The House on Mango Street
Overall I really enjoyed this book. It's so short but somehow the little snippets tell you so much and are so powerful! I think this book is super versatile for teachers because you can easily read the whole thing in a short unit or you can pull individual vignettes and have students read them in an isolated manner. I really found myself liking this concept of a story told in vignettes. They have a common theme and they all tell the story of Esperanza's childhood, but each chapter doesn't directly connect with the others in a linear fashion. I didn't expect to like this as much as I did. I felt that having those little snippets allowed me to appreciate the language more and examine each story individually. I wasn't always concerned with a larger plot and got to appreciate more of Esperanza's unique feelings and experiences. I thought that reading this book was kind of like looking at an art collection: it has a common theme, but not necessarily a traditional linear plot structure.
I really found myself falling in love with Cisneros's craft and style. The way she appeals to the 5 senses and the beautiful way she uses figurative language really paints a colorful and complex portrait of Esperanza's experiences. One vignette in particular that really spoke to me was the one about hair. Cisneros uses the tangible object of hair to describe Esperanza's perception of all her family members. I really like how she analogizes their hair to their personalities and how Esperanza feels towards them. She states, "But my mother's hair, my mother's hair, like little rosettes, like little candy circles all curly and pretty because she pinned it in pincurls all day, sweet to put your nose into when she is holding you, holding you and you feel safe, is the warm smell of bread before you bake it, is the smell when she makes room for you on her side of the bed still warm with her skin, and you sleep near her, the rain outside falling and Papa snoring. The snoring, the rain, and Mama's hair that smells like bread" (Cisneros 6-7). I love how Cisneros uses the concept of Esperanza's mom's hair to ultimately paint a portrait of family and comfort. The way she appeals to the senses of smell, sound, and touch let the reader vividly imagine what this scene looks like and feel those same feelings of childhood comfort too.
One major theme I noticed in the novel was gender, and the importance of femininity and beauty within Esperanza's society. I loved how poetically Cisneros describes Esperanza's complex emotions towards beauty and the women in her society. At times it feels like Esperanza looks up to other girls and women and longs to have their beauty and at other times it feels like she wants to escape that pressure she feels to fulfill a certain role. Very early in the novel, when talking about her name, Esperanza states, "She was a horse woman too, born like me in the Chinese year of the horse – which is supposed to be bad luck if you're born female – but I think this is a Chinese lie because the Chinese, like the Mexicans, don't like their women strong (Cisneros 10). Here Esperanza shows that she understands that there are certain expectations tied to being a woman, that these expectations are cultural, and that she doesn't want to abide by them. She has a complex relationship with gender and femininity, however. (Don't we all?) And many times throughout the novel she seems to feel conflicted and want different things. She consistently makes comments that show she longs to feel beautiful and admires others' beauty. When talking about Sally she states, "I like your black coat and those shoes you wear, where did you get them? My mother says to wear black so young is dangerous, but I want to buy shoes just like yours, like your black ones made out of suede, just like those" (Cisneros 82). By the end of the novel it seems like Esperanza gains more confidence in her opinion of the gender roles of her society. She says, "I have begun my own quiet war. Simple. Sure. I am one who leaves the table like a man, without putting back the chair or picking up the plate" (Cisneros 89). This quote really speaks to me because it's so simple. It's sad that making a statement about gender is as simple as not picking up your plate from the table. It's sad men are entitled enough not to clean up after themselves, it's sad that something so simple could seem so dramatic to Esperanza. I also feel sometimes, when I'm trying to make a feminist statement, it goes unnoticed because it's so simple. These are the kinds of small day-to-day aspects of gender roles that only other feminists would ever take notice of or understand. It's sad that Esperanza feels so small that she has to start so small in her rebellion.
I really found myself falling in love with Cisneros's craft and style. The way she appeals to the 5 senses and the beautiful way she uses figurative language really paints a colorful and complex portrait of Esperanza's experiences. One vignette in particular that really spoke to me was the one about hair. Cisneros uses the tangible object of hair to describe Esperanza's perception of all her family members. I really like how she analogizes their hair to their personalities and how Esperanza feels towards them. She states, "But my mother's hair, my mother's hair, like little rosettes, like little candy circles all curly and pretty because she pinned it in pincurls all day, sweet to put your nose into when she is holding you, holding you and you feel safe, is the warm smell of bread before you bake it, is the smell when she makes room for you on her side of the bed still warm with her skin, and you sleep near her, the rain outside falling and Papa snoring. The snoring, the rain, and Mama's hair that smells like bread" (Cisneros 6-7). I love how Cisneros uses the concept of Esperanza's mom's hair to ultimately paint a portrait of family and comfort. The way she appeals to the senses of smell, sound, and touch let the reader vividly imagine what this scene looks like and feel those same feelings of childhood comfort too.
One major theme I noticed in the novel was gender, and the importance of femininity and beauty within Esperanza's society. I loved how poetically Cisneros describes Esperanza's complex emotions towards beauty and the women in her society. At times it feels like Esperanza looks up to other girls and women and longs to have their beauty and at other times it feels like she wants to escape that pressure she feels to fulfill a certain role. Very early in the novel, when talking about her name, Esperanza states, "She was a horse woman too, born like me in the Chinese year of the horse – which is supposed to be bad luck if you're born female – but I think this is a Chinese lie because the Chinese, like the Mexicans, don't like their women strong (Cisneros 10). Here Esperanza shows that she understands that there are certain expectations tied to being a woman, that these expectations are cultural, and that she doesn't want to abide by them. She has a complex relationship with gender and femininity, however. (Don't we all?) And many times throughout the novel she seems to feel conflicted and want different things. She consistently makes comments that show she longs to feel beautiful and admires others' beauty. When talking about Sally she states, "I like your black coat and those shoes you wear, where did you get them? My mother says to wear black so young is dangerous, but I want to buy shoes just like yours, like your black ones made out of suede, just like those" (Cisneros 82). By the end of the novel it seems like Esperanza gains more confidence in her opinion of the gender roles of her society. She says, "I have begun my own quiet war. Simple. Sure. I am one who leaves the table like a man, without putting back the chair or picking up the plate" (Cisneros 89). This quote really speaks to me because it's so simple. It's sad that making a statement about gender is as simple as not picking up your plate from the table. It's sad men are entitled enough not to clean up after themselves, it's sad that something so simple could seem so dramatic to Esperanza. I also feel sometimes, when I'm trying to make a feminist statement, it goes unnoticed because it's so simple. These are the kinds of small day-to-day aspects of gender roles that only other feminists would ever take notice of or understand. It's sad that Esperanza feels so small that she has to start so small in her rebellion.
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