The American Dream In Esperanza's The House On Mango Street

The dish symbolizes how their relationship was never really ‘used.’ In chapter 4, when the dish is being used, it breaks. The dish does not break by itself. In the story, the cat knocked it over. The cat could be a symbol for Mattie. “The cat, unnoticed, had crept up on muffled paws from Zeena's seat to the table…The cat… tried to effect an unnoticed retreat, and in doing so backed into the pickle-dish, which fell to the floor with a crash” (Wharton, chap 4).

The cat is used symbolically throughout the book. It represents the presence of Zeena and the force that becomes between Mattie and Ethan. Once the cat breaks the jar the whole story than changes due to

HOMS Essay House On Mango Street, written by Sandra Cisneros, has various people and families. It is about Esperanza, whose family is poor and keeps moving homes, now lives in a house on Mango Street. She tells a story about each of the new people she meets in her diverse neighborhood. Out of the whole neighborhood, Esperanza and her family are also different from them. Esperanza’s family is poor, but they are good at supporting each other’s problems and feelings.

Later in the book she was training to become a beekeeper. This connects with Lily’s mother because Deborah had lived with bees for a few months when she left T. Ray. In a way the audience can interpret the bees as a way of communication for Deborah and Lily. The surprising next quote reads, “...when I found myself looking at a picture of the black Mary. I do not mean a picture of just any black Mary.

When Sal’s mom was still with Sal they would hang out at the singing tree and it would always sing but when Sal’s mom left the tree did not sing anymore. On page 93 Gram said “Oh Salamanca,” she said. “A singing tree!” She pulled at Gramps’s sleeve. This proves Sal loved the singing

Birdie trys to gain her fathers attention while exploring her own identity. Birdie is shoved away when Deck gets a new brown girlfriend. When Carmen takes Cole to get her hair done, she is forced to bring Birdie along. Carmen is introducing Cole to the hair stylist, “Carmen turned to me and frowned. Then looking back at the man, she said, ‘Yeah, thats Cole’s little sister, even though she doesn’t look like a sister’ ‘’(p.93).

As she starts to reflect on her name, and what her environments thinks of it, she explains, “In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting. It is like the number nine. A muddy color… At school they say my name funny as if the syllables were made out of tin and hurt the roof of your mouth” (Cisneros 10 & 11).

Each vignette in the novel shows how Esperanza craves to leave the shame, embarrassment, and poverty of her youth. Cisneros’ nod to recognizing that her past will always be a part of who she is becomes apparent in Esperanza’s desires to escape her childhood, she promises that when she owns her dream home, she will allow the bums to sleep in the attic. By having a house of her own, Esperanza feels she can be free, independent, and be herself; this dream of Esperanza’s house fills her with hope for her

PARAGRAPH 1- BIRD CAGE o Symbol for Holly o Holly first set her eyes on the birdcage which the narrator adored when walking past an antique shop in New York. o She appreciates 'it 's fantasy: "but still, it 's a cage" and therefore Holly does not like it. o The audience and narrator are first exposed to Hollys hate towards confinement when she avoids the idea of going near the zoo as "she couldn 't bear to see anything in a cage". o Through the theme of freedom in Breakfast at Tiffanies, Truman Capote helps to explore the ownership characters feel and the other ways this is displayed within the novella. Freedom is something which always remained relevant and important throughout Hollys life.

Mitchell Curtis English 9 / Period 6 Mr.Boyat 17 October 2016 Three Influential Characters in The House on Mango Street In the novel The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, the story is developed through the eyes of a young girl Esperanza. She learns about the realities of life in a house that she recently moved into. There are many characters that are written as she learns about her new neighborhood. The three most influential characters in the novel are Sally, her Mother ,and Marin. Sally is the most influential of all the characters in the book because she show the realities of life more than anyone else in the story.