FREE ESSAY ON HOUSE ON MANGO STREET

HOUSE ON MANGO STREET

Women's Escape into Misery
Women's need for male support and their husband's constant degradation of them was a
recurring theme in the book House on Mango Street. Many of Esperanza's stories were about
women's dreams of marrying, the perfect husband and having the perfect family and home.
Sally, Rafaela, and Minerva are women who gave me the impression of [damsel's in
distress].CLICHE, it's ok though. It's relevant They wished for a man to sweep them of
their feet and rescue them from their present misery. These characters are inspiring and
strong but they are unable to escape the repression of the surrounding environment.
*Cisneros presents a rigid world in which they lived in, and left them no other hope but
to get married. Esperanza, however, is a very tough girl who knows what she wants. She
will keep dreaming and striving until she gets it. She says, I am too strong for her
[Mango Street] to keep me here (110). Esperanza learned from all of these women that she
was not going to be tied down. She said, "I have decided not to grow up tame like the
others who lay their necks on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain" (88).
**Especially after seeing that Sally was suffering so much. 
Sally's father is making her want to leave home by beating her. Sally "said her mother
rubs lard on the places were it hurts" (93). There is not enough lard in the world to be
able to cure the pain within Sally's heart. Sally, "met a marshmallow salesman at a
school bazaar" (101). Pretty soon " sally got married, she has her house now, her
pillowcases and her plates" (101). Her marriage seems to free her from her father, but in
reality she has now stepped into a world of misery. This was supposed to help her heal; "
she says she is in love, but I think she did it to escape." (101). Unlike the other women
Sally has no escape, no poetry, not even papaya coconut juice, not to mention, " he does
not let her look out the window" (102). That is why "she sits at home because she is
afraid to go outside without his permission."(102). 
Rafaela's situation also involves imprisonment in her own home. Cisneros introduced us to
Rafaela, a young beautiful girl whose expectations from marriage were to obtain a sweet
home to live in. Instead, the only semi-sweet item in life was her juice; "Rafaela who
drinks coconut and papaya juice on Tuesday's and wishes there were sweeter drinks not
bitter like an empty room" (80). Cisneros presents the loneliness that Rafaela feels
because of her husband's continuous imprisonment of her. Rafael's beauty is used as an
excuse in order to avoid the truth, male dominance in a woman's home. Esperanza explains
that, "Rafaela who is still young gets locked indoors because her husband is afraid
Rafaela will run away since she is too beautiful to look at." (79). Thanks to these
women, Esperanza is able to avoid problems that come with a marriage. She is young and
does not want to "look out the window her whole life, the way so many women sit their
sadness on an elbow" (11). 
Unlike most of the women in the book her escape is no longer the window. "But that night
he comes back and sends a big rock through the window"(85), shattering her glass hopes
[???] and making her turn to poetry as an escape. "Minerva is only a little bit older
than me but already she has too kids and a husband who left." (83) She is a perfect
example of a woman who is subjected to the consequence of suffering because of marriage
She "writes... on little pieces of paper that she holds in her hand for a long time"
(84). Like unhappily married women, she always takes him back even after the incessant
beatings. "She has many troubles, but the big one is her husband who left her and keeps
on leaving" (85). Esperanza and Minerva share their poems, "she lets me read her poems. I
let her read mine" (84). This is both of their ways to escape reality. 
The only time Esperanza expressed feelings towards a boy was when "everything was waiting
to explode like Christmas" (73). Even then she knew she did not want to get married. She
did not want " this way, every evening talking to the trees, leaning out my window,
imagining what I can't see" (73). Cisneros gives us a negative portrayal of marriage, by
telling these stories of incarcerated women. Esperanza is the only one who wants a home
of her own, " Not an apartment in the back. Not a man's house. Not a daddy's house. A
house all my own" (108). Through out the story she was the one who watched from afar. She
was the one who took notes in her poetry book about these women's sufferings. In her
grandmother's memory she was also "a wild horse of a woman" (11). 
Rafaela, Minerva and Sally are women who are weak. Esperanza however is the "ferocious
roots beneath the ground" (74). Like the trees [???] (I don't get the reference to the
trees) these are, "Four who reach and do not forget to reach. Four whose only reason is
to be and be" (75). These characters are inspiring and strong but they are unable to
escape the repression of the surrounding environment. The only tree that was able to
escape Mango Street was Esperanza. Her last words demonstrated growth as an independent
woman. She concludes "She does not hold me with both arms. She sets me free" (110). 
This was good! There were minor corrections that I corrected, but didn't make a note of
it(like commas). If u have any ?'s call me n let me know!
Nataly Buenrostro
Writing 1
October 9, 2000
House on Mango Street 
Critical Analysis
Professor Peterson I made many changes to my draft. First of all I made Esperanza a
stronger focal point of my paper. I made it clear that she was the strong one in the
book. I made the transitions have more of a flow by mentioning more events that involved
Esperanza. I tried to make my subjects better known and my thesis clearer by stating more
facts. I showed a lot more and told less. 
Bibliography
Cisneros, Rosemary. House on mango street