The House On Mango Street Essays (595 words) - Chicano Literature

The House On Mango Street The House on Mango Street By Sandra Cisneros The main character's name is Esperanza. She is only about thirteen and is telling the story of her life on Mango Street. Esperanza is definitely a dynamic character. In the beginning of the story she does not like their new house on Mango Street or it's surrounding. But as the story progresses she learns to be more grateful for what she has. In one short story of her experiences, she describes how she had to walk home everyday for lunch and how she wished she could eat in the canteen with the other kids. She goes home after school and begs her mom to pack her a lunch and write a note so she can eat with the other kids. After eating in the canteen with her packed lunch she realizes it's not all it's cracked up to be and continues to eat at home with her family. The story is written as a child would think. Esperanza describes things in a way unlike the way you or I would. In one part of the story Esperanza describes a woman with pink shoes as soft as a rabbit's ear and green perfume. It may sound a little awkward to us but in her mind it makes sense. This kind of writing interests me because it is almost like solving a puzzle. While reading I had think simple and try not to make what she said too complex. One conflict presented in this book was when Esperanza and her two friends got three pairs of high heels and wore them around town. Their parents said not to wear the shoes because all they would do is cause trouble. But, they wore them anyway. While walking down the street a bum asks her friend Rachel to come closer. She does and then the bum tells her she is very beautiful and asks if he can have a kiss for a dollar. The girls are frightened and run away. And no matter how much each of the girls loved their shoes they all decided to never wear them again. The major theme of this novel is growing up. Basically the book is about the memories of a young girl living with her family and the experiences she goes through. Cisneros wrote: I make a story for my life, for each step my brown shoe takes. I say, ?And so she trudged up the wooden stairs, her sad brown shoes taking her to the house she never liked.? This passage show me that the author is a lot like the little girl in the story and that they both like to tell stories. I feel that there are many well-written and interesting parts of this story. ?Only a house quiet as snow, a place for myself to go, clean as a paper before a poem.? I found that sentence to be very well written and poetic. I enjoyed the part where she wrote, ?Esperanza as Lisandra or Maritza or Zeze the X. Yes. Something like Zeze the X.? In this part of the story Esperanza I thinking of changing her name and I thought it was interesting that she thought of ?Zeze the X?. I also enjoyed the part when Esperanza and her two friends, Rachel and Lucy bought a bicycle and they all decided to ride it at the same time. ?A very fat lady crossing the street says, You sure got quite a load there. Rachel shouts, You got quite a load there too.? Book Reports