Comparing Esperanza And The House On Mango Street By Sandra Cineros

Two young girls, two time zones, two environments with two complete different stories, yet by walking through the path full of similar struggles, both girls lead up to one goal : proving themselves among their people. Esperanza Cordero, a Mexican-American young girl living in a poor Chicago neighbourhood, from The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cineros, faces many struggles due to her underprivileged family backgrounds, cultures and traditions, and her fate of being a girl in a neighbourhood full of gender inequality. She longs to be independent and hopes to bring her people towards a better nation with a higher social status. With similar goals, Paikea Apirana, a Maori descendent who settles in the rural part of New Zeland, from Whale Rider

Esperanza lives in a poor, shabby neighbourhood and comes from a family with scanty wages. She feels ashamed of her ‘home’ with all the judgemental comments going on in the environment. “You live there? The way she said it made me feel like nothing. There. I lived there. I nodded” - pg.5. Esperanza has a low social status because she is poor and struggles to stand up for herself in her community. It was harder for Esperanza to strive for the independence and a higher ranking that she has wanted. She was looked down at by people even more because of her family background. In her community, as a girl to have higher ranking or status, with the additional problem of her being from a poor family, it is hard for Esperanza. She has to endure many conflicts and stay determined. On the other side of the world, Paikea, being the descendent of the Maori, has a better social status and has more respect that Esperanza does. Although she is the descendent, being born a girl, she was not shown much appreciation and love by Koro. In the tradition of boys being the leader, Paikea was born with a twin brother, who died and took the mother with him. It disappointed many people because they had expectations. Koro was very unhappy about the situation and didn't like Paikea for that. ““I told you to take her away” Paikea being a girl means that she will not be the leader of the Maori people, someone who the rest of the

In Esperanza’s community, when women get married to men, they usually end up getting locked up in a room and have to watch the world from a small window. But it was a strong belief of escape for young women. “Sally says she likes being married because now she gets to buy her own things when her husband gives her money. She is happy, except sometimes her husband gets angry and once he broke the door where his foot went through, though most days he is okay. Except he won't let her talk on the telephone. And he doesn't let her look out the window.” - Chapter 40. Men were way more superior than women in Esperanza’s case. Esperanza, not wanting to be one of the women who end up in a locked room, has to make something useful of herself so that she can stand upon her feet in the future and be independent. Despite Esperanza living in an environment where the belief of getting into a marriage is the only way women to get their lives figured out, she chose to not do that and chose to be independent. She surely went through some troubles that she has no control over, such as being raped by the boys while she was waiting for Sally. “Sally, you lied. It wasn't what you said at all. What he did. Where he touched me. I didn't want it, Sally. The way they said it, the way it's supposed to be, all the storybooks and movies, why did you lie to me?” - Chapter 39. No one came to