The House on Mango Street. By. Sandra Cisneros. New York: A Division of Random House, Inc., 1984. 110 pages. Paperback. $5.00.
In her book, “The House on Mango Street”, author Sandra Cisneros documents through a series of vignettes the life experiences of a young girl, Esperanza, whose living situation is not one that she prefers, she describes the struggles, dilemmas and embarrassments that this young girl has to endure throughout her life in a place that is difficult for her to call home. The book takes place in Chicago. Divided into 44 vignettes the author records the predicaments that Esperanza experiments as she struggles to accept her house as a place to call home. Sandra Cisneros supports her text with very detailed stories that bring …show more content…
Throughout the first vignette Esperanza describes what she expected to call home, because her parents always painted a beautiful picture of it when they described it to her and her siblings. But in reality they are living in a house that she feels embarrassed of because it does not look its best. Within the beginning of the book we are introduced to her family and we also get a detailed description about how Esperanza feels about her name. Within the first portion of the book we immediately get a sense about how Esperanza is very ashamed about her entire life beginning with her name. Understanding how Esperanza feels about her name gives us a good understanding about her entire attitude towards her …show more content…
We see different encounters in which Esperanza begins to notice the attraction between boys and girls. Her first encounter is early on in the book when her and her friends find a pair of high heels and walk around the neighborhood with them on. “We are tired of being beautiful. Lucy hides the lemon shoes and the red shoes and the shoe that used to be white but are now pale blue under a powerful bushel basket on the back porch, until Tuesday her mother—throws them away. But no one complains” (42). Some men yell out inappropriate things that make Esperanza uncomfortable. Later on in the book we see how Esperanza encounters a sexual assault that makes her very angry and makes her question what sex is really like, because her experience, which was not specified, left her traumatized. “Sally Sally a hundred time. Why didn’t you hear me when I called? Why didn’t you tell them to leave me alone? The one who grabbed me by the arm, he wouldn’t let me go. He said I love you, Spanish girl, and pressed his sour mouth to mine”
In her book, “The House on Mango Street”, author Sandra Cisneros documents through a series of vignettes the life experiences of a young girl, Esperanza, whose living situation is not one that she prefers, she describes the struggles, dilemmas and embarrassments that this young girl has to endure throughout her life in a place that is difficult for her to call home. The book takes place in Chicago. Divided into 44 vignettes the author records the predicaments that Esperanza experiments as she struggles to accept her house as a place to call home. Sandra Cisneros supports her text with very detailed stories that bring …show more content…
Throughout the first vignette Esperanza describes what she expected to call home, because her parents always painted a beautiful picture of it when they described it to her and her siblings. But in reality they are living in a house that she feels embarrassed of because it does not look its best. Within the beginning of the book we are introduced to her family and we also get a detailed description about how Esperanza feels about her name. Within the first portion of the book we immediately get a sense about how Esperanza is very ashamed about her entire life beginning with her name. Understanding how Esperanza feels about her name gives us a good understanding about her entire attitude towards her …show more content…
We see different encounters in which Esperanza begins to notice the attraction between boys and girls. Her first encounter is early on in the book when her and her friends find a pair of high heels and walk around the neighborhood with them on. “We are tired of being beautiful. Lucy hides the lemon shoes and the red shoes and the shoe that used to be white but are now pale blue under a powerful bushel basket on the back porch, until Tuesday her mother—throws them away. But no one complains” (42). Some men yell out inappropriate things that make Esperanza uncomfortable. Later on in the book we see how Esperanza encounters a sexual assault that makes her very angry and makes her question what sex is really like, because her experience, which was not specified, left her traumatized. “Sally Sally a hundred time. Why didn’t you hear me when I called? Why didn’t you tell them to leave me alone? The one who grabbed me by the arm, he wouldn’t let me go. He said I love you, Spanish girl, and pressed his sour mouth to mine”