Symbolism In The House On Mango Street By Sandra Cisneros

Chiara Maddison

Is it possible for people to become fully autonomous without giving up, to leaving behind certain parts of their life? For many people, the answer is no. There may be certain aspects of their culture or society or beliefs of their family that go against what that person has to do to become autonomous. Esperanza, the main character of the book The House On Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, definitely has let go of certain things to achieve her freedom, and this has an effect on her identity. Her desire for autonomy shapes her identity by forcing her to accept the reality that things will have to change in order for her to achieve autonomy. Cisneros illustrates this development and understanding through the use of symbolism. In the vignette, My Name, Esperanza is at the beginning of this development. She describes her name, which symbolizes the person that she has to be for her family, or the role that her family has put her in. She explains that she was named after her great

In the vignette, Four Skinny Trees, she describes the trees as “Four skinny trees with skinny necks and pointy elbows like mine.” Esperanza sees these trees as similar to herself, so many of the things that she says about the trees can also be applied to her. The trees symbolize Esperanza. When she calls them “Four who do not belong here, but are here.” it symbolizes her belief that she belongs somewhere else, but unfortunately, she is stuck in her life and environment. These trees aren’t big and beautiful because they have to struggle to survive in their environment, to “grow despite concrete.” Because of the area where they are growing, they can’t fully be what they should be, but they do their best. Esperanza is under similar circumstances. She has to struggle, and go against her environment in order to be who she wants. At the moment though, like the trees, she is stuck, so all she can do is “keep