Daily Archives: December 11, 2022

A vignette that made a strong impact on me was “Bums in the Attic” on pages 94-95. On Page 94, it states, “We go on Sundays, Papa’s day off. I used to go. I don’t anymore. You don’t like to go out with us, Papa says. Getting too old? Getting too stuck-up, says Nenny. I don’t tell them I am ashamed-all of us staring out the window like the hungry. I am tired of looking at what we can’t have. When we win the lottery… Mama begins, and then I stop listening.” For me, growing up in New York City, everyone is working towards a better life. The affordable living conditions most people have to opt for aren’t the best living standards. Lower-class citizens are usually working towards things most people have. It is a wake-up call seeing someone with 3 stories in their house, a washer, and dryer, or other things that are overlooked in most homes. It can feel very shameful not to be in the same position as your peers. This vignette reminded me of my grandpa. As a landlord, he was always willing to work with people from the community in need of a place to live comfortably to get adjusted. They went on to get their own places, better jobs, and support their families. I know in the future I want to be a homeowner but I will always know what it’s like to not have certain things necessary for survival.

One of the vignettes from pages 56-109 of The House on Mango Street that made an impression on me was “Papa Who Wakes Up Tired in the Dark. This story made an impression on me because it shows a daughter seeing her father vulnerable for the first time. The theme behind this story is a daughter having a connection with her father and understanding the lost that they both shared, that being her grandfather. With her being the oldest, she had to take the role in telling others about the lost. “Papa Who Wakes Up Tired in the dark resonated with me because seeing a parent or someone you see as someone that take on the world with no worries become vulnerable and weak, makes you want to take the role to help them through it. When I lost my great grandmother, it broke my family. One day she’s doing okay and will be home and then turn around the next day and pass way was a shock. Seeing my mother and grandmother look lost, I had to take on the role in making sure everyone is okay.

I chose the vignette on page 91, it’s called “A Smart Cookie.” This vignette paints a picture of parents transferring their life lessons to their children.  I connect with this because I have it happens to me very often. It actually happened earlier when I was doing some online shopping while watching tv in my living room my dad saw me and started to tell me why I should save up my money. I not going to lie he gave me the whole ten reasons and the look at my cousin’s talk. I know he is right, but I still find it respective. I find that the narrator of this vignette is very good at accepting these lessons of life. I like this vignette because I feel that the same thing can happen to me very often, but I probably wouldn’t see what my parents say the same way that the narrator does.

In The House on Mango Street, the vignette that connected most with me and the other readings we have read this semester is “Alicia Who Sees Mice”. It discovers the theme of lack of equality in gender relations. We learn that Alicia’s mother died recently and left her feeling the responsibilities of the house since that was the order that was expected. Her father, in a very old fashioned way, warns her of the mice around her (I imagine they symbolize success). But, Alicia takes “Two trains and a bus, because she doesn’t want to spend her whole life in a factory or behind a rolling pin”.