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The house on mango street by Sandra Cisneros The House on Mango Street written by Sandra Cisnero presents readers a picture of life of Esperanza Codero, Mexican-American girl in patriarchal Hispanic society. This novel is interesting for its artistic multi pronged narration. Documental narrations, which creates element of reliability in combination with unlimited fantasies, publicist ic and philosophical reflections, deep psychoanalysis, social conditionality of heroes, realistic retrospective narration, irony of different kinds, sarcasm and tragedy all this creates compound genre and stylistic unity. Sandra Cisnero tried to express her feelings regarding confrontation of men and women. She adverted to this confrontation again and over again. Sandra Cisnero formulates the following thought: The only justification of novel is that the novel tries to express life (Chesla, p. 12).
In the novel she tries to discover the character and psychology of men and women. Sandra speaks about trivial things that are easy to understand. Esperanza Codero recollects an endless chain of moving from one poor district to the other. Finally her family moves into a new house on Mango Street. Esperanza compares the house of her dream with house on Mango Street. She dreams about special house with real stairs like in the movies, the large yard and running water with working pipes.
In contrast to her dreams, the new house is tiny and shabby. Esperanza focuses attention on the concept of home of her own and how important it is for her, as she doesnt have any privacy. After she moves to a new house she makes friends with two neighbor girls, Lucy and Rachel. They are on the brink of puberty; girls mature together and learn a lot of exciting things about life and boys. Although the girls still live in their own childish world, the older man kisses Esperanza at her first job. She enters a new stage of sexual growth.
The author describes how Esperanza suddenly likes the idea of sexual maturity. She likes to dance with boys, to chat with them and dreams about boys: Everything is holding its breath inside me. Everything is waiting to explode like Christmas. I want to be all new and shiny. I want to sit out bad at night, a boy around my neck and the wind under my skirt.
Not this way, every evening talking to the trees, leaning out my window, imagining what I can't see (Cisneros, p. 73). She starts to watch elder women in order to find our more about their mature life. The second half of The House on Mango Street presents us a collection of stories about older neighbor women. Later Esperanza makes friends with Sally. Sally is more experienced than Esperanza and has intimate relations with the boys. Later, Sally leaves Esperanza alone and Esperanza endures sexual assault.
by group of boys. Esperanza wants to escape from the house on Mango Street but feels responsibility for her family. She continues to write poems and stories and dreams about the moment she will be able to leave the house not only emotionally but physically one day in the future People who live on hills sleep so close to the stars they forget those of us who live too much on earth... One day I'll own my own house, but I won't forget who I am or where I came from (Cisneros, pp. 86 - 87) The novel describes Esperanza's life as she gains experience (sexual and emotional). Sandra describes how Esperanza endures sexual assault.
Esperanza doesnt blame the boys who did it. It seems, she completely agrees with cruel rules of society. Sandra Cisnero portrays Esperanza as a victim of discrimination. In the beginning of the novel, Esperanza wants to be beautiful and cruel and will act like a man (Cisnero, p. 88), trying to find self-expression. After she endures sexual assault, Esperanza re-examines her life values and takes wait-and-see attitude. Sandra Cisnero is deeply concerned with the matters she is writing about; she made her narration emotional, lively and easy to read, though The House on Mango Street raises important themes, it is not overfilled with formal language.
This book will be a good contribution to knowledge of those, who are interested in psychoanalysis and social- philosophical reflections. Cisneros prose, full of compound sharp-cut sentences and the analysis of emotional nuances of behavior, is able to make his readers dumbfounded. The House on Mango Street is one of such novels. The author hardly tries to draw a linking line between the life of Esperanza Codero and the sub-themes discussed in the book. Sandra Cisnero does not point out definite pitfalls of Mexican-American family; the book lacks on explanations, but abounds on questions.
And that is quite good for us, readers, as it makes ones mind work and produces ones point of view. The book also touches upon fundamental changes in believes and views of being a woman in patriarchal Hispanic society (Chesla, p. 25). Sandra Cisnero in her book tries to give readers an objective overview, neither worshiping nor blaming the men strongly, but leaving space for readers reflections. Some of critics blame Sandra Cisnero for not criticizing men more strongly. However, physical abuse, sexual harassment and violence was so ordinary for young Chicana woman that it would be strange to blame men for it. We know that lots of nations achieved liberties in the process of democratization and other historical changes.
As a result of these changes, world society created new possibilities for liquidation of women discrimination in all fields of social, cultural and political life. I am convinced that organic equity of the humankind, as well as the main equity between men and women reflects ideal model of modern society. As it is a complicated process nowadays, after women have achieved noticeable gains, there still exists certain inequality and division of gender roles, which is mostly noticeable in the social field. So it is still important, as it was in those days, to look into the reasons of such division and to trace the tendencies of the society's development concerning this issue. Such researches can be very helpful as they can assist to change quite an unpleasant situation that still exists in society. My dreams are closely related to principles of equity and liberties, expressed by Sandra Cisnero in The House on Mango Street.
I know that women discrimination is still alive both in political and social spheres of life in the modern society. My dreams are concerned with freedom so much, because I live in America. We know that America is often associated with freedom. Some historians and sociologists consider that American citizens built a great nation because they were neither limited by their government system, nor dependent on it. The interest of society depends on our liberal ideology on integrity, conscience, understanding of civil freedoms and their importance for nation. The US government respects sovereignty of individuals as well as their individual freedoms and I realize all importance of it.
I consider that all people are equal and have the same origin. They are born equal in their dignities and rights and are the integral part of the mankind. All people have right to be different, to have some distinctions and cannot be the subject of discrimination. Although there is an opinion that Art must not be political, the novel The House on Mango Street written by Sandra Cisnero is a brilliant attempt of criticism against womens discrimination. Sandra Cisnero tries to show all crying injustice as byword for iniquity and discrimination and appeals to justice. And the modern society should be based on the individualistic value of personal liberties: every man has equal rights.
This topic attracted Sandra Cisnero not only by vividness of contrasts and dramatic effects of situation. It was achieved through suffering according her own experience and was a component part of hidden drama in her life. Both because of peculiarities of his talent and character of literary interests as well as because of his biography, Sandra Cisnero seemed to be destined for the theme of discrimination of women. Bibliography Chesla, E. L. (1996). The House on Mango Street: Study Guide Text.
Piscataway, NJ: Research and Education Association Cisneros, S. (1984). The House on Mango Street. Contemporaries, New York
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Research essay sample on The House On Mango Street By Sandra Cisneros
