House On Mango Street Writing

"My writing is often a way of 'bearing witness' for others who lack the education and the opportunity to tell their own stories, so I hope that my writing won't be affected too much by my personal life" -Joyce Carol Oates. Joyce says that writing is her way of showing that things are true to those who lack education and then opportunity to tell their stories, so she hopes that anyone who reads her writing can understand because it is sometimes affected by her personal life. Writing is her way of helping others that can't find out things for themselves, making herself more open to others, and being a free writer. In the novel, The House On Mango Street By Sandra Cisneros, the main character is a girl named Esperanza who also writes, but she

For example, after Esperanza read her aunt Guadeloupe one of her poems she told her, "You just keep writing, Esperanza. You must keep writing. It will keep you free" (p 61). Other people tell Esperanza that writing can keep her free, and that she must continue to write. Other people see her as someone who can write and be free from the problems everyone else has to face. In addition, Esperanza's mom told her, "Esperanza, you go to school. Study hard. Look at my comadres. She means Izaura whose husband left and Yolanda whose husband is dead. Got to take care all your own, she says shaking her head" (p 91). When you have the right education you can be independent. You have to have the right education and knowledge in case something happens and you have to take care of yourself all on your own. In addition, when Esperanza was saying about how she likes to tell stories she said, "I put it down on paper and then the ghost doesn't ache so much. I write it down and Mango says goodbye sometimes. She does not hold me with both arms. She sets me free" (p 110). When Esperanza writes she feels less pain and feels free, not trapped. Esperanza felt different living in a place where she didn't belong, where nothing was that great; Esperanza's only way to feel better was to write of all the things that happened.