The house on Mango Street
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, the essay must answer the prompt. must cite specific examples from the novella in the response.
– please see the attached for the prompt and rubric included. just incase : here is the prompt
– Respond to the following in the form of a short essay. the essay should consist of at least five paragraphs.
– Compare and contrast Esperanza and the other women of The House on Mango Street. In your response, describe Esperanza’s character and demonstrate how she is similar to and different from the other women in the novella. Then, explain why Esperanza, unlike other women in the story, is able to avoid the pitfalls of her environment.
– Cite specific examples from the novella in your response. Use the notes you take and the questions you answer in the Student Guide to help you formulate your response.
ANSWER
Esperanza in the House on Mango Street
The House on Mango Street has covered a year in the life of Esperanza who is young Chicana girl who lived in an impoverished Chicago neighborhood with her family; parents and three siblings. Esperanza described how her own family was living at the house on Mango Street (Rodríguez, 2019). They moved into the house after a pipe broke in their previous house and the landlord failed to repair. Before moving into the house the family has moved around for a long period. The family was dreaming of a white house with bathrooms and lots of space but the house on Mango Street was only one bathroom and one bedroom.
Esperanza stated that this was not the house that she envisioned despite the fact that her parents said that they were living here temporarily. However, compared to the previous house, the House on Mango Street was better compared to the previous houses. The family owned the house which means they were no longer subjects to landlords and at the old houses Esperanza was ashamed about where they lived. The House on Mango Street was better but Esperanza ever wanted to be associated with the house.
Esperanza and the other women of The House on Mango Street
Esperanza begins to see things in a different angle as she matures. She evolves from an insecure girl to a mature girl through her challenging life experiences and the people that she came across. It’s through her experiences and personal encounters where Esperanza begins to accept her place, becomes sexually aware and has a self-definition in her community (Rodríguez, 2019). Esperanza meets many people in Mango Street including women that are stuck in difficult situation than she is.
Women in Mango Street are experience the ill impacts of their restricted opportunities. Rafaela and Sally are good examples of females that are trying to escape from their awful condition. Esperanza becomes friends with Lucy, Sally and Rachel. Esperanza and Sally are the same age but are more developed than Rachel and Lucy. Sally utilizes men to try escape the damaging experiences of her father. Esperanza came to reality with the domestic violence that most women faced in Mango Street but did not allow this to be part of her life or future.
Women had limited freedom and were humiliated by men. For instance, Rafaela shows how spouses would limited the freedom of their wives. Troubled with this condition, Rafaela wishes that she could approach the issue of freedom. As compared to other women in Mango Street, Esperanza feels that she is rock-solid, making it challenging to live in the neighborhood (Rodríguez, 2019). Females in Mango Street have been portrayed as dependent individuals who are wooed into their destiny. Esperanza finds Women in Mango Street as woeful and vow not to take the path that each of her friends and women has taken.
Esperanza has a strong ambition to leave Mango Street as compared to other girls. She feels that she has to leave Mango Street to find her dreams. She is confident enough and thinks ambitiously regardless of the limitations and environment. The strong ambition helps her find her identity and grow as a solid willed young lady. Esperanza wants to eliminate the stereotypical role of females in her family and the neighborhood (Houjuan, 2018). For instance, she focuses on having her own house rather than looking for comfort or being reliant on someone. Esperanza struggles to define her femininity in the society that is oppressive to women. She seeks a novel form of feminine power, one that will enable her to maintain her independence.
One of the similarities of Esperanza with other females in the Mango Street is that Esperanza represents other females of her impoverished and poor neighborhood who would like to better themselves and change their lifestyle. Esperanza like other females in Mango Street have been contained by the patriarchal society that devalues women and makes them inferior and submissive. Most girls in the Mango Street were limited to housework, finding a man to marry but many times were not happy due to abuses from their husbands. However, unlike other women, Esperanza has a family base that empowers her to seek better life and a promising future. Esperanza’s family base is peaceful, thus doesn’t suffer from physical and psychological violence which strengthens her to pursue beneficial and specific goals.
Most of the women in the Mango Street have been imprisoned by family ties and marriages. By marrying someone, the society within Mango Street believes that a woman should be submissive to the husband and that they should give up all their control and power over their life to their men. For instance, one of the neighbors of Esperanza, Minerva, despite being same age she is married and has trouble with his husband who keeps leaving. Most women sit down by the window to look at their lives pass them by since they are trapped and can only access the world they could be part of through the window.
Esperanza has an autonomy of marriage and sexuality hoping that she will break the cycle of life and daily experiences of women in her neighborhood and family. In the Book, Esperanza meets Marin who they share the same dream and sees Marin as a role model of beauty as she tries to figure out her own body. They all want to leave Mango Street and all that matters to them is for the boys to see them. This made Esperanza distant herself from other girls. One of the most outstanding character of Esperanza is her independence.
Esperanza grew up as an independent young woman which was different from all other women in the House of Mango Street and the neighborhood (Houjuan, 2018). Women were dependent on the men while Esperanza grew through her own hard work. She worked so hard to be a strong independent woman which helped her to overcome the monotony that most females faced while residing in Mango Street.
Esperanza is confident and has a true personality and identity to the word. She is different from other women’s opinions and ignores negative energy. Esperanza shows maturity to make her own life choices and is confident enough to know where she wants her life to be. Esperanza can be described as determined, empathetic and resourceful. She is keen on learning the ways of the world. She does not want to belong to the poor and impoverished neighborhood.
The House on Mango Street shows how women face various challenges in their lives. Women face objectification, abuse and oppression. They are subjects to societal responsibilities that deter them from being successful and free. Esperanza unlike other women in the story is able to avoid the pitfalls of Mango Street through confidence and strong ambition have a better life. After staying in the neighborhood, Esperanza realizes that she does not want to be like other women who sit in their restricted life as they stare out of the window and to get freedom. She feels a disconnection between her life and reality which makes her get through different changes in search of self-reliance, independence and identity (Houjuan, 2018). Esperanza believes that she is strong enough to escape the hardship of Mango Street which makes her different from other women.
In summation, the House on Mango Street covers the story of a young girl, Esperanza living in a poor neighborhood where women are inferior. Among of the challenges in living within the neighborhood as a woman is abuse, discrimination and oppression. Esperanza realizes that she is stronger than other women and does not feel like she belongs to Mango Street. Esperanza’s character shows that she has a strong ambition, confident, identity and independent which gives her the strength to overcome challenges that most women are facing in Mango Street.
References
Houjuan, Z. H. O. U. (2018). Under Gaze: Pursuit of Women Identity in The House on Mango Street. Studies in Literature and Language, 16(3), 19-22.
Rodríguez, S. A. (2019). More Than Esperanza: Revisiting Sandra Cisneros’s The House on Mango Street. In Critical Explorations of Young Adult Literature (pp. 152-167). Routledge.
