Women In The House On Mango Street By Sandra Cisneros

In the novel “The House on Mango Street”, written by Sandra Cisneros, Esperanza, a young Chicana living in Chicago, begins to discover her identity and what being part of her culture really entails. Although there are many characters who play a big role in Esperanza’s self-discovery, many of the most influential are female, as feminism is a recurring theme in the novel. Alicia and Marin are the two which have had the biggest impact. Teaching Esperanza about being a woman, although both personalities are vastly different, both are depicted as strong women fighting through the patriarchal society which they live in. Characters are not the only influences for Esperanza, places where she goes, such as her school also impact her outlook on her culture

One of the places which influence Esperanza the most is the Catholic school she attends. As the school she goes to is not in her neighborhood, there are not many Chicanos. This is where Esperanza first encounters the cultural divide between Americans and Chicanos. There are many references to this divide throughout the book, one being Esperanza’s “rice sandwich” (Cisneros 43). The sandwich itself, full of rice, is common in Latin America with people who cannot afford to eat very much, as the sandwich is filling. Esperanza shows that she is ashamed of her family's socioeconomic status, and eating in the cafeteria with this sandwich, alone, while the rest of the children have different food, is a symbol of the divide. This divide influences Esperanza’s identity, because, it starts to make her realize what other people of Hispanic descent have to go through. When Esperanza goes to eat at the cafeteria, she does not only experience prejudice from her peers, but from the nuns at the school. The nuns are judgemental about Esperanza’s background, and her lack of wealth. Esperanza experiences this when a nun makes her point out where she lives. Although the nun is pointing to “flats that even raggedy men are ashamed to go into” (Cisneros 45), Esperanza is too embarrassed to admit that those are not where she lives, as the nun would judge her house anyway. This is not the first time a nun judges her house, making her “feel like nothing” (Cisneros 5). Her being judged like this, influences Esperanza greatly, as she begins to learn the covert racism her culture faces daily. It makes Esperanza feel ashamed of it at first, however as the book develops, the embarrassment begins to turn into anger, which develops more throughout the