The fact that perhaps both he and his father regard this job like serving time in a prison is evident in the phrase “his 20 year stint”. To add to this, the juxtaposition of the images of the “north end of the city” and “warehouse” with the temporary beauty of the “field that for a few weeks every summer is full of daisies” reflects the idea of the temporary freedom from work that having lunch outside provided, as well as the contrast between the freedom from commitment the son desires, and his father’s
The vignette “Those who don’t” relates to the short story, “Bread” in the Woman Hollering Creek because they both emphasize the effects of belonging to certain places. “Those who don’t” discusses the outcome of living in the house on Mango Street. Esperanza’s neighborhood mainly consists of Mexican/American residents. Many of the people in her community, including Esperanza’s father, moved from Mexico to America and left everything behind. Since these people left all of their valuables behind, they weren’t as financially well off.
The author explains that Panchito “feels that weight” of all of the time he spent working. He is reflecting on all of the time that was spent working, instead of doing the things that kids usually do. Migrant workers have to work hard in the heat. After working all
Esperanza does not like her current living conditions, saying she wants, “A real house. One I can point to. But this isn’t
Esperanza and her family are always moving because they do not have much money, but they finally moved into a house on Mango Street where they “Don’t have to pay rent to anybody, or share the yard with the people downstairs, or be careful not to make too much noise” (703). Although it sounded like a nice place, when a nun from her school saw where Esperanza lived, she said, “You live there?” (703). That made Esperanza feel like nothing and made her realize she needs a real house, one that is really nice. Esperanza wants to change her life and make the best of what she has.
Esperanza’s neighborhood is not the richest and cleanest neighborhood around, in fact it could be counted as run down with a gloomy atmosphere. Esperanza’s house can be described as “small and red with tight steps in front.” With the description of this house we can assume that all the other houses will be similar and with that picture in mind, “those who don’t know any better comes into our neighborhood scared” because the setting is seen as a run down neighborhood. In a run down neighborhood you assume the worse because it's not like a clean
Etzioni’s essay reminds me of the time I was working as a server at a restaurant while during in high school. I used to work as a server for a Hawaiian Restaurant ten hours a week when I was in high school. In order to be able to work, I have to study hard at school, otherwise I will lose my working permit because students in Vietnam have to maintain good grades to maintain their working status. So working part time while in high school motivated me to keep up my school work, to get good grades also work hard to earn money so I can buy things I needed. On the other hand, I got overloaded due to the fact that I spent more time on working than studying and as a result, I got lower grades and a lot of
Not only is it that Esperanza cares so much about living in her house but so does her family. Esperanza tells stories that “This was the house Papa talked about when he held a lottery ticket and this was the house Mama dreamed up
To counter the ahistorical views of these scholars Romano cites historical evidence of Mexican immigrant workers striking and making an effort to change their working conditions. For example, he mentions the strikes of the sugar beet workers in California, the railway workers in Los Angeles, and the sheepherders in Texas. All of these instances disprove the idea that Mexicans are
The quality of Esperanza’s education matters since she is in poverty; for Esperanza to get a job better than those at fast-food places, Esperanza needs a sufficient education. With this in mind, if Esperanza wants to escape her social class, she needs to make a lot of money and hence, she needs to have a skilled job which requires education. For this reason, Esperanza’s path to a higher social class is even harder for her to follow since she is not guaranteed a high-salary job later in her life. Esperanza’s chances of escaping her low social class are low because of the education she
“In the meantime they’ll just have to move a little farther north from Mango Street, a little farther away every time people like us keep moving in (Cisneros 13).” This quote is a significant part of the story because it shows how Esperanza truly feels about herself and her family. She thinks that because she is poor and lives and a bad neighborhood people move away from her family. Esperanza doesn’t think very much of her or her family at all. She thinks that it is because of their race that people do not want to be near them.
However, Esperanza’s negative view of herself slowly changes as she begins to focus on her larger community and her place within it. Through this, Cisneros shows that knowing and accepting where we have come from is an important part of growing up and determining who we are. In the beginning of
The author sets up a picture of himself as a student and a factory worker. The story shows us about what happens when a student decides to take a part-time job in the summer while continuing his education. Andrew Braaksma makes some great points in his article. The three main points in the article are to express the importance of education. We need to appreciate the value of being employed.
“No, this isn’t my house I say and shake my head as if shaking could undo the year I’ve lived here (Cisneros 106).” This quote shows Esperanza’s unwillingness of accepting her poor neighbourhood because of the violence and inequality that has happened in it. In the House on Mango Street, the author, Sandra Cisneros, shows that there is a direct link between inequality, violence and poverty. The House on Mango Street shows women are held back by the inequalities that they face. Cisneros shows that racism prevents individuals from receiving job opportunities which leads to poverty and violence.
As a young child, after being told of how poor her houseboy Fido was, Adichie did not believe his family could also be hardworking. “Their poverty was my single story of them. ”(Adichie) She also details how later, on a trip to Guadalajara she was overwhelmed with shame because her only image of Mexicans was the “abject immigrant” due to the “…endless stories of Mexicans as people who were fleecing the healthcare system, sneaking across the border, being arrested at the border, that sort of thing.” (Adichie)a She was caught by surprise when she saw Mexicans happy and at work in the marketplace.
