The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is a novel that tells the story of a girl’s year in a run down home with her family from her perspective. Esperanza, the protagonist, and her family move to a poor, rundown area in Chicago, where they meet new neighbors and build new relationships whilst dealing with the unfortunate aspects of their new surroundings. The format of the novel is slightly unorthodox. The chapters do not follow a regular paragraph form, and instead have a stanza like structure similar to that of poetry. I found this especially interesting because as the novel progressed, I was able to see Esperanza narrate with increasing articulation and see her develop although the book spans over the course of one year. Esperanza experiences all sorts of things, good and bad, and they all pertain to the society we live in today.
Esperanza is relatively young when the novel begins, I would estimate around twelve. The implications of the bad situations taking place in her surroundings are vague, and I noticed she gives much greater detail in areas where something childish was occurring rather than something serious, like her neighbor’s son getting arrested for stealing a car. However, Esperanza describes playing a game of jump rope with her friends in much greater detail. I believe this relates to the comprehensive theme of facing reality because it displays how a child Esperanza’s age is unable to process and describe the negative aspects of their surroundings, but are able to go into much more depth when the topic is something childish. Esperanza was forced to face the harsh reality of her environment at a young age, causing her to try and hold on to the innocent aspects of her youth.
There are ample examples of misogyny throughout the book. Esperanza is witness to her female neighbors or friends being locked inside their homes or getting married young only to encounter domestic abuse, and she refuses to end up like that. I think it was very important for misogyny to be incorporated into the book because it gives a good message to readers about how it may negatively affect one’s life.
We will be reading The House on Mango Street in class very soon, and I think it’s great that we are. It is a very well written, unique, and thought provoking book that is open to any interpretations from the narration of Esperanza. I would highly recommend it to those looking for a quick, yet meaningful read that enforces a connection from readers to characters.
-Zoya
I really enjoyed reading your blog post. As you said at the bottom of your post we did read an excerpt in class but I didn't realize there was more. I like how you chose to focus on the addition of misogyny in the book and I agree that it is an important topic to be addressed. Overall good job.
ReplyDeleteWow, I didn't realize that this was a whole story. You gave me a whole new view on the excerpt we read in class and I am glad I read this detailed analysis of the book
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this post, especially after reading the short version in class. I had not realized that it was an entire book, and now that I have read a short version, I would be interested to see how the long version expands on the ideas in that text. I also thought your description and analysis was clear and concise and easy to understand. Well done!
ReplyDeleteThis post is very interesting to read after reading an excerpt in class. It seems like the novel discusses important topics, such as misogyny, and I believe you did a great job communicating this through your blog post. You also did a great job summarizing the novel. Great job!
ReplyDeleteYour analysis of The House on Mango Street was really insightful and provided an interesting perspective on the book. I'm surprised at how you were able make the observation that Esperanza was trying to hold of to thread of her innocence through only her descriptions of events in the book. I would love to read this novel, especially now that we've looked at an excerpt in class.
ReplyDeleteI like your post, especially after reading an excerpt during class. My favorite part is when you talk about the writing style change throughout the book, as I have only read a short part of it.
ReplyDeleteI also did not know that there was a full book to go with the story we read in class. I liked how you analyzed the greater social issues present in the book. You did a good job of explaining the book in a way that we can understand without spoiling the book. I will look into it and maybe read it. Great post!
ReplyDeleteGood review. I like the way that you emphasize specific parts of the novel that stuck out to you. Your summary mixed with opinion gives an interesting blend of fact and opinion. Your analysis on how her age affects her perspective and narrations in the novel is also very interesting. Overall, great review!
ReplyDeleteIt was a great idea to do your post on a book we all know because we read the "short story version." I like how you analyzed the way Esperanza views the world. I also noticed that you mentioned one the messages which was that misogyny negatively affects one's life. I would have liked to see more detail about how it affected Esperanza's life but other than that great blog.
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