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Innocence In The House On Mango Street

868 Words4 Pages

The House on Mango Street, is a broad interpretation of a Hispanic girl’s life and her coming of age. Throughout the course of the book, Esperanza, the narrator and protagonist, is constantly fighting a war between her autonomous mind and her forever changing sexual body. You, Esperanza, whose name means hope in English, how did you lose your hope? Your innocence? Your purity? Esperanza, after exploring her changing world profoundly and deeply, experienced a series of psychological changes (changes in her maturity, intelligence, and including personal degradation associated with pubescent teenagers) as she encounters men whom loudly express the negative, masculine stereotypes constantly argued for by feminists. Cisneros uses multiple symbols, …show more content…

Even though she stated beforehand that she was “to show up tomorrow saying I was one year older” (54), the dress may of given off a different impression towards the oriental man she encounters on her first day. Blue can evoke intelligence and sophistication, and again a sense of loyalty and submission, something Esperanza clearly confirmed when unwillingly kissed the man. The essence of the chapter truly the loss of innocence, but the colour blue is linked with the common theme of young submission and ignorance. In the chapter, “Born Bad” (58-61), Esperanza is further exposed to the realities of death. Esperanza, in an innocent tangent to show her death-struck aunt an illustration from a book, is told that “I [Esperanza’s aunt] can’t see it, she said, I’m blind. And I was ashamed.” (60) Esperanza truly didn’t completely understand sickness until then. There’s an important reference to colour in the chapter; “her legs bunched under the yellow sheets...The yellow pillow, the yellow smell” (58) demonstrates the repeated usage of the colour yellow, which the author uses to evoke a notion of importance to the colour yellow. The colour yellow could be elucidated as a colour provoking fear (her aunt might of felt fear of confessing her condition to the kids (61)). In some regions of Mexico, bright, marigold yellow can be seen as a symbol of

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