Shame In The House On Mango Street

Shame is an impactful emotion that we all feel. Though there are a multitude of motifs in the novel, which help convey Cisneros’ desired effect, but the motif which most indicates the desired effect of Sandra Cisneros’s writing The House on Mango Street is The Shame Cycle, specifically shown in the vignette “The Monkey Garden”. The House on Mango Street is a novella that focuses a great deal of shame and the shame cycle. Sandra Cisneros often demonstrates the recurring literary conflict of man versus society is, in actuality, Esperanza versus the shame she feels from their community. This concept is best illustrated in the vignette, “The Monkey Garden.” Here, Cisneros uses techniques such as diction, imagery, actions, and the difference between

‘Beauty is danger. Beauty is danger.’ It is embedded into her brain to know forever. Henceforth, that is why she felt an urge to throw something when she found out what Sally agreed to. “I don’t know why but something inside of me made me want to throw a stick. Something inside of me wanted to say no when Sally went off with Tito and his friends grinning.” Before this quote, Sally continuously said “no” to the boys who would not giver her, her keys. The idea of saying “no” to boys has no impact within the society. So, instead of forcing them to give it back to her, she used her beauty to achieve what she wanted. Esperanza’s knowledge in the reality of the situation makes her smart, but when she approached Sally in an attempt to save her from what would happen, felt ashamed by her want to “throw a stick”. Esperanza knew that the universal problem in life is still that beauty is danger and it seems like that she is the only one to know it. She learns this firsthand when she is working at the sweatshop and the older man grabbed her face and started kissing her. She cried out for help, but no one helped her. THerefore, in this situation she did not want the same to occur to Sally. There is one overarching reason why beauty is dangerous, and it leads to a sub-explanation that further goes into the depth of its’ meaning. Beauty is cherished in a place that is ugly. Anything that is perfect is looked at to be hailed. ANything that is

New terms such as “cat calling” now emphasize the dangers in men perceiving you to be beautiful. One girl from Mexico City states “I was walking faster now, and started thinking about what I could use to hit him if I had to, and I thought about using water bottle if he came too close.” And when she called police: “These were the two cops I’d called, one female and one male. They were talking to me about my complaint, but kept staring at my hip tattoos. I pulled up my pants but they still kept trying to see them.” Everywhere she went, there were people trying to see parts of her that she did not want them to see. The victim was so afraid that the thought of having to use a weapon implied that a dangerous situation was taking