Esperanza and Other Female Characters in “The House on Mango Street”

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Esperanza and Marin: Waiting, Responsibility, and Time
Esperanza and Alicia: The Cruel Father Figure
Esperanza and Nenny: Very Different Sisters
Esperanza and Mother: Lost Dreams
Conclusion
Reference

Introduction

Women’s fate, filled with drinking, hardships, and internal struggles, often becomes the focus of attention of thinkers and writers such as Sandra Cisneros. Her personal experience helped her understand the many fates of Latin American women trying to integrate into a new society with different values, aspirations, and futures. As a very young girl, she witnessed difficult life circumstances that forced women to sacrifice their comfort and ambitions for the sake of the family, men, and their destiny. It made a deep impression on her and allowed her to make a deep analysis affecting the existential and social aspects of the issue. The last century’s literature has become a solid ground for Sandra Cisneros, developing the themes of identity, gender, and race. These questions desperately expressed attempts to find their place in the world among different people. The House on Mango Street is a prime example of such a story. The protagonist, Esperanza, tries to find friends and find herself simultaneously. Esperanza desperately tries to find a guide and a model in life to answer the fundamental question ‘Who am I?’.

Esperanza and Marin: Waiting, Responsibility, and Time

Marin’s character describes how a young woman can become addicted to men and their attention. Marin cannot cope with her life and wants nothing more than to belong to someone who can change her life. She is “under the streetlight, dancing by herself, is singing the same song somewhere. I know. Is waiting for a car to stop, a star to fall, someone to change her life” (Cisneros, 1991, p. 15). She is not responsible for her life and fate, taking the position of a waiter. Marin’s thinking is based on gender dialectics: “What matters is for the boys to see us and for us to see them” (Cisneros, 1991, p. 9). Initially, Marin and Esperanza cannot be similar characters, as they are based on different aspirations. However, if readers ignore the gender issue and romantic relationships, they can see that Esperanza appears before them in the same waiting position. She is not waiting for a prince to take charge of her life, but she is waiting for the truth. Esperanza analyzes what she has seen and waits for a decision from herself that should change her life.

Esperanza and Alicia: The Cruel Father Figure

Contrary to Marin, the fate of Alicia always arouses a sincere interest in Esperanza; the girl yearns to get closer to Alicia. Alicia is a pretty Hispanic who combines her university studies and caring for her overbearing father. She does all the housework for him, and, according to neighbors, she even endured harassment from him. However, people around are silent and consider it a problem behind closed doors. Alicia’s father expresses himself through sexist remarks: “A woman’s place is sleeping so she can wake up early with the tortilla star” (Cisneros, 1991, p. 31). It is not surprising that his daughter is terrified of being left in the environment where she was born and raised. Some people see this as arrogance, and Esperanza struggles with that feeling. She, meanwhile, seems perfectly well that Alicia does not “want to spend her whole life in a factory or behind a rolling pin” (Cisneros, 1991, p. 56). Taking responsibility for her life in her hands, Alicia, unlike Marin, works selflessly, and Esperanza appreciates this in her. They are similar since Esperanza’s thirst for responsibility for her destiny is very significant.

Esperanza and Nenny: Very Different Sisters

Nenny accompanies Esperanza on many of her adventures and is eager to make friends with other girls to spend time together. Nenny’s company embarrasses Esperanza: “Nenny is too young to be my friend. She’s just my sister and that was not my fault” (Cisneros, 1991, p. 56). It becomes clear if readers pay attention to what fatalistic statements the author describes Nenny. She crushes Esperanza’s aspirations to find herself outside Mango Street, outside her neighborhood and family: “You will always be Esperanza. You will always be Mango Street” (Cisneros, 1991, p. 56). Nenny a priori agrees to live under patriarchal oppression; she does not see another life and cannot dream of it. The reality for Nenny has already been found and provided: the truth is in the house. Nenny for Esperanza is presented as a part of the house, from where she constantly wants to run away. The author describes this place as squeezing and narrowing that the reader has a feeling of constriction of the throat and breathing. The main character cannot breathe there and among those who surround her.

Esperanza and Mother: Lost Dreams

The problem of the mother-daughter relationship is often one of the central issues in the topics of sexual and gender identity. Mother always tried to see in Esperanza what she could not see in herself, what she could not achieve. Carrying a burden of guilt throughout her life, she did her best to prove to her daughter the importance of getting an education, no matter how hard it was. Life has made her an undemanding woman with a complaisant character. She is good at housework but does not want a similar fate for her daughters (Cisneros, 1991). Esperanza has great respect for her mother and recognizes her intelligence and talents. Readers could say that Esperanza’s mother is the image of the main character if she succumbed to the will of the patriarchy. The main difference between these two characters is that Esperanza’s life has not yet been lived, and her talents can grow. It can be seen that the same fire burns in the soul of the mother and daughter, and there are similar aspirations for development and happiness.

Conclusion

Following the examples of her friends and neighbors, Esperanza tries to find ways of self-determination and identity. Marin takes a wait-and-see attitude, like Esperanza herself, but Marin cannot show responsibility for her life. Her life is tied to romantic relationships, and she is dependent on male attention, which does not understand Esperanza. On the contrary, Alicia is an example of selfless work for the sake of happiness and liberation for the girl. She suffers from a tyrant father and wants a different life for herself, which ordinary American girls live. Nenny accepts her fate with consent and tries to convince Esperanza that people cannot escape this fate. Esperanza, in turn, hides her treatment to Nenny under the guise of frivolity and deliberately does not consider her a friend. Esperanza’s mother illustrates the example of a talented woman who was forced to drop out of school due to family customs. She sacrificed her happiness and future for a large family and a servant role. This symbol sincerely depicts the possible future fate of Esperanza if she does not show courage in the future in the struggle for her opportunities.

Reference

Cisneros, S. (1991). The House on Mango Street. Vintage.

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