What Are The Similarities Between To Kill A Mockingbird And The House On Mango Street

In House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, both novels share similarities and differences that challenge American values, shown through the prominent racism, sexism, and classism the main characters are exploited to. Both characters share their story of the tough world they live in and the unequal experiences they encounter in their everyday lives.

In To Kill A Mockingbird, Tom Robinson faces obvious racism and unfairness in court, whilst Esperanza in House on Mango Street, experiences racism in her everyday life being Hispanic. Both Tom Robinson and Esperanza are similar in this way, they both know what it feels like to always be looked down upon simply because of what they look like. Tom Robinson

Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed”(Lee 276). The minute a white woman, Mayella Ewell, accused a black man of assaulting her in any way it was an unfair fight. Due to these discriminatory acts Tom Robinson was found guilty, even though we find out he was innocent after all. This challenges the American value of equality, because in Tom Robinson’s case nothing was fair and equal about it. Similarly in Esperanza’s case, she experiences racism in her own neighborhood and from her own acquaintances. When Esperanza talks to Cathy, she feels less than because of her comment, “Then as if she forgot I just moved in, she says the neighborhood is getting bad” (Cisneros 13). This makes Esperanza feel bad about where she lives because her

Women are held to the high standard of looking nice and being powerless, something for the men to use and show off. Mrs. Duboise in To Kill a Mockingbird has substandard to these rules and thanks them to as she tells Scout, “What are you doing in those overalls? You should be in a dress and camisole young lady! You’ll grow up waiting on tables if somebody doesn’t change your ways”(Lee 117). Mrs. Duboise does not believe a girl will succeed in life when she doesn't look the part of a mature young lady. This shows the patriarchy men have over women and how it’s engraved in people's minds that women are just shiny objects to show off. Not only does Scout receive this from Mrs. Duboise, but her own brother. When Scout was cautious about completing a dare Jem had given he remarks “‘Nothin’ to it. I swear, Scout, sometimes you act like so much of a girl it’s mortifyin’” (Lee 42). Jem attacks Scout’s gender whenever he feels she is challenging his masculinity so he can be the one in charge. Another instance of men putting down women is shown in House on Mango Street, whilst Esperanza talks about her name: “It was my great-grandmother’s name and now it is mine. She was a horse woman too, born in the Chinese year of the horse- which is supposed to be bad luck if you’re