Saroun Neang English 97 Professor Miklos 02/24/2014 Home Is Where the Heart Is The House on Mango Street, a novel written by Sandra Cisneros, is based on a young Chicana (Mexican-American girl) named Esperanza who is probably in her young adolescents years when the story begins. Within the year, she has moved around with her family to various neighborhoods and finally ends up on Mango Street. The house is not what Esperanza has dreamed of because it is shabby, broken down and crowded. She struggles with her feelings of loneliness and her shame at being poor. Like many young adolescents, she is embarrassed and wants to fit in.
The poem shifts when it is time for the family to eat. During supper, the mother stands “vacant-eyed and hollow-cheeked” (9) and “when asked, she said she would grab something later” (11). While the children are sent out to play, the mother “began to lick the crumbs from my sister’s plate” (19). When Kayla comes into the kitchen, she is “Startled and dismayed by the animalistic actions/ of
You know how cruel others can be when you are not perfect. The problem she was having was not that she was blind but that she looked different. There is now a big white “blob” in the middle of her eye and “prays every night for beauty not sight” (Reid, 2011, p. 98). Just before her accident her family had moved to a new town. She was doing so poorly in the new school that her parents decided to let her go stay with her grandmother that way she can go back to her old school where her friends were.
Cisneros said, “Instead of writing by inspiration, it seems we write by obsessions, of that which is most violently tugging at our psyche… there is the necessary phase of dealing with those ghosts and voices most urgently haunting us, day by day” ( 49). This lack of a sense of belonging, results in separation and isolation, which impacts her world and weaves its way into themes of her writing. Cisneros separates herself from the normality of society in three main ways, the first of which is her poverty. As a poor person growing up in a society where the class norm was superimposed on a T.V. screen: I couldn’t understand why our home wasn’t all green and white wood like the ones in ‘Leave it To Beaver’ or ‘Father Knows Best.’ Poverty then became the Ghost and in an attempt to escape the ghost, I rejected what was at hand and emulated the voices of the poets I admired in books: big male voices like James Wright and Richard Hugo and Theodore Roethke, all
Feeling like she is not good enough, Rayona goes out of her way to get his attention and make him want to be with her. About this, Rayona says, “I have tried things on Dad…tears, good grades, writing letters, getting him presents…He’d smile or send me a postcard or promise to call tomorrow and then weeks would pass” (9). Ray’s mom, on the other hand, is present in her life and takes care of her daughter, but Rayona is still often alone. Leaving Rayona at home by herself, her mother goes out and parties. When Ray’s mother, Christine, sneaks out of the hospital, she plans to drive to Tacoma to kill herself and leave Rayona behind.
The protagonist in this story is living a fantasy where she believes that her current lifestyle will lead her to a happy ending. What influenced her twisted belief is revealed as she narrates about her past and present. Throughout the story, Clemencia narrates about her life and the suffering she had to endure during her childhood by witnessing her parents failed marriage and her mother's secret affair. Aparently, the reason for the failed marriage and the affair is because of a culture gap between the Mexican husband and the Mexican-American mother. The husband expect some traditional traits from the Mexican-American wife, however, the wife is clueless about these traits and fail to please the husband and his family.
While Melinda takes her anxiety out on her lips, her art is symbolic of how she feels about herself after Andy Evans raped her. The trees she draws for Mr. Freeman depict her emotional state in the aftermath of a numbing, traumatic experience. Melinda’s lips are mentioned when she is extremely uncomfortable and wants to disappear. For example, when Rachel/Rachelle is called up to help Melinda with an algebra problem. In this passage, Anderson writes “I pull my lower lip all the way in between my teeth.
How could a mother forget her child? Even though the babies were aborted, she admits they “will not let [her] forget.” He was “…born, [he had] a body…,” “…with a little or with no hair,” “…[he] died”, there is no way for her to deny him. Because of the confession, the mother experiences disappointment in all of the daily events that other mothers get to enjoy with their children. She talks about how she “will never wind up the sucking thumb/ of scuttle off ghost that come.” These are everyday trials that many mothers take for granted. However, she expresses her disappointment in never being able to scold her child for sucking his thumb, or fight off ghosts and become his hero.
Family structure was destroyed because parent had separated and she had a single parenting style from the age of 16. This caused a role strain on her mum financially since she had to provide for her college daughter. This made her mum hypercritical for the things she did. She had friends in college whom she was close to. Her boyfriend who introduced her to drugs such as cocaine caused her to become an addict.
Niang was like the leader in the house when Adeline's grandma died and her Nian hated her for going against her when Niang kept beating her little daughter. When her siblings got a tram fare, Adeline was left behind. Aunt Baba was one of Adeline's closest friends. Aunt Baba was her Dia Dia(dad) older sister. She had no money and kids of her own so Adeline was put in her room and together, almost inevitably, they became close friends.