the house on mango street- essay
For this essay I had to choose between two prompts to write about; the first was three woman who influenced Esperanza's life, and the second was explaining the three stages she went through to show her growth in confidence and maturity. I chose the second because, to me, it seemed more of a challenge. In the end, after lots and lots of corrections, I got a very good 92/100, or an A-, for my very first essay in high school. I felt satisfied with that but made the corrections asked by my teacher to present to you today.
Insecure and growing
George Santayana once said, “The wisest mind still has something left to learn.” This clearly states that everyone in the world, even the smartest of people, still have a much to learn. The main character, Esperanza, in the novella, House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, really emphasizes Santayana’s point. In Cisneros’s writing, Esperanza is a girl who lives in poverty and slowly grows in intelligence and confidence until she is strong enough to leave her barrio and follow her dreams. Despite Esperanza being trapped in her barrio by all the hate and degrading words others spew out, she continues to grow. Within that growth, Esperanza gains confidence. This allows her to use her writing to escape the wrath of Mango Street.
Throughout the beginning of the book, Esperanza is very immature and childlike because she is ashamed of the life she lives. An example of her insecurity is the following quote, “I’m her sister, says Rachel. Who are you? And I wish my name was Cassandra or Alexis or Maritza- anything but Esperanza- but I tell them, they don’t laugh” (Cisneros 15). Within this passage, Esperanza is meeting Rachel and Lucy for the very first time and wants to make a good first impression. She is insecure about her name and feels it is ugly and no one will like it. But she is being childish because Rachel and Lucy do not make fun of her. Despite the fact no one laughs at her name, Esperanza’s immaturity is repetitious throughout the first part of the book. Another example of her childlike ways is, “Everybody is laughing at me, because I am wearing the new dress, pink and white with stripes, and new underclothes and new socks and the same old saddle shoes I wear to school, brown and white, the kind I get every September because they last long and they do” (Cisneros 47). In this quote, Esperanza is nervous and fretful because she is wearing her school shoes that do not really compliment her dress. She is being ridiculous because despite the fact that no one is looking at her feet, she is still ashamed that she can not have fancy shoes to match. She is being childish and immature by caring so much about every little flaw that life brings her. Young and immature, Esperanza is ashamed of the life she leads through the beginning of the book.
As the book progresses, Esperanza’s insecurity begins to decrease and is slowly replaced with confidence and maturity. One example of this is, “My uncle and me bow and he walks me back to my mother who is proud to be my mother. All night the boy who is a man watches me. He watched me dance” (Cisneros 48). In this part of the book, Esperanza is finally letting go of the fact that she might not have the best shoes and goes dancing with her uncle. She shows a lack of insecurity, in this vignette, because she just lets go of her worries and actually has fun. Plus, she starts to notice that boys could actually be attracted to her as well. Indeed, she begins to gain confidence with them as well as herself. In fact, Esperanza says, “I had to look back hard. Just once, like he was glass. And I did. I did once. But I looked too long when he rode his bike past me. I looked because I wanted to be brave, straight into the dusty cat fur of his eyes and the bike stopped and he bumped into a parked car, bumped and I walked fast" (Cisneros 73). In this quote, Esperanza has noticed a somewhat attractive boy that stares at her a lot, so she decides to stare back. The boy, who gets plenty of girls in his lifetime, has never been stared at with such intensity and gets startled so he crashes, into a parked car. This shows that Esperanza is gaining confidence and maturity because she is forcing herself to do something she normally would be frightened to do. Therefore it is obvious that Esperanza is trusting her instincts more than worrying if she will look desperate or not smart. Throughout the book, Esperanza's maturity and confidence grows as she begins to trust herself more.
Finally, Esperanza has grown fully in maturity and confidence. She now feels proud to be
herself. An example of this is, “What’s your name, the cat-eyed one asked. Esperanza, I said. Esperanza, the old blue-veined one repeated in a high thin voice. Esperanza..... a good good name” (Cisneros 104). In this quote, Esperanza is talking to three old women at a funeral. The Three Sisters, she calls them. This is a great example of her newly found confidence because, unlike the beginning of the book, where she is too nervous to even tell people her name, she says “Esperanza” without hesitation, maybe even with pride. She no longer cares about others’ opinions on that particular factor of her life. It seems that other people’s opinions are no longer capable of holding Esperanza back from her dreams. Near the end of the book, she says, “One day I will pack my bags of books and paper. One day I will say goodbye to Mango. I am too strong for her to keep me here forever. One day, I will go away” (Cisneros 110). In this passage, Esperanza is explaining how she is planning to leave Mango Street. She finally realizes her full potential and understands how much power and influence she has really acquired. Esperanza is at the point in her life where she will never again be that sad little insecure girl who was once worried about her shoes not matching her dress. She has grown into a fully confident woman and knows she has the power to leave Mango Street.
Esperanza works so hard against the sadness of her barrio on Mango Street. Her progression throughout the novella clearly shows her maturity, growth and how she is now able to escape poverty’s clenched fingers. As her life on Mango begins, Esperanza is obviously worried after witnessing the mistakes made by people close to her. She lets their expressions affect her and she feels insecure about the ability to escape the same poor lifestyle. However, as she grows older, she slowly begins to gain confidence. By the end of her story, she feels proud of the influence the other people have had on her life. Esperanza finally realizes her part in the world and vows to come back to help all her old friends who need her. Everyone who reads this book should take in all that Esperanza has done and apply it to their own lives. Even though she is poor and lives in the shadows of everyone else’s sad lives, she still manages to rise above her problems, just like everyone else in the world should do.
Work Cited
Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street. New York: Vintage Books, 1991.
Throughout the beginning of the book, Esperanza is very immature and childlike because she is ashamed of the life she lives. An example of her insecurity is the following quote, “I’m her sister, says Rachel. Who are you? And I wish my name was Cassandra or Alexis or Maritza- anything but Esperanza- but I tell them, they don’t laugh” (Cisneros 15). Within this passage, Esperanza is meeting Rachel and Lucy for the very first time and wants to make a good first impression. She is insecure about her name and feels it is ugly and no one will like it. But she is being childish because Rachel and Lucy do not make fun of her. Despite the fact no one laughs at her name, Esperanza’s immaturity is repetitious throughout the first part of the book. Another example of her childlike ways is, “Everybody is laughing at me, because I am wearing the new dress, pink and white with stripes, and new underclothes and new socks and the same old saddle shoes I wear to school, brown and white, the kind I get every September because they last long and they do” (Cisneros 47). In this quote, Esperanza is nervous and fretful because she is wearing her school shoes that do not really compliment her dress. She is being ridiculous because despite the fact that no one is looking at her feet, she is still ashamed that she can not have fancy shoes to match. She is being childish and immature by caring so much about every little flaw that life brings her. Young and immature, Esperanza is ashamed of the life she leads through the beginning of the book.
As the book progresses, Esperanza’s insecurity begins to decrease and is slowly replaced with confidence and maturity. One example of this is, “My uncle and me bow and he walks me back to my mother who is proud to be my mother. All night the boy who is a man watches me. He watched me dance” (Cisneros 48). In this part of the book, Esperanza is finally letting go of the fact that she might not have the best shoes and goes dancing with her uncle. She shows a lack of insecurity, in this vignette, because she just lets go of her worries and actually has fun. Plus, she starts to notice that boys could actually be attracted to her as well. Indeed, she begins to gain confidence with them as well as herself. In fact, Esperanza says, “I had to look back hard. Just once, like he was glass. And I did. I did once. But I looked too long when he rode his bike past me. I looked because I wanted to be brave, straight into the dusty cat fur of his eyes and the bike stopped and he bumped into a parked car, bumped and I walked fast" (Cisneros 73). In this quote, Esperanza has noticed a somewhat attractive boy that stares at her a lot, so she decides to stare back. The boy, who gets plenty of girls in his lifetime, has never been stared at with such intensity and gets startled so he crashes, into a parked car. This shows that Esperanza is gaining confidence and maturity because she is forcing herself to do something she normally would be frightened to do. Therefore it is obvious that Esperanza is trusting her instincts more than worrying if she will look desperate or not smart. Throughout the book, Esperanza's maturity and confidence grows as she begins to trust herself more.
Finally, Esperanza has grown fully in maturity and confidence. She now feels proud to be
herself. An example of this is, “What’s your name, the cat-eyed one asked. Esperanza, I said. Esperanza, the old blue-veined one repeated in a high thin voice. Esperanza..... a good good name” (Cisneros 104). In this quote, Esperanza is talking to three old women at a funeral. The Three Sisters, she calls them. This is a great example of her newly found confidence because, unlike the beginning of the book, where she is too nervous to even tell people her name, she says “Esperanza” without hesitation, maybe even with pride. She no longer cares about others’ opinions on that particular factor of her life. It seems that other people’s opinions are no longer capable of holding Esperanza back from her dreams. Near the end of the book, she says, “One day I will pack my bags of books and paper. One day I will say goodbye to Mango. I am too strong for her to keep me here forever. One day, I will go away” (Cisneros 110). In this passage, Esperanza is explaining how she is planning to leave Mango Street. She finally realizes her full potential and understands how much power and influence she has really acquired. Esperanza is at the point in her life where she will never again be that sad little insecure girl who was once worried about her shoes not matching her dress. She has grown into a fully confident woman and knows she has the power to leave Mango Street.
Esperanza works so hard against the sadness of her barrio on Mango Street. Her progression throughout the novella clearly shows her maturity, growth and how she is now able to escape poverty’s clenched fingers. As her life on Mango begins, Esperanza is obviously worried after witnessing the mistakes made by people close to her. She lets their expressions affect her and she feels insecure about the ability to escape the same poor lifestyle. However, as she grows older, she slowly begins to gain confidence. By the end of her story, she feels proud of the influence the other people have had on her life. Esperanza finally realizes her part in the world and vows to come back to help all her old friends who need her. Everyone who reads this book should take in all that Esperanza has done and apply it to their own lives. Even though she is poor and lives in the shadows of everyone else’s sad lives, she still manages to rise above her problems, just like everyone else in the world should do.
Work Cited
Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street. New York: Vintage Books, 1991.