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Which one of the vignettes from pages 1-57 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. Please make every effort to respond to a vignette that has not already been discussed by another member of the group.
Please be sure address comments to others so we can all follow along.
58 thoughts on “Week 5 Discussion”
Gagandeep Kaur you had read my mind! the story “The House on Mango Street more certainly have many great vignettes to read and there’s certainly a connection between each vignettes that i believe that we can all connected with our own personal self or connected in our life. In my opinion, i was debating with myself but you beat me to it! that “Boys & Girls” vignette was my 2nd favorite and my first favorite was “Hairs”. However, in page 9 of the story “Boys & Girls” the line that states “someday i will have a best friend all my own” i like the comparison that you did of the image of the balloon and also the color red that stands out from the neighborhood from others. In my opinion, i feel like we all go through the feelings that Esperanza feeling in our personal life when we were young as kids or now. it feels horriable and emotional being disconnected and not sharing what’s in your mind with secrets that you trying to hold into. i can only imagined how Esperanza feels and how others feels and wonder if this vignette “boys & girls” have a short film to watch.
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Hi Brandon,
I agree that this is an interesting vignette. I also agree that the message pertains to the internal similarities that comprise familial bonds, rather than just observable physical traits. The bond between family members, as well as just relationships in general, seems to be one major area of exploration in the work so far. I like that you tied this in to a larger human idea of peoples’ similarities running deeper than just what can be seen physically. Although I did not personally interpret this on my first read, it could potentially add another layer to the vignette.
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Hello Justine,
I agree that the vignette called “Marin” she is mainly a dependent character who wishes to wait to be rescued rather than accomplishing something herself. This is her imagination of wanting to be saved and taken far away which is not realistic. In society generally many people want to act the same as Marin instead of doing something themselves. Also, it is possible that many might not change as well as Marin which is unfortunate.
Brandon, thanks for the post. Yes, your words are clear even though you write that you are “failing to find other words.”
Justine, this is beautifully phrased. I can understand how a girl in this time and place might engage in the classic “rescue fantasy.”
Justine, yes, I think the portrait of Marin is a portrait that can be extrapolated to many girls and women waiting for the prince to come.
Stephanie, your words about “Hairs” are very well expressed. As you say, in the end, the vignette is about so much more than the different hair of people in a family.
Hi Justine,
I loved how you analyzed this vignette “Marin” because everything you said in your discussion post was completely accurate. Marin is a girl who wishes that someone come and save make her life better, she wishes for a better and richer life and she’s depending on a man to do that for her. Rather than taking things in her hands doing it for herself, she’s depending on her future boyfriend/husband to give her life meaning. Marin has a way to view life as her being the poor girl who needs rescue and the man is the knight of shining armor.
Lizanjela I had a different perspective on the vignette “Louie, His Cousin & His Older Cousin” I think that he is just a kid that decided to do something Idiotic like steal a car and take it for a joyride so that he can show off, he also decides to take his cousins, their friends, and other people in the neighborhood for a ride in the car not thinking about his actions and how that can be putting them in danger. Its not until the end that he realizes that his actions have consequences when he is faced with them so he lets everyone out of the car quickly but instead of facing his actions he chooses to run but what would have happened if he had not been able to let everyone out of the they would have suffered for him idiotic decisions.
Ariadna, everything you write here is true, I think. But the fact that this vignette is included in the story—and also the fact that the car is a showy yellow Cadillac, of all things—asks readers to think in a metaphorical way about Louie and his quest for joy. I think your response shows concern for the characters though, a reaction the mothers in the neighborhood might feel!
Lizanjela, I love how stretch your response to a whole new area as you envision the yellow Cadillac as Louie’s own means of escape from the barrio, even though it is not how that “escape” works out. Also, it’s so fun to imagine the kids taking that joy ride they will never forget. Then joy and destruction get all mixed up.
Ariadna, your post is beautifully written and expresses so well the pressure some people feel to live up to the name given to them. Often a name is a tribute to a forebear, so the holder of the name feels bound to not bring disrespect to the name. Other times, there is unspoken pressure to live up to the heritage or to actually emulate the original holder of the name. That’s a lot of pressure!
Hello, Samantha
I like your emphasis on the importance of friendship to Esperanza, because it’s one of the most important driving forces behind her many stories, at least from what I read. She feels isolated for many reasons, whether it be the small house, her distinct name, or her culture, and any amount of true friendship is precious to her. However, being able to let go of someone that easily, though understandable and desirable for many, is something I feel that is too mature for a teen/child, because one really shouldn’t have to worry about fake friends at that age… that only hits home harder how bad her environment is to her
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Hello Ariadna,
It seems that we both wrote about the same vignette, and from what I read, much of our points coincide, which is something to celebrate for me because it seems that the theme is something we both agree on; to separate her identity from her name. However, I do want to ask, what is Esperanza lost in?
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Hi Justine,
I agree that there is something almost tragic about Marin and her idea of waiting for someone to change her life. I think this vignette’s theme is about the suppression of women and the roles they are expected to play. Marin places importance on physical attributes instead of how she can be empowered to be the cause of change in her own life.
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Section 0503: Hello Juliana, I find it interesting the way you view “ Hairs”. Yes, I do believe as well that the way the speaker talks about the different types of hair in her culture shows her and just an overall appreciation for different hair types and styles in her culture, but have you thought of it in the way that if people can accept different hair types and styles why couldn’t they accept different ways of thinking and show the same kind of appreciation.
Hi Kexin. I think you’re right about the girl Esperanza’s feelings about her name. She had no choice about what name she would be given, but now she hates it. I do however feel that as a child, being different with a unique name comes with this territory. I think as we grow older though we tend to embrace our differences. Children tend to be more self concious when it comes to things that can be easily teased by their peers. I feel Esperanza will be proud of her name and where it came from as she grows up.
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Samantha, thanks for the comments about “Our Good Day.” I find that vignette quite amusing. The narrator already seems to be aware of the deals and trade-offs involved in friendship. And yes, she seems open to any new relationship she can find!
Kexin, yes, this a vignette many people who inherited family names can relate to. As I commented to someone else, there is pressure that comes with carrying such a name. You don’t to disgrace the forebear in any way. Sometimes you might feel you have to live up to the name or emulate the original owner of the name.
Juliana, yes, there’s a kind of intimacy that comes across in this vignette. It is quite physical, and as you say, she accepts each of the differences (though seems especially partial to her mother’s hair).
Jiaxian, I like your approach to the vignette “Hairs.” Yes, she certainly seems most attached to her mother’s hair, but she loves all her family members despite how different they are. The description of her mother’s hair is very loving and warm, as you note.
Giulia, yes, you and Jiaxian seem to have a strong emotional response to “Hairs.” I agree that a sense of love and security comes across in this vignette. And yes, the sense of smell is the most evocative of memory.
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The vignette that stood out to me most in “The House on Mango Street” was “Those Who Don’t” on page 28. THis vignette had meaning for me because it describe a sense of familiarity and consolidation of identity through neighborhood relations. The vignette obviously isn’t long, as is the nature of a vignette, but it does a good job showing that Esperanza knows all the people of Mango Street, and that she knows they are good people despite what people passing the neighborhood think. The vignette demonstrates her own identification as someone from the neighborhood and that they all have their quirks but are together. The message of solidarity growing up that this vignette gives, really speaks to me and i think it was an important section of the developing story so far. I believe that the theme here is identity, which seems to be the subject of a lot of the other vignettes such as “hairs” that many students wrote about.
Stephanie I believe you are right about how this is an action towards embracing uniqueness which is not the original perspective I had while reading this. Initially I saw this vignette as Esperanza struggling to identify with the characteristics of her diverse family. However now having read it over, and reading your response, I realize that when Esperanza says “Everybody in our family has different hair”, it is not a declaration of her being a lonely individual but a proud collective with her family.
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I would say “My Name” definitely caught my eye and made quite a strong impression on me. The narrator’s name, Esperanza, could have multiple meanings. “In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting” (Cisneros 10). the narrator also shares that it was what she inherited from her great-grandmother. They had the same name and born in the Chinese year of the horse. The narrator mentioned “I wouldv’e liked to have known her, a wild horse of a woman, so wild she wouldn’t marry” (Cisneros 11). But that changed after her great-grandfather went ahead and married her against her will. “Until my great-grandfather threw a sack over her head and carried her off. Just like that, as if she were a fancy chandelier. That’s the way he did it” (Cisneros 11). They were married, but not happily ever after. The great-grandmother wasn’t happy about proceeding with the marriage and it only got worse after they did get married. “And the story goes she never forgave him. She looked out the window her whole life, the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow” (Cisneros 11). Just like her name, she sat by the window and looked out, as if hoping or even waiting for something, someone to change her life. The narrator goes on to say “I have inherited her name, but I don’t want to inherit her place by the window” (Cisneros 11). This was quite a sad part of the story. The way I look at it, the great-grandmother was deprived of her freedom, it was as if she was locked up and was looking out the window with hope or maybe even jealousy, of the people outside. With her name literally meaning hope and waiting, it’s as if she was destined to live her life like this; that was an unfair and cruel way to look at it, but that is what pains me the most on this analysis.
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Gwyneth I think you hit the mark with your comment. I think you really broke down the vignette very well. To a point, you explained each part that intrigued you. But I am not sure if you described the theme or the central idea or just broke down the vignette. Maybe I missed it so let me know.
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Patricia, your comments to others must add something to the conversation. Rather than just agreeing with someone, you need to offer new insight, information, or even disagreement.
Gwyneth, I don’t usually respond in writing to posts submitted after Wednesday, but the last few lines of your post are very thought-provoking as you consider what the great-grandmother’s life might have been like.
I do agree with the message you identified in the story, as well as all of the things you mentioned above. I especially liked how you mentioned that “The living conditions were subpar and inadequate for a growing family”. With that quote, “growing family” caught my eye because of course their family is quite big and still growing, they would definitely want the proper space and privacy for their children. As a child, she wasn’t greedy at all for wanting to live in their dream house, because they’re at that point in their lives that they are the most innocent and curious, they set their goals and dreams and wish for it to happen. But I do believe that at that age, they also wanted to have this sense of security, even as a kid. Because a shelter is one of the basic needs, as well as running water and working pipes just like she wishes to have. I appreciate this one because it reminded me to be grateful for having the necessities in order for me to live comfortably.
Gwyneth, please be sure to address comments to others by name so we can all follow along!
The story, ” The House on Mango Street” consists of many different vignettes. Each vignette develops the story. The vignette “ Those Who Don’t ” intrigued me because of the deeper meaning. The vignette talks about the people who do not know any better are scared of the main character’s neighborhood. The central idea all comes down to judgment and ignorance. People repeat the quote “ Don’t judge a book by its cover” yet we all still do it. To connect this to my life, when people hear I am from Haiti they automatically think poor which isn’t true. Yet once they get to know my island they fall in love with it. In the vignette, the main character claims she knows the people in her neighborhood as just anybody else. Even Though she sees how others cringe in her neighborhood she explains when they go to a neighborhood that another color dominates they do the same thing. At the end of the day, it is a toxic cycle.
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This is a common problem here in New York. When I first moved here I moved to Harlem. I had a few friends that had lived in New York once before and gave me all sorts of advice about being careful because the neighborhood was dangerous or whatever. I never felt unsafe, even the time I was walking home at 3am from the Bar. I think Esperenza as a child notices the injustice of it all.
Curtis, please be sure to respond to others by name. Thanks!
I’m really touched by “Gil’s Furniture Bought & Sold,” and I’m pretty happy no one else has discussed it yet! The music box shocked Esperenza because I don’t think she expected to find something so special. When she eagerly turns around expecting it to be a ballerina with flowers painted over it. She yearns for pretty things, similar to how she wants to live in a pretty house, but instead got the green house on Mango Street. Fully ready to discredit it because she didn’t think it was pretty, Gil turned it on and Esperenza felt something truly special. I think she learned the value of beauty and that sometimes it can be found in unexpected places. I learned to play the piano because I felt that beautiful music was truly inspiring. I wonder if Esperenza was drawn to art and beauty in an unexpected way going forward.
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Kenny,
Absolutely, disappointment sets in, it’s really unfortunate because you can see how important it is to the family to have a house that they own. One with the pipes all working and the stairs not in the hallway. It also breaks my heart that she is already concerned with what people think of her at a young age. Upon seeing the Nun’s reaction she knew she needed to have a house she could call her own.
Curtis, HI!!!
There are many vignettes in the story, “The House on Mango Street”, the one that has the strongest impression on me is “Those Who Don’t”. The protagonist in the story is very familiar with her neighborhood that she’s able to identify all of her neighbors and the pedestrians. I think this will be important foreshadowing as the protagonist has a strong connection with the neighbor at Mango Street.
I have reminisced about my childhood while reading through this vignette. My mother received a driver license after her seventh try. The vignette evokes a tribulation for my immigrant family, who speaks very little English. Prior to that there is limited availability for the global positioning system beside the atlas, our family would get lost in a neighborhood for hours before heading home. We have been to numerous neighborhoods without knowing our exact location, our fear would suggest that we make sure all of our doors are locked and the windows are sealed. It is very interesting for me to understand the protagonist’s perspective.
The vignette that made the strongest impression on me was the one titled “My Name”. The author makes it immediately clear that Esperanza has bitter feelings towards her name. Esperanza compares her own name to the likes of mud and feelings of sadness. We then learn that she inherited her name from her great-grandmother and understand why it is that she has such resentment towards it. Her great-grandmother would have been an ideal candidate for the Cult of Domesticity. She was a woman who set her own life aside and dedicated it to her husband. In Esperanza’s eyes, her great-grandmother wasted her life away dreaming of the things she could have accomplished and the person she could have become. I believe Esperanza felt that by inheriting the name, she might inherit her great-grandmother’s reality, which she absolutely doesn’t want. It really reveals Esperanza’s views on a woman’s place in society. “My great-grandmother, I would’ve liked to have known her, a wild horse of a woman, so wild she wouldn’t marry. Until my great-grandfather threw a sack over her head and carried her off. Just like that, as if she were a fancy chandelier” (11). The author uses a Simile here to show how such a spirited woman like her great-grandmother was easily dispirited by a man who simply wanted a wife to tend to the house. Additionally, we get some insight on how Esperanza feels about her Mexican culture. It is a culture, like many others, that undermines the true value of women and restricts them from reaching their true potential.
The reason why this vignette resonated with me so much was because it was very relatable for me. Although it may have stemmed from different reasons, I too had much resentment for my last name as a child. It made me feel different at a time in my life when I just wanted to fit in. Over time I would grow to embrace my name and be proud of its uniqueness but I do understand where some of Esperanza’s resentment was coming from.
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Syed , your response to the reading was awesome. The author was embarrassed that her name has such a complex pronunciation to it but she did not agree with this. Growing up this can be a challenge for children because they may not immediately fit in or be liked immediately by others. The Mexican culture is unique but this tradition of names being passed down from generation to generation is a something that is seen in many other cultures. Lastly, your anecdote is clearly very relatable to the author and I’m sure that there are other who can reate to you.
Hello Giulia, I love how you explained the love shared in the vignette “Hairs”. I love how the protagonist associate the family’s characteristics by their hairstyle. Esperanza listed all of her family members but we can see that she is bias about her mother as it’s the most descriptive. A sense of comfort and warmth while describing Esperanza’s mother, the vivid description of their relationship through the way that they bond and love.
The vignette from “The House on Mango Street” that had the strongest impression on me was “Gil’s Furniture Bought and Sold”. This vignette does an incredible job tapping into the narrator’s senses with how uncomfortable she feels with her unconventional lifestyle. The theme and central ideas associated with this vignette are more or less about the narrator’s ignorance and lack of understand with cultural differences. The author uses a music box to symbolically represent the narrator’s sense of enlightenment and open-mindedness she experiences once realizing how connected she felt to the culture and heritage of the shop owner. But she does not realize this immediately when her whimsical fantasy of the music box were given a reality check after seeing what was a dull, wooden box. It wasn’t until she was able to hear the music from the box that she became indulged in emotion and soon realized the connection she had with the shop owner.
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Hey Brandon, I thought this was an interesting vignette too. If there’s anything I’ve learned about Esperanza in the story so far, it’s that she’s someone who’s experiences I can relate to a lot. I too agree that “Laughter” is about the internal bond that Esperanza shares with her sister. I have two siblings as well and sometimes we find ourselves having similar thoughts on certain topics. It’s almost as if we communicate telepathically at times much like Esperanza and her sister did when they both understood what the other was thinking. This shows that Esperanza is a strong believer that family runs deep, deeper than what’s on the surface and it may be the message that the author was trying to convey.
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In the story “The House on Mango Street” there are many vignettes that had several important themes and many that people can feel connected to in some type of way. The vignette that stood out to me and where I felt connected to was “Hairs” on page 6&7 because it talked about how everyone in the family is different and even though it was focused on her family’s hair types I feel like the theme was how being different is not being a bad thing but it is good to embrace your uniqueness. Most of my family has curly hair while I have straight hair. I remember when people ask me what is your ethnicity and I say Dominican they would say no you’re not causing your hair is straight. When I went to the Dominican Republic most of the people would ask where I’m from because I don’t have curly hair. While reading “Everybody in our family has different hair.” it had me think to pass that and how everyone has something unique and that a person’s hair type, skin color, etc does not define them and instead of rejecting/ hating something about themselves it should be embraced.
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Juliana,
It seems that we both wrote about the same vignette, and I agree with your ideas you come out with “the author is just simply expressing how different races, ethnicities, hairstyles, and people can be different, It also brings love and familiarity seeing how the author remembers one of the most important people in her life…”. The author use “Hair” vignette to expressing how important Esperanza’s family to Esperanza. And shows Esperanza’s family’s different hairstyles, and it shows how Esperanza’s family members are different. Also, this vignette brings the feeling of love, safe and comfortable when Esperanza stays with her family.
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In this week’s reading of “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros we see how her life is discussed through a series of short chapters. I personally believe that “Hairs” is a fascinating vignette because this dhows how each of her family members have different qualities and they can be described through their hair. In each of these vignettes she is very descriptive and her ability to use imagery allows these stories to be so powerful. While reading this it is almost as if I can create a visual image of who and what she’s talking about at the given moment. Cisneros says, “…my mothers hair, like little rosettes, like little candy circles all curly and pretty”(6). This is allowing the reader to see how her mother is a beautiful figure in her life and she looks up to her. She sees her mother as a source of protection as well because she then goes to say…”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”(7). Her mother brings her comfort and she has nothing but complete admiration for her. When they moved into this new home there is a sense of love with her and her family.
There were so many relatable and brilliant touches of detail in every vignette. I think I am going to buy myself a copy :). My favorite vignette, or the one the most related to, would have to be “Laughter”. My sister and I do not look even remotely related. I am a pale redhead, with a long nose and big green eyes, while my sister, who is my full sister, by the way, has dark skin, small dark eyes, and dark thick hair with a button nose. Even personality-wise, I am a disorganized artistic free spirit, while her room is always clean, and her hair is always perfect and her clothes always match. We never really connected because of how different we are. However, since coronavirus, I am noticing more and more how no matter how different we are, there and jokes and a certain understanding of how we relate to the world, “And other things I can’t explain”, that make her very clearly my sister.
Hi Stephanie,
I mentioned in my personal post, how my sister and I are so very different. Although I was just focusing on my sister, if I look at my entire family structure we are all so so different in looks and personalities. Sometimes this can be frustrating because it never feels like everyone is on the same page. However, it is also kind of cool to see how unique we all are and what different strengths we can bring to the table, in addition to all the different types of hair we all have.
Hello Brandon,
This vignette interested me as well. I liked how the author painted a picture of two sets of sisters. The physical doesn’t always mean much. A lot of the times we find that we think or do similar things like people in our family.
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Thajmire, I keep telling you to please review length requirements for posts. I want you to get full credit.
Hello Justine,
I really appreciated reading your interpretation of the vignette “Marin.” I agree that it seems almost tragic and that many people have the same dream. It is scary to think that there are people with such blind hope.
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The vignette from The House on Mango Street that caught my attention the most was “Our Good Day.” Esperanza loses a friend and gains two new friends and a bike. This friendship is important to the protagonist because she is new in this Hispanic neighborhood. Befriending two Hispanic neighborhood kids works out for Esperenza. The main character took money and paid not only for friends, but also a bike. I feel like that symbolizes freedom
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Hi Stephanie, I agree with you about how the author exposes the short stories in hope that the audience or readers will analyze them and interpret them in their own way; although some of the analyses might have similarities the subject is very general and broad; it depends how the reader views the story and what he or she feels when reading it.
In “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisnero, reading each piece Cisnero brought through many topics that can be discussed and related too. However, the vignette that caught my attention the most was ‘Those Who Don’t’, which acknowledges stereotypes. The reason I liked it was because it gave the perception of both sides. For instance in the beginning, when she said “Those who don’t know any better come into our neighborhood scared”, which some individuals may consider as a bad neighborhood, it can just be a normal neighborhood to those who have lived there. I think labeling neighborhoods as ‘good’ and ‘bad’ does not make a difference which was referenced at the end of this piece “All brown all around, we are safe. But watch us drive into a neighborhood of another color… our car windows roll uptight’, gives us the perspective that even though we see some people being afraid to enter a new neighborhood, many have experienced a moment in their life of either being afraid or feared by strangers.
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The vignette that resonated with me most in “The House on Mango Street” was “Laughter” on page 17. The central idea is how different she looks like from her sister Nenny but they have many traits in common. She shows how connected they are when she notices a house that looked and felt familiar to the houses in Mexico. Rachel and Lucy did not get it but Nenny turns to agree with her because she understands that same feeling. This brought a smile to my face because I am Albanian from Kosovo and whenever I drive around with my 2 sisters, we do the same exact thing when passing houses that look like Kosove. I can relate to the feeling they both must have had; your heart feels heavy because you miss it back home yet happy because it just looks so beautiful. I can also relate with Esperanza and Nenny when they say they do not look alike however their laugh is just the same, because my oldest sister and I do not look alike at all. She has dark brown hair and brown eyes, whereas I have light dirty-blonde hair and blue eyes. However the one trait we do have in common is that you cannot tell our laughter apart, loud and obnoxious!
Hi Florijana, I am Kannikar Sanrak. I enjoy reading your beautiful and fun experiences that relate to the theme of the vignette, Laughter, in the story of The House on Mango Street. I agree with you that the scene when Esperanza and Nenny have the same agreement that a house on the street looks like a house in Mexico City because they’ve experienced several short trips in Mexico due to family reasons. I wish I had a sister too. Luckily, I have a friend who is close enough to count as one of my family members. One time, we traveled to South Korea and walked past a small restaurant that had decorations that appeared to represent a Thai style. We naturally looked at each other and said the same thing about the restaurant that it is similar to restaurants in Thailand. Other friends from Korea wouldn’t understand this observation.
“Darius & the Clouds” which is one vignette from The House on Mango Street, made the strongest impression on me. Beside the power of using imagery and symbolism, this vignette has plenty of beautiful language and simile that enhances the joy of imagination: “Here there is too much sadness and not enough sky. / Butterflies too are few /and so are flowers /and most things that are beautiful. Still, we take/ what we can get/ and make the best/ of it” (33). The poet utilizes the beautiful natural imagery contrasting with the sadness in her childhood surroundings. In particular, I could notice the rhythm and rhyme while I was reading this vignette. In the story “Darius,” the girl group is obviously relatable when she depicts the cloud in the clear sky as the sign of hope, sense of beauty and god for the kids on Mango Street. I recalled an innocent child’s memory where I ran around in the yard in the playground with my friends and pretended we were floating on the cloud. It’s a pure joy. In the last part, I feel cheerful from the message that the poet sends to her readers who are in the challenging time; happiness is not about getting everything that you want, it is about enjoying all you have in the moment. Darius is a young male protagonist who uses firecrackers or a stick to prove himself as a grown man to girls. The poet delineates young Darius as a simple human that can be stupid and wise at the same time, has inquiringly learnt how the world works under the existence of god. It reminds me of when I was a high school student. I used to over eat chillies for showing off my peers that I wasn’t a kid anymore. Undoubtedly, I had a very bad stomach ache that night. The themes of the vignette are hope, god, fearlessness.
Kannikar, I think the language of this vignette is amazing. While reading this I was able to see vivid pictures in my head of the words, which helped me understand the text even more. I think it’s very interesting to think of clouds as hope, or a sense of natural beauty. When having these thought it takes me back to my childhood when I had the purest thought in my head and didn’t have a care in the world. Looking up at the clouds always made me feel free as if I was flying. Your thought on what happiness is about is interesting and I couldn’t agree more. I enjoyed reading your analysis of this vignette.
The vignette that stood out to me in” The House on Mango Street” was “Papa Who Wakes Up Tired In the Dark”. This vignette stood out to me because I can relate to this situation. This vignette is about Esperanza who’s the oldest of the children waking up to her farther bring bad news of death in the family. She explained how she had never seen her farther cry, and dramatically explained how he fell to the floor in tears because of sadness. This resonated with me because I have been put in the same situation with my grandmother. To see the person you look up to cry is a painful experience to endure. Esperanza is the oldest so her job is to explain the bad news to her younger siblings. She is tasked with the heavy burden of telling the younger ones why they can’t play, or have fun because of the tragic news of the lost of there loved one. Esperanza also has a moment to herself to think about how she would feel if her own farther was to die. She has these thoughts while holding her father close to her. I think we all can relate to this situation, the thought of loosing a loved one is a very hard to grasp. Especially if this is your mother, farther, or someone you are very close to. I think during the time Esperanza was hugging her farther this was her way of saying I love you without words.