I am not an immigrant, but my mother and sister are. My mom was born in the Dominican Republic and had my older sister there. She moved to New York when she was 21 and my older sister was 1. There are many many many things that were extremely similar or exactly the same as ‘The house on Mango street’. Two things that stood out to me was the desperation and the reminiscing. The desperation to hold on to hope. My mom does the same thing Esperanza parents does and buys the lottery constantly in hopes to one day win and change all our lives. Even today, my mom has finally worked her behind off to save enough for a house, she realized there is so much more to think about; like property tax, maintenance, all the other bills that come with a house. It put us back at square one, so all those stories of one day we will have the house we always dreamed off kind of just washed away. The point of leaving her home country with a baby, no degree and not knowing a lick of English was to achieve all these goals she one day wished to have and the lottery could have cut the wait time by a lot. We have some family in rural Pennsylvania and when we visit them on summer nights it almost resembles Dominican Republic. It gives a sense of peace, but also a push to work even harder for the goals my mom out in place for each of us.
I wasn’t really sure what I was suppose to name when asked “Be sure to identify the name of the vignette.” I think its the “The house on Mango street” chapter because a lot of the main points that echoed in my life was hopes, poverty, owner ship and identity.
2 thoughts on “Elizabeth Reyes Discussion 6”
Thank you for sharing your personal connection to the themes in “The House on Mango Street,” Elizabeth. It’s incredibly insightful to hear about your family’s immigrant experience, and it indeed mirrors the themes of hope, identity, and the pursuit of a better life that are prevalent in the book. Your description of your mom’s journey and her determination to achieve her dreams while facing the challenges of a new country is truly inspiring. The way you’ve connected her story to Esperanza’s in the book, particularly regarding the desperation to hold on to hope, is thought-provoking. It’s fascinating how literature can resonate with real-life experiences in such a powerful way. I also appreciate your interpretation of the vignette name. “The House on Mango Street” seems fitting, as it encapsulates the overarching themes that resonate with your family’s story and many others. Thank you for sharing your perspective; it adds depth to our discussion of the book’s themes and their real-world implications.
Beautiful. I love the comment about how the summer nights in rural Pennsylvania resemble the Dominican Republic.