Shame In The House On Mango Street

What is shame? When you experience shame, do you let it ruin you? Do you grow from it? These choices discussed in The House on Mango Street. The author of The House on Mango Street is Sandra Cisneros. This novel was published by Arte Publico Press in 1984. The House On Mango Street fits into the genre prose, the sub genre fiction, and the category realistic fiction; its literary style is lyrical prose because it is like a poem. The literary conflict in the novel is Man versus Society because Esperanza, the protagonist, wants to escape and grow beyond her community. She is a young girl who lives in a bad neighborhood in the 1980’s; she has to decide whether or not to fall apart from her shame like all of the other girls in her neighborhood or

Sally is shown to act more mature towards the boys. In the second page of that chapter Esperanza states the game that Sally agreed to play. “You give a kiss and you get the keys.” (Pg 96). Esperanza then states how “I wanted to throw a stick.” (Page 96). Esperanza knew that, that game was unfair, and dangerous, but Sally did not see it. Sally would not be ashamed if she kissed the boys, for she only saw one kiss. Esperanza wanted Sally to not play this game, saw the danger, and wanted to stop it. Her way of ending the game was by force. Her reaction was one of child when they hear that boys have cooties. Esperanza then grabbed a brick from upstairs and was prepared to throw it at them. WHen Sally states, “Go home.” (Page 97) Esperanza was so ashamed she wanted to die. Esperanza's shame led her to want to die. Her shame was brought to herself by her actions as a child. By being ashamed for doing the right thing it allows her to have another reason the wrong path. In Esperanza’s community, everyone is ashamed and wants to “escape”, “escape” in the sense that no one would choose to be there. Girls are usually the main ones who have more troubling escaping because they are the minority. They always have a 2 choices, but the majority chose the wrong one, marriage. WHen Esperanza has the choice between marriage or education this event allows for the aspect of escaping

“This was a garden, a wonderful thing to look at in the spring. But bit by bit, after the monkey left, the garden began to take over itself. FLowers stopped obeying the little bricks that kept them from growing beyond their paths. Weeds mixed in. Dead cars appeared overnight like mushrooms.” (Page 95). As over time the garden lost its’ beauty within the community and became another thing blended in. As Esperanza states many times throughout the novel, she is ashamed of her community and wants to leave. By the garden becoming apart of the community, instead of a separate beauty, Esperanza and shame are connected somehow. The garden near Esperanza's house comes into play at a significant time of her life and dictates a major point where Esperanza chooses her life path. She's caught in that time of adolescence where they see the best, whereas when children are growing up, they see the danger, they feel the shame, and by growing up you lose part of your innocence. The monkey garden is a different setting than any other place Esperanza has been in. The Monkey Garden related back to the Biblical Garden of Eden in the book of Genesis, is a place where it's always blooming with life and pure. This is a place that is perfect, where no one can be ashamed of perfect. Yet, Esperanza is ashamed within the perfection. At first, when the neighborhood children take over the garden, it's "a wonderful thing