Reading assignment for Monday, September 10. Your reply (under Comments) is due before class. You do not need to answer these specific questions, but response should demonstrate you’ve done and thought about the readings.
Be sure to check and make sure your response posts.
Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street
Maria Karafilis, ”Crossing the Borders of Genre: Revisions of the Bildungsroman in Sandra Cisneros’s The House on Mango Street and Jamaica Kincaid’s Annie John.” The Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association. 31: 2. Winter: 1998 (63-78).
Through the course of the story, how old do you think Esperanza is and how much time passes? What makes you think that?
How and to what degree do you see her coming of age? Do you agree with the notion that the novel is a bildungsroman?
What is the role of violence in the novel? Is it connected to a loss of innocence?
Cisneros makes direct references to how much time has passed through the duration of the book. She wrote that they lived in the small red house on Mango Street for a year in one of the last chapters. So as the reader, we get to read about this really eventful year in her life. It’s eventful because it seems that she is in a really transitional stage of Esperanza’s life. She is definitely moving into adulthood, so I am going to say that she is in her early teenage years.
I think the whole book is about the coming of age and the loss of innocence of Esperanza. The first chapter of the book highlights this loss of innocence. She describes the house on Mango Street in this chapter and realizes that things aren’t perfect and that life isn’t fair all of the time. The rest of the book has chapters that deal with themes about growing up and all that entails. Esperanza gets her first job in one chapter, she begins recognizing the gender gap between women and men in another chapter. A different chapter brings up the issue of sexuality, while the issues of right and wrong and the idea of responsibility are brought up a few times as well.
As for whether this novel is an example of bildungsroman, well I think it is an example of it. In the Karafilis article she writes that bildungsroman is about “how protagonists negotiate themselves in a larger context.” Esperanza is negotiating herself into the world. She is coming to terms with how society functions- the good and the bad. If growing up is about loosing that innocence then I think this definitely is bildungsroman.
I would argue that Esperanza does go through a bildungsroman, at least as it is defined by the article I wrote about, “Contemporary Bildungsromans and the Prosumer Girl,” by Leisha Jones. However, I see it more as a mental and spiritual coming of age than a physical one, simply because the book only spans a year, and even though this is arguably the most influential year in Esperanza’s coming to age and establishing an identity, it is only the beginning of her journey. She sees the path she wants to take, but we cannot actually see her embark or complete it. Her ideals and goals fit into Jones brief description of the bildungsroman story in which, “a child coming of age, a rising action event distancing that individual from predetermined assumptions and mores, and the long and arduous process of self-discovery toward a maturity that includes … the participation and recognition of that individual by society” (446). Throughout the entire novel, we see Esperanza distancing herself not only from her own childhood assumptions, but also the assumptions and roles of her culture. She is very clear about her determination to not be the traditional Latina woman: marrying young, serving a husband and children, and staying home all day watching the world go by. She wants to carve her own unique path, far from what anyone in her immediate environment has wanted, or been able, to do. She wants her own house and to support herself with her creative outlets. She seems mature for her age mentally, even if she is not ready to embrace her impending physical maturity. Her dreams and aspirations are clear, and although we do not see the conclusion of her journey, if all goes as she plans, we can assume she makes an independent life for herself, while remembering her roots and returning to help those in her culture who cannot help themselves. This would embody the latter part of Jones description of the bildungsroman, “the participation and recognition of that individual by society” (446). While we are only granted a one year glance into Esperanza’s childhood, it is clear that she is coming of age mentally and spiritually, and while she does not travel far from Mango Street physically, we can see her intellectual journey through her observations and establishment of self-identity.
It’s very hard to pick up a notion of time. I originally thought the novel started off with Esperanza as a pre-teen and progressed through her early teenage years. I found this to be false as I read one of the later chapters: Esperanza explains that Sally, who is older than her, had to marry in another state so that her marriage could be legal (it was not legal for girl under eighth grade to marry). The happenings that Esperanza describes to us happen in a short period of time. The reason why it seems as if it’s longer is because Esperanza undergoes so much maturity, growth and development.
The House on Mango Street touches on several themes – crossing borders, poverty, etc – and I would definitely argue that this is a coming-of-age novel. This is the story of a girl who discovers and explores her own sexual identity as she develops physically, mentally, and emotionally. Esperanza describes Sally in such a way that it lets readers know she is a role model. She does not come off as jealous, but Esperanza does wish to have the same experiences. The hopes, dreams, and aspirations that Esperanza has for Sally are the same ones she has for herself. The connection between Esperanza and Sally – a weak connection, but it still exists – breaks off in the “Red Clowns” chapter. It is this very chapter in which coming-of-age is exemplified. We meet a new Esperanza, one who speaks from hurt, from experience; who understands the world from a different perspective. She no longer wishes to be like Marin or Sally, and realizes that there is more to life than boys, relationships, sexuality, etc. Although Esperanza has already spoken of a desire to leave Mango Street, it is this new-found identity that has triggered a stronger desire, a real desire – Esperanza wishes to leave Mango Street to live a life dissimilar to that of the older female women she has grown up around. She is now ready to engage the real world.
I do agree with you about the time lapse that seems to occur in the novel. I had the idea that Espe was a pre teen girl who cries in school because she is to shy to explain herself. Or even a girl that plays jump rope will display someone young. Later in the book, Cisneros says Espe is looking for work to pay for high school. So I was under the impression that years were actually passing by. I suppose it was her coming of age and finding herself identity.
Cisneros’ novel, with my understanding of Bildungsroman, became more interesting. The idea of Bildungsroman is new to me, but it is very easy to understand. The novel “House on Mango Street” falls into the category of Bildungsroman as Esperanza comes to a realization of who she is. Throughout the story Cisneros talks about the neighborhood, she speaks about her school and her family. She gives us a close look at why she desires a house of her own, her own Petunias and a place for her shoes beside her bed. She wants a safe and private place in which she can be free and not be judged as to her sexuality.
Cisneros begins her story by remembering all of the places she lived in, she remembers not being stable. Throughout her novel she speaks of the places she remembers that involve Mango Street. All her memories come from Mango Street. At first, Esperanza does not realize that her desire to leave Mango Street symbolizes her leaving her identity in search for a different one. She probably did not like living in a small run down home. She might have not liked the age difference she had with her younger sister because she could not talk to her about herself and her sexuality.
Knowing where she came from and understanding herself is what it is important. Knowing once sexuality makes living life a bit easier as one would understand oneself. Esperanza’s leaving to come back is exploring her sexuality but remembering that she continues to be the same person from Mango Street. Her sexuality does not make her different.
After discovering what Bildungsroman is, i would definitely characterize The House on Mango Street as an example of this literary genre. We start the story with a naive Esperanza who believes that one day something will take her away from the embarrassment of not having a home, wearing ugly shoes, and being an awkward tween. She wishes to rid herself of the stigmatized Mango Street, with it’s poverty and violence. Throughout the story we see the protagonist encounter many people and experiences that eventually lead to her final philosophy which is that she must not despise the person she is as defined by her environment, rather she must love herself for it.
Cisneros writes in fragmented vignettes designed to make the reader feel just as confused as Esperanza about these experiences. It is difficult to tell when exactly time starts and stops. To me it appears as though Esperanza is around ten or eleven at the begininning of the novel and throughout the novel we see her go to thirteen and up to fifteen. Cisneros gives the reader an innocent, naive framework from which Esperanza grows and develops her newly formed identity.
Just as in other female Bildungsroman stories, Esperanza is conflicted and in this case it is her economic and gendered status that she must over come. Esperanza’s want for material possessions is rooted in her belief in the American Dream; everyone will love her, she will cease to be awkward, and she will finally have a home to her own. In believing this she rejects the very home that shelters and protects her. She rejects the culture that has nurtured her identity and is the catalyst in bringing about this change.
Esperanza views feminity as being weak, naive, and in the end detrimental to her goals. Sally, Mamacita, and even her mother are all women who have in some way or another subjected themselves to men and given up their freedom. Esperanza rejects this fate. She no longer wishes to impress the boys with how she can tie her shoes or walk around in sexy stilettos. She wants to save herself and Sally from this seemingly inevitable future, but she cannot save everyone.
The violence experienced in this book is in direct relationship to the patriarchal system that is prevalent in many societies. In Sally’s case, her father is very religious (i assumed they were muslim). In her culture, shame is brought upon a family if the women are seen as promiscuous. Sally is a simple girl looking for love from any male she can find because her father, the man who ought to love her most, beats her. Unfortunately, Sally will accept this behavior from men out of fear of being alone. She is dependent on a male counterpart to fully form her identity.
I love this book and i look forward to talking about it in class today!