The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, is a collection of vignettes told through the eyes of an adolescent girl. There is a lot of symbolism in this book including windows, which are very symbolic. In this book, windows mean being trapped. When ever windows are mentioned it is referring to the person being trapped. “She looked out the window her whole life, the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow.”(page 11) In this quote, Esperanza is describing the life of her grandmother, who she shares a name with. I think that Esperanza thinks that her grandmother looked out the window her whole life and had no time to go out and explore the world. I think that Esperanza is scared that she might be subject to the same fate of a life that doesn't get to do anything. This seems like a horrible way to spend a life, especially constantly being taunted by whatever you might see out of the window.
Another person in the story who has an experience with windows is Mamacita, one of Esperanza’s many neighbors. Mamacita is someone who doesn't speak English and just sits around in her room all day. “ She sits all day by the window and plays the spanish radio show and sings all the homesick songs about her country in a voice that sounds like a seagull.” (77) I think that she is trapped by the language barrier that separated her from the rest of society. Since she couldnt communicate with the rest of the neighborhood, she just sat and sang sad songs that reminded her of her home country and made her even sadder because she can never go back or leave her window perch.
Rafaela is another one of Esperanza’s neighbors. She is married and is contained by the windows, just like many of the other characters. “And then Rafaela, who is still young but getting old from leaning out the window so much, gets locked indoor because her husband is afraid Rafaela will run away since she is too beautiful to look at.” (79) This quote explains that Rafaela is trapped in her own house looking out the window, but she cant go anywhere because she is confined to her house by her husband, who doesnt want to lose her. The symbolic window makes many appearances in The House on Mango Street.
Another person in the story who has an experience with windows is Mamacita, one of Esperanza’s many neighbors. Mamacita is someone who doesn't speak English and just sits around in her room all day. “ She sits all day by the window and plays the spanish radio show and sings all the homesick songs about her country in a voice that sounds like a seagull.” (77) I think that she is trapped by the language barrier that separated her from the rest of society. Since she couldnt communicate with the rest of the neighborhood, she just sat and sang sad songs that reminded her of her home country and made her even sadder because she can never go back or leave her window perch.
Rafaela is another one of Esperanza’s neighbors. She is married and is contained by the windows, just like many of the other characters. “And then Rafaela, who is still young but getting old from leaning out the window so much, gets locked indoor because her husband is afraid Rafaela will run away since she is too beautiful to look at.” (79) This quote explains that Rafaela is trapped in her own house looking out the window, but she cant go anywhere because she is confined to her house by her husband, who doesnt want to lose her. The symbolic window makes many appearances in The House on Mango Street.
No comments:
Post a Comment