Sandra Cisneros The House On Mango Street

Though the archetypes Cisneros used in The House on Mango Street, specifically in the female characters, Esperanza learns valuable lessons that construct a newly liberated woman. As Steinem said in her 1999 interview, liberation and power is most impactful when it is taken for oneself. Esperanza took inspiration and lessons from Sally, Mamacita, and Alicia to become empowered. From Sally, the Temptress, she realized that beauty does not transfer to power and the dangers of defining oneself by the male figure in your life. Mamacita’s complacency as the Damsel in Distress showed Esperanza that she must take her life into her own hands and not sit by and wait for someone else to do so. And finally, through her Platonic Ideal, Alicia, she was given an example of liberation, and strong, independent, female

In the article "In Search of Identity in Cisneros 's The House on Mango Street” Maria Elena de Valdes describes Esperanza as “a young girl surrounded by examples of abused, defeated, worn-out women, but the woman she wants to be must be free’’ (de Valdes). Esperanza desires to be like the woman in the movies “with red red lips who is beautiful and cruel” (88). Esperanza witnesses the abuse of her female neighbors by their husbands and wants to become sexually independent, not subjugated by any man. Esperanza does not want to “grow up tame like the others who lay their necks on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain” (87). After dinner, Esperanza “leaves the table like a man, without putting back the chair or picking up the plate,” (89) revealing her aspiration to be strong and independent. “Esperanza 's refusal to adhere to social expectations of female behavior goes far beyond the mere action itself, as it is a symbolic refusal to 'grow up tame,’ to accept a prescribed female destiny” (Eysturoy). Since “Mexicans don’t like their women strong,” (10) Esperanza wants to be a self-reliant woman and defy societal convention after seeing the women in her neighborhood poorly treated by their husbands. Esperanza will focus on herself rather than wait for “someone to change her life” (26) because she does not want to join the group of women on Mango Street who

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. 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.

What is the definition of "coming of age". According to the Oxford dictionary, "coming of age refers to the process of growing up or entering into adulthood". Now the other hand, Why does it happen? and finally, how does it affect ones health or mindset? These questions will all be answered from a specific perspective of a character and the main protagonist, in the book, "House On Mango Street". 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.

It states, “I got up to join Lucy and Rachel who were already outside waiting by the door, wondering what I was doing talking to three old ladies who smelled like cinnamon. I didn't understand everything they had told me. I turned around. They smiled and waved in their smoky way. Then I didn't see them. Not once, or twice, or ever again.” (Cisneros 105). One of the reasons for this is her meeting the three old ladies who came for Rachel’s sister’s funeral. There prophesy that Esperanza will leave Mango Street boosts her self-confidence. The narrator also says, “Before Keeler it was Paulina, but what I remember most is Mango Street, sad red house, the house I belong but do not belong to.” (Cisneros 109). This is a radical change from the first vignette, in which she says that the house on Mango Street is not a real house. Esperanza says it isn’t a house you can belong to. It also states, “One day I will pack my bags of books and paper. One day I will say goodbye to Mango. I am too strong for her to keep me here forever. One day I will go away.” (Cisneros 110). At the end of the book, Esperanza has fully accepted who she is. She accepts that fact that she grew up on Mango Street, but that will not hold her back from moving away and growing as a person. 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

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?”

Esperanza is young, but she already sees what she is meant to be in life. The women that surround her are silent, and many of them cannot leave the house. She watches girls have children and marry just to escape their home because that is the only thing they know in life. Esperanza already knows she wants to be more than what is expected of her as a poor, Latina girl, and will fight the expectations placed on her in the subtlest of ways. “I have begun my own quiet war. Simple. Sure. I am one

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 shifts from a follower into a confused individual, allowing her to begin her life as a woman outside of the oppressive nature of Mango Street.

Sandra Cisneros’ The House On Mango Street, shows a want for change through Esperanza’s unfortunate upbringing. Esperanza feels isolated because she doesn’t have friends and she does not have anything in common with her family. She feels that she is “an ugly daughter” (Cisneros 88) and does not fit in. This feeling leads her to want a change for herself, something better than what her parents had. Someday she wants to “say goodbye to Mango. [She] is too

“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. The House on Mango Street shows that the basis of violence and poverty are social inequality. This social inequality limits lower class from getting employed. The neighbourhood in the novel is impoverished because of the inequality in their society.

Many people are undermined by the drawbacks of belonging to a low socioeconomic status. In The House on Mango Street, Esperanza is raised in a poor, Latino community, causing her to be introduced to poverty at an early age. This introduction of poverty affects Esperanza in many ways, one including that she is unable to find success. Esperanza struggles to achieve success in life because the cycle of poverty restricts her in a position in which she cannot break free from her socioeconomic status.

Like many of the women trapped on Mango Street because of negative societal roles, Esperanza’s

The House on Mango Street written by Sandra Cisneros, is a coming of age novel that describes the challenges that Esperanza experiences during her stay on Mango Street. The Street is adorned with the evidence of poverty by the destruction of the houses and the lives of the people living on the street. Dreams of escaping Mango Street is apparent by people longing for a better life far away from the community. Esperanza escapes Mango Street in her writings and longs for the day that in reality she will leave Mango Street to follow her dreams of a real house. Shame and identity is the main theme of “The House on Mango Street”, the theme and title are connected through stereotyping, association, and the poverty cycle.

Everyone goes through the struggle of trying to define themselves and become a more enlightened, effective, and giving person. In the coming-of-age novel The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, Esperanza is a Latina girl that goes through many experiences in Chicago that shape her into the non-traditional person that she became when she matured. Sandra Cisneros showed the many experiences and lessons Esperanza has gone through in her life to shape herself from being a naive person to become enlightened and responsible.

Growing up in a world full of lies can actually help one realize their true identity and power they posses. In the novella, The House on Mango Street, written by Sandra Cisneros, the main character, Esperanza, describes her life and ideas. After Esperanza moves to a new, run-down house, she begins to discover a new way of life that differs from her past immature ways. She describes her thoughts and feelings through a series of vignettes. Esperanza has a variety of female role models in her life. Many are trapped in abusive relationships, waiting for others to change their lives. Through Esperanza’s reaction to these women, Cisneros shows the stereotypes women face and Esperanza’s thought process of her wishes in defying those stereotypes and