Spanish Language In The House On Mango Street

In the following 11 chapters, the one that I found the most interesting is “No Speak English” which shows the difficulty of immigrant when living in America and at the same time tells about another woman who is struggling to integrate with the life in the Mango Street. The chapter is about Mamacita, a Spanish woman have just moved to the neighborhood to live with her son and his baby boy. The man has worked very hard to bring his mother and his son to the country. However, once Mamacita comes, she never leaves her house as she refuses to speak English. She spends the whole day sitting by the window, listening to Spanish show on the radio and singing homesick songs. Some people think the reason Mamacita does not leave her house is because of her oversized appearance or because she cannot climb

Esperanza also found that Mamacita not knowing how to speak the language shares the same problem with her father who had to eat hamandeggs when he first came to America as it was the only word he knew. Through this example, Esperanza understands how difficult it is for a person to live in an unfamiliar country when they cannot assimilate, which in here is the language. It can be clearly seen that Spanish is not simply a mean of communication to her. Additionally, a Spanish word, “mamacita”, is used as an identity to call her although the character is not given a proper name, unlike Geraldo from the chapter “Geraldo No Last Name” who does not have surname and therefore identity. As Esperanza discerns, Spanish is “the only road out to that country”, that true home, the house she longs. However, Mamacita’s son has torn the skinny thread linking to the country that keeps her alive as he gets angry with her keeping saying Spanish and as he does not understand her lonely feelings. The final blow for Mamacita is that the baby boy begins to learn English from the TV as his first