the money and the gifts she sends.” 26, Enrique’s journey, Sonia Nazario. This immigrant boy called Enrique says he prefers to live in poverty rather than not having his mother at his side. After reading the book Enrique’s Journey, I have learned that is not worth it for a mother to abandon her children just to follow the American dream with the illusion of provide a better future for them. Broken homes causes many problems in our society, particularly, abandoned children grow up with low self-esteem and resentful feelings, they choose bad companies and they often consume drugs or alcohol.

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is a semi-autobiography shown through the eyes of the story’s narrator, Esperanza Cordero, an adolescent Mexican-American girl who is about thirteen and growing up in an impoverished, mostly Latino neighborhood in Chicago. The novel is a coming of age story, told over the course of about a year in a series of standalone vignettes, written in a non chronological order, that use poetic and figurative language, such as metaphors and similes, to convey its themes.

Chiara Maddison Is it possible for people to become fully autonomous without giving up, to leaving behind certain parts of their life? For many people, the answer is no. There may be certain aspects of their culture or society or beliefs of their family that go against what that person has to do to become autonomous. Esperanza, the main character of the book The House On Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, definitely has let go of certain things to achieve her freedom, and this has an effect on her identity. Her desire for autonomy shapes her identity by forcing her to accept the reality that things will have to change in order for her to achieve autonomy. Cisneros illustrates this development and understanding through the use of symbolism.

Many girls desire a female role model from a young age. The way these women are treated, and deal with this treatment can heavily impact the way young girls view themselves, and their future as well. Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street brings attention to issues of sexism and gender roles. This is done through a series of vignettes about the main character Esperanza navigating life by the example of her many role models. Each role model impacts Esperanza in a special way, Sally who is married at 13, Marin who is waiting to be rescued by a man, and Alicia who is balancing school and home responsibilities.

Sandra Cisneros My essay is on Sandra Cisneros. Sandra Cisneros was born December 20, 1954. She is 60 years old. She was born in Chicago IL.

The House on Mango Street follows Esperanza Cordero 's transitioning through a progression of pieces about her family, neighborhood, and mystery dreams. In spite of the fact that the novel does not take after a customary sequential example, a story develops by Esperanza’s fortifying toward oneself and will overcomebarriers of poverty, sex, and race. The novel starts when the Cordero family moves into another house, the first they have ever claimed, on Mango Street in the Latino segment of Chicago. The red, unstable house frustrates Esperanza. It is not in the least the fantasy house her guardians had constantly discussed, nor is it the house high on a slope that Esperanza promises to one day own.

Believe it or not, people are not entirely unique. It is certain that no one is truly the same as another person, but it would not be ridiculous to think that everyone does in fact share many similarities. After all, the majority of the population grows and develops opinions or values based on what they see or hear. For Esperanza, the protagonist of Sandra Cisneros’s, The House on Mango Street, the perspective she has is built upon her childhood on Mango Street. This coming-of-age novel illustrates how Esperanza’s experiences on Mango Street play an important role during her period of growth.