ipl-logo

Rosa Vargas Family In Sandra Cisneros's The House On Mango Street

899 Words4 Pages

The Story of the Vargas Family “Rosa Vargas’ kids are too many and too much. It’s not her fault, you know, except she is their mother and only one against so many” (Cisneros 29). In the novel The House on Mango Street, the author, Sandra Cisneros, touches on the many negative consequences of a single, impoverished mother raising an overwhelming amount of children. Poverty, discrimination, parental and neighborly responsibility, and respect are all issues and social forces that act upon the family; their presence or lack thereof cause several grisly occurrences to take place. Poverty was almost like a curse given to Rosa Vargas by her husband, who “left without even leaving a dollar for bologna or a note explaining how come” (29). Many women today with young children are forced to take care of their families as single mothers without the support of the father. These women are often too busy taking care of the children to find a job. The fact that Rosa is a Hispanic affects her ability to find a job as well. Even if she did have the time, her ethnicity and gender would be cause for discrimination. American employers at …show more content…

There are countless families with impoverished, single mothers with many children of a minority race that are discriminated against. Especially around the 50s and 60s when the novel is set, immigrant women did not have high chances of being hired for a stable enough job to support their family. This then causes the mother to grow tired and weary, too drained to take care of their children like they should. After a while, the neighbors stop caring and ignore them rather than help them, and the children run about without any care for the consequences of their actions. Some of these consequences aren’t that bad; however, in cases like the Vargases’, the lack of proper supervision, guidance, and care can lead to horrible occurrences like the death of a

Show More
Related
1211 Words | 5 Pages

In the mid-1990’s, Sandra Cisneros bought a house in the historic King William neighborhood of San Antonio, Texas. She made improvements to her home and painted it purple to reflect her Tejano heritage.   However, her neighbors felt that the purple did not abide by the housing regulations of the neighborhood and petitioned the local commission to force Cisneros to change the color. I believe Sandra Cisneros should be able to keep her house purple.

Read More
732 Words | 3 Pages

Although there are a variety of characters throughout literature that have made sacrifices that expose their values, none of them come close in comparison to the sacrifices of Esperanza in Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street. The consistent sacrifices displayed through Esperanza’s self-image, innocence, and cynicism express the struggles and desire for feminine individuality and respect that begin for many in childhood and dissolve into adulthood. Not only does Esperanza display these sacrifices constantly throughout the novel, the author’s use of her character as a beacon of catharsis to the reader symbolically represents the majority of women. Much like other women, Esperanza constantly tries to find herself throughout her own sacrifices,

Read More
620 Words | 3 Pages

There are many aspects of life which we desire such as materialistic desires and happiness. Among the things that we desire, freedom is the most abstract and indispensable one. In The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, Esperanza, the main character, struggles trying to escape from poverty and getting restricted by men. From Esperanza trying to get out of Mango Street by education, to Esperanza’s mom giving up education, to Sally escaping from her dad by marrying a man, Cisneros suggests that only independence can offer a better life and freedom. Alicia and Esperanza are the only characters in the book who hope to find freedom through writing.

Read More
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.

Read More
876 Words | 4 Pages

Everyone is affected by life’s circumstances. The responses to those experiences can have a positive or negative outcome in one’s future. In Sandra Cisneros's The House on Mango Street, the protagonist, Esperanza, gives us her views on life, how she views herself, and she views her future. Not only does she give her perspective throughout the story, she tells us of the numerous experiences that she grows through. These experiences have an impact on her, creating new emotions and new adult like perspectives she has never faced before.

Read More
437 Words | 2 Pages

The House on Mango Street is set in a poor, primarily Hispanic neighborhood. Author Sandra Cisneros creates an atypical, yet easily digestible world for the reader to experience while learning about Esperanza’s childhood. The culture of her environment influences Esperanza’s development as she becomes a young woman, and contributes to the book’s driving theme of self-empowerment. Mango Street is the source of Esperanza’s growth through her childhood, and it hides sadness and longing underneath stereotypes of Hispanic people. The characters that live in the broken-down neighborhood all seem to represent pigeonholed views of Latino individuals.

Read More
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.

Read More
257 Words | 2 Pages

Sandra Cisneros My essay is on Sandra Cisneros. Sandra Cisneros was born December 20, 1954. She is 60 years old. She was born in Chicago IL.

Read More
320 Words | 2 Pages

In the House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, Esperanza suffers with insecurities within herself and her race. Racism has always been an issue in all different types of races no matter the location and no matter the circumstances. Anyone who would come into Esperanza’s community would be frightened because of their

Read More
766 Words | 4 Pages

In Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street, the character of Mamacita has the strongest ties to her home she left, and perhaps the strongest desire to escape from Mango Street and return home. Mamacita is a woman with a husband and child, who moved to Chicago from a latin american country. She is somewhat overweight, doesn’t know much English, and stays mostly in her apartment for unknown reasons, singing songs from her native country and crying. Her husband fights with Mamacita, often over her desire to return, and her child is becoming assimilated into American society against her will. Because Mamacita has such strong ties to her heritage and origin, she clings to it tightly, resisting assimilation in any way possible, and highlights

Read More
1117 Words | 5 Pages

Many kids on Mango Street are not expected to go to college, not only because of the low expectations, but also because their families do not have enough money. In a community where the main issue present is poverty, the kids are not expected to be successful in certain aspects and are not expected to achieve great things in life. The Vargas kids, who live on Esperanza’s street, “bend trees and bounce between cars and dangle upside down from knees and almost break like fancy museum vases you can’t replace. They are without respect for all living things, including themselves” (Cisneros 29). As one can see, when a family is deeply involved with poverty, the parents often tend to forget about the children and their success.

Read More
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.

Read More
1095 Words | 5 Pages

The House on Mango Street is a touching and timeless tale told in short vignettes. It tells the story of a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago. Her life, and the lives of the people around her, are laid bare to the readers in this touching novella. In the beginning, Esperanza is not accepting of herself. Her family’s poor financial situation, the sadness of the people around her, and the problems she faces in her daily life make her very cynical.

Read More
1173 Words | 5 Pages

Racism inhibits African Americans from working in the work force. This unemployment leads to poverty because they do not have money to sustain themselves and their family. For some people, they try to break down the obstacle of being oppressed by working hard and starting something of their own. However, due to the oppression, they are poor and have to work in pathetic conditions. In The House on Mango Street, there is an African American man who owns a furniture store, but he does not turn on any light because he cannot afford it (Cisneros

Read More
540 Words | 3 Pages

In the series of vignettes The House on Mango Street, the author Sandra Cisneros details the life of main character Esperanza, a young girl living in a barrio of Chicago. As Esperanza tells the reader about her experiences in her day to day life, the reader hears about her struggles and dreams, her hopes and expectations in life and how these affect her. Being a young girl, Esperanza holds naivety and hope for the world, not having experienced many mature situations or society yet, and since she is going through the time in her life when she begins experiencing these issues, we see her heartbreak and the world she knew shatter. For example, when Esperanza and her family move to Mango Street, as our story kicks off, her parents would often talk about the life that they would get when they win the lottery, like having “A real house that would be ours for always so we wouldn't have to move each year. And our house would have running water and pipes that worked.

Read More

More about Rosa Vargas Family In Sandra Cisneros's The House On Mango Street

Open Document