Esperanza's future?

In the book, The House on Mango street,  Esperanza thinks of her future a lot. All of her early life events had caused her to care about her future.

    After reading the vignettes, it seems like Esperanza’s future does not want to live back on Mango street.

    “ You live right here, 4006 Mango, Alicia says and points to the house i am ashamed of” (pg 106).

Esperanza was embarrassed when telling people where she lives representing that in her future i think that she will not go back to the house on Mango street. The place where she was embarrass is probably the place where she will not go back to. She will do a comeback from what she left behind because all she want to do is run away from the stuff that caused her to leave things behind. Her childhood had caused her to feel the way that she should not going back to where she was. She wants to go back to what she had before and have a comeback. She wants to tell the people around her that she is strong and will have a come back to what she left behind.
   
    She dreamed about her house in the future where it uses lots of words representing alone.

    “ Only a house quiet as snow, a space for myself to go, clean as paper before the poem” (pg 108).

The word “myself” defines that she wants to be alone in her future. She wants to live in a different place then the house on mango street. She wants to show her neighbors that she is not going to be one of the people that is going to be trapped on mango street. She will have a come back where she can tell people the things that she can do that other people couldn’t. Her space for herself to go means that her destiny is for herself to chose and not by other people who ruins her future. She knows that in order for her to come back and chase her dreams, she must run away from the house on Mango Street.

House on Mango Street ; Gender Difference?

          After reading The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, I find that the author is trying to tell reader that teenage girls and teenage boys should be raised differently. In order to say that teenage girls and teenage boys should be raised differently, she implies it into her vignettes.

Esperanza in the story was raised properly by her parents where she would know the right things that she should do.

“ And since she comes right after me, she is my responsibility” (pg 8).

 Esperanza knew that in her life, she must take care of her little siblings because she learned how to do things that her little siblings might can not do. She was taught by his parents to take responsibility. Those responsibilities would help her future where when she have to develop her own family and she have to take care of the whole family herself. The responsibilities she learned would be passed on to her future to her little kids. Being able to take responsibility is what something that sisters needs to do.

In this book, teenage girls seem to have to take care of the family more.

“Alicia, whose mama died, is sorry there is no one older to rise and make the lunchbox tortillas” (pg 31).

Alicia’s mom died so then she had to replace her mom’s spot for her family. She wishes that there is an older sibling or her mom to stay alive to look after the family instead of her. She misses her mom and the lunchbox tortillas that her mom makes it. If her mom is still alive, she would not have to take all those responsibilities. Why didn’t her dad take responsibility after her mom passed away?
       
    Esperanza’s mom knows what a girl should do when they grow up.
             “My mother says when i get older my dusty hair will settle and my blouse will learn to stay clean, but i have decided not to grow up tame like the others who lay their necks on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain” ( pg 88).
Her mom believes as a girl grows up, they would be mature. Esperanza does not want to feel trap means that she does not want to take care of a family. The ball and chain symbolize her being trap. Her mother believes that girls should be raise to become a mature girls that can take care of a family. Being mature means holding all the responsibilities. It was never said that guys have to lay back like what the girls have to do. Esperanza does not want to be trap which is a view from the author that although girls want freedom, they would need to be mature and take responsibilities.

   

Influences that had affected my Life !

Table of Contents

1. An Elegant Piece of Wood

2. Slap

3. Lets hang out

4. Family. Free time?

5. Question?

An Elegant Piece of Wood

The moment I stepped into the room, I can feel butterflies going mild in my stomach. The teacher was standing there measuring hand lengths. I got scared because I had really short arms and I knew it was a 50/50 chance that I would be able to get one. The teacher measured me and said there was no violin that fits my arm length. I teared and ran out the door like a cheetah. The moment I told my mom about it, she was as quiet as a turtle. She didn’t say anything.

The next day, she surprised me with a violin in her hand and I screamed like a mouse. The violin smelled like fresh wood and the color made it look so elegant. When I tried playing the violin, it made a vibrating sound that surrounded the room. It was difficult for me to read the notes and to understand all the dynamic changes. Whenever I play, my hands turns to be as sweaty as if I just ran a mile.The first song I played was allegro and when I realize that I can play such beautiful music.

Time passes as I get better and better with that instrument. My very own first solo was played at the church near Lake Merritt. As I walked onto the stage, my heart felt like it was going to explode. The moment I place the bow onto the strings, I knew I could play song for the audience. I played and played until my song was over. The audience’s hands were so cheerful. They keep on clapping. I walked off the stage with pride. My music life started from there.....

                                          Slap

Don’t talk back to me ! says Mama. She slapped my face so hard, it was red. My face was as red as the color of a red apple. Drops of tears were coming down my face like it was raining. My mom rush towards her room and shut the door as if someone was chasing her.

My brain started to repeat what my mom said over and over. I screamed and ran into the bathroom closing their door as fast as a rabbit can run. I stared at the mirror and look at my swollen face. I teared even more. I was reminiscing what I did wrong that caused my mom to hate me so much. I was never slap in the face before.

As my memories come back, I realized it was because I talked back to her when she was trying to tell me something. I wiped all my tears off my face with a tissue that was as soft as silk. I walked out the door and there was my mom sitting in the sofa so stiff like a wooden figure.

Mom I’m sorry that I talked back, I said. That was disrespectful, she replied. I stared at the fish tank right next to her and say, I’ll never do it again. She started to sink into tears and suddenly hugged me tightly. I was never slapped again.

                                   Lets Hang out !

“Ring, Ring, Ring” the phone rang. Hey, Lets hang out!, my friend Allie said. The moment I heard that phrase, I cheered ! I ran into my closet to check what I should wear for that day.

The day had came when my group and I went ice-skating. The friends’ smiles and hugs were so warm that I feel like my body is a fireplace. I stepped onto the skating rink and hands were holding me giving me the confidence that I won’t fall. I start skating around and every time I stop, I can see my friends either talking or skating.

My stomach started to growl like a sad dog and the moment I got off the rink, my friends held a pile of food for me to choose from. I love my friends and after I was done. I went off to the arcade where i spotted a bear that i really want. My friend walked over to me and tried playing that game. He won. Handing me the bear i feel loved like i just ate a piece of chocolate. The coldness filled the air leaving me to shiver like a dog hating to take a bath. The day was over and my face starts to frown like a bird missing its nest. Bye ! I need to see you guys again, I said. Everyone separated and left for their life.

   

       Family. Free Time?

    Everyone in our family has different events they like to do when it comes to their free times. My mom is a sloth who likes to sleep everyday and she does not like to do anything. She can just sleep the whole day even with distractions. And me, when I’m free I like to go shopping with my friends. My friend always say that I am like an alligator in which always be trying  to snatch things I see.

Every time my dad is free, he likes to go hang out with his friends by going to visit his friends. Usually he would go to his friends’ restaurants. His mouth shoots out bullets that can hurt people and every sentence that comes out is with lies. My brother likes to go out to the city where it is crowded with people along with the smell of food and the sounds beeping of cars.

                                             Question?

   
    “ What is it like to go college? ” I asked as I stared at UC Berkeley. “ Someday you’ll know,” my uncle replied. I looked at the streets. The streets were crowded with people. There were a lot of students walking around the stores. “I want some food!” I said. “Hmm... I want some McDonald.” I continued. My uncle replied, “Okay.” We parked the car across the street from McDonald. As we got off the car, I asked, “ Who are they?” I pointed at those group of girls all carrying a pile of books. My uncle said, “ I think they are students from UC Berkeley.” “ I want to be like them someday.” I said. My uncle gave me a big smile showing his crooked teeth. He said, “ When you’re in college, I’ll drive you whenever you need me to.” That day I knew my goal is to get into a good college.

Why use the word RED so much?

In the book, The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, there had been a lot of use with symbols or words that had been used repetitively. After reading all these vignettes, I found out that the symbols actually mean something to the story. The narrator Esperanza probably have something behind all the symbols that are used many times. One of the words that I had found a lot with these vignettes is the word red.  

“Until then I am a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor” (9).

    In the book, the narrator named Esperanza uses red to describe a balloon because she find red as color she likes. She described the balloon to be anchored as if the balloon to symbolize herself. The balloon is RED because since the balloon is her and she is being anchored down which means she is getting pulled down and she can’t go far, she keeps all those anger to herself. All these angers cause her to be red.

    Another use with the word red comes from a quote describing a lady from her neighborhhood.

    “And the boys across the street says she is tall red headed who wear pink tights and green glasses “ ( 71).

    Here it uses the word Red again. I think the use of red shows the way she look at people. Like I said how the red color represents anger, it can be justify that the red referring to the lady means the anger looks that the lady have on herself. When i think about the color of the lady’s hair, it makes me feel that she isn’t really nice or she is a lonely person.

    The use of Red had became really common in the book and almost every page I  turn, I would find it.

    The use of Red here symbolizes sadness and maybe with angryness too. Red had been used a lot because the narrator finds red as memory to her life. It symbolizes sadness because in this quote, Esperanza define the house that is red as something that causes her to be sad.

    “ Before Keeler it was Paulina, but what I remember most is Mango street, sad red house, the house I belong but do not belong to” (110).

    After looking at all the “RED” from the vignettes, it gives me a feeling that it symbolizes anger and sadness throughout the life of Esperanza.

   

The Vignettes Symbolizes....

    After reading parts of The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, I find that there are a lot of vignettes in the readings. The four vignettes I read was My Name, No Speak English, Rafaela, and Sally. These vignettes have many symbolic meanings.

    In the first vignette named My Name, Esperanza the narrator talked about how she recieved her name.

“ I have inherited her name, but I don’t want to inherit her place by the window” (Pg 11).

This vignette symbolizes how she does not like her name because her great-grandmother had experience lots of trouble with that name. She is scared that with that name she might have to experience the same thing as her great-grandmother. She hope that with that name she will not experience all those troubles her great-grandmother had.

    Another vignette is named No speak English, where Esperanza talked about her neighbor unable to speak English.

“ Somebody said because she’s too fat, somebody because of the three flights of stairs, but I believe she doesn’t come out because she is afraid to speak  English, and maybe this is so since she only knows eight words“ ( Pg 77).   

What I believe from this vignette show that if you don’t know how to speak English, you would not know how to face other people. When Esperanza talks about how the lady does not come out of the house because of not knowing how to speak English, it shows that without knowing how to speak English, they would lose confidence in themselves. It seems like not speaking English can be a major issue to their lives when they come to an English speaking country.

Another vignette  is named Rafaela Who Drinks Coconut & Papaya Juice on Tuesdays, where it talks about a young woman being trapped at home because of her beauty.

“Rafaela who drinks and drinks coconut and papaya juice on Tuesdays and wishes there were sweeter drinks, not bitter like an empty room, but sweet sweet like the island....” (pg 80).

A lonely woman in the house represents darkness. I find this to symbolize that living in a place with bitterness and boredom is really bad. For a woman to feel not so lonely, she tries to drink sweet drinks so then she can imagine herself being free. It is hard for her to be stuck in an empty room, so she tries to do find something to do or eat or drink to stop her feeling of loneliness and boredom.