House On Mango Street Influences

According to Merriam Webster, a novella is an Italian term, which derives from the word “novel,” and means a short novel or long short story. There are numerous novellas in the world of literature; some significant examples include Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. A theme of “influences” is displayed throughout these novellas and can influence our perspective on life. Another popular high school novella is Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street, where protagonist, Esperanza Cordero encounters multiple characters, such as Sally, Sire, and Nenny, who help influence her life in both negative and positive ways.
Sally is a significant character who Esperanza meets during the course of the story. She is Esperanza's friend from school who impacts her negatively. Sally gets Esperanza raped by two red clowns, since she feeds Esperanza false information. Sally exposes Esperanza to negative situations that should not happen. Esperanza explains, "Sally, you lied. It wasn't what you said at all. What he did. Where he touched me. I didn't want it, Sally." (Cisneros, 99). In addition, Sally acts incredibly different in school than at home. During school, she yearns to be the most popular student, so

The characters Sally and Sire try to peer pressure Esperanza, while Nenny looks up to Esperanza as more of a role model. Unfortunately, Sally gets Esperanza assaulted by two red clowns, since she tells her dishonest information. Additionally, Sire causes a lot of trouble as a teenager, which makes him become a bad choice as Esperanza's crush. Ultimately, Nenny is one of the few characters who helps Esperanza develop into a optimistic character by making Esperanza aware of her own actions, so Nenny doesn't learn after