Introduction
Sandra Cisneros’ “The House on Mango Street” is an illustration of the problems faced by Latin women in a culture laden with racism, prejudice, and discrimination. Society as depicted in the book is being dominated by men, while the Latin women are treated without equality, akin to second-rate beings. Women are, however, generally praised for their physical features. The ultimate objective of the novel is to portray the challenges and problematic issues in the everyday life of Latina females while showing the sense of duty one feels to care for the community and loved ones. As such, Cisneros best portrays the effect of community through stigmatization, the events of Esperanza’s life, and the feelings that develop into a sense of community and obligation for duty.
Stigmatization
Cisnero portrays women as the objects of their counterparts in their relationships. This objectifying takes place for the women as daughters, employers, girlfriends, or even friends. Females are raised to think that their physical appearances are what matters most in life. The book also shows how women are obligated to be faithful to their spouses while their male counterparts have complete control of all aspects of the relationships.
The main character, Esperanza, is shown differently than the rest of the women characters, in that while she was brought up to be happy with the same role as the rest of the women, she is not happy with such a role. Esperanza realizes that she wants to break out of the bondage with her mental abilities and other skills.
The level of concern for physical appearance exhibited by the Latina women in the novel can be regarded as extreme. The women think that if they are not especially sexually appealing then they will not gain the attention from males required for life. Since the role of a woman is to be taken in, supported, and controlled by a man, they feel they need to make themselves attractive enough to be desired for this role.
All the women in the community are raised to believe they need men for support. Esperanza seeks to become independent from this role placed upon her by the community, while furthermore, she dreams of a society where the men are the ones that are controlled. Esperanza also, later, hopes to reach out to the community to teach them how to break free of its bonds. While stigmatization is one area Esperanza uses to show the effects of the community, the other powerful tool she uses is the perspective into Esperanza’s personal life as she develops and forms bonds.
Life events and bonding
Cisneros portrays the maturation of Esperanza both physically and mentally. The story outlines such occurrences as the development of her social life, puberty, her first feelings for someone of the opposite gender, and her interest in writing. Esperanza’s writing allows her to express herself while providing solace, and a sense of freedom, as evident in “Leap and somersault like an apostrophe and comma” (p. 71). The stories she writes give a better depiction of the neighborhood while showing many courses of action she may take. Shortly after moving into the new home, Esperanza makes two Latina friends that live nearby.
All the girls are reaching puberty and are already finding themselves sexual targets in some cases from various members of the community. Esperanza begins puberty “officially” that summer while she shows an interest in males watching her dance. Following the death of two close family members, Esperanza soon becomes more observant of the women in her neighborhood. One of her friends, Sally, becomes more sexually active and makes Esperanza feel uncomfortable. More discouraging experiences follow while Esperanza is soon compelled to leave Mango Street and find her own place to live. Esperanza expresses that the house is “The house I belong to but do not belong to” (page 110).
Sense of Community
With more time Esperanza’s emotions develop more so that she becomes fully ready to leave Mango Street. Once she realizes she is ready in this sense she almost immediately realizes that she can never fully and truly leave, while it is her role to help those close to her. If she does leave, she feels she will return to help those that need it or were part of her life. By the end of the year, Esperanza has developed emotionally and physically. Her maturity is evident in all that she does. Her writing continues to reflect how there are benefits to leaving as well as how she feels about the areas in her life. Ultimately for her writing is both an escape emotionally and a sort of reflective measure on the physical escape that she may take.
Concluding remarks
Community is a powerful element, and Cisneros portrays this with her writing talents across many aspects of the community. Though the novel only depicted a single year in the main characters life, it was able to show the power and value of community through negative stigmatization, the bonding that takes place from experience, and the desire to give back for the positive experiences of life.