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.