The House On Mango Street Reflection

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is the story of a young girl, who grows up in Mango Street. As a work of fiction, anything can happen. The author has no limitation. In his stories, his ideas are facts. Whether the author tackles real problems or just writes a fun story is his problem. However good fiction, for me, usually has a relatable character who faces problems we can all relate to. His problems are hard, but not impossible, to overcome. The story itself, has to be memorable. Its ending has to be interesting and fulfilling. Cisneros’s novel met most of my expectations. It’s told in a unique poem-like way, where the author shows no interest in following rules. Her story is told in a series of short chapters; with each chapter …show more content…
Esperanza, the main character, is a young girl who moves to Mango Street with her family, knowing full well that she is stuck there. She starts out as an outcast, but grows and becomes determined to overcome poverty while at the same time going through puberty. For the first few chapters, her closest friend is her sister, Nenny and two other girls. She acts like a child who is learning to make friends. She even says boys and girls are from two different worlds. About half way through the book Nenny disappears. Her attitudes towards boys begin to change. She is suddenly a teenager who starts to look at boys and wonder. This all ends suddenly in the chapter “Red Clowns.” She gets raped and decides to blame all the women in her life for lying about sex. That chapter is where her desires for boys ends. Throughout her life, she kept seeing women getting tied down to men and forced to follow customs. I can understand why she feels that way. In a lot of places in the world, women are expected to marry and have kids at a young age. On top of that for most of history, women were only second to men. She hits rock bottom, but after meeting three women and talking to Alicia, she suddenly realizes that her future is up to her. Not only that, but the future of Mango Street is up to her. Since no else cares about Mango Street, not even the mayor. By the end of the novel, Esperanza has seen enough and knows what she …show more content…
Cisneros wrote the book in a style that is different from most autobiographies. Only meaningful moments in her life are in it. Everything else, including dates, are absent. Some chapters are poetic. The book’s message of hope and its many short stories is what makes the book