"The House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros is a coming of age novel through the eyes of a young writer in a Latino neighborhood. Esperanza is a Mexican American middle school girl with dreams of becoming a writer. The story begins with Esperanza and her family moving into their first "real" house. Esperanza's expectations are high from dreams her parents shared with her of a white house, with three washrooms, real stairs, and a big front yard. However, their house on mango street is not like that. The house was small, with crumbling bricks, tiny windows and only one washroom. Esperanza refuses to believe this will be a permanent settlement and longs for when she can move out and buy a house of her own.
The disappointment
Esperanza endures while moving happens many other times throughout the
story. "In the movies there is always one with red lips who is
beautiful and cruel. She is the one who drives the men crazy and laughs
them all away. Her power is her own. She will not give it away". This is a
powerful quote from Esperanza after observing the women around her and in
films. She starts to understand the one of the only powers women have over men
was sexuality. She longs to be like the fierce women she sees in movies and to be
"beautiful and cruel". She wants to be admired by men but not taken
advantaged of like many of the women she sees around her. However, she is
sexually assaulted by an old man and her hope of being "beautiful and
cruel" diminishes.
She is once again let down
when previous ideas she has about what her life will be like do not come true.
Esperanza realizes how hard it is for a woman to be "beautiful and
cruel" in a male-dominated society. She does not understand why one of her
friends, Sally, lets boys bully her as a way of flirting. Sally's keys are
stolen by a group of boys who only give them back to her after she kisses all
of them. Sally blatantly ignores the injustice of the situation and says it is
"just a kiss". This infuriates Esperanza and just further shows her
the sexism that so many women endure but choose to ignore to please
men.
Esperanza's soon realizes
she does not want her future to be determined by a man like so many of the
other women in her neighborhood. The following passage is one of my favorite
quotes in this book "My mother says when I get older my dusty hair will
settle and my blouse will learn to stay clean, but I have decided not to grow
up tame like the other who lay their necks on the threshold waiting for the
ball and chain." I particularly like this passage from Esperanza because
it is when she first realizes that her future and identity do not depend on a
husband. She realizes that although many other girls do, she did not need
constant praise from men to feel successful in life. I also like how she
mentions that she will not change herself, or her ambitions
I highly recommend this book.
It is a short but powerful book. Esperanza's journey throughout the book is
very inspirational and rewarding as a reader. The book highlights some of the
key issues in male-dominated societies and how different women's response to
these issues can be. It also shows how films and media ignore these issues
meaning young girls do not learn about these issues until they see them firsthand.
Because of its lack of portrayal there is little to no discussion
about things like assault and difficulties women face in a male-dominated
society.
I find Esperanza's mindset progression very interesting and reflective of the effect of living a patriarchal society. Even today the media teaches woman to be a certain way if we want to be successful. But as Esperanza learns, being this type of woman doesn't truly make life easier. This book definitely had an important message to share. Great post!
ReplyDeleteFrom reading your post, I like how The House on Mango Street seems to address the problems of living in a male-dominated society in a more unique way. Especially the part about Esperanza not wanting her life to be controlled by a man unlike the other women. I thought it was really meaningful how the author had her fight against not only the idea of having to always be supported by a man, but also to the other women, including her mom, who have gone along with it because they maybe don’t understand since that is how they are used to living, or they are trying to ignore it because it makes life easier.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a very interesting and meaningful book. I always love coming of age books that talk about sexism because I don't think there's enough out there for people, young women especially, to learn about these issues. I remember reading this book a while ago, but I don't remember the plot very well. From your description, maybe I need to go back and read it again!
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