Arielle Davidoff
A Block Randolph
Due: October 5, 2006
WOMEN OPRESSED
Too often in “The House on Mango Street,” women are trapped in unfair situations or are treated unjustly by men. Esperanza’s awareness of this issue displays her strength of character. Male figures play the roles of overpowering husbands, fathers, and sons to women throughout the novella.
The majority of the women in “The House on Mango Street” are treated unjustly by their husbands. In the vignette My Name, Esperanza’s grandmother, “…a wild horse of a woman (p, 11),” was forcefully carried off by her husband. Perhaps her grandmother’s fate is what most helps Esperanza realize the necessity of independence. She sees many traits in herself which her grandmother possessed. Aside from sharing a name, they both were born in the Chinese year of the horse and both were strong willed children. Therefore, when Esperanza sees how somebody so familiarly assertive was “tamed,” a sense of caution is instilled in the young girl. “I have inherited her name, but I don’t want to inherit her place by the window (p.11)”. In Rafaela Who Drinks Coconut and Papaya Juice on Thursdays, in an extreme example, Rafaela’s husband locks the poor woman indoors all day as he is afraid that she will run away. It is disturbing that a woman who hoped for a happy, free, married life ended up lock like an animal in her own home. In yet a third example of cruelty by husbands, Sally, not yet an eighth grader, is married to a marshmallow salesman. Her temperamental husband does not even let her gaze out the window, the sad fate that Esperanza and Rafaela were confined to.
In addition to an abusive husband, Sally is treated unfairly by her strict father, which is perhaps reason for her desire to marry at such a remarkably young age. Esperanza writes, “She says she is in love, but I think she did it to escape (p. 101)”. In the vignette Alicia who Sees Mice, another neighborhood resident, Alicia, fears her father, an inconsiderate man who is ignorant of her needs. When Alicia demonstrates her fear of mice, her father tells her she must be imagining them. A caring father would have at least attempted to comfort his distraught daughter. Furthermore, a huge amount of responsibility is placed upon Alicia, because as her mother his dead she must assume more chores. Alicia is mistreated; her father disregards her needs and does not respect her.
While cruelty from husbands and fathers are more common, in No Speak English, Mamacita suffers at the hands of her son. Mamacita, who comes from another country, is not used to life in Chicago and often is homesick. She sits by the window all day, singing forlorn songs. Her son, instead of comforting his lonesome mother, yells at her in disgust, not realizing that this just rouses her even more. Again, this behavior exemplifies a lack of respect by a male for a woman. Care and consideration would have benefited Mamacita.
A wide range of male figures throughout the novella takes advantage of women and girls, forcing them to live their lives “the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow (p. 11)”. This posture is often times literally the case going back generations. In the vignette A Smart Cookie, her mother urges, “Look at my comrades…Izaura whose husband left and Yolanda whose husband is dead (p. 91).” When Esperanza hears her mother talk about her friends’ miserable lives, her understanding of how easy it is to be trapped is enhanced. The teenager makes a vow to herself: “I have decided not to grow up tame like the others who lay their necks on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain (p. 88).” Through witnessing multiple male figures take advantage of women, through learning valuable lessons from female family members, and through deciding for herself how woman deserve to be treated, Esperanza’s strength his evincMOTIF REFLECTION
Too often in “The House on Mango Street”, women are trapped in unfair situations or are treated unjustly by men. Esperanza’s awareness of this issue displays her strength of character. Male figures play the overpowering role of husband, father, and son to women throughout the novella.
The majority of the women in House on Mango Street are treated unjustly by their husbands. Esperanza’s grandmother, a “…a wild horse of a woman,” was carried off by her husband. Perhaps her grandmother’s fate is what most helped Esperanza realize the necessity of independence. She sees many traits in herself which her grandmother possessed. Aside from sharing a name, they both had been born in the Chinese year of the horse and both had been independent in their childhood. Therefore, when Esperanza sees that somebody as strong willed and similar to herself as her grandmother was so easily “tamed, a certain sense of caution is instilled in the young girl. “I have inherited her name, but I don’t wan to inherit her place by the window (11)”. Rafaela’s husband goes as far as to lock the poor woman indoors all day as he is afraid that she will run away. It is sad that a woman who most likely merely hoped for a happy, free, married life ended up lock like an animal in her own home. IT is disgusting that a man could treat his wife in such a manner. Sally, not yet an eighth grader, is betrothed to a marshmallow salesman. Her husband, who has temper issues, (aside from other deprivations) does not even let her gaze out the window, the sad fate that Esperanza and Rafaela were confines to.
Sally is additionally treated unfairly by her strict father which is perhaps reason for her desire to marry at such a remarkable young age. Esperanza writes, “She says she is in love, but I think she did it to escape (101)”. Alicia fears her father, an inconsiderate man who is seemingly ignorant of her needs. When Alicia demonstrates her fear of mice, her father tells her that she must be imagining them. A caring father would have at least attempted to comfort his distraught daughter. Furthermore, an apparently hug amount of responsibility is placed upon Alicia, because as her mother his dead she must take up more chores. Alicia is mistreated; her father disregards her needs and does not respect her.
Mamacita, who comes from another country is no used to life in Chicago, and often is homesick. She sits by the window all day, singing homesick songs. Her son, instead of comforting his lonesome mother, yells at her in disgust, not realizing that this just rouses her even more. Again, this exemplifies a lack of respect by a male for a woman. Not only would care have benefited Mamacita, but she perhaps would not be so upset if her son would be more considerate.
A wide range of male figures throughout the novella take advantage of women and girls, forcing them to live their life “the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow (11)”. This is often times literally the case. Esperanza’s mother further nurtures her understanding about which future are wise. In the vignette “A Smart Cookie”, her mother says “Look at my comrades…Izaura whose husband left and Yolanda whose husband is dead (91)”. When Esperanza hears her mother talk about her friends’ miserable lives, her understanding of how easy it is to be trapped is enhanced. The teenager makes a vow to herself, “I have decided not to grow up tame like the others who lay their necks on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain (88)”. Through witnessing the multiple male figures take advantage of woman, through learning valuable lessons from to female family members, and through deciding for herself how woman deserve to be treated, her strength his evinced.
Arielle Davidoff
A Block
Due October 12, 2006
YELLOW
Sometimes I like to wear my other favorite dress- the one with stripes that is so soft when your hand slides down it but you know the stripes are not on the dress they are in the dress. It has more than one hundred little flowers I bet that are painted on my dress like the leaves that go crunch under my black shoes so easy to slide your foot in and out in and out, my shoes with the flower buckles on the sides with those silver petals. First I didn’t like them so much like I love my flower leaf dress but Talya has the same ones only a little bit bigger since she is older so I guess they got better. Last night I called Anna on the black phone with the clear buttons with green lights inside we made a plan so funny it works every time! We both wear our apple dresses pretty purple with red apples all over. And the teacher says who is who? And we giggle and don’t say a word and we also smile because we have a kind of a secret. So for today we are twins and nobody knows who we really are! Except Emma knows who we are. She says Ariella what are you coloring and I tell her a rainbow and she says me too and so after we are done we tape them together to make a double rainbow then the teacher comes and says how beautiful Emma and Ariella but how did she know it was me! Maybe she guessed and was lucky because maybe it is her birthday except my hair is brown and short and Anna has medium blonde hair maybe that is why she knew. Mom says my hair will grow long but right now it is so short but that is alright because it can match that I am short. Those yellow plastic chairs so yellow, yay! With scratches on the chairs like stolen sunshine on the crunchy brown leaves why are they brown why did they die? I am happy that they lived green on a tree but now they are dead poor life! Are they sad I would like to help them so much but look how many and what do I do? But the sun is nice and warm and it fights off the tough wind that steals away my air and it feels exciting but it is hard to breathe back to class read now she is lying on the yellow couch like sun filled with little crunchy stars inside the couch I can hear them can I please sit here No! Please No! I sit anyway because she should share and maybe now she will understand and move over crunch! Oh no that was not nice she put her teeth and bit my hip teacher helps me out and when we are in the bathroom and she is putting a wet brown paper towel to help it feel better but it doesn’t there is a thought in my head is she mean no don’t think that it’s bad! But marks are on me all day and why did sunshine
bite me?
Comparison Creation Composition
The Stories from the Beginning and The Creation portray the G-d of creation with some fundamental similarities. In both creation writings, although there are differences in the manner in which G-d creates, the actual result is extremely similar. G-d creates light and darkness, the heavens and the earth, vegetation, celestial bodies, birds and fish, animals, and finally humans. Also, G-d creates man in His image in both creation stories, although for seemingly different reasons. G-d expresses satisfaction after each of His creations, and His approval is repeated throughout each piece of literature; in the poem The Creation, G-d exclaims ‘That’s good!” and in Stories from the Beginning, “…G-d saw that it was good.”
Despite these similarities, the conveyed character of G-d also differs drastically between the two stories. In The Creation G-d is vividly humanized. He has eyes, hands, feet, and a head; He smiles, reaches out, rolls light in his hands, flings, hurls, trods, spits, bats His eyes, walks, kneels, and toils. These verbs are exceptionally dissimilar to those used in the more traditional creation story, in which G-d creates, speaks, names, makes, blesses, gives, and rests. Spitting, toiling, kneeling, and flinging are not typically holy actions, and they make G-d seem earthier than and not as sophisticated as the distant and regal G-d in the Bible, who royally names, blesses, gives, and speaks. In the poem, the apparent cause for the creation of the world is the Lord’s loneliness (which is also the cause for the existence of humanity) whereas in the conventional Biblical story there is no specified reason; G-d merely decides that He is going to create a world. In The Creation G-d is lonesome, so He thinks with His head In His hands and then kneels in the mud, “Like a mammy bending over her baby…toiling over a lump of clay Till He shaped it in His own image…” It seems as if this personified Creator explains the phrase “He shaped it in His own image” to signify that He made somebody physically similar to Himself for company. Conversely, in the classic story, G-d says “Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness…” There is no announced reason for the initiation of humanity, and this lack of explanation coincides with the more distant, unreachable
G-d in this story.