The book I read was “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros. There was many themes in this book. The two I want to focus on are Loss of Innocence and The Power of Words. Loss of innocence is when someone, sometime in there life suddenly realizes all the evil, pain, and suffering in the world. You can see lots of loss of innocence that Esperanza has throughout the book. For example at the beginning of the book in the chapter “Boys and Girls” Esperanza explains that the girls and the boys are so far apart that they live in separate worlds. In her words “The boys in their universe and we in ours.” At the beginning of the book she is so oblivious to the world, she thinks that the boys and girls live in different ones. Esperanza begins to lose her innocence in the chapter “Cathy Queen of Cats”, when Cathy tells Esperanza that she is going to have to move because of all the bad people moving to Mango Street directly after she had just moved in. This is when Espranza first started to realize that the world might not be as she first thought it was. She starts realizing that her world of candy corn and gumdrops might be worse than she thinks it is. Esperanza realizes that in Cathy's eyes she sees Mango Street is “getting bad” becuase of families like Esperanzas. In the chapter “Louie, His Cousin & His Other Cousin” Esperanza losses a little more of her innocence when she sees one of Louie’s cousins pull up in a stolen Cadillac and the cops book him. In the chapter “Marin”
Innocence is something that can only be lost once. Within both The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley there are various characters that lose their innocence in very dramatic ways. A character can lose their innocence due to the death of someone else. They can also lose their innocence by just being looked at from a different perspective by others, this can be seen through the characters Bernard and Rachel. ADD ANOTHER TOPIC Someone who has lost their innocence changes their personality and perspective on life, which results in them acting in situations differently than they would before.
At first, we examine Responsibility which is shown in both books such as “Bloodline” and “The House on Mango Street” in such a way all the problems revolve around it, that is to say the sense of responsibility is present in all the situations that the characters live in and it constitutes one of the most important challenge to overcome in the life as presented by the Sandra Cisneros and Gaines. Responsibility is also addressed as a way of facing the duties or sometime as an inevitable fate which some characters understand early they cannot do anything but adapt it to overcome and achieve their obligation. However according to this situation of responsibility it will be necessary to analyze some aspects about the responsibility attitude as presented
Hook: In the coming-of-age novel, House on Mango Street, the main character Esperanza narrates the story through her perspective of the situations she encounters as she grows older in her new neighborhood.
The House on Mango Street uses three vignettes to state that innocence shelters children from the extreme truth of the adult world. To begin, in “The First Job”, an older man unexpectedly forces himself on Esperanza: “I thought I would because he was so old and just as I was about to put my lips on his cheek, he grabs my face with both hands and kisses me hard on the mouth and doesn’t let go” (Cisneros 55). Esperanza’s innocence allowed her to kiss an old man on the cheek for his birthday because she could not imagine anything inappropriate occurring. However, the man “grabs [her] face with both hands” and “doesn’t let go”. This violent action shatters the innocence that has hidden Esperanza from the adult truth. Next, Esperanza witnesses how Tito and the boys treat Sally in “The Monkey Garden”: “One of Tito’s friends said you can’t get the keys back unless you kiss us and Sally pretended to be mad at first but she said yes” (Cisneros 96). The adult game played angers Esperanza as the boys use Sally to their advantage and Sally “[pretends] to be mad” but still willingly complies. Esperanza, unlike Sally, sees the situation as wrong because of her innocence, but when she attempts to save Sally, the boys laugh at her. Embarrassed, Esperanza is exposed to an adult type of game and now feels confused from this break in her innocence. Finally, Esperanza completely loses her innocence after being sexually assaulted at the carnival: “You’re a liar. They all lied. All the books and
"She sits at become afraid to go outside". The leave home, she would need permission. She evolves from a victim of child abuse to a slave-like wife. Esperanza sees this despair throughout her story.
Marin said that “she’s going to get a real job downtown because that’s where the best jobs are, since you always get to look beautiful and get to wear nice clothes and can meet someone in the subway who might marry you and take you to live in a big house faraway.” (Cisneros,26-27) This mean she will change her life with man not her own. In this story’s background society is woman should work in a house and man should go outside and make money so this is like man should protect woman. Also, another character that similar with Marin is Rafaela. She is beautiful so her husband didn’t let her go outside of her house. Then, she never left outside and she just look outside through the window. This can be said that women rely on men and leave all responsibilities for men. In the past, this thought, same as them is very normal but as time passes, most people agree for gender equality. Then, literally, gender is being equal. But, Esperanza thought that woman should live in recognition of these thoughts and consider them after she met normal woman in that
In life many people set goals for themselves. For some people it maybe a goal such as obtaining a high test grade and for others it maybe to one day own a race car. Everybody has a different outlook on life and everyone has different goals in which they one day hope to achieve. The people who achieve their goals are those who are motivated and determined to do so. When these goals are achieved it is then when you are a hero to yourself.
Characters lose their innocence throughout American literature. What exactly does “losing their innocence” mean? Losing one’s innocence can be seen as a character maturing. A character may lose his/her innocence in ways including the viewing of a traumatic event, especially one that will scar his/her life forever. Losing one’s innocence can also be caused by losing one’s trust in someone whom he/she once trusted, catching a glimpse into the “real world”, or performing an act of immorality. The recurring theme of loss of innocence, as seen throughout American literature and reality, can affect a person and the people around him/her both negatively and positively. As a result, the audience can see the character mature through losing hope of dreams, becoming an outcast of society, gaining a new perspective of ideas, or gaining confidence. Negative and positive effects falling onto characters as a result of a loss of innocence can be found in works such as The Scarlet Letter, The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, and The Hunger Games; this theme can also be seen in real life through the effects of children exposed to violent video games.
This relates to the theme of the struggle for self definition, because at first Esperanza was under the impression she could change a man, but as she’s exposed to these horrible encounters she comes to the conclusion that boys and girls live in different worlds.
What does it mean when you need to fulfill a dream? Every person may have a different view towards the answer to this question. Personally, I believe this means your strong impulse to follow and conquer what you feel most passionate about. In the novel, The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros ,the main character Esperanza shares her journey through life and her longing desire to leave the house she lives on Mango Street forever. Throughout the novel there are multiple themes that transpire during Esperanza's life. Although each theme shows relevance, I conclude the most compelling theme in the novel and the most apparent in today's society is the need to fulfill a dream.
When a character is exposed to an incident in which his or her perspective is forever changed, he or she will gain knowledge and maturity. An event such as being raped is an example of how one can lose his or her innocence. The House on Mango Street leads the reader into analyzing his or her own life. It shows how Esperanza’s pure view of life has changed to become a more sophisticated and realistic one. Growing up is something that everyone, at one point or another, goes through. This loss of innocence is something that is unavoidable and irreversible. When people lose their innocence, they gain maturity and gain knowledge. When a person losing the pureness in them, they open their eyes and they are able to see the world for what it really
In The House on Mango Street, the vignette “The Family of Little Feet” first seems like a random story, and is often disregarded, overlooked, and labeled “insignificant” because the story is oriented around three pairs of high-heeled shoes that arealmost immediately thrown away. As a result, seems like an arbitrary story that isn’t connected with the other vignettes. However, after careful reading, the story is relevant to the story since the shoes are a symbol that helps us further understand the characters and develops a theme.
"My Grandparents, My Parents and Me." My Grandparents My Parents, Mis Abuelos Mis Padres, Frida Kahlo, C0160. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May
Everyone has challenges in their life, their feelings behind their actions make them who they are. In the novel The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros there are many conflicts which explore the characters, to get to know them closer. The internal conflict is used to discover the identity of the main character, Esperanza.
Kids usually don't act their age. They either act older or younger. They grow up too fast or too slow. In the book, House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, a girl named Esperanza moves to house on Mango Street and doesn't seem to fit in. She meets a girl named Sally at her school and becomes friends with her but Sally is not a good friend. She chooses boys over Esperanza and abandones her a couple of times to be with boys.Ezperanza cant fit in because she is growing up too slow while Sally, who is not a good friend is growing up too fast .Sandra Cisneros develops the theme through character conflicts. The theme of House on Mango Street is not to grow up too fast or too slow.