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House On Mango Street Patriarchy Analysis

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In the history of the world patriarchy has always been present in people’s lives. Patriarchy by definition is a system of society or government in which the father or eldest male is head of the family and descent is traced through the male line. It can also be classified as a system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it. In the novels The House on Mango Street, Catcher in the Rye and White Girl female characters experience patriarchy in a few different ways. While the characters Sally (House on Mango Street) and Sunny (Catcher in the Rye) live their lives controlled by men to impress and to satisfy them, Martin’s mother (Grandma) changes the frequent patriarchal role to a matriarchal role in the novel White Girl and she shows who is in charge and does not let any man or anyone take control of her. In the House on Mango Street, Sally is a beautiful bombshell and …show more content…

In one scene, Holden is very exhausted from his day and that night he gets offered a prostitute from the elevator operator at the hotel he is staying in. To summarize, Holden gets beat up because he decides to not have any sexual relations with her and he did not pay her the price she wanted. Prostitution and Patriarchy are definitely connected. At a young age Sunny is making a living out of needing to impress and satisfy men. If Sunny needs a job and this is the only job available for Sunny then she is almost forced by men to impress and satisfy them. This is why prostitution is linked with the patriarchy because it makes males in charge, controlling her. Below the surface, Sunny’s experiences as a prostitute at such a young age may result for her mind to be set that males have control over her not only for her work, but in daily life. As mentioned, this will result in a fixed mindset of males are superior to

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295 Words | 2 Pages

The House on Mango Street recounts many disturbing violent stories. One of the most notorious characters is Sally. She is a beautiful girl who is maltreated by her father. Sally’s conduct is not decorous. She likes to be surrounded by boys and she has a promiscuous attitude (Kuribayashi, and Julie).

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562 Words | 3 Pages

She is a Puerto Rican girl that wants “someone to change her life” and spends her days babysitting at her house (27). Esperanza gets the idea of marrying a rich man to get out of Mango Street. Marin also tells her about boys “is for the boys to see us and for us to see them” (27). These two ideas Marin shared with Esperanza shows how she can leave Mango Street and live a better life. To conclude, Sally, Mom, and Marin are the three most influential characters in the novel The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros for opening abusive relationships, staying in school for the better, and leaving poverty by marrying a rich man to the main character

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497 Words | 2 Pages

Esperanza’s house on Mango Street is not the house she dreamed on when she lived on Loomis Street, not the kind of house her parent’s talked about, not the house she wanted. Her house on Mango Street is a small, red house with even smaller stairs leading to the door. The brick are falling out of place and to get inside, one must shove the door, swollen like Esperanza’s feet in later vignettes, open. Once inside, where you are never very far from someone else, there are small hallway stairs that lead to the only one shared bedroom and bathroom. This house is just, “For the time being,”[5] Esperanza claims, for this is nothing like the house she longs for.

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1002 Words | 5 Pages

Obstacles Numerous people stumble upon obstacles, but only a few can overcome them. Most obstacles are influenced by the values of the society. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Liesel Meminger overcomes her lack of education and her different beliefs on Jewish people. In Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet both overcome the obstacle of not being able to be together because of the feud between their families. In “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros, Esperanza overcomes the obstacle of not fitting into her society because of her lack of money.

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1240 Words | 5 Pages

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is a story of a young Mexican girl growing up in the United States. Her name is Esperanza, and the novel takes the reader into her mind and heart as she reminisces about her childhood and what she hoped for in her future. Throughout the novel, Cisneros uses various symbols to highlight the inner conflicts within Esperanza. One of those symbols is shoes. Cisneros uses shoes symbolically throughout the novel to represent parts of Esperanza’s thoughts, emotions, and dreams as she undergoes a transformation from childhood innocence to the realities of adulthood.

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1204 Words | 5 Pages

Many girls desire a female role model from a young age. The way these women are treated, and deal with this treatment can heavily impact the way young girls view themselves, and their future as well. Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street brings attention to issues of sexism and gender roles. This is done through a series of vignettes about the main character Esperanza navigating life by the example of her many role models. Each role model impacts Esperanza in a special way, Sally who is married at 13, Marin who is waiting to be rescued by a man, and Alicia who is balancing school and home responsibilities.

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575 Words | 3 Pages

Societal expectations are a part of everyone’s life, male or female. From the day people are born, there are roles they are expected to assume-- wife, homemaker, father, provider, mother and many others. While these aren’t necessarily negative, the stigma of not fulfilling these roles can be unpleasant. While the roles we are supposed to choose aren’t always clearly defined, the judgement that comes from choosing to take certain actions in life, like settling down or becoming a mother is palpable. Throughout The House on Mango Street, Esperanza’s view of the world is largely shaped by the people around her, which are her neighbors, family, and friends.

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893 Words | 4 Pages

Beauty is a very powerful and prominent thing. It’s what makes you get out of bed in the mornings and makes the world go round. Despite all that, there are some negatives of it as well. “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros gives a window back in time to a point where a little girl named Esperanza grows up on the streets of Chicago. Through the numerous rapes, abusive relationships, and the absence of respect for women, Cisneros portrays a theme that beauty is a double edged sword through the characters Esperanza and Sally.

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1076 Words | 5 Pages

He sees sex as something that is corrupting and that it would taint his innocence. His fear of sexual intimacy is a sign of his reluctance to enter the adult world. Bloom concludes, “Thus, it is no surprise that Holden does not avail himself of Sunny's proffered services. For Holden, the entire scenario becomes lurid and intensely lonely” (6). Holden hires Sunny but after her arrival, Holden becomes uncomfortable with the situation and feels a sense of shame and disgust.

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1587 Words | 7 Pages

The feminist theory is based on finding and exposing negative attitudes toward women in literature. Their goal is to reveal the reality of how women get portrayed in literature due to the fact that most literature presents an inaccurate view of women and are most of the time minimized. In the Catcher in the Rye there is a few female characters such as Sunny, the girls at the club, and Sally who are put in situations that show nothing but stereotypes and puts them in a bad spot throughout the novel. J.D Salinger decides to put some of the female characters in situations that can cause those who read this novel to think bad or leave readers with a bad image of women. This bad image on women is due to the fact that he decided to portray some of

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879 Words | 4 Pages

Prostitution is a widely recognized topic, anyone and anywhere can get involved into this line of work with just one thing, themselves. Do the men, women and children really have a choice whether or not they want to use their bodies to earn a living? Or are they forced by outside influences that make them have no other choice. Preliminary research covered numerous topics about prostitution; When the victims started and why they started was not uncovered by these findings. There have not been a sufficient interviews with these subjects to

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1476 Words | 6 Pages

In Mexican American society , women are deemed inferior to men, evident in traditional family roles, the male is the head of the family who provides for the family , while the woman stays at home to look after the children she is expected to provide for her husband . In the third vignette of ‘The House on Mango Street’ titled ‘Boys and Girls’ the reader is informed of the division between men and women when Esperanza refers to herself and her sister Nenny , and her brothers, “They’ve got plenty to say to me and Nenny inside the house. But outside they can’t be seen talking to girls”. The male dominance begins at a very young age.

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1212 Words | 5 Pages

“That’s the problem with the world, too many people grow up.” – Walt Disney. Growing up quickly is a dream for many girls. They will make countless attempts in hopes of becoming a woman faster. In Sandra Cisneros’s, The House on Mango Street, Esperanza becomes one of those girls who spends all of their precious time trying to grow up quickly.

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1173 Words | 5 Pages

“No, this isn’t my house I say and shake my head as if shaking could undo the year I’ve lived here (Cisneros 106).” This quote shows Esperanza’s unwillingness of accepting her poor neighbourhood because of the violence and inequality that has happened in it. In the House on Mango Street, the author, Sandra Cisneros, shows that there is a direct link between inequality, violence and poverty. The House on Mango Street shows women are held back by the inequalities that they face. Cisneros shows that racism prevents individuals from receiving job opportunities which leads to poverty and violence.

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1687 Words | 7 Pages

Over the years there have been many controversial ethical issues which are still debated in the 21st century. In today’s modern society one such controversial issue is prostitution. Prostitution can be defined as “The act or practice of engaging in sexual intercourse for money” (Deigh, 2010, p.29). Prostitution is the oldest profession of all. However the ethics of prostitution is still unclear between many societies.

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