Category: The House on Mango Street

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to review the literary style used by the feminist author Sandra Cisneros. Cisneros is one of the female writers who has expressed dissatisfaction with the American social system, especially due to racial segregation, poverty, economic and gender inequalities.

Her poetic approach, use of vignettes and the Spanish language in her books The House on a Mango Tree and Caramelo indicates a unique style that makes them easy to read and understand. this paper reviews the use of literary style by examining the use of these approaches in the two books.

Introduction

Born in 1954, Sandra Cisneros grew up in her Chicago neighborhood. That area, at that time she was growing up, was ridden with poverty, gender and economic inequalities. (Doyle, 2004). Her early experiences probably explain why she uses literary works to investigate before mentioned social issues.

In her books The House on a Mango Street and Caramelo, Cisneros applies a number of literary styles to express her ideas, present themes and develop a unique way of attracting a readers attention (Cruz, 2001). From analysis of the two given texts, one can argue that Cisneross use of poetic approach and vignettes contributes to the readability of her works. In addition, it displays the conciseness of literary styles, which, by the way, proves her ability to investigate social and economic issues in American setting.

The use of vignettes and readability

The authors ability to develop a collection of vignettes into a volume that drives the narrative is excellent. It makes the readers easily understand the plot and the main idea(Cruz, 2001). For instance, critics have often described the book House on a Mango Street as a collection of vignettes. The use of illustrations (or vignettes) allows her to create meanings and imagery that illustrate the plot (Cruz, 2001).

For instance, at the beginning of each chapter, Cisneros maintains the use of brief illustrations to explain the contents of each particular chapter. In fact, most of her illustrations are short. Most of them occupy less than half a page. For example, in the book The House on a Mango Street, the author uses vignettes to create the larger narrative. Each of the vignettes creates its own meaning and contribution to the development of the entire narrative.

For instance, Chanclas is one of the best examples of sound prose vignettes that the author applies to create the larger narrative (Cruz, 2001). Additional example is seen in the vignette &in the meantime the boy is actually my cousin& but he has asked me to dance with him but I cannot& It shows that the authors sketch tends to illustrate the kind of insecurity that Esperanza experiences in her life. This insecurity results from poverty that the girl and her neighbors in Chicago have to endure as they grow up (Madsen, 2000).

Poetic approach

Throughout the book The House on a Mango Street, Cisneros has maintained the use of poems to illustrate her ideas and themes. Although she has used many poems in the book and this does not make it ostentatious. Rather, this device successfully makes the narrative clear and easy to understand (Doyle, 2004).

In fact, the poetic approach allows the author to develop metaphors and imagery. For instance, Esperanza (the main character in the book) says &until then, I am a red balloon &that has been tied to an anchor& (Cisneros, 1984). The term red balloon is used to mean the annoyance that the young sister makes Esperanza feel when toting the child (Doyle, 2004).

Conclusion

With the use if vignettes and poetic approach, the author develops a narrative that is easy to read and understand. In addition, it is easy to comprehend the themes presented in the story. Her poetic approach, the use of vignettes and Spanish in her works indicates a unique style that makes the book easy to read and understand.

References

Cisneros, S. (1984). The House on a Mango Street. New York, NY: Vintage Contemporaries

Cruz, F. J. (2001). On the Simplicity of Sandra Cisneross House on Mango Street. Modern Fiction Studies 47(4), 910946

Doyle, J. (2004). More Room of Her Own: Sandra Cisneross The House on Mango Street. MELUS 19(4), 535

Madsen, D. L. (2000). Understanding Contemporary Chicana Literature. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press

The novel The House on Mango Street was written in 1984 by Sandra Cisneros. The book narrates the story of a young girl named Esperanza Cordero while she is growing up in a ghetto in Chicago. The book is known to be a reflection of the authors experiences in regard to the problems faced by young Latinos. It was written in keeping with her observations while she was teaching drop outs from high school in a Chicano ghetto of Chicago. The life style of the author, Sandra Cisneros, and her loneliness which resulted from the fact that she did not have any sisters or friends, made her to develop immense interest in books and writing. Most of her childhood was also spent in Mexico City and Chicago where she got the feel of the appalling conditions that Latinos lived in. Such circumstances prompted her to write this novel in narrating the experiences and life of a young Latino girl. The setting of the story is also in the same Chicano barrio in Chicago where she had taught the high school drop outs. The novel depicts Esperanza, the Latino girl as being fed up with the ghetto lifestyle where every member of her large family sleeps in a single room, men ill treat the women and children in the family and girls are always in danger of being made prey by hooligans in the locality. Esperanza wants to leave this dirty life style for better pastures where she can lead a happy life in keeping with her aspirations. The plot of the story concerns Esperanza Cordero and the struggles that she has to go through while growing up on Mango Street. The title of the book is in the context of the house that Esperanza lives in, which her family had shifted into at the beginning of the novel.

The main character of the novel is Esperanza Cordero, a Mexican American girl aged about twelve years, who is also the narrator. In her innocence Esperanza always desires to leave Mango Street to live in a home that she can call her own. She grows up and matures emotionally and sexually in the one year that is made up of the entire book. Upon reaching puberty, Esperanza starts enjoying when she dances and sees the boys admiring her. She also revels in her new friendship with Sally who is a girl of her age and who uses the escape route of mixing with boys in order to be away from her ill treating father. However Esperanza gets emotionally disturbed when Sally ditches her for a boy while they are visiting a carnival. She also gets sexually assaulted by some boys at the same carnival and later, has a bad experience in being tricked by an elderly man who forcefully kisses her. Such traumatic experiences and the way women were treated in her area, make her desire very strong in leaving Mango Street. Her strong character is revealed when she realizes that she will not be able to leave the area in view of her strong bond with the place, and she decides that after she leaves Mango Street, she would at different times come back to take care of the people she left behind. In essence, Esperanza is able to escape from her Mango Street home by the time the novel reaches its end, not by physically moving to another place but by retreating into her own world of writing which has, during this one year, given her a constructive way of being creative in her writings.

Esperanzas character is depicted in a way that shows her ability in sensing what is behind the minds of other characters in the novel, and she is particularly adapt in reading the minds of the females in her locality. In fact she found her own identity amongst these girls which was evident from the way she looked in awe at the way older girls used make up and wore black clothes. She experimented herself with womanhood a number of times but felt pangs of pain upon the way men would glare at her. In her writings she records all the impressions that she carried of the world that existed around her. Esperanza writes in a way that expresses her inner feelings and desires in escaping from the suffocation of her locality. The novel also narrates the entire circumstances that are faced by Esperanza in regard to her neighbors and gives a detailed description of the locality and the influences that affect her life. The main character along with her sister, Nenny, and friends, Rachael and Lucy, go through several adventurous experiences in the neighborhood which are not in keeping with her value systems and expectations from life. Such circumstances make Esperanza to decide in leaving the area in view of her inability to cope and adapt with the given lifestyle.

Throughout the book Esperanzas sense of self identity is interspersed with the house that she lives in with her family. The house always emerges as a vital metaphor of her conditions and she always longs for the house that would be her own. In having her own house she felt she would be able to have the required financial stability and a strong sense of belonging that she just could not have in the present surroundings: a house all my own  Only a house quiet as snow, a space for myself to go, clean as paper before the poem (Sandra Cisneros, 1991)

As we go through the novel Esperanza is also maturing and she starts to look outward at her world through a view point of introspection which discloses innumerable sides of her character. She is a girl with lot of courage and understands that there is a much larger world which exists beyond her own precincts and constrained locality. Towards the end of the book she is compelled to leave her locality on her own strengths. Esperanza demonstrates high levels of empathy for people around her and is particularly soft towards those who are unable to look beyond their immediate surroundings and situations.

The novel conclusively proves the immense tensions Esperanza experiences between the emotional ties with her community and her inherent desire to rise above it which clearly demonstrate the sense of magnetism and repugnance that is characterized in this work. Her high confidence level is clearly evident when she says that one day she would bid farewell to Mango Street because she is much stronger than the circumstances that are presently compelling her to be there and that she cannot be tied down to the place forever. She would often say that she would surely leave the place. But she had the good heart in conveying that she would return to take care of all those she would leave behind since they were incapable in taking initiatives themselves.

References

Christina Frank, Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales and Rescue in Sandra Cisneros The House on Mango Street, 2008, VDM Verlag.

Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street, 1991, Vintage.

Leaving the Haunted House, Tasting the Mangoes

It seems that there is no other author than Cisneros who could describe the Life of the Mexican Americans with its moments of happiness and grief. Because of her incredible ability to create a mirage that resembles reality so much, readers can plunge into the world of make-believe and feel the salt drops of truth on their lips. Speaking both to the readers mind and his/her soul, Cisneros makes him/her believe in her vision of the world and see people with the eyes of a little Mexican girl in her novel The House on Mango Street.

The Stings of the Aching Pride: Between the Personal and the Cultural

There is hardly anything more painful than the scornful sympathy of strangers. Understanding that the rest of the people consider her environment filthy, Esperanza feels wounded to the quick and loses the rest of the hope that her heart still holds. Neglected children are, perhaps, the saddest phenomenon of modern society, and Cisneros understands it well.

I had to look where she pointed  the third floor, the paint peeling, wooden boards pap had nailed on the windows so we would not fall out. You live there? The way she said it made me feel like nothing. There. I lived there. I nodded. (Cisneros 128)

Cisneros raises a very important issue, noticing the thin border between sympathy and humiliation. Indeed, sometimes this line becomes almost invisible for people to spot it and not to hurt others feelings. This is the scorn of the adults that makes Esperanza feel so neglected and ashamed of herself, her life, and her parents.

Reconciling to the Hardship of Life: In the Lapse of Comfort

No matter how rich ones life is, it is nothing without comfort, whereas a comfortless life spiced with a handful of miseries is unbearable. Making her character pass the ordeal of life without comfort, Cisneros makes the reader see the obvious pieces of the ordinary which (s)he usually passes without notice, and comfort is one of them.

What Esperanza dreams most about is comfort. Knowing that there is always a place where you can hide from all the problems for a while is rather soothing, but the girl does not have the opportunity to resort to it. What she is left with is only dreaming about the way an ideal house must look, which she does when she turns completely desperate and weary.

And our house would have running water and pipes that worked. And inside it would have real stairs, not hallway stairs, but the stairs inside like the houses on TV. And wed have a basement and at least three washrooms so when we took a bath we didnt have to tell everybody. (Cisneros 127)

One of the most touching parts of the book, the piece where Esperanza thinks of the way the house of her dreams must look like, is the symbol of all peoples hopes and aspirations. It brings tears to the readers eyes, both making them sad and comforting them. It sounds like the chime of the old clock in the dining room and speaks of the family values more convincing than the staunchest moralists of the world altogether.

Looking for a Shelter: All That It Takes to Safety

The house in Cisneross story is not merely a building of concrete and stone. It embodies the ruined hopes for safety that Esperanza lacked and which she needed so much. The desire to have what people call the real home is what every single line of the novel is shot through with:

They always told us that one day we would move into a house, a real house that would be ours for always so we wouldnt have to move each year (Cisneros 127)

The wish to stay in the place where things will be fine and where there will be no dreadful feeling of hanging over the abyss. This abyss has a lot of names, among them: despair, fear, and agony, and falling into this pit is inevitable for Esperanza. Longing for the place which she will be able to call home and where she will feel safe, the girl becomes stronger, yet this strength costs her too much it has taken Esperanzas hope.

Although it took Esperanza time to understand that there is a place in her heart to cherish hope for a real home. Although her heart was still weak and aching, she still felt that this was the stronghold of her safety, her heart, and her home. The changing environment which she was so used to live in was not the place where she belonged; the real hearth and home were all that time within her reach.

I knew I had to have a house. A real house. One I could point to. But this isnt. The house on Mango Street isnt it. For the time being, mama said. Temporarily, said papa. But I know how those things go. (128)

Mixed with despair, the wish to have a place where the girl could feel secure stings Esperanza, and she knows that she will not be able to stifle the pain until she finds the place where she belongs. Moreover, she is sure that she never will, and this is the most tragic thing about this child who became an adult so fast.

Works Cited

Cisneros, Sandra. The House on the Mango Street. Arte Publico Press, Houston, TX, 1988. Print.

The interconnection between individuals, society and local communities is a network that defines life and choices people make.

Every situation is individual and people and their actions are framed by the conditions and circumstances of their personal lives, as well as those of people in the close circle.

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros describes the life of a child who goes through hardships of being poor, having personal dilemmas and understanding the surrounding world. It focuses on the great influence of community on an individual and vice verse.

From the very beginning, the reader is familiarized with the previous life and hardships of a character whose name is Esperanza. At twelve year old, girl talks about the constant moving that goes back far in the past, so that she does not even remember all the places of residence.

The start familiarizes the audience that both family and the little girl have grave financial problems, as well as problems with the community they reside in (Cisneros 4).

The close relationship between individual people and families is established within the community and it becomes one of the reasons people feel unable to continue living in the area.

In case of the family Esperanza describes, the financial resources do not allow them to move into a nice neighborhood or a house and thus, they are forced to find living quarters in communities that have detrimental life conditions and people are not very kind to each other.

As parents want best for their children, the reason for Esperanzas family to move out in a search of a better place becomes obvious.

Another theme mentioned in the book is the relationship between peoples background, race and how the outside majority community views others. Hispanic population has often felt pressure and unequal treatment form the American population.

The United States communities felt that people with Hispanic background influenced the economy and the state of affairs of workforce and general market demands.

Esperanza describes whole communities of people that affect the way minorities feel about themselves and such conditions have a negative result on individual securities and happiness of people.

It is especially noticeable, having in mind the insecurities that a little girl already has because of her familys financial condition. Racial alienation and segregation from the rest of community has a lot of pressure on Esperanza.

While grouping up, a young mind is very sensitive when the whole nation of people presses on the psyche of minorities and makes individuals feel unwanted.

An interesting connection takes place between the way Esperanza feels about herself and the surrounding women. She observes how women are treated and experiences the community by herself. She starts noticing boys and begins to feel a want to have their attention.

Esperanza is surrounded by girls who have had relations and this becomes a whole new world for her. This is the time when she looks deep inside herself to find out that she has matured.

It has been known that girls become developed earlier than boy and this is another issue that Esperanza has to understand and deal with.

Everything changes when she gets abused and she learns that reality can be extremely harsh sometimes. This has a direct connection to the way women are treated in her community.

One of the biggest examples is Rafaela and the way she gets treated by her husband. As she is not allowed to go out because she is beautiful, she is forced to be confined in her house (Cisneros 82).

This is representative of the society and how men have been dominating women for such a long time.

Esperanza understands her pain, just as other womens. When she talks about Mamacita and her want to go back home, it is heartbreaking to the reader that she was unable to adapt to new conditions.

She becomes homesick and despises the new world and the English language. The fact that her child learns to speak American has a great effect on her self esteem and she becomes even more saddened (Cisneros 78).

Esperanza can feel the pain of all women in her community and she learns a lot by observing the social make-up and how women are treated.

The author draws a unique line between individuality, community and persons independence. One of the signs is the way Esperanza talks about trees on Mango Street and how she admires them. This points to a theme of people feeling trapped and lonely, so far as to identify with trees.

The community that surrounds individuals becomes a heavy burden and a vicious cycle that does not allow anyone to escape. When Esperanzas family moves to a house, she is still very much unpleased with the ways things are turning out.

Her dreams were filled with a beautiful house that has a garden, green grass and all the pretty images form themselves into the only goal Esperanza can think off. Her focus is to escape the life of poverty and buy the house of her dreams.

The home that the girl sees in her mind is an escape from the harsh reality of the world she lives in. It is representative of a sense of belonging and a corner where she can escape to.

All the major themes of the book unite into one that describes the external pressures on a young mind. Esperanza is an example of a person who notices everything around her but is unable to change things.

She becomes trapped by the community, the views of the society and personal understanding. As she spent her whole young life in moving and searching for a better place to live, she cannot compare any other way of life to her own.

All she has left is to imagine a beautiful house that is her only path out of the world she does not want to be a part of. Racial separation, poverty, social role of women and her personal determination to change the circumstances become a force that keeps reminding of itself.

Esperanza is unable to get used to such cruelties that people suscept each other to and she wants to get far away.

The book very precisely illustrates the lives of people who suffer all around. The majority of the population does not notice that a lot of families have to struggle to make ends meet and feed their children.

The governments are mostly helpless in changing the social order that has been established for a long time. In the modern world, conditions have become better for those less fortunate but nonetheless, it is far from perfect, so books like this are very valuable and needed.

Works Cited

Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street. London, Great Britain: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2004. Print.

Introduction

The House on Mango Street (1984) by Sandra Cisneros is a novel telling the story of Esperanza, a young Latina who moves to Chicago and grows up in a community of Puerto Ricans and Chicanos. The main goal in Esperanzas life is to become a free and independent woman who makes her own decisions, and her dreams were fueled by observing the many people trapped in the slums of Mango Street. Since the novel is concerned with a girl growing up as a Chicana, it delves deep into the topic of cultural identity in the context of prejudice and suffering.

Esperanzas Search for Independence

Esperanzas ideas of autonomy are reflected in her desire to own a house. According to OReilly Herrera, the house represents the various structures of social, political, and economic power (192). For Cisneros, the house on Mango Street is a symbol of all forces that oppose Esperanza as a woman, a writer, and a member of a minority. The same way in which the main character struggles to be recognized as an individual of female, communal, and literary identity, the same way she wants to have a new house all for herself, not the one where she lives: I knew then I had to have a house. A real house. One I could point to. But this isnt it.

The house on Mango Street isnt it (Cisneros 2). The struggles of the main character for identity and independence are even reflected in her attitudes toward her name. In English my name means hope. In Spanish, it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting [&] I would like to baptize myself under a new name, a name more like the real me, the one nobody sees (Cisneros 4).

Discovering Identity

In the girls quest for becoming independent, she slowly discovers different symbols that made it possible for her to build an identity. The imaginary house is the first step towards finding Esperanzas individuality because it gives her the courage to start writing. Her name, given after her grandmother who had an extremely hard life, also encourages the girl to stand against the bad treatment and avoid ending up as a failure. The new sense of identity and belonging to a community takes a new turn when Esperanza meets three sisters from Mexico, whose appearance is akin to those of fairy godmothers.

The three sisters teach the girl a very important lesson: when you leave you must remember to come back for the others. A circle, understand? You will always be Esperanza [&] You cant erase what you know. You cant forget who you are (Cisneros 105). This advice is crucial to Esperanzas understanding of who she really is. The self-knowledge about her present and past shape the girls identity, and the power of writing allowed Esperanza to retell and remember history, which gave her a sense of being special and independent.

Concluding Remarks

Esperanzas life in The House on Mango Street came full circle: when searching for identity and autonomy, she forgot who she is. She overlooked her Mexican heritage, the importance of Chicana feminism, and the fact that who she is making her special. At the beginning of the novel, Esperanzas protest against the orthodox encourages the search for identity. At the end of the novel, the search ends with the young woman gaining control over her talent for writing.

Works Cited

Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street. Vintage Contemporaries, 1984.

OReilly Herrera, Andrea. Chambers of Consciousness: Sandra Cisneros and the Development of the Self in the Big House on Mango Street. Bucknell Review, vol. 39, no. 1, 1995, pp. 191-204.

The House on Mango Street was written by Sandra Cisneros in 1984. The book is a collection of short stories that have no beginning and no end. It is as if a door is opened for the reader for a brief moment, one or two pages are given a glimpse of the life of a particular character. Then the window to the plot is abruptly closed, and they learn nothing more about the characters with their joys and sorrows. The story is told on behalf of Esperanza, who is ashamed of her neighborhood, where they live with their large family. In the book, the theme of gender inequality and the unwillingness to live like the women of the neighborhood-under the control of men, is expressed through the thoughts and narrative of the main character, the girl Esperanza.

Esperanza and her family live in a poor neighborhood for immigrants. They live in an old crooked house, surrounded by bad neighbors, and impenetrable poverty. “Bricks are crumbling in places, and the front door is so swollen you have to push hard to get in” (Cisneros 1984, p. 4). Esperanza wants to get out of this poverty, from the musty neighborhood and the mentality that her father imposes on her, believing that marriage is better for a girl than any education.

Esperanza grew up in a family where “we” is more important than “I”, and separating herself from her family and society seemed to her a very important, right step. Not out of dislike, but in order not to repeat the fate of my mother, who sang beautifully and always dreamed of more. For example, to get married, give birth, go to another, not too friendly country, but the dream is broken about everyday life.

Like her other neighbors who are locked up by abusive husbands, beaten, depressed, and turned into elderly women before their time. “A new house, house made of the heart” (Cisneros 1984, p. 64). Her own home symbolizes freedom for Esperanza, a symbol of an independent life in which no one dares to interfere. “A house all my own. With my porch and my pillow, my pretty purple petunias… A space for myself to go” (Cisneros 1984, p. 108). The book’s ending may seem somewhat upbeat after describing the life of Mango Street. It looks pretty in line with the “American dream”: everything will be fine, but it is needed to work hard and remember the roots.

The problem that concerns the writer is the disenfranchisement of women who lived, as the book’s main character, in this impoverished area, accustomed from childhood to physical, mental, and sexual violence. Furthermore, it is shown through deprived of prospects, personal freedom, access to education, locked in the cages of everyday life, lack of money, family troubles, and patriarchal conventions. Most people agree it is important for women to have the same rights as men (Horowitz & Fetterolf). Esperanza does not want such a life for herself in the future, so she tries very hard to become a writer to earn her own house in which she can hide from everything.

In conclusion, this book reveals the many problems of society that still exist today. Very vividly in this book describes the abuse of men with women, in general, the negative attitude of men to the weaker sex. Therefore, this book can be recommended for reading, as it makes you think, especially women, about whether they live as happily and safely as they would like.

References

Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street. A Division of Random House, 1984.

Horowitz, Juliana & Fetterolf, Janell. “Worldwide Optimism About Future of Gender Equality, Even as Many See Advantages for Men.”Pew Research Center, 2020. Web.

When people who belong to different cultures need to find their place in society, they can choose to preserve their heritage or combine cultural traditions for the purpose of integration. Issues of cultural identity and social assimilation are actively discussed in The House on Mango Street, the book written by Sandra Cisneros in 1983. Esperanza Cordero is the main female character of the work that consists of forty-four vignettes describing the realities of living in the Chicago barrio that is inhabited by Mexican Americans, or Chicanos, and Puerto Ricans (Cisneros, 2013). In her book, Cisneros aims at discussing the challenges faced by a young Mexican American woman on her path to finding a better life that is based on the integration into the American culture.

The vignettes presented in The House on Mango Street describe the daily experiences of Esperanza, and they demonstrate the particular features of the Mexican Americans’ life in a low-income neighborhood. From this perspective, it is possible to identify several main themes discussed in the book. The first theme is Esperanza’s coming of age during which she understands her roles as a young woman in the Chicano society. The second theme is the problem of preserving the Mexican American cultural heritage in the context of the American culture (Betz, 2012). In her daily life, Esperanza observes how her friends and other people in the barrio cope with conflicts of determining gender roles and focusing on the Chicano or American cultural norms.

From this perspective, the personal conflicts of Esperanza are associated with the everyday problems faced by Mexican Americans who live in a poor community. On the one hand, Esperanza does not like the family’s house on Mango Street, she tries to reject the submissive role of women in the Chicano society, and she wants to leave this community in order to cope with poverty and live a better life (Cisneros, 2013). On the other hand, while overcoming gender conflicts, communicating with neighbors, and coping with stereotypes and fears that are typical of both Chicanos and Americans, Esperanza understands that her roots are in the Mexican culture, and she is connected almost with everyone on Mango Street.

While focusing on the personal conflict of Esperanza, Cisneros represents the general challenges faced by Mexican Americans. Women and girls in the Chicano society accept the dominant roles of males, but they try to preserve their independence. The use of both English and Spanish languages allows Mexican Americans to receive more opportunities and integrate into the American culture (Veras, 2011).

The focus on overcoming cultural barriers and finding the place in American society allows for coping with poverty and instability. While communicating with Rachel and Lucy’s aunts, Esperanza pays attention to the following words: “You can’t erase what you know. You can’t forget who you are” (Cisneros, 2013, p. 105). These words mean that Chicanos need to preserve their cultural traditions and heritage in order to avoid losing their identity.

It seems to me that The House on Mango Street is an example of a book that discusses the complex problems of the cultural identity, assimilation, and socialization of Mexican American women with the focus on the personal experience of Esperanza. As a result, the stories told by Esperanza seem to be exciting and rather dramatic. Cisneros appealed to the reader while demonstrating difficulties associated with Mexican Americans’ lives in the United States and explaining the role of a young woman on her path to becoming older and making the choice that can influence her vision of identity.

References

Betz, R. M. (2012). Chicana “belonging” in Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street. Rocky Mountain Review, 1(2), 18-33.

Cisneros, S. (2013). The house on Mango Street. New York, NY: Vintage.

Veras, A. F. (2011). Language and identity in Sandra Cisneros’s The House on Mango Street. ANTARES, 2(5), 228-242.

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.

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to review the literary style used by the feminist author Sandra Cisneros. Cisneros is one of the female writers who has expressed dissatisfaction with the American social system, especially due to racial segregation, poverty, economic and gender inequalities.

Her poetic approach, use of vignettes and the Spanish language in her books ‘The House on a Mango Tree’ and ‘Caramelo’ indicates a unique style that makes them easy to read and understand. this paper reviews the use of literary style by examining the use of these approaches in the two books.

Introduction

Born in 1954, Sandra Cisneros grew up in her Chicago neighborhood. That area, at that time she was growing up, was ridden with poverty, gender and economic inequalities. (Doyle, 2004). Her early experiences probably explain why she uses literary works to investigate before mentioned social issues.

In her books ‘The House on a Mango Street’ and ‘Caramelo’, Cisneros applies a number of literary styles to express her ideas, present themes and develop a unique way of attracting a reader’s attention (Cruz, 2001). From analysis of the two given texts, one can argue that Cisneros’s use of poetic approach and vignettes contributes to the readability of her works. In addition, it displays the conciseness of literary styles, which, by the way, proves her ability to investigate social and economic issues in American setting.

The use of vignettes and readability

The author’s ability to develop a collection of vignettes into a volume that drives the narrative is excellent. It makes the readers easily understand the plot and the main idea(Cruz, 2001). For instance, critics have often described the book ‘House on a Mango Street’ as a collection of vignettes. The use of illustrations (or vignettes) allows her to create meanings and imagery that illustrate the plot (Cruz, 2001).

For instance, at the beginning of each chapter, Cisneros maintains the use of brief illustrations to explain the contents of each particular chapter. In fact, most of her illustrations are short. Most of them occupy less than half a page. For example, in the book ‘The House on a Mango Street’, the author uses vignettes to create the larger narrative. Each of the vignettes creates its own meaning and contribution to the development of the entire narrative.

For instance, “Chanclas” is one of the best examples of sound prose vignettes that the author applies to create the larger narrative (Cruz, 2001). Additional example is seen in the vignette “…in the meantime the boy is actually my cousin… but he has asked me to dance with him but I cannot…” It shows that the author’s sketch tends to illustrate the kind of insecurity that Esperanza experiences in her life. This insecurity results from poverty that the girl and her neighbors in Chicago have to endure as they grow up (Madsen, 2000).

Poetic approach

Throughout the book ‘The House on a Mango Street’, Cisneros has maintained the use of poems to illustrate her ideas and themes. Although she has used many poems in the book and this does not make it ostentatious. Rather, this device successfully makes the narrative clear and easy to understand (Doyle, 2004).

In fact, the poetic approach allows the author to develop metaphors and imagery. For instance, Esperanza (the main character in the book) says “…until then, I am a red balloon …that has been tied to an anchor…” (Cisneros, 1984). The term ‘red balloon’ is used to mean the annoyance that the young sister makes Esperanza feel when toting the child (Doyle, 2004).

Conclusion

With the use if vignettes and poetic approach, the author develops a narrative that is easy to read and understand. In addition, it is easy to comprehend the themes presented in the story. Her poetic approach, the use of vignettes and Spanish in her works indicates a unique style that makes the book easy to read and understand.

References

Cisneros, S. (1984). The House on a Mango Street. New York, NY: Vintage Contemporaries

Cruz, F. J. (2001). On the ‘Simplicity’ of Sandra Cisneros’s ‘House on Mango Street’. Modern Fiction Studies 47(4), 910–946

Doyle, J. (2004). More Room of Her Own: Sandra Cisneros’s ‘The House on Mango Street’. MELUS 19(4), 5–35

Madsen, D. L. (2000). Understanding Contemporary Chicana Literature. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press

The novel “The House on Mango Street” was written in 1984 by Sandra Cisneros. The book narrates the story of a young girl named Esperanza Cordero while she is growing up in a ghetto in Chicago. The book is known to be a reflection of the author’s experiences in regard to the problems faced by young Latinos. It was written in keeping with her observations while she was teaching drop outs from high school in a Chicano ghetto of Chicago. The life style of the author, Sandra Cisneros, and her loneliness which resulted from the fact that she did not have any sisters or friends, made her to develop immense interest in books and writing. Most of her childhood was also spent in Mexico City and Chicago where she got the feel of the appalling conditions that Latinos lived in. Such circumstances prompted her to write this novel in narrating the experiences and life of a young Latino girl. The setting of the story is also in the same Chicano barrio in Chicago where she had taught the high school drop outs. The novel depicts Esperanza, the Latino girl as being fed up with the ghetto lifestyle where every member of her large family sleeps in a single room, men ill treat the women and children in the family and girls are always in danger of being made prey by hooligans in the locality. Esperanza wants to leave this dirty life style for better pastures where she can lead a happy life in keeping with her aspirations. The plot of the story concerns Esperanza Cordero and the struggles that she has to go through while growing up on Mango Street. The title of the book is in the context of the house that Esperanza lives in, which her family had shifted into at the beginning of the novel.

The main character of the novel is Esperanza Cordero, a Mexican American girl aged about twelve years, who is also the narrator. In her innocence Esperanza always desires to leave Mango Street to live in a home that she can call her own. She grows up and matures emotionally and sexually in the one year that is made up of the entire book. Upon reaching puberty, Esperanza starts enjoying when she dances and sees the boys admiring her. She also revels in her new friendship with Sally who is a girl of her age and who uses the escape route of mixing with boys in order to be away from her ill treating father. However Esperanza gets emotionally disturbed when Sally ditches her for a boy while they are visiting a carnival. She also gets sexually assaulted by some boys at the same carnival and later, has a bad experience in being tricked by an elderly man who forcefully kisses her. Such traumatic experiences and the way women were treated in her area, make her desire very strong in leaving Mango Street. Her strong character is revealed when she realizes that she will not be able to leave the area in view of her strong bond with the place, and she decides that after she leaves Mango Street, she would at different times come back to take care of the people she left behind. In essence, Esperanza is able to escape from her Mango Street home by the time the novel reaches its end, not by physically moving to another place but by retreating into her own world of writing which has, during this one year, given her a constructive way of being creative in her writings.

Esperanza’s character is depicted in a way that shows her ability in sensing what is behind the minds of other characters in the novel, and she is particularly adapt in reading the minds of the females in her locality. In fact she found her own identity amongst these girls which was evident from the way she looked in awe at the way older girls used make up and wore black clothes. She experimented herself with womanhood a number of times but felt pangs of pain upon the way men would glare at her. In her writings she records all the impressions that she carried of the world that existed around her. Esperanza writes in a way that expresses her inner feelings and desires in escaping from the suffocation of her locality. The novel also narrates the entire circumstances that are faced by Esperanza in regard to her neighbors and gives a detailed description of the locality and the influences that affect her life. The main character along with her sister, Nenny, and friends, Rachael and Lucy, go through several adventurous experiences in the neighborhood which are not in keeping with her value systems and expectations from life. Such circumstances make Esperanza to decide in leaving the area in view of her inability to cope and adapt with the given lifestyle.

Throughout the book Esperanza’s sense of self identity is interspersed with the house that she lives in with her family. The house always emerges as a vital metaphor of her conditions and she always longs for the house that would be her own. In having her own house she felt she would be able to have the required financial stability and a strong sense of belonging that she just could not have in the present surroundings: “a house all my own — Only a house quiet as snow, a space for myself to go, clean as paper before the poem” (Sandra Cisneros, 1991)

As we go through the novel Esperanza is also maturing and she starts to look outward at her world through a view point of introspection which discloses innumerable sides of her character. She is a girl with lot of courage and understands that there is a much larger world which exists beyond her own precincts and constrained locality. Towards the end of the book she is compelled to leave her locality on her own strengths. Esperanza demonstrates high levels of empathy for people around her and is particularly soft towards those who are unable to look beyond their immediate surroundings and situations.

The novel conclusively proves the immense tensions Esperanza experiences between the emotional ties with her community and her inherent desire to rise above it which clearly demonstrate the sense of magnetism and repugnance that is characterized in this work. Her high confidence level is clearly evident when she says that one day she would bid farewell to Mango Street because she is much stronger than the circumstances that are presently compelling her to be there and that she cannot be tied down to the place forever. She would often say that she would surely leave the place. But she had the good heart in conveying that she would return to take care of all those she would leave behind since they were incapable in taking initiatives themselves.

References

Christina Frank, Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales and Rescue in Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street, 2008, VDM Verlag.

Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street, 1991, Vintage.