Analytical Essay On Vignette By Sandra Cisneros

Sally married young, “not ready but married just the same”(101). She grew up fast and traded her youth for a safer place, free from her father’s belt buckle. On Mango Street, we see many girls give up their childhood trying to move up in the world. When Esperanza takes a job to help support her family, she is sexually harassed at work. Sally loses her innocence in the Monkey’s Garden, kissing all the boys to get her keys back. Similar to Eve in the Garden of Eden, Sally can’t resist the opportunity to act older, so she gives up her adolescence. Many of the girls on Mango Street make this trade because they believe that to get out of the slums, they need to grow up and attract a man. When Esperanza explains Marin’s appeal, she states that, “Marin is already older than us in many ways”(27). On Mango Street, youth is often thrown off the boat first when girls are trying to lighten the load and stay above the water.

In the collection of vignettes, The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros develops the theme that people should not be devalued because of their financial circumstances through metaphors of classism, the motif of shame, and the contrast between minor characters Alicia and Esperanza’s mother. Esperanza, the protagonist, is a Mexican-American adolescent living in the rural Chicago region. She occupies a house on Mango Street with her father, mother, two brothers, Carlos and Kiki, and little sister, Nenny. Mango Street is filled with low-income families, like Esperanza’s, trying to adapt to their difficult circumstances. Esperanza realizes it is difficult, but she dreams of leaving her house and Mango Street altogether.

She gets excited when boys look at her on the streets. But her illusion of true love is destroyed by sexual violence. Her friend Sally’s behaviour towards boys contributes to Esperanza’s caution and distance by dealing with the opposite sex, too. Nevertheless, Esperanza does not stop dreaming of leaning against a car with her boyfriend in a place where that does not bother anyone. But she has set her standards higher than most of the women around her. She do not search for a man to escape from this place, she has seen too many unhappy marriages. Ruthie exemplifies such an one. She has run away from her husband and seems to be mentally disturbed. The young Rafaela is locked up by her husband because of her beauty. Nevertheless the tragic event is Sally’s which ends in abuse. Sally, Esperanza’s friend, only wanted to dream and share her love like Esperanza. Hurt and beaten by her father who just wanted to prevent the familiy’s ruin by Sally. To escape, despite of her minority, she marries a salesman. But unlike her wish, the abuse continues.

Once Chicanas dress or appear “womanly”, they are objectified. Chicanas are shamed for being sexual beings. When Esperanza develops a crush on a boy, Sire, her family disapproves saying that he is a “punk” and not to talk to him (Cisneros 49). She is unable to explore her sexuality because her parents understand the validity of the gendered hierarchy and how her body is not her own. Sally’s father sexualizes her as she is beaten when she is seen speaking to boys; he says she is not his daughter and she is reminded of the “shame” her sisters brought by leaving home, presumably with men (Cisneros 59).

Even the girls’ dress-up game becomes dangerous as they walk down the streets in the high heels, past a wide variety of men. Some men, like Mr. Benny, try to warn the girls of the potential dangers of wearing those shoes around this neighborhood, saying “them shoes are dangerous” (41). However, the girls are too excited about being a grown-up, they ignore his warnings and continue walking down the streets. Other men, like the bum man, try and take advantage of the vulnerable girls young age by persuading them to do things that are inappropriate. No one should be sexualizeing you girls due to their pretty shoes and young boys wearing fancy shoes would have never been in that position because most people believe women to be passive, but men to be aggressive.. Even Esperanza's has a heard a thing or two about women being placed in submissive roles “She was a horse woman too, born like me in the Chinese year of the horse – which is supposed to be bad luck if you're born female – but I think this is a Chinese lie because the Chinese, like the Mexicans, don't like their women strong.” (10) The fact that she is most likely right due to the submissive position both cultures put women into only added to the pressure Esperanza must be feeling about being different and more

Thus, he treats her like a child and “laughs at [her]… ” and calls her a “‘...little girl’” (Gilman 90, 94). For these two female characters in “A Rose for Emily” and “The Yellow Wallpaper”, their struggles are a direct result of male dominance, and their coping mechanism escorts them away from the world that devalues them.

Self-exploration is hindered in this book and my life. I can very much identify with Esperanza perspectives on societal issues that Latin women face. A society dominated by men and women relying on them, whether it is a father, spouse or friend. Men are considered the strong reasonable as where women are weak and emotional, in turn women need men for protection. A young girl may have two story paths, one where she relies on the protection of her father while she watches her mother cater to him or two, witnesses the struggles of a single young woman and absence for a father. This book describes marriage as priority for every girl or else how could she survive; appearances and physical features are highly valued traits. This attitude is not one that Esperanza agrees with, nor do I. For example, Marin she is the girl standing on the street just “waiting for a car to stop, a star to fall, someone to change her life.” This character implies that she does not dream of actively setting life goals for herself and working to earn them, instead she will wait until a man makes it happen for her. The ideology behind this thought being that as a woman she must thrive to be as attractive as possible to heighten her chances of marriage and acquire

In the novel, The House On Mango Street, women face numerous challenges in their lives. Women face abuse, objectification, and oppression. They are also subjects to the societal roles that hinders them from being free and successful. Cisneros utilizes metaphors to reveal the theme of society’s gender roles restricting the lives and sexuality of women.

Esperanza’s friend Sally is one of the reasons that Esperanza really questions what it is to grow up. Sally wears make-up and appears to challenge the men in her life until they retaliate, like her father who beats and rapes her. In the chapter “The Monkey Garden” Sally is flirting with a group of boys and Esperanza can not understand why Sally will not play with her and the other girls. Then Esperanza thinks that Sally needs recusing from Tito and the other boys when they demand a kiss for the keys they took from her. Sally tells Esperanza to go away and she finally understands that Sally wanted to be with the boys. After meeting Sally and becoming more aware of her own sexuality Esperanza “decided to not grow up tame.”(88). She knows that

The women of the story are not treated with the respect, which reflects their social standings. The first image of the women that the reader gets is a typical housewife. They are imaged as “wearing faded house dresses and

In the book Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan, Esperanza is the main character who is the protagonist. Esperanza is a thirteen-year-old child that has been faced with more tragic events from the age of nine to thirteen than some may experience their whole life time. Her character is very smart, determined, and compassionate just like some of the kids you may know. The author does a great job with allowing the reader to get inside Esperanza’s head to understand her thinking and logic. The author uses Esperanza life to encourage children who may be going through some of the same experience, that they could make it through to. Although Esperanza is just a normal kid trying to have fun, the constant tragic events in her life forces her to mature instantly becoming a strong young adult. This paper will discuss how Esperanza grew up and some of Esperanza reactions that shows her growth in maturity, while exploring some of the conflicts Esperanza experienced that causes her to change her thinking.

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.

The vignette “Beautiful and Cruel,” conveys the impact it has on Esperanza. In this vignette, Esperanza feels that she is “an ugly daughter” and “the one nobody cares about” (Cisneros 88). She does not need, or want, a man to lead her life, unlike the women she knows. She does not need, or want, a man to make decisions for her. Unfortunately, she still feels the pressure to look gorgeous and stunning: “Nenny has pretty eyes and it’s easier to talk that way

Thesis statement: Esperanza has a variety of female role models in her life. Many are trapped in abusive relationships, waiting for others to change their lives. Some are actively trying to change things on their own. Through these women and Esperanza’s reactions to them, Cisneros’ shows not only the hardships women face, but also explores their power to overcome them.

Society is often seen to have different biases or perspectives on topics such as the role and perception of women. The short story, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, consists primarily of a catalog of commands and instructions, the purpose of which is to make sure that the mother’s daughter is constantly in check and not getting into any trouble. Jamaica Kincaid utilizes a wide range of techniques such as symbolism and diction in order to showcase the theme of how the depiction of women rely mainly on how they present themselves in the public and how they are so easily described as impure or filthy.