The House On Mango Street: Isolation, Limitation, Expectation

Prajwal Agrawal

Ms. Banack

English 1A, Period 5

21 MAR 2023

Isolation, Limitation, Expectation Throughout history, women have been continuously bound by the expectations of society. In socioeconomically disadvantaged communities, such as the one presented in Sandra Cisneros’s novella The House on Mango Street, women are further confined to their monotonous futures in the household to which they have been chained. Cisneros uses the abuse cycle, objectification, and gender expectations to display the patriarchy's limits on the potential of women on Mango Street. A bond that artificially limits the potential of women on Mango Street is their abuse by the patriarchy.

Another set of limiting factors for women on Mango Street set by the patriarchy

Esperanza describes Marin’s wish as “...waiting for a star to fall, someone to change her life” (Cisneros 27). Marin is passive; she does not seek out her future like Alicia, but rather waits for “someone to change her life.” Furthermore, she wishes for a “star to fall.” A star falling – in this context a shooting star – is a very rare occurrence and happens by chance. Cisneros, therefore, uses this symbol to emphasize the extent of Marin’s passivity. Marin’s attitude towards her future has been indirectly set on her by the patriarchy. Because she has heard so many times that she is expected to be picked by a man and not choose one, she has internalized this fact and sits outside waiting for someone to come. Therefore, she no longer has the motivation to pursue a bright future and therefore is unable to build one. Another instance of objectification is seen through Esperanza’s Aunt Lupe. Shortly before her death, Esperanza recalls, “We didn’t know. She had been dying such a long time, we forgot…The kids who wanted to be kids instead of washing dishes and ironing their papa’s shirts and the husband who wanted a wife again” (Cisneros 61). Aunt Lupe was once admired and respected

One example of this is Alicia. Esperanza describes Alicia’s life, “Close your eyes and they [the mice]’ll go away, her father said... Anyway, a woman’s place is sleeping so she can wake up early...and make the lunchbox tortillas” (Cisneros 31). Alicia is trying to go to college and must study late into the night; therefore, she is very tired in the morning. However, her father expects her to “wake up early and make the lunchbox tortillas.” In addition, Alicia’s father instructs her to ignore the mice that she thinks haunt her room at night. Mice are symbolic of perseverance and focus because they can survive in harsh natural environments. These are two qualities essential for studying productively, and this indicates that in addition to not acknowledging her feelings, Alicia’s father does not see the efforts that Alicia is putting into her studies and additionally does not want her to study and have a thriving future. Additionally, Alicia herself is afraid of the mice she sees, which indicates that she is somewhat afraid to rebelHe has these opinions because he is a member of the patriarchy and considers himself superior to women like Alicia. Although Alicia is the only person on Mango Street who is actively attempting to build herself a future, she is still severely limited by the expectations of her father as she is expected to bury her