Eleven Sandra Cisneros Analysis
In Sandra Cisneros’ short story “Eleven,” Rachel’s transition into adolescence is filled with anxiety and conflict, though she understands that the experience it brings will help her deal with difficult situations. Her building anxiety becomes more apparent after Mrs. Price accuses her of owning the red sweater; she is unsure of how to respond to her teacher, and as a result she suddenly feels “sick inside, like the part of [her] that’s three wants to come out of [her] eyes” (Cisneros 35). The red sweater acts as a symbol for Rachel’s looming adolescence and arouses feelings of unease inside her; she sees it as a threat to the safety of childhood that she longs to remain rooted in. Comparing herself to a rampant three year old, Rachel also
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Collier, Lizabeth’s transition into womanhood takes away her childhood innocence and throws her emotions into chaos and confusion. In the summer of Lizabeth’s fourteenth year, “the world [seems to lose] its boundaries” because she sees her “father, who [is] the rock on which [her] family [is] built, . . . sobbing like the tiniest child” (Collier 87). Her innocence begins to fall away, as she can no longer remain oblivious to the pain that taints the familiarities of her childhood. Her father’s show of weakness, along with the already-present confusion of her transition into adolescence, finally break the little control Lizabeth has left over her emotions. Her feelings of “need[,] . . . hopelessness[,] . . . bewilderment[,] . . . [and] fear” (Collier 88) unleash as she “[leaps] furiously into the mounds of [Miss Lottie’s] marigolds and [pulls] madly, trampling and pulling and destroying” until “it [is] too late to undo what [she has] done” (Collier 88). The violent uprooting of the marigolds represents Lizabeth’s own abrupt uprooting of her foothold in childhood. She leaves her childish immaturity behind in this one last tantrum, therefore rushing into the new experiences of adolescence. The journey between the two stages of Lizabeth’s life is volatile and filled with uncertainty; her loss of blissful ignorance and innocence marks the true beginning of her
Collier, Lizabeth’s transition into womanhood takes away her childhood innocence and throws her emotions into chaos and confusion. In the summer of Lizabeth’s fourteenth year, “the world [seems to lose] its boundaries” because she sees her “father, who [is] the rock on which [her] family [is] built, . . . sobbing like the tiniest child” (Collier 87). Her innocence begins to fall away, as she can no longer remain oblivious to the pain that taints the familiarities of her childhood. Her father’s show of weakness, along with the already-present confusion of her transition into adolescence, finally break the little control Lizabeth has left over her emotions. Her feelings of “need[,] . . . hopelessness[,] . . . bewilderment[,] . . . [and] fear” (Collier 88) unleash as she “[leaps] furiously into the mounds of [Miss Lottie’s] marigolds and [pulls] madly, trampling and pulling and destroying” until “it [is] too late to undo what [she has] done” (Collier 88). The violent uprooting of the marigolds represents Lizabeth’s own abrupt uprooting of her foothold in childhood. She leaves her childish immaturity behind in this one last tantrum, therefore rushing into the new experiences of adolescence. The journey between the two stages of Lizabeth’s life is volatile and filled with uncertainty; her loss of blissful ignorance and innocence marks the true beginning of her