The House On Mango Street Role Model

The need for a suitable role model as a child developed is key to helping them find themselves. Ideas revolving around this statement are explored in Sandra Cisneros's novella, The House on Mango Street. Cisneros writes through thirteen-year-old Esperanza, as she describes herself trying to discover who she truly is and what she wants to be like in different females. The novella tells about these experiences, and the poverty filled world around Esperanza. Esperanza views female role models in her life with question and curiosity. These women are stuck in undesirable circumstances as they wait for the change someone else will bring. However, Esperanza looks to different women to base her own life off of, females who do not wait for change. These

In an attempt to find her true identity, Esperanza follows her close friend Sally into dangerous situations until she fully understands the impacts these events have on her present life, and will have in future events. In one such event, Esperanza, now emotionally aware, says, “Sally, you lied, you lied. He wouldn’t let me go. He said I love you Spanish girl” (Cisneros 100). In this event, Esperanza feels like she has lost her place and is now completely vulnerable. This occurrence exposes her true feeling and identity, though she may not know it yet. She uses this specific phrase to point out what she really experienced, and by calling Sally a liar; she shows her future resistance to events such as this. Experiences build a person, and Cisneros continues to demonstrate this important idea in this scene. It is important for the reader to understand that Esperanza’s short phrases are the part of her personality, and these are key in getting Cisneros's main ideas through. In previous vignettes, Esperanza expresses her loyalty to Sally. However, by fully understanding the phrase above, we see the tables turn, and Esperanza move away from this kind of lifestyle. When she remarks, “he said I love you Spanish girl”, we see her resistance to the boy, and how she now opposes going down that kind of road. Esperanza now learned that she does not want to grow up in this kind of manner, and learns to avoid that muddy path. Though Sally is a bad influence, Cisneros uses her to lead Esperanza down a different road, and help her mature in a better