independent is limn the book, Cisneros uses irony to show how Esperanza is vulnerable in her new environment. There is an example of verbal irony in the line, “Most likely I will go to hell and most likely I deserve to be there”(58). This is ironic in the way in which she says she would go to hell when she could be considered to be in already. That is due to the fact women in Mango Street can't really escape from oppression they are hindered by for example a window. Just like in hell, life for women in Esperanza’s new environment are torture. Therefore the reason to why Cisneros put this in the book was to show how how life is for women in Mango street since there is a comparison of living in Mango Street to hell. There is an example of dramatic…
In the vignette-styled novel, The House on Mango Street written by Sandra Cisneros, the vignette titled, “There was an Old Woman She Had So Many Children She Didn’t Know What to Do”, may seem insignificant at first when Cisneros begins to describe a woman with a lot of troubled children, a common scenario in neighborhoods such as Mango Street. Then as we delve deeper into the passage, we begin to realize that the mother, Rosa Vargas, is neglectful, which may not be her fault; she is troubled with the amount of children she has and plagued with the burden of sadness that her husband left her with all of these children, alone and with no money to aid her. These children are starving for attention and by practically raising themselves. At first, members of the community attempt to help with their upbringing but eventually, because of the lack of results, the people become tired of trying and stop caring. They don’t care when the children hurt themselves, even when Angel Vargas falls from a great height and dies, “…and nobody looked up not once the day Angel Vargas learned to fly and dropped from the sky like a sugar donut, just like a falling star, and exploded down to earth without even an ‘Oh’”. Cisneros seems to be playing off the old African saying, “It takes a village to raise a child”. This vignette is included to bear the question, who is to blame for Angel's death? Himself, because he behaved recklessly; his absent father, whose departure no doubt contributed to his lack of respect "for all things living, including [himself]"; his mother, who was not watching him but who at the same time was unable to do so effectively; or his neighbors, for not caring for or about his actions?…
Esperanza Cordero is a twelve year old girl living in poverty. Her family moves to a run-down home on Mango Street in Chicago due to her parents wanting to independently own a house. The story begins when Esperanza is twelve, and continues for a year. Throughout the year, Esperanza and her friends Lucy and Rachel experience physical as well as mental changes. For the first half of the story, the girls are living as “children.” They are vulnerable to the harmful influences of society. Some times when they are susceptible to these influences is when they strut around town in high heels and when Esperanza does not notice the issue when a man kisses her at her job. During the summer time, the girls begin puberty and to become sexually mature. In…
Esperanza is the main character in the book “The House on Mango Street”. She started off as a naive girl that doesn’t know anything about the real world she lives in. As time passes she learns more about herself and the world around her. Another major character in this book is Sally. Sally was born into a harsh family where her father will beats her. Sally was always trapped by her father until one day she marries a man that treats her just like her father but, she doesn’t notices.…
Perhaps one of the most important theme of The House on Mango Street is the appearance of home and identity. Esperanza, who constantly moving from house to house, did not feel like she was belonging to the house she lived in with her parents. Esperanza searching for a house of her own also symbolized the searching for her own identity. Toward the end of the book, she said that the house she has been searching for is the house she only dreamed of,…
I like the vignette “Louis & His Cousin & His Other Cousin”. I like this vignette because a lot happens. In the beginning of the vignette it explains that Meme basement is an apartment. Louis and his family moved in. He lives there with his two little sisters and two of his cousins.…
"Esperanza. I have inherited [my great grandmother's] name, but I don't want to inherit her place by the window." Young Esperanza's opening thoughts in Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango Street begins with the introduction of a surprisingly insightful disadvantaged Hispanic girl named Esperanza, who has just moved into a poor Latino neighborhood. Esperanza's opening remarks foreshadow a theme that continues to develop throughout the entire novel, cumulating piece by piece until a complete puzzle is produced. As Cisneros' Mango Street chronicles an emotionally pivotal year in the life of a young girl, the author herself presumably draws on personal experiences of being raised in an environment in which she struggles and feels like she does not belong. It is evident that Cisneros creatively expresses her own experiences in her writing, and goes so far as to dedicate the book "a las Mujeres," or to the Women. Though not purely biographical, striking similarities of race and background exist between the author and narrator such that Cisneros…
The House On Mango Street, this is a book with drama, action, sorrow, and some happiness. The book by Sandra Cisnero,. has a lot to do with being a Mexican American. Now I do not know what it's like to be a Mexican American and how back in this time period they were treated, but how the explains not the best.…
Night is a story of a boy named Elie and his experience at Auschwitz concentration camp. Auschwitz was the biggest death camp in the world, 2,000-3,000 people were killed ever hour according to pbs.org. House on Mango Street is a story of a girl growing up in not the best of conditions. She also struggles with fitting in. The book "Night" and "House on Mango Street" differ in their use of figurative language; whereas the symbolism of Night is dark like a nightmare, so that it can show the hardships of the holocaust. The symbolism of House on Mango Street is bright and hopeful to show where Esperanza is and wants to be when she grows up.…
The House on Mango Street is the “coming of age” story of a Mexican-American girl named Esperanza Cordero. The story covers a year in Esperanza's life starting with when she moved to the house on mango street. As the year progresses Esperanza grows emotionally and artistically, as the novel roams through her experience of life. Esperanza, her friends (Rachel, Lucy), and her sister Nenny have many adventures throughout the book. Esperanza has many life experiences including the art of poetry and music also the downsides of poverty and shame. Although the novel includes unforgettable men it also includes women who a trapped in many ways. For Example, Mamacita does not leave the apartment b/c she is afraid of the English language. Rafaela who…
Alicia is Esperanza’s friend. She likes writing. She always studies all the night otherwise she would have a life like her mother. She wants happiness, her own life and to do the things whatever she wants. “Alicia, who inherited her mama’s rolling pin and sleepiness, is young and smart and studies for the first time at the university. Two trains and a bus, because she doesn’t want to spend her whole life in a factory or behind a rolling pin,”(31-32). Alicia is very young; she still has a chance to achieve her dreams. She knows if she wants stay away the life like her mother’s which is doing boring works in the factory, she needs to keep studying and writing. She believes that keeping writing can make a big change on her life. she can get a better life and a life with more freedom.…
Incidents can have an affect on a person's identity or even change someone's perspective on a specific concept. Esperanza encountered various incidents that changed her along with making her see things in a whole different way. For instance, the incident with tito and his friends mentioned above made Esperanza feel useless and ashamed due to the fact that she tried to help sally by telling tito’s mother but sally ended up shaming Esperanza. Esperanza describes this when she says, “But when I got there Sally said go home... I felt stupid with my brick. They all looked at me as if I was the one that was crazy and made me feel ashamed” (Cisneros 97).…
In 1984 Sandra Cisneros wrote the novella The House on Mango Street based on the narrator, Esperanza’s, first year living on Mango Street. A young Latino girl, by the name of Esperanza, is growing up in the suburbs of Chicago and is determined to leave her life on Mango Street in her past. In this novella Cisneros explores the effect of loss of innocence on Mango Street. The roles of women and how they treat each other is highly prominent in The House on Mango Street. Throughout Esperanza’s year on Mango Street she begins to realize that women have a responsibility to not harm each other but to help.…
In the excerpt, the author shows Esperanza's motivation to get to eat in the canteen by having her beg her mom, complain about how far it is, and state that she believes you are special if you can eat in the canteen. To start off, Esperanza states, “The special kids, the one who wear keys around their necks, get to eat in the canteen”. Esperanza is upset that there are people that get to stay in the school and get to eat there because she thinks that that makes them special and wants to be like them. She says the word “special” which is showing us that she thinks that the kids who get to eat in the canteen get to have something that the other kids don't have which makes them more powerful. This helps us be able to see what motivates her to go to the…
Growing up I experience some bad times that really got me wondering if my life would ever get better because of my current situation; however my life got better and I’m living a great life. In the case of Esperanza and her family they’re living a bad lifestyle and it doesn’t get any better from when they move from house to house or apartment from apartment. Although Esperanza is very intelligent, she’s has yet to figure out that her living conditions aren’t getting better and her dream house won’t getting any better. Despite dreaming big, your reality can really be filled with disappointment.…