Change In The House On Mango Street

According to the Census Bureau statistic, did you know that the dropout rate for Latinas ages 16 to 24 is 30 percent, compared with 12.9 percent for blacks and 8.2 percent for whites? The culture in the novel that we read believed that women need to get married and stay at home rather than be in school and become something greater than a housekeeper or just a stay-at-home mom. This essay will be talking about how our main character Esperanza has changed or evolved by the usage of words in the novel and Esperanza’s actions. In The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, Esperanza starts out as a weak person who only knows what the community says or teaches, and progresses as life moves on and becomes a much stronger individual, which is shown

In the vignette called “Beautiful and Cruel” talks about how Esperanza sees her sister as a pretty girl who will find a husband without a problem, but that she herself feels like an ugly daughter - who doesn’t want to be tamed by a man because she wants to live freely and not be captivated in a house. She is starting to become strong and different from her community and we see this by her saying, “I have decided not to grow up tame like the others who lay their necks on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain” (88). Esperanza is saying that she doesn’t want to wait around for a man to pick her up like the other girls want, but instead she wants to be a strong and independent women. Another example where Esperanza’s views change due to an experience is in the vignette “Red Clowns.” In this vignette it explains to us a sexual encounter that Esperanza had, but she said it was nothing like the movies or books said it would be - we realize at the end that she was most likely raped. In this vignette the author Cisneros uses diction to describe how Esperanza felt. The word choice of “dark” tells us that Esperanza didn’t like what happened and felt mistreated and harassed (100). The final example where Esperanza shows her strength through her actions is in a vignette called “Mango Says Goodbye Sometimes.” Esperanza says, “They will not know I have gone away to come back. For the ones I left behind. For the ones who cannot out (110). In this quote Esperanza is saying that she will leave Mango Street and the way the community sees life, and she will come back to help those that weren’t able to make it out and life differently. This part is very important because Esperanza is finally changing into a new person who believes differently and wants to help those who are brainwashed to an idea that the community came up with. I chose these three vignettes because they all have a