Mango Street Role Model - 774 Words

The Role of Role Models in The House on Mango Street The term role model may evoke images of superheroes, celebrities, or famous athletes. Positive role models are needed to give humans some type of direction in life, but what about a negative role model? A negative role model can be just as helpful as a so-called â€Å"positive† role model. It can be useful to look at an unpropitious person and use him or her as an example of what you do not want to become. The House on Mango Street, written by Sandra Cisneros, allows the reader to realize what a negative role model can teach. The main character Esperanza has a variety of role models in her life, some favorable and some unfavorable. Many are trapped in abusive relationships, waiting†¦show more content†¦Esperanza is able to look at her great grandmother and realize what she does not want to become, but also she realizes what she does want: to become a strong, independent woman. Esperanzas mother was also a very influ ential role model for Esperanza. Esperanza learns how important an education is by looking at her mothers situation. Her mother laments, â€Å"I could have been somebody, you know?† (91). Her mother could have had a better life and a better job if she continued to go to school, and she imparts this wisdom upon her daughter. â€Å"Esperanza, you go to school. Study hard† (91). Esperanza does not want to end up in her mothers situation. Without a proper education, a successful life is nearly impossible to achieve. Esperanzas mother teaches her the importance of being strong, educated, and independent: â€Å"Got to take care all your own† (91). Another role model Esperanza has is her neighbor, Alicia, the most positive influence she meets in the story. Alicia is a strong independent young woman who spends most of her days cooking and cleaning for her family because her mother passed away. â€Å"Alicia who inherited her mama’s rolling pin and sleepiness, is young and smart and studies for the first time at university† (31). Esperanza admires how smart Alicia is, and, from her, Esperanza learns that studying hard will better her life. Esperanza understands it will not be easy: â€Å"Two trains and a bus, because [Alicia]Show MoreRelatedPowerlessness In Sandra Cisneross The House On Mango Street846 Words   |  4 Pageswoman who is rooted in who she is but dreams to be someone else. She dreams to be another person, far away from her dreary life. Sandra Cisneros establishes that many young girls within the Hispanic culture represented in The House on Mango Street are forced into roles they do not wish to take, resulting in a loss of identity and ultimately, a sense of powerlessness in the girl without anyone to show her how to be powerful. When Esperanza experiences awful situations somewhere she has happy childhoodRead MoreHouse on Mango Street1087 Words   |  5 Pageschose a path of life. In â€Å"The House on Mango Street†, Esperanza is forced to think about leaving Mango Street in the future, because she is surrounded by women who are pushing her to become an adult.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The first example is Cathy, who knows all the dangers of Mango Street. â€Å"She lives upstairs, over there, next door to Joe the baby – grabber. Keep away from him, she says. He is full of danger.† (Cisneros 12). Cathy tells her what to avoid on Mango Street, and about the people on it. And whenRead MoreThe House On Mango Street Essay932 Words   |  4 PagesHouse on Mango Street cannot envision their own autonomy because they are taught to need a man to fulfill their life which allows these women to be easily manipulated. A womans lack of power in a male-dominated society allows men to manipulate women physically and sexually because their society believes in powerful men and powerless women. Alicia, a women in The House on Mango Street, wants to study and go to school, but cannot because her father expects her to inherit her mother’s role in societyRead MoreThe House On Mango Street By Sandra Cisneros1688 Words   |  7 PagesThe House on Mango Street, a novella by Sandra Cisneros, revolves around the idea of a developing Latino girl facing the difficulties of transitioning to a young mature woman. Esperanza moves into a house on Mango Street, where she meets many diverse influential people as she attempts to discover her true identity and understanding of the world. While doing this, she encounters the struggles of her community, socioeconomic class, and heritage. Esperanza’s opposing view of herself slowly adjusts asRead MoreAnalysis Of CisnerosThe House On Mango Street742 Words   |  3 Pagessexuality, gender, culture, ethnicity and many more crucial things that are all a part of growing up and figuring out who you are. In Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street the identity of a character is made up of the environment they are a part of. Gender is one of the most important things that can build up ones true identity. In Mango Street, we see a complete male ruled society. Sexual harassment, from men, is very common in this story, especially to innocent Esperanza. On page 99 she had justRead MoreAnalysis Of Yummy And The House On Mango Street1119 Words   |  5 PagesGangsters, thugs, criminals, even victims could be the result of no parental involvement. In society, there tends to be those same thug enthusiasts that seem to run the community, or at least think they do. In the novels Yummy and The House on Mango Street, these ideas are developed as the audience sees first hand how the kids that have little to no parental involvement. The children seem as though they are afraid of nothing, but their biggest fear is someone knowing their secret, that they haveRead MoreThe Mother Of The Children1211 Words   |  5 Pagesalso rejected after they found out that they couldn’t be helped and it could portray a lesson to the reader that the author insinuates that even if things get corrupted, not everything could be fixed. Literary Response #2 Sally: In The House on Mango Street, Sally is the gorgeous girl, in fact her father states that it’s â€Å"trouble† to be that beautiful. Esperanza first wanted to overdo her but, then truly regards her greatly. She is the female that gets plenty of attention from boys-- wearing sexyRead MoreThe Development Of Girls1172 Words   |  5 Pagesexperiences girls have during their youth have a tremendous impact on who they become. From a young age girls learn a distorted definition of what beauty should look like. Professor of literature Ann DuCille analyzes the toxic affect of Barbie dolls as role models on young girls in her article Dyes and Dolls†. DuCille cites, â€Å"[Barbie] has the ideal that Western culture has insisted upon†¦ long legs, long arms, small waist, high round bosom, and long neck† (DuCille 217). Society has perpetuated a culture whereRead MoreThe House On Mango Street Essay On Poverty1031 Words   |  5 Pagesgrowing up in extreme poverty sh ape the morals and goals of a person? In the novel The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, the main character Esperanza is raised in a poverty stricken neighborhood with few positive role models in her life. In the few scenes school is mentioned, they do not mention Esperanza’s grades or schoolwork, but focus rather on superficial events. The House on Mango Street reveals that the surplus of events associated with growing up in extreme poverty can cause childrenRead MoreThe House On Mango Street Character Analysis706 Words   |  3 Pagesmain character, Esperanza from The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, is an excellent example of that; Esperanza is an insecure young Latina girl who is shaped by her family as she grows up. In the novel, Esperanza has the perspective of life from the experience of living in poverty. Esperanza dreams of a perfect home with amazing flowers and enough rooms that everyone in her family would each have one. However, she moves to t he house on Mango Street, and reality is so different from what she