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ConclusionĬommunity is a powerful element and Cisneros portrays this with her writing talent across many aspects of community.
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Writing is both an emotional escape and a sort of reflective measure on the physical escape that she may take. Her writing continues to reflect all the benefits for leaving as well as how she feels about her life.
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Her maturity is evident in all that she does. By the end of the year Esperanza has developed emotionally and physically. If she does leave, she’ll definitely return to help those who need it and who were part of her life. The girl constantly thinks about the situation and once she gets that feeling, she realizes that she must help the ones she cares of. Time goes by and Esperanza finally gets ready to leave Mango Street. More discouraging experiences follow and Esperanza is soon compelle to leave Mango Street and find her own place to live. One of her friends, Sally, becomes more sexually active and makes Esperanza feel uncomfortable. Following the death of two close family members, Esperanza soon becomes more observant of the women in her neighborhood. “Officially” Esperanza begins puberty that summer when she shows an interest in males watching her dance. Shortly after moving into a new house, Esperanza makes two Latina friends that live nearby.Īll the girls are reaching puberty and are already finding themselves sexual targets in some cases from various members of the community. The stories she writes give a better depiction of the neighborhood and also show how many courses of action she may take. Esperanza’s writing allows her to express herself while providing solace and sense of freedom, it is evident in “Leap and somersault like an apostrophe and comma” (Cisneros 71). 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 Personal GrowthĬisneros portrays Esperanza growing up both physically and mentally. Stigmatization is one area Esperanza uses to show the effects of the community but another powerful tool she uses is the perspective into her personal life as she develops and forms bonds.
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She also, later, hopes to reach out to the community in order to teach them how to break out of its bonds. 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 who are controlled. All the women in the community are raised to believe they are helpless without men. Since2 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. The women think that if they are not especially sexually appealing then they will not gain the attention from males required for life.
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The level of concern for physical appearance exhibited by the Latina women in the novel can be regarded as extreme. Esperanza realizes that she wants to break out of the bondage and live the real life. She was brought up to be happy with the same role as the rest of the women but surprisingly she is not. The main character, Esperanza, is shown differently than the rest of the women characters. The book depicts how women are obligated to be faithful to their spouses while the male counterparts have complete control of all aspects of the relationships. The females are raised to think that their physical appearances are what matters the most in life. This objectifying takes place for the women as daughters, employers, girlfriends or even friends. Learn More The Character of Esperanza as Opposed to Other Latin WomenĬisnero portrays women as the objects of the counterparts in their relationships.
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