"House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros response

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Carlo Demartini

The House on Mango Street: Final Response

The House on Mango Street wrote by Sandra Cisneros, that is part of a minority group (Chicana ).This is a book made by many vignettes and through the character of Esperanza, Cisneros expresses her feelings and thoughts. There are many important topics and themes discussed by Cisneros. For example Belonging vs. Displacement, the cycle of racism, sexual objectification of women, female sexuality as power, the restriction and subversion of traditional values.

Probably the most important theme is belonging vs. displacement that is a major topic in the book. We see it throughout the whole book and makes us understand many things. Mainly the sense of lost identity is shown. Cisneros expresses her message very clearly in particular in four vignettes. The first vignette we see is “ No Speak English “ where we see mamacita very nostalgic of her home country. She is scared of English and will never go down the stairs. We understand her feeling in this passage:

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“Whatever reason whether she is fat or can't climb the stairs or is afraid of English ,she won't come down. 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.

Home. Home. Home is a house in a photograph, pink house, pink as hollyhocks with lots of startled light. The man paints the wall of the apartment pink, but it's not the same, you know. She still sighs for her pink house, and then I think she cries. I would.”

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