The need for a suitable role model as a child developed is key to helping them find themselves. Ideas revolving around this statement are explored in Sandra Cisneros's novella, The House on Mango Street. Cisneros writes through thirteen-year-old Esperanza, as she describes herself trying to discover who she truly is and what she wants to be like in different females. The novella tells about these experiences, and the poverty filled world around Esperanza. Esperanza views female role models in her life with question and curiosity. These women are stuck in undesirable circumstances as they wait for the change someone else will bring. However, Esperanza looks to different women to base her own life off of, females who do not wait for change. These …show more content…
In an attempt to find her true identity, Esperanza follows her close friend Sally into dangerous situations until she fully understands the impacts these events have on her present life, and will have in future events. In one such event, Esperanza, now emotionally aware, says, “Sally, you lied, you lied. He wouldn’t let me go. He said I love you Spanish girl” (Cisneros 100). In this event, Esperanza feels like she has lost her place and is now completely vulnerable. This occurrence exposes her true feeling and identity, though she may not know it yet. She uses this specific phrase to point out what she really experienced, and by calling Sally a liar; she shows her future resistance to events such as this. Experiences build a person, and Cisneros continues to demonstrate this important idea in this scene. It is important for the reader to understand that Esperanza’s short phrases are the part of her personality, and these are key in getting Cisneros's main ideas through. In previous vignettes, Esperanza expresses her loyalty to Sally. However, by fully understanding the phrase above, we see the tables turn, and Esperanza move away from this kind of lifestyle. When she remarks, “he said I love you Spanish girl”, we see her resistance to the boy, and how she now opposes going down that kind of road. Esperanza now learned that she does not want to grow up in this kind of manner, and learns to avoid that muddy path. Though Sally is a bad influence, Cisneros uses her to lead Esperanza down a different road, and help her mature in a better
In order to demonstrate her views on the matter, the author uses Esperanza's experience at the dinner table one day with her family. " [Esperanza] is the one who leaves the table like a man, without putting back the chair or picking up the plate" (Cisneros, 89). Since Esperanza is a representation of Sandra Cisneros herself, Sandra used Esperanza as the main character kind of as a messenger to depict a morally correct mindset. This mindset is that no woman should be treated like a slave of the household or a slave of anything for that
These problems coming to light through the many women Esperanza looks up to, drive her to rise above her obstacles, and become more than just another poorly treated woman. Despite the variety of girls in the neighborhood, one of Esperanza’s closest friends ends up being Sally, who has moved from one abusive home to the next. Sally’s father was a very strict man and she constantly disobeyed him once out of his sight. Whenever Sally is caught dressing “provocative” or acting “too old” her father decides to teach her a lesson.
But still feels lonely. Also, throughout the story Esperanza gets negative attention from boys because of her culture. For some men she comes across in the story they see her as a toy for her ethnicity and not being from America. This also embarrasses her as she is still trying to find out what love is but can’t because if the negative attention. Therefore, even though she struggles pushing through with her ethnicity, others have it just as hard as well, showing how different ethnicities can clash.
Esperanza says that she will come back, she will come back for “the ones I left behind... the ones who cannot out”. (Cisneros 110). Esperanza is able to go through a change and accept who she is through her community and her family. She is able to use her situation to empower herself, and to be hopeful in her own
The main protagonist Esperanza, matures from a childish girl to a young confident woman through many critical and life changing events in the story. Ultimately, the author, Sandra Cisneros implements the symbols of confidence, the house on mango street and the metaphor of shoes to show how Esperanza develops into a more mature state. Sandra Cisneros
Esperanza is not proud of her heritage, she even wants to change her name. Her friend she meets,
Esperanza is often humiliated not only by where she lives, but also by her physical appearance, hence causing a restriction in her climb to a higher social class. Esperanza is frequently ashamed of her family’s broken-down house in an urban, poor
Still Esperanza does not get what is going on at this point. She is still so naïve and innocent. Sometimes the reader forgets how young she actually is because of the things she is going through at such a young age. Her mind and her decisions are moving at a faster pace, but she is still so blind to the world.
Esperanza tries to wear high heels like a woman, tries to have a boyfriend like an older woman, and she tries to get a job like an adult. Esperanza’s longing to grow up quickly causes her to confront the reality of being an adult. Although Esperanza desperately wants to be an adult, she is not prepared for the responsibilities that accompany adulthood; she is unable to successfully make the transition
Obstacles Numerous people stumble upon obstacles, but only a few can overcome them. Most obstacles are influenced by the values of the society. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Liesel Meminger overcomes her lack of education and her different beliefs on Jewish people. In Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet both overcome the obstacle of not being able to be together because of the feud between their families. In “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros, Esperanza overcomes the obstacle of not fitting into her society because of her lack of money.
Throughout the story, Esperanza witnesses the prevalence of gender roles in her community and the domestic responsibilities that fall on women's shoulders. Sandra Cisneros presents insights into women's actualities by showing the emotional and physical
Esperanza’s environment shifts her identity from being an insecure child to a confident, mature young adult who realizes the decisions that adults must make. Esperanza’s response to her environment reveals an insecurity about herself early in the story. In one of Esperanza’s experiences, she finds herself ashamed
The male-dominated society that Esperanza grows up in forces the idea that women are weak and should stay locked in their houses while men go off to work. The men are immoral and seedy, as expressed in the chapter in which a homeless man leers and asks for a kiss from the little girls. Esperanza experiences the evil of her community when she is sexually assaulted, causing her to lose her previous desire to explore her sexuality. Before being assaulted, she wanted to be “beautiful and cruel” like her friend Sally, because Sally was what she understood to be a perfect woman. However, after her rape she decides that she needs to discover her own identity for herself.
Esperanza finds out that she needs to become promiscuous in order to be popular like Sally and she’s not comfortable with that idea. Later on Sally and Esperanza go to the carnival, Sally leaves her alone to go with a boy. Esperanza is now by herself vulnerable and ends up getting raped. She realizes that boys are not what she thought they were, so she decides to focus on herself. Esperanza changes what she thought she wanted for the future.
When upstairs, she starts crying while having a conversation with the nun, saying “I always cry when the nuns yell at me, even if they’re not yelling.” This is yet another example of Esperanza’s shyness and social awkwardness. Lastly, after being told that she can eat at canteen for the day, she cries and eats her rice sandwich alone. Esperanza is also physically weak and malnourished.