Examples Of Figurative Language In The House On Mango Street
The House on Mango Street Essay
The House on Mango Street is a beloved book spanning a great generation of readers. The House on Mango Street is a fictional story about the life of a young girl, Esperanza, growing up on Mango Street in a poor neighborhood. She grows up in a society where men are dominant over women. This shapes her in many ways, including her thoughts of men. Cisneros's use of syntax and figurative language, in the form of repetition and metaphors, alludes to the reader that if women allow themselves to be trapped by men's dreams, they forfeit their freedom, power, and independence.
In The House on Mango Street, Cisneros conveys the idea that men take away a woman's freedom, power, and independence when they are anchored to a man’s dreams. In “My …show more content…
Name,” Cisneros deduces Esperanza will be powerless like her grandmother if she inherits more than just her name.
Esperanza’s not wanting to be trapped uncovers the fact that she has “inherited her name, but I don't want to inherit her place by the window”(Cisneros 11). Cisneros uses figurative language such as “inherit her place by the window” and repeats “inherit” to give the perception that Esperanza falling into the same place as her grandmother isn’t what she wants for herself. In “Beautiful and Cruel,” Cisneros uses figurative language to describe Esperanza’s thoughts on the entrapment of women. Esperanza states she has “decided not to grow up tame like the others who lay their necks on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain”(88). Cisneros uses the metaphor “ball and chain” to refer to the anchor that men are on women and describes the fact that with it, women feel trapped and powerless wearing it. In “Linoleum Roses,” Sally’s feeling of being trapped and scared led her into a situation much the same but with another man. Sally has wound up with a
husband, but she is trapped by him since “he won't let her talk on the telephone. And he doesn't let her look out the window...She sits at home because she is afraid to go outside without his permission”(101-102). Cisneros’s use of the negatively charged diction “he won’t let her” and “scared” allude that Sally’s attempt to escape from her father only led her into the arms of another man; he takes away her power and voice because she has allowed it to happen without trying to stop it. All together, these three chapters explain how much men entrap women and take away their worth, independence, and happiness.
Overall, when women allow themselves to be entrapped by men with their dreams, they lose the power, freedom, and independence they want to have. Esperanza describes this feeling as a “ball and chain” and herself as a “red balloon tied to an anchor.” One can only imagine how Esperanza’s life would be different if her “window” of opportunity closed like it had on so many other women she knew.
The House on Mango Street is a beloved book spanning a great generation of readers. The House on Mango Street is a fictional story about the life of a young girl, Esperanza, growing up on Mango Street in a poor neighborhood. She grows up in a society where men are dominant over women. This shapes her in many ways, including her thoughts of men. Cisneros's use of syntax and figurative language, in the form of repetition and metaphors, alludes to the reader that if women allow themselves to be trapped by men's dreams, they forfeit their freedom, power, and independence.
In The House on Mango Street, Cisneros conveys the idea that men take away a woman's freedom, power, and independence when they are anchored to a man’s dreams. In “My …show more content…
Name,” Cisneros deduces Esperanza will be powerless like her grandmother if she inherits more than just her name.
Esperanza’s not wanting to be trapped uncovers the fact that she has “inherited her name, but I don't want to inherit her place by the window”(Cisneros 11). Cisneros uses figurative language such as “inherit her place by the window” and repeats “inherit” to give the perception that Esperanza falling into the same place as her grandmother isn’t what she wants for herself. In “Beautiful and Cruel,” Cisneros uses figurative language to describe Esperanza’s thoughts on the entrapment of women. Esperanza states she has “decided not to grow up tame like the others who lay their necks on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain”(88). Cisneros uses the metaphor “ball and chain” to refer to the anchor that men are on women and describes the fact that with it, women feel trapped and powerless wearing it. In “Linoleum Roses,” Sally’s feeling of being trapped and scared led her into a situation much the same but with another man. Sally has wound up with a
husband, but she is trapped by him since “he won't let her talk on the telephone. And he doesn't let her look out the window...She sits at home because she is afraid to go outside without his permission”(101-102). Cisneros’s use of the negatively charged diction “he won’t let her” and “scared” allude that Sally’s attempt to escape from her father only led her into the arms of another man; he takes away her power and voice because she has allowed it to happen without trying to stop it. All together, these three chapters explain how much men entrap women and take away their worth, independence, and happiness.
Overall, when women allow themselves to be entrapped by men with their dreams, they lose the power, freedom, and independence they want to have. Esperanza describes this feeling as a “ball and chain” and herself as a “red balloon tied to an anchor.” One can only imagine how Esperanza’s life would be different if her “window” of opportunity closed like it had on so many other women she knew.