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Which one of the vignettes from pages 56 – 109 of The House on Mango Street made the strongest impression on you? In a post of at least 150 words, identify the vignette and discuss its theme or central idea, explaining why it resonated for you. As with last week, please do not discuss the same vignette someone else has discussed, if possible.
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The vignette that closely resonated with me this week was in fact “Four Skinny Trees”. In this short story Esperanza amazes and inspires me simply because of her ability to appreciate the things around her. In this instance it’s the trees, something that I for one take for granted each and every day. The trees supply our oxygen, and they are vital to the survival of all living things. Esperanza notices the beauty in such a thing that most people generally ignore, she empathizes with the trees. This story made me stop and think about all the simple things that go unnoticed and unappreciated every-day, for instance a bottle of water. Sometimes I don’t finish the bottle of water and it sits on my desk all day and at the end of the day when I’m cleaning up, I empty the water out in the sink when I could’ve just drunk it. What’s worse is that there are people around the world who don’t have access to clean water and here I am taking such a simple thing for granted. Maybe Esperanza is onto something here, maybe it’d do me some good to take a look around and appreciate everything and the role of importance they play in my life. Everything plays a role, big or small and that role works in tandem with other roles in order to produce a good quality of life for me. I think that’s something we should all pay attention to.
Hey Giovanni, I wanted to add more about Esperanza’s character to your post.
Esperanza makes note of everyone who lives on Mango Street, but she’s especially interested in the women who live there. What she sees isn’t exactly heartening: women are second-class citizens on Mango Street. From childhood, they’re taught to aspire to marriage and motherhood which they consider their ticket to a better way of life. Esperanza doesn’t buy into the “fairy tale” of marriage on Mango Street because there is no evidence that it’s a good thing. Nearly all the married women she knows are desperately unhappy and abused. No matter their beauty or intelligence, women in Mango Street are always under the control of men, whether it be their husbands of fathers. “Four Skinny Trees” serves as a large contrast to her idealistic thoughts in the beginning of the novel.
Hello Giovanni,
You had a great analysis on the story and I like the theme that you came up with. Like you said Esperanza does appreciate the more unique things like the trees in this instance. Most people find inspiration from their idols but Esperanza looks at the trees as an inspiration. She talks about how vital trees are for humans because of the oxygen they provide so it is important for her.
Giovanni, all you say about Esperanza’s awareness of her surroundings is true. But what is the larger symbolic meaning of these trees growing in the cement of the city? How does the observation about the trees relate to the narrator’s view of herself?
The vignette that struck a chord with me was “No Speak English.” Many of the characters in “The House on Mango Street” struggle with their identity often trying to reconcile their American present with their Latino heritage. Mamacita is one great example; a recent immigrant to the United States, she insists on only using her native language, but she cannot control the identity of her young son, who picks up English by watching American television. His assimilation makes him different from her and it breaks her heart. Immigrants are always faced with the dilemma of how much of they’re culture or heritage they should leave at home. Esperanza struggles with her identity as she focuses more on her stage of life than her ethnicity adolescents for Esperanza wavers between feeling like a child and like an adult. Eventually comes to realize her only way forward is to approach adulthood on her own terms. This means focusing on her dreams of leaving the barrio.
But what exactly is a home? Esperanza thinks home is a physical location, but it has to have a certain feeling of comfort peace and a little bit of luxury. Esperanza resents the House on Mango Street because it looks nothing like her dream house – though she knows it’s the best her family can do. Her dream house will always be that, a dream, but Esperanza eventually realizes that she’s confusing “house” and “home” – Mango Street is her home because it’s part of her. By the end of the novel, Esperanza hasn’t changed her ideas about having a house of her own, but she now understands her home will follow her wherever she goes.
Hi Gamby, I found “No Speak English” to be a very impactful vignette as well. In addition, I feel that “A House of My Own” is quite revealing as to what Esperanza wants in her life. While she writes that she wants “a house all [to her] own,” (Cisneros 101), it is what the house represents that Esperanza desires. To Esperanza, a house of her own represents stability, peace, and a reason to be proud.
Hi Gamby, I want to say I love how you explained this vignette, you’ve broke it down well and I like the examples you used like “Mamacita”. I think being a latino has it pros and cons. I get joked on sometimes on how I pronounce my words and sometimes it may seem as if I’m speaking backwards because ill place some words before each other but that’s how I talk I don’t mean any harm to it. Then the pros would be when people actually need my help if I may know this word or food that us as latino people eat or say. We can’t control our identity only how we treat people.
Hey Gamby, “No Speak English” is also a very nice vignette. Because Mamacita does not speak English, she feels that she is very different from her young son. It broke her heart. At first, I was also afraid of speaking English. I was afraid that I would repeat the wrong information if I said it wrong, but later I found out that I can’t make progress without correcting these errors.
Gamby, yes, “No Speak English” is a very powerful glimpse into what it means to be an immigrant still longing for what she considers her real home. Mamacita is especially alone because her husband, and now her child, are becoming Americans, leaving her behind in the past and her memories of a place she cannot return to.
The vignette that impacted me the most this week was “Linoleum Roses” (101-102). In this vignette, Esperanza talks about Sally, a beautiful girl who is controlled and abused by her father. Sally’s troubled home life effects her greatly and she goes on to get married “in another state where it’s legal to get married before eighth grade” (Cisneros 101). Esperanza speaks with Sally and concludes that though Sally “says she is in love… she did it to escape” (Cisneros 101). This vignette is heartbreaking to me, as it reveals the cycle of abuse many young girls are subjected to. Believing they are escaping to a better life, they fall victim to yet another abuser, as Esperanza reveals Sally did. In her marriage, Sally “is happy, except sometimes her husband gets angry… he won’t let her talk on the telephone. And he doesn’t let her look out the window. And he doesn’t like her friends, so nobody gets to visit her” (Cisneros 102). This vignette shows just how powerful the cycle of abuse is on the mind, as women believe that this “love” is normal, or that they are in the ones in the wrong. In Esperanza’s own life, she sees Sally’s marriage and uses it as an example of what she doesn’t want in her life. As she reveals in the later vignette “A House of My Own,” Esperanza desires a house all to herself, a place where she is at peace.
Hello Anna, I would like to say you’ve picked a good vignette, the heartbreaking scenario of finding love to get away from pain is something that goes unnoticed in life. Nobody pays attention to someones hurt and why they make the choices they do because they want an escape out of their hurt. She’s abused by a male figure that is her father which he’s categorized as a bad person because he’s hurting his creation. so she looks for love outside of what she goes through and it hits home for me b because I unfortunately knows exactly what that feels like physically and mentally but I think the way you’ve explained it was very well. The cycle of abuse continues if you allow it to continue its up to you to break it. Like the Vignette that I used was Mirvena Writes Poems and Mirvena goes through the same pain with her husband always leaving her but she goes through the mental abuse because she’s bad at home alone with the children. It’s about the voices you make that results into the actions that happens. Its time to break the cycle.
Anna, yes, “Linoleum Roses” shows the vicious cycle of abuse that you refer to. So many of the women in the story long for escape and end up in a different kind of prison. We can see that Esperanza learns from watching these neighborhood woman and is determined not to become like them.
Hello Anna.
I like your comment very much, especially the last part where it says that Esperanza desires a house to herself. Instead of living in a house belonging to someone else (her parents, her partner) she would rather live freely in a house that she owns; her own place where she won’t be controlled. As for Sally, she leads a very sad life. She was physically abused by her father and so she escaped yet come into the hands of another man in the name of love. Once again, she is abused, but this time mentally. But I don’t think Sally knows this since she believes she is “in love”. Not only does Esperanza learns from this, the readers can also learn the continuation of the cycle of abuse, but just in different forms.
Hi Anna. This vignette has also left a strong impression on me. I agree with you on Sally’s sad story showing the cycle of abuse many go through. By viewing the many women around her with similar stories to Sally, Esperanza is set on not wanting to live her life on ball and chain like them. Esperanza is determined to not end up like them and would much rather be on her own, independent “like a man” and alone where she can experience peace.
The vignette that made an impression to me was “Mirvena Writes Poems”. In this short story Esperanza talks about a girl that is not much older than her but already has a husband that seems to always walk out on her and has already two kids. It seems to let me know that people go through problems and most of the time the problems start at home. That nothing is ever perfect but people have ways of getting through situations and coping with them. Mirvena happens to cope with her issues by writing poems that means much of a significance to her thats why she holds them so tight in her palms. we as people go through situations that we find methods on coping with them. It made me think we are all human and we go through situations and sometimes people won’t be able to help you if you aren’t helping yourself first. The theme that relies within this short story is the choices you make in life they have to be your own choices. Don’t make choices for other people because it results in you still being sad. Mirvena has many troubles she faces alone and she chooses to go through them because she lets her husband back in after telling him he needs to leave for good but she lets her feelings get the best of her and lets him back into her home and life for a several time. Sometimes we let our feelings get the best of us and we rely on hope but sometimes you have to make decisions that you don’t want to make to end up with the results you want to feel. It resonated to me because it’s a deeper meaning to Mirvena’s pain and it’s a pain that we as people actually go through on the day to day basis.
Hello Samijah,
Thanks for sharing! Its really important to realize that you truly do not know what someone is going through behind the scenes. Hopefully it reminds us all to be more patient and gentle with each other. We all have things on our plate, and balancing them all can be difficult, so people need to cope and vent those pent up feelings. Some choose not so healthy options, but writing has also been extremely helpful for me just like Mirvena and her poems. I totally agree that sometimes we need to put aside our emotions to do the right thing for other people and especially ourselves. I love the phrase you said ” sometimes you have to make decisions that you don’t want to make to end up with the results you want to feel.”.
Samijah, I think we see some of Esperanza’s bewilderment in this vignette “Minerva Writes Poems.” Esperanza also writes poems, but despite that shared interest, she cannot understand—nor help—Minerva. But again, we sense that the narrator will not end up like Minerva because she keenly watches the lives of those around her. She is not judgmental, but she seems to be absorbing great amounts of information that she will apply to her own life and choices.
The vignette that had the biggest impact was “Born Bad”. It was honestly tough to read, having been around terminally all throughout my life. The story follows Esperanza’s aunt Lupe. Once, the aunt was beautiful and healthy, the next ill and barely hanging on. Esperanza knowing her aunt a good lady, pondered why people are chosen to “go bad”. She ends up realizing it is chosen at random, no one in particular. When someone has been ill for a while, it becomes what is “normal”, and it is difficult to hold onto the image of what they used to be, and accept them as they are when they are ill. Her aunt had become blind and bed- ridden, this becoming her defining traits for Esperanza and her sisters. But after she had passed, Esperanza felt an immense amount of guilt having made fun of her and not having helped out more. She could have been appreciating her aunt in those moments when she listened to her stories and pushed her to continue to write. People often do not fully appreciate and empathize with those they know, until after they are gone. I have come to that realization as well. Being there for someone who is terminally ill is so hard. You always end up wishing you did more and talked them more. Grieving someone who is still alive is a pain that is immensely difficult to process.
Caroline, the last line of your post is extremely powerful and true. This is why we can’t really hate Esperanza for what seems like great insensitivity. It is terribly difficult, as you apparently know, to care for someone who is terminally ill. Emotions, such as anger, can surface at times and be directed, almost without one’s will, at the sick person. I think this happens in this vignette. Because it is so painful, one way of coping is to make fun of the situation. And Esperanza is still very young and not completely in control of how emotions are expressed. I agree that it is a painful vignette to read.
Hey Caroline, I really like the vignette you chose. Pretty strong message if you can talk about it . I read this too but was really confused how to deliver it to others hence skipped it. few years back I skipped on this friend for weeks and later he called one day that he is sick and is travelling abroad for treatment. He died after few days. I never got to say my goodbye but also made me realize how less I did for him when I had the chance. Totally can relate to this Vignette. best wishes for you
Hey Caroline, this is an amazing post. “Born Bad’ is an absolutely heartbreaking tale. When we’re young we haven’t yet developed mature copping modalities and Esperanza really can’t be blamed for her actions in making fun of her aunt. Unfortunately it’s quite natural to hold on to large amount of guilt like you mentioned when in reality you were doing your best. Maybe you could’ve done better but what done is done and we need to move forward with acceptance and compassion for ourselves and all involved.
Hey Caroline,
You have chosen a very sentimental vignette and I must say that you have done justice with it. It was hard for me to read this as well because it deals with something that I think almost all of us have to go through. At least once in our life, we have to deal with terminally ill people, more often they are the people whose healthy image has completely been wiped out from our minds, and only after their death do we sit down and remember their days of strength and vigor. Somehow when these people are around, we always take them for granted and we fail to appreciate their journey. The guilt of Esperanza is the guilt of all of us; I think this is the vignette with which every one of us must have resonated.
Hi Caroline,
Esperanza has an ill aunt, but she has known her aunt to be this way for years. One day, Esperanza plays a game with her friends and mimics her aunt’s disabilities. Shortly after, her aunt passes away, causing Esperanza to carry grief for the death of her aunt Lupe. When I lost my mother to pancreatic cancer, I speculated on whether I said “I love you” enough, or wondered if a different course of treatment could have possibly changed an outcome.
The vignette resonated me the most was “A House of My Own”. Esperanza began to envision her future dream house. A home that only belongs to her, unlike anyone’s home. As she said, “clean as paper before the poem.” The point that resonates with me is planning the future house. I used to fantasize about the house I want to own because I used to play games with my best friends. We all played games late at night. However, as we grow up, games are rarely played, and we have all entered the moment of social hard work, so the time we get together gradually decreases. I imagined that in the future I would buy a house with five computers in a larger room, and then vacate the largest room as a room for us to rest and play games when we are free time. I want to build a home that belongs to my ideals, and also fight for my dreams.
Hello Shihao chen,
I like the vignette that you have chose to write about as it was one of my favorites that I’ve read. I love the plan that you came up with for having your own house with a cool gaming room for you and your friends. The story seemed to inspire you about having your own cool house that belongs to you and your ideas.
ShiHao, I really smiled reading the description of your dream house with its five computers. I think there are similarities between your house and Esperanza’s though in that the house you imagine lives up to your ideals, as hers does, and is part of your dreams for your life.
Hi Shihao Chen,
I like your analysis, and I would like to complement what you wrote about the uniqueness Esperanza wants her house to have. I think that vignette I also want to highlight that she wants to reach a sense of individualized life and home duties for her to achieve a feeling of belonging. Note how the possessive pronoun “my” appears repeatedly in the vignette. And at the end of the first paragraph, “Nobody is garbage to pick up after.”
Hello Shihao I hope you’re have a wonderful day. I really admired your interpretation of this wonderful vignette. I also smiled because you touched on an aspect of my life the means a lot to me, my friends. My friends and I are also growing up and we don’t get to play games together as much as we did and when we do it doesn’t feel as great as it did when we were younger and more innocent. It feels like things have changed and the good moments seem way behind us, I want to have a gaming room too so I could have my friends over and that room could be like a portal to another dimension where we escape from the responsibilities of life and learn to have fun again. Thank you for sharing^_^
The Vignette that made the strongest impression on me is “Rafaela who drinks coconut and papaya juice on Tuesdays” on page 79 and 80. This vignette is about a man who plays poker and when he does he locks his wife Rafaela on the third floor because she is so beautiful and might escape. So when she is home alone and bored she will just look out the window as if she is an old lady who has nothing to do. So the theme of this vignette is if you allow yourself to be controlled by someone you will waste your time away. He doesn’t let her leave because he believes she will go to a bar and find another man that is worse than him. This story stood out to me because its confusing to me for why a woman would allow herself to be controlled by someone else. Nobody except you should control what is going on in your life.
Alexsander, thanks for the good comments. It may be hard to imagine why a woman would let herself be controlled as Rafaela is, but we have to keep these stories in historical context. This novel was published in1983. Many things were different then. Remember too that these women are immigrants from different cultures with more restrictive ideas about women and their roles. Marriage, as we see from many of these vignettes, was actually viewed by some as an escape. In these stories, marriage usually becomes a different sort of prison.
Hello Alexsander, thank you for the post. This vignette also made a strong impression on me and I also thought to myself “why would one do this to herself?.” However, as professor mentioned already, I do not think that we are “allowed” to judge past from today’s perspective. Everything has changed and women became more independent than they were before. However, I think this vignette can be a good reflection of today’s situation as well. Obviously, we rarely see someone locked into her house, however one doesn’t have to be actually locked in to say that they are imprisoned. A lot of cultures still consider women as only housewives, whose only role is to take care of the husband. Even though, you and I do not understand, I think there are many reasons why woman tend to become prisoners of their husband’s houses. These reasons can be found in cultural views, where for instance, denying a role of a housewife can be a shame that can destroy your social life.
The vignette that made the strongest impression on me is “Papa Who Wakes Up Tired in the Dark”. I can resonate to this vignette because the narrator’s father reminds me of my father. Just like the narrator’s father, my father is also a hard-working man, who does not show much emotion especially when it comes to sadness. I have never seen him cry as well. The narrator feels epiphany. She learns about death and growing up and growing old. She also feels the responsible that is bestow upon her as she is the oldest child. It is her duty to deliver the news to her siblings, take care of them, and tell them how to behave because of the death of their grandfather. She discovers a new side of her strong, hard-working father. She realizes that one day, it will be her in her father’s place. And this makes her wonder how she would react to the news of her parents’ deaths. This connects her more to her father, and makes her miss her father although he is right there next to her. This is why she holds him in her arms, trying to comfort her crying father. However, this is also her way of comforting herself, by holding her father close to her, since she will not be able to hold him anyone when he is gone. The last sentence of this vignette is somehow emotional since the author used the repetition of “hold” for a number of times. This emphasizes on the narrator’s actions and feelings at the moment.
Hello, Thin Yadanar Su yes, I agree and believe that your father is also a hard-working one like shown in the Novel because all fathers are hard-working because my father is also hard-working and very kind he alwasy protect me from outside negativity and help me to walk in the right path. Fathers are only to love their children and sacrifice their lives to their children.They always protect their children and make a safer world, which is the gift for us on this earth. I hope every child can get a father like a narrator’s father.
Hi, Thin. I agree your comments. In my opinions, father means responsibility. They do have many things to take care of and never shows their weakness in front of family. Esperanza has duty to take care of her siblings because she is the oldest. My grandfather died when I was a little kid. At the time, I don’t know what the feeling like when someone is death. I know that feeling when my grandmother died when I went to high school. My heart hurts.
The vignette I chose is called “A Smart Cookie” on page 111. I like this vignette because it is a cautionary tale. Our parents teach us some lessons while growing up that stick with us for the rest of our lives. In this vignette, Esperanza describes her mother as skillful and yet limited. She also describes that her mother is an intelligent woman to wants to enjoy more intellectual activities, such as enjoying art by going to the ballet or watching a play. Going forward in the reading, the mother explains that shame made her quit school and consequently drove her to make choices that led her to the life she has now, which is a regretful and hard life. “I was a smart cookie then.” This last sentence is very powerful, not only for sealing the vignette. But also by illustrating how the mother regrets her decisions and how definitive those decisions affected her life. The mother no longer sees herself as smart, implying that she recognizes that her choices were not smart.
Hi Deanne,
I found that the vignettes which serve as cautionary tales or speak to unfortunate things in life were the ones that resonated most with me, like the one you wrote about. Lessons that our parents teach us can be so valuable, even if we don’t realize at the time.
The Second Vignette that caught my attention is The First Job. This story talks about the situation that happens everyday but people still act oblivious about it. Esperanza joins her first job where an old Asian guy Sexually assaults her. And as sad as it sounds, thins happens with women one way or another on a daily basis but they are not able to talk about it because of the society, reputation and whatnot. The way the author wrote the vignette was very touching and awakening . Its sickening to know what women face in their everyday life.
Hello Kazi,
That vignette also got my attention. It brushes on so many topics. Esperanza, an underage child, is forced to take a job to support herself through private high school, as the public school in her neighborhood is likely underfunded and kids there “turn out bad.” Her job is presented as straightforward but mind-numbing and alienating. She doesn’t know whether she can sit but is too shy to ask. Her co-workers toy with her before telling her she can. In her childish pride, she pretends she knew. She is scared to mingle with her co-workers at lunch because she is a child, forced to assume responsibilities she shouldn’t be having. The last element of this story, the older man abusing her innocence, was also harrowing. Esperanza’s surprise at the forced kiss is conveyed by the sudden switch to present tense and the abrupt ending. Like in “Red Clowns” later on, the molestation is not described further and left to the imagination. Unlike that story, though, Esperanza’s feelings are not developed beyond that effect of suddenness. It might be to insist on the tragic banality of these sexual assaults for working-class women.
The vignette that established the most grounded connection with me is “Papa Who Wakes Up Tired in the Dark”. I can reverberate to this vignette in light of the fact that the storyteller’s dad helps me to remember my dad. Actually like the storyteller’s dad, my dad is additionally a dedicated man, who doesn’t show a lot of feeling particularly with regards to misery. I have never seen him cry also. The storyteller feels revelation. She finds out with regards to no end and growing up and developing old. She likewise feels the dependable that is offer to her as she is the most established youngster. It is her obligation to convey the news to her kin, deal with them, and let them know how to act due to the demise of their granddad. She finds another side of her solid, persevering dad. She understands that one day, it will be her in her dad’s place. What’s more this makes her can’t help thinking about how she would respond to the insight about her folks’ demises. This associates her more to her dad, and makes her miss her dad in spite of the fact that he is not too far off close to her. This is the reason she holds him in her arms, attempting to comfort her crying dad. Nonetheless, this is likewise her method of ameliorating herself, by holding her dad near her, since she can not hold him anybody when he is no more. The last sentence of this vignette is some way or another enthusiastic since the creator utilized the redundancy of “hold” for various occasions. This underlines on the storyteller’s activities and sentiments right now.
Hello Adonys,
How lovely that you remember your dad while reading this vignette. Esperanza is not used to seeing her day this vulnerable. Like her father, many dads don’t want to cry in front of their children so their kids don’t picture low moments when they remember them. Indeed, she can see that although her dad is brave, he is also very human. It is very scary to wrestle with the inescapable reality of death- especially the death of your parents. As she holds him, she understands the value of holding him while he is still with her. This reminds me of the position I am in now. Upon hearing of all the death that has happened these past months, I have reckoned with what I would do if my mum passed. My heart stops every time I think about that- so I don’t. I simply tell her I love her and kiss her through the screen of my phone – every day, several times a day.
The vignette in this selection that resonated most with me was “Minerva Writes Poems.” This vignette centers on a troubled woman, Minerva, who finds brief respite in poetry, which she shares with the author. These poems are very important to her as she “holds them in her hands a long time.” I imagine the poems she writes are about the life she wishes she could have. She is troubled because her husband is absent, likely abusive, and always walking out on her, and these problems extend downward to her children as due to her husbands absence, she is forced to raise them alone. This vignette resonated with me because so often we want to help those close to us, but unfortunately there’s really not much we can do; the author feels the same as at the end of this piece she writes “there is nothing I can do,” with a regretful tone.
I must say that I am quite sad to say goodbye to Mango Streets as this was such a unique and relatable reading. So many great moments, where do I even start. The vignette that stood out to me the most was “Red Clowns.” This was just a horrifying moment of betrayal and a lost of innocence. It was hard to not come to tears as Esperanza describes a terrifying moment where she felt betrayed by her friend Sally and is taken advantage of by a boy in her moment of weakness. While the vignette is short and not filled with details, it’s what’s left to your imagination that’s most disturbing. Esperanza seems to be describing a rape scenario, some of the most chilling lines are when she says “I couldn’t do anything but cry. I don’t remember. It was dark. I don’t remember. Please don’t make me tell it all.” Absolutely heartbreaking as it starts off as innocent as a girl that wants to hangout with her friend but is then abandoned and taken advantage of.
The vignette, which has resonated the most with me, is “Sire” (72-73). I like the book for its sheer depiction of childhood. I think childhood is often confused with being happy, naïve, and innocent. A child is not always these things, he can be stressed for no reason, unconsciously mature, and vulgar without realizing it. I think this vignette gives a highly realistic image of childhood. The entire vignette is Esperanza’s stream of consciousness and therefore allows the reader to probe deeply into the mind of a child. She tells the reader that her neighbor Sire is interested in her and watches her all the time. She decides to stare at him back and it leads to an accident. She also thinks of his beautiful girlfriend Lois. She then thinks about her dream where a boy holds her and she imagines how Sire would have held Lois.
The central idea of the vignette is imagination vs reality. Esperanza thinks of many things in a haphazard way which shows that as a child she cannot differentiate reality from imagination. Sire has never talked to her and he has never expressed his feelings for her at all, but she still thinks, ‘I don’t remember when I first noticed him looking at me – Sire. But I knew he was looking. Every time. All the time…I knew he was looking. I had to prove to me I wasn’t scared of nobody’s eyes, not even his. I had to look back hard, just once, like he was glass.’ (Cisneros, 71). It shows that as a child she mixes her own imaginative thoughts with the world outside. She thinks like a mature person, she says, ‘I looked back because I wanted to be brave, straight into the dusty cat fur of his eye.’ (Cisneros, 71). It seems as if an adult and strong woman is narrating the incident. But at the same time, she discusses his girlfriend as well which shows that she has made up the scenario in her mind and there is a greater possibility that the boy might not be interested in her at all. She also reveals a keen sense of observation which shows that she is actually interested in Sire and is simply unable to accept her feelings. The vignette also shows the lustful thoughts of Esperanza by the end where she confuses the idea of Sire with any boy who might have held her in dreams.
The vignette thus reveals the struggles of being a child by showing the mental fight of a child between imagination and realities. Along with it, the vignette shows the randomness of human thoughts which is not peculiar to children only. It shows a very realistic picture of the stream of consciousness in merely two pages which is truly remarkable.
The vignettes that make a strongest impression on me is “A Smart Cookie”. It is about Esperanza’s mother that she could have done something with her life. Her mother has many skills-she can draw, speak two languages, and fix TV. The most important thins is that her mother tell her should be able to take care of herself and not just rely on a man. And her mother describes her experiences of dropped out of school. Her mother’s experiences tell Esperanza don’t drop out school. Study hard. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a man when you are young. Her mother knows everything expect take subway. This means her mother does not know how to escape. The reason why the story resonates for me is that remind me one of my friends has similar situation, she had baby two years ago. She wants to go back to school again, but there is a lot thing she need to take care that make him give it up.
I liked the vignette name “A House of mine” in this week’s reading. In this vignette, Esperanza has explained her dream of having her own house is so comfortable because the house will be bigger than the separated apartment. There will be no landlord anymore, which all American peoples dream of having their own home. Everything would be personal, like a pillow bed, books, and stories like the author mentioned in the vignette. This was interesting to me because I love this similar dream of every American who wants to have their own house and live freely without stress. Even I also have the same dream of having a home that is no more apartment in the back where I would be the landlord and have a beautiful life and live a stress-free life where the house would be quite like snow and live a peaceful life. The novel was quite interesting because it shows the dream of a middle-class family.
I especially like the Vignette, ” The Earl of Tennesse”. I find the vignetter rather funny and I am intrigued by the exceptional use of literary devices and auditory and visual imagery. Earl is a fella that lives next door to Esperenza behind the flower boxes in Edna’s basement. Esperanza mentions that she stopped sitting on the flower boxes at Edna’s when Tito spotted a cockroach stained with green paint. I relate to that because I would have stopped sitting there too. And I find the image of a green-stained cockroach rather hilarious.
Esperanza’s use of personification to illustrate the opening of Earl’s door is simply beautiful. She says the “door opens with a sigh and lets out a breathe of mold and dampness” (70). This description helps me picture what it sounds like when Earl’s door is opened. More so, Earl has two small black dogs that follow him everywhere. Unlike other dogs, they “leap and somersault like an apostrophe and comma”. I have never heard anyone compare an animal’s movement to punctuation marks. I find this very interesting. I imagine that the dogs move as swiftly as a pen does when it carves out the shape of an apostrophe or a comma.
Next the author brilliantly uses onomatopoeia to illustrate what happens when Earl gets back home from work. The author describes the whining of the car door, the sound of the friction between the car and the concrete floor, the shaking of the dogs’ tags, the collision between Earls’ keys, and the moan that’s released when Earl opens his sighing door. These detailed descriptions make me feel like I can hear Earl’s arrival from across the page.
Earl has an unexpected job as a jukebox repairman- a profession I don’t hear regularly. The author mentions that Earl has a southern accent and the title of the vignette specifies that he is from Tennesse. Earl smokes chubby cigars and wears a felt hat every season, no matter the temperature. More so, I find it funny that no one seems to agree about what Earl’s wife looks like. Edna claims she is blonde, the boys across the street claim she is a redhead, and Esperenza begs to differ. Overall, I find this vignette interesting, light-hearted, and amusing.
The vignette in this collection that struck me the most was “Minerva Writes Poems”. Minerva is a young girl from the neighborhood who is only a year or two older than Esperanza and to the girls, she has a terrible run of bad luck. She is the mother of two children and the wife of a man who has abandoned her. Esperanza and Minerva collaborate on poems and discuss Minerva’s spouse, who is always on the run. Minerva shows up at Esperanza one day, all blue. Her husband, however, reappears, apologizes, and she accepts his apology. Fighting, beatings, fleeing, and back is all extremely common. Minerva is yet another job that Esperanza is fortunate to avoid. Minerva plays a part that is far too mature for a young adolescent to play.
One of the vignettes that moved me the most was the penultimate one, “A House Of My Own.” In only two short paragraphs consisting only of sentence fragments, Sandra Cisneros summarizes all of Esperanza’s life up until then, as well as her expectations moving forward. She makes it clear that her dream house won’t be “a flat” nor “an apartment in back,” unlike the places in which she previously lived. In a strong feminist stance, Esperanza clarifies that it won’t be “a daddy’s [house],” but also “[n]ot a man’s,” indicating that she does not want to trade her patriarchal household for that of her potential husband. She then mentions that it will have “[m]y books and my stories,” which can be read both as her own things, but also her own cultural universe and her own creative space. “My two shoes waiting beside the bed,” signifying that she wants the basic material comfort she was denied, as well as maybe not sharing her bed necessarily. She will have her own space, not needing to “shake a stick” at anyone to assert it. She won’t have to deal with others’ chores, as she implies by “[n]obody’s garbage to pick up after.” In the last paragraph, containing a single sentence (echoing the opening word “Only”), she describes her ideal house as “quiet as snow,” a strange simile that can only be explained with the end of the sentence: “clean as paper before the poem.” It means that there is no one to encroach on her mental and physical space, allowing her to express herself fully. When she says “a place for myself to go,” the emphasis is on “myself.” She has a profound need for her own space to process her childhood and start living as she intends. She sounds very confident, as if manifesting it into existence. This vignette alone can sound quite individualistic and selfish, but it is contrasted by the ending lines of the following (and last) vignette: “They will not know I have gone away to come back. For the ones I left behind. For the ones who cannot out.” She is not burning bridges with her past but needs “out” of her bind in order to “come back.”
The vignette that stood out to me is “Papa who Wakes Up Tired in the Dark”. This vignette stood out to me the most because of the way I see my father. Just like the the son I see my father waking up in the dark because the sun isn’t even out yet since he wakes up early to go to work. I would also be left there shocked and have no idea of what to do next. When you get to see your hero break down and cry it makes you feel a certain way as well. A person who you love and admire and to see them fall has to be hard. Another thing that stood out to me was the fact that this child will be force to tell the rest of his sibling since he is the oldest and his father is leaving back to Mexico to his grandfather funeral. If someone as strong as a father breaks down just imagine how difficult it most be for that boy to see his siblings eye to eye and tell them about this news. This Vignette brought out so much emotions while reading it.
I’m really agree with you because is really hard see your hero broke dow and crying, and you don’t know what to do or you can’t do nothing to change it. I have see my father dying of pain for the loose of his father and I was completely destroyed to see my hero, my world, my everything, the man that wakes up in the dark to go to work and bring food for me, crying and crying.
Hello Antonio, I agree with you. It’s almost world shifting when you see your father, someone who you though were a superhero, break down. It’s unimageable until it happens. Then additionally, the added responsibility that’s suddenly added when said event happens. It’s almost an another coming of age moment that happens. But it’s interesting in the vignette, the father goes back to mexico in order to mourn his father. It’s feels like that’s father going back to his true home where he grew up in.
From the beginning of the story we know that Ruthie is a little odd as she wears “one blue sock and one green.” She also laughs by herself as she takes her dog for a walk. To me, she seems a little childish too as she plays with children, likes candy but won’t take care of her teeth, and she compares moon and clouds to other objects like balloon or her shoe. Besides that, we see that Ruthie cannot make a decision on her own because she is asking her mom if she should go and play bingo.
Ruthie seems a little mysterious as we do not know much about her. She can sing and dance. Apparently, she had a lot of job offers too. Probably she declined all of the offers because she chose the path where she would become a housewife: “she got married instead and moved away to a pretty house outside the city.” As I read the story, I see a woman who got married at young age and as she probably has a conflict with her husband right now (probably), she has to live in her mother’s house and sleep on her couch. I can only assume that her husband makes all her decisions and that’s why Ruthie can’t decide if she should go to play bingo. I think she’s helpless right now, denying the fact that she should be more independent – “next weekend her husband’s going to take her home.”
I can only assume all these, we do not know much about Ruthie.
“Sally” has “eyes like Egypt” and is Esperanza’s childhood friend. She is “beautiful” and her hair is shiny black like raven feathers”. Esperanza’s friend comes from a strict family. Her father believes she is so beautiful, that it may cause trouble. She behaves differently at school than she does at home. Around her father, Sally must remain modest and quiet. In school, she is attention seeking and broken. One one hand ,Esperanza admires her friend, but Sally is very much lonely and sad. Her beauty is a mask to cover up the sadness she feels when at home. Esperanza is too young to understand her friends deepest insecurities. “Sally” reminds me of when I was in high school, navigating my complex friendships with girls and boys.
The vignettes from the House on Mango Street that made the strongest impression on me were “Rafaela who drinks coconut water & papaya juice on Tuesday” and “Beautiful & cruel”. These Vignettes show Esperanza’s desire for independence and breaking gender roles as she fears living her life “by the window” like the many women around her. In “Rafaela who drinks coconut water & papaya juice on Tuesday” Esperanza notices the life Rafaela lives. Rafaela is unable to go outside or have a life outside of her husband. Similar to Esperanza’s Great-grandmother “Rafaela leans out the window and leans on her elbow and dreams her hair is like rapunzel’s”. Rafaela dreams of a life with independence and freedom. She is stuck living with these gender roles as if she were on a ball & chain. In “Beautiful & cruel” Esperanza makes it very clear she wants to be “like a man” and has decided not to be like the others “waiting for the ball and chain”. I believe “ball & chain” refers to the life of a housewife similar to Rafaela or Sally. When Esperanza claims to be “like a man” she expresses her desire to break the gender role of being a submissive housewife and would much rather do as she pleases with freedom and independence like a man.
Hi Shadai, I also found “Rafaela who drink coconut water and papaya juice on Tuesday” interesting because it reminded me a lot of the poems we read about “The Wife”. The narrator in that poem also wanted to be independent and live her own life but since she was married and wanted to be a good wife she couldn’t leave her husband. Instead she left everything behind to marry him. The wife had no more say on her own life because everything had to go through the husband. Both stories show two wives who are struggling with marriage because they have given their freedom away. They see there husband being independent and making decisions for himself but the wives aren’t aloud to. They feel trapped and almost as if they lost there true selves.
The vignette that closely resonated with me is ” Papa Who Wakes Up Tired in the Dark” It was the saddest moment in my life. I have see my father completely shattered after loose his father, I swat him crying like a little baby and this really broke my heart. I was just a little girl of 7 years old when my grandpa died but I was the old one and like the story said they decide to tell me first. In this moment I did not understand what exactly were going on but see my father like that broke my heart in hundreds pieces, I didn’t know what to do or what to say.
Now every time that I think that I will lose my father one day it just kill me, I’m not strong like my dad. I will not do it without him so I want hold him by my side forever and if one day he have to go I will go with him.
I know that we all going to die one day but I can’t think that my parents will not be by my side one day.
Hi, Ivanna
I found the vignette that you chose very interesting because of how sentimental and impactful it was. Papa is unable to stay strong for his family because he himself had just lost his father. I don’t know how I would react if someone I loved died and I knew that I would never be able to see them again. Just like in the vignette the oldest had to tell the younger children that today was a day not to play and that they had to be quiet because even today adults decide that not telling children is for the better. I know this probably isn’t the same thing but when I was a child and my dog died my parent decided that they would tell me that my dog and run away instead to bear me the pain of losing someone I loved.
The vignette that stood out to me the most was chapter #29, “Rafaela Who Drinks Coconut & Papya Juice on Tuesdays”. This short story was centered around Rafaela, a literal stay at home wife who is forced to be locked in the house by her husband. She dreams of being able to escape this building to dance at the bar before she succumbs to age. Her two children are her only link to the outside world, she uses them to bring her the two juices that make up the title of this tale. The sweetness of the juice giving her something to counterbalance the bitterness of the room she’s stuck in. The theme of this story is control, giving up that control to another and allowing ones life to be wasted away due to the flaws of another. “And then Rafaela, who is still young but getting old from leaning out the window SO much, gets locked indoors because her husband is afraid Rafaela will run away since she is too beautiful to look at.” She lives this awful life because of her husband’s own insecurities. Instead of taking her life into her own hands to go dance and be free, she chooses to stay and follow the wishes of her husband.
The vignette that made the strongest impression on me was “Sire” which was about wanting to obtain something that seemed almost impossible. In this vignette, she would constantly try to avoid confrontation with a boy who would look at her while she walked past his house. She mentioned how she looked at him once because she wanted to be brave causing him to look at her just as hard. This resonates with me because when I would look at my crush when I was in high school she would look back at me and at that moment we would forget about everything else and just be invested in each other. Later in the vignette, she would go on to describe the relationship that the boy and his girlfriend had. In a way, it seemed like she was envious of the relationship between the boy and Lois because deep down she wanted someone to care for her as they are for each other. She is unable to seek affection which she wanted so much but was unable to receive.
The vignette that left the strongest impression on me was “One Smart cookie”. In the vignette, it talks about how Esperanza’s mother was a smart cookie, had countless potential as an opera singer but in the end, she wasn’t able to capitalize on it due to leaving school out of shame. The last line, “I was a smart cookie back then” holds so much importance because it implies that the time for her to be a “Smart Cookie” is over and the moment she let shame control her, was the moment she stopped being a smart cookie. The central theme is not allowing your own potential to be overshadowed by things that shouldn’t hold you back. It resonated with me the most because I often have to struggle with. It’s also something others have to deal and it’s sometimes an uphill battle.