House On Mango Street Women

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The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, is a deceptively simple book. Taking place in Chicago in the 60's, this novel is narrated by Esperanza Cordeno, a young Latina struggling to find her place in life in a broken neighborhood. Through Esperanza's experiences and observations, many underlining messages are revealed. Using Esperanza as her 'messenger,' Cisneros urges her readers to take control of the course of their own lives and to not always depend on others for their own well-being. In the novel we are introduced to many women. Two of these are Alicia and Sally, who wait for a man to change their life instead of helping themselves. On the other hand, we are also introduced to Alicia who is a different type of woman; she is determined …show more content…
One of these women, who is really the only one mentioned, is Alicia. After the death of her mother, Alicia is expected to take her place making tortillas and serving her father. Esperanza explains how Alicia is young and smart, and how she does not want to take on this role. She studies at the university, taking "Two trains and a bus, because she doesn't want to spend her whole life in a factory or behind a rolling pin," (Cisneros 32) This sacrifice that Alicia makes shows how determined she is to get a good education and turn her life around. Even though the end results of her efforts are not revealed, we know that at least she is trying to escape her default life. She wanted something better for herself and went for it, showing us how determined and capable she is of living her dreams. From her observations of both people like Alicia, and people like Rafaela and Sally, Esperanza ultimately discovers what she wants to do with her life. For the duration of the novel Esperanza is stuck on Mango Street. She is ready to leave and wants "Not a man's house. Not a daddy's. A house all [her] own." (Cisneros 108) This shows us that she doesn't want to depend on a man to improve her life. Like Alicia, she is thinking for herself, and breaking the cycle that she sees around her. She is trying-- if not succeeding-- to do what she wants to do, and not what she is excpected
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