What's Next?

I think that Esperanza has a very bright and great future coming for her because she deserves it. After all that she has been through I think she deserves a break. After she was forcibly kissed in Red Clowns and after being crept on by a homeless person I think she deserves it. Another reason that I think she will have a peaceful life is because of the vignette title Bums in the Attic. She writes

“One day I’ll have my own house, but I won’t forget who I am, or where I came from. Passing bums will ask can I come in? I’ll offer them the attic; ask them to stay, because I know how it is to be without a house. Some days after dinner guests and I will sit in front of a fire. Floorboards will squeak upstairs. The attic grumble. Rats? They’ll ask. Bums, I’ll say, and I’ll be happy.”

I think that this quote shows that she is truly a caring, nice spirited person. Because of her care and attentiveness I think it will give her the strength to move forward. I definitely think that she will come back for the ones that she left behind because it is just in her character. Her conscious will tell her to come back because they need her. She even says her in the 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.”

This quote shows that she will most likely come back to help the ones who cannot escape Mango Street. When somebody lives in a certain place for a long time they will feel like they owe something to that place before they leave. This is exactly what Esperanza is doing. She is repaying Mango Street by helping those in need, for example the bums in the Attic.

The Raising of the Children

In the House on Mango Street the girls and the boys are raised differently. All of the boys are worked a little harder, and raised to be a little tougher. I think that t is good to raise your children to be tough because if they ever get into a situation where they have to defend themselves they will be less likely to be injured. The girls in this story are raised to be very women like, which is good to a certain extent. Women are seen as more vulnerable in our society which means they are expected to be weaker, when really they don’t have to be. In the vignette entitled Red Clowns Cisneros writes:

“The one who grabbed my arm, he wouldn’t let me go. He said I love you Spanish girl, I love you, and pressed his sour mouth to mine.

At this part of the story Cisneros is waiting for her friend Sally by the red clowns. She is approached by a bum and held against her will. If Cisneros would have been raised to be able to defend herself this would have never happened. All she would have to have done is to know the right place to hit him, and then run as fast as she could. This is why I think she should have been raised differently. In my own life I kind of see the same things. There will be a boy who is raised with tough love and his sister who is pampered every day. I predict that in the future the boy will grow to be more rugged and be able to take care of himself. Unfortunately I cannot say the same for the sister. Since she is so used to having things handed her when she gets out into the real world she will be lost with no hope. This is sad because if the kid‘s parent raised them both equally with the same amount of work they would most likely be fine in the future. Raising you kids equally will benefit them in the long run, so it is better to start early.

Vignette project

The Devil’s Spike

All of the men on my dad’s side of the family have a little spike on their eyebrow. Some say that it’s just a random trait, but I call it the devils spike. It makes me feel like I’m part of the family. To me the ‘devil’s spike’ is kind of cool. It makes me unique and different than other people. It reminds me of where I’ve come from and what I have descended from. Nobody can take it away. The other day I noticed that my brother didn’t have one and I was confused. Why didn’t he have it? Was he not one of us? I thought about it for a long time, and decided he just didn’t inherit it. It all has to do with science or something like that. All of the men have done great thing and have all been individuals and different personalities. It mainly reminds me of my dad and everything he has done for me. It almost brings is closer, but we still manage to keep our distance. If I ever lost my ‘devil’s spike’ I would feel like I lost a part of myself.

Different

Why are you so different? You always act weird and you always dress weird. I don’t know, it’s just who I am. Today my friend asked me this, and that’s all I could say, I don’t know. Should I be normal I asked? Yeah because if you aren’t normal what are you. That’s why I always try to fit in and be friends with everybody so I’m not an outcast. I sometimes sit in my bed staring at the ceiling wondering how I can act to be normal. It normally takes a while, but I usually think of about one or two ways before I go to bed. The next day I will try to be quiet and not say something that would make me sound weird, but it never happens. So I’ll just go back to being my normal self weird and all, and it just annoys people. What can I do? I’ve tried everything, but it never works. I hope one day I will just find somebody who gets me and knows what I’m talking about. It’s not bad, but it’s just not good.

Happy New Years

It was New Year’s Eve, and I just had to go. My mom thought oh it’s too dangerous, and there’s drunk drivers everywhere, but I knew I would be fine. It’s just for a couple of hours I pleaded, but it seemed like her iron wall of defense was just not letting down. Stuck in her ways she repeatedly told me I wasn’t going to do anything that night and I was just going to sit at home with her all night and do nothing. I refused to come out of my room as I was mad at her. I think she saw the sadness of not being able to do what I wanted and took that into consideration. She appeared at my doorstep after I told her that I hated her and did the one thing I had never seen her do. She actually listened to me and let me be free. To me this was the greatest gift of all. I knew I would be fine because I know I could take care of myself. After all aren’t I the one she called the wonder boy? The boy who could do anything and still manage to be safe while doing it? I left for the bus stop and took one look back and just started on my way. The party wasn’t as good as I had hoped, but it felt like a milestone for me. I was finally able to stay out past midnight. When I got home around 2:30 in the morning my mom looked tired and relieved at the same time. I saw that look in her face that showed happiness and calmness. All was well.

Good Morning.

It’s so early that raccoons are still scurrying around. But they make no noise the only noise I hear is the voice in my head telling me to do what’s right. I keep putting it off for a while saying I’ll do it in a little while. Time passes and suddenly it’s about a half an hour later. Oh crap! Time to make it work. I start kind of slow at first, but the time is flying by so I start to speed up and do what I have to do. I feel like it took to long for the amount that I produced, but it was just enough to get me by. And that’s all that I ever do, is get by. I want to make a change to where I can commit to doing something regularly, but I can’t find the strength to do so. I need to look deep down and find a spark to ignite the fire of my brain. They say we only use the percent of our brain, but I want to use it all and make the most of it. So here it is.

the Color Red

In The House on Mango Street the color red and pink seem to show up quite a bit. To me the red symbolizes something that she has to do, but doesn’t necessarily want to do. On page 41 Cisneros tells about the time with her red high heels and her kissing a bum. She says

You are a pretty girl, Bum Man continues. What’s your name, pretty girl? And Rachel says Rachel just like that.

This is right before they kiss bum man, and it is obviously something that they don’t want to do. The bum man offers them money for it, and the girls don’t know any better. After this is all over they run home and put those shoes away and never look at them again. The second piece of red symbolism is on page four. This is where they are just moving into the house on Mango Street.

But the House on Mago Street is not the way they told it at all. It’s small and red with tight steps in front and windows so small you’d think they were holding their breath. Brick crumbling in places and front door is so swollen you have to push hard to get in.

You can tell that Esperanza doesn’t want to move into the house because of the details that she uses. All the problems with house aren’t that big alone, but together they add up. Once again this is just one of those things she has to do whether she likes it or not. I can relate to this because I remember not wanting to go tutoring for my essay, but it was just something I had to do. These points in life happen to everyone at some time, and you will have to face it then. The final symbolism I found was when Esperanza was waiting for sally by the red Clowns. While she was waiting she was approached by a man and was forced to kiss him. I don’t think that it was a coincidence that the clowns just happened to be red. It seems like every time she is around red it is almost like a warning.

Windows

In the House on Mango Street windows are a big part of the story. To me they represent freedom and what they could be doing if they didn’t live on Mango Street. For example on page 11 it says,

And the story goes she never forgave him. She looked out her window her whole life, the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow. I wonder if she made the best with what she got. or was she sorry she couldn’t be all the things she wanted to be.

This shows that she is almost depressed about her life, so she goes to the window. When she gets there she looks out and thinks of all the things that she could be if she wasn’t herself. It is almost like a place of revelation to her. This theme of a window appears a lot in the book. In many if the vignettes a women is seen sitting at a window looking out just thinking about how things can be different. When this happens later on page 77 it is Mamacita who is at her house alone. She only speaks 8 words of English, yet she still doesn’t let it hold her back. She says,

She sits by the window all day and plays the Spanish radio show and sings all the homesick songs about her country in a voice that sounds like a seagull.

This quote shows that Mamacita is very sad about leaving her home in Mexico and how it is better that she is here. That right there is a revelation in itself. She says that she sits there all day doing this, so it must be something very important to her. I can tell this because when someone is devoted to something they will spend a lot of time doing it. Windows are sort of like a gateway for people to escape their real lives and just think to themselves and imagine all of their dreams coming through. If you are ever feeling down and want to escape just go to a window and all of you problems will go away.