Stereotypes In The House On Mango Street

It is claimed by some people that your gender has an effect on your occupation. In other words, the forced gender roles shown in the past society stereotypes your occupation for life. In Sandra Cisneros's novel “The House on Mango Street”, she suggests that people are put into unwanted roles and boundaries due to stereotypes. Through this book, as Esperanza grows up in a poorer community, we watch her deal with the gender stereotypes found in society. There are many clear themes found in this novel, such as sometimes people are put into roles that they can’t control and can’t get out of, due to the public expectations of them. This theme is revealed through three vignettes: “Born Bad”, “Papa Who Wakes up Tired in The Dark”, and “Edna’s Ruthie.”

The first vignette that showcases the expectations of people in Esperanza’s world is “Born Bad.” For example, when Esperanza is pondering things after her aunt’s death, she thinks “The kids who wanted to be kids instead of washing dishes and ironing their papa’s shirts, and the husband who wanted a wife again”(61). This quote is explaining how the people of Esperanza’s society are forced into roles such as a kid doing chores, and a father going to work everyday. This suggests that husbands were longing for wives to come home to after a long day at work, and the fact that kids were forced into doing all of
In the vignette, Esperanza is pondering what Ruthie’s life was like when she thinks, “She had lots of job offers when she was young, but she never took them. She got married instead and moved away to a pretty house outside of the city” (69). Ruthie is a girl, so she was expected to marry someone, have children, and raise them. This suggests that she was a disappointment to others as she was unable to do what society expected of her. Cisneros is clearly suggesting that people like Ruthie were expected many things from