Brandon Martinez

ERWC

Mrs. Hooks Period 1

7 February 2019

Mango Street Symbolism Essay Revision

Through her use of symbolism, Sandra Cisneros is able to put the thoughts of a young

girl onto the page in a way that illustrates her ability to turn a complex, rather mature situation

into something that most any young person can read about and easily connect with. Cisneros

uses the symbol of a red balloon to characterize Esperanza as a girl who wants to do things

with her life, but can’t due to her circumstances. She uses this symbolism to show her big hopes

that can’t (at the time) be achieved. Esperanza doesn’t yet realize it, but as she matures, she

will begin to see what her family is doing to her. Her family’s financial situation is being

symbolized as the anchor that is keeping Esperanza from reaching her full potential. If

Esperanza were in a better state financially and in a better neighborhood, she would be able to

do great things with her life, but unfortunately she can’t because she is just a “red balloon held

down by a big anchor” (9).

Cisneros uses the symbol of growing up and finding self confidence to show that

Esperanza is becoming a young woman. For example, when Esperanza puts on her “grown up”

shoes for the first time, she begins to see herself as a young woman and realizes how beautiful

she can be. This shows that when she puts on a certain type of clothing, it is enough to boost

her self-confidence and make her truly happy. This is because she has never had such nice

shoes before and she is excited to wear them out on the town. Another example is when the

boys start to compliment her, she starts thinking differently and almost becomes a whole new

person. This shows that the way people look and think about Esperanza really matters to her
and she enjoys fitting in with the other kids. Again, this is because this is the first time she has

ever had something really nice in her life. As a result, Esperanza begins to fall into a world of

seduction and realizes that maybe nice those nice things aren’t that nice after all, and she ends

up having the shoes thrown away, which doesn’t bother her one bit.

Cisneros uses the personification of the trees to show Esperanza’s insecurities,

perseverance, and loneliness. You can see how these trees bring out the loneliness in

Esperanza because she states that “they are the only ones who understand” her (74). This tells

the reader that she has little to no real friends to talk and open up to in her real life. You can

also see her insecurities really being highlighted in the vignette when she talk about the looks of

the trees. She talk about how the trees are very skinny and have pointy elbows and is

comparing them to herself. She also says that the trees are “raggedy excuses” and that they “

do not belong here, but are here” (74). This is telling us that she believes that she is not only not

good looking, but does not belong and that she thinks down upon herself. However, despite all

of this, you can see how Esperanza knows that she is persevering. Esperanza explains how the

trees “grew despite concrete”, showing us that she is growing up and trying to make it in life

despite the hardships she is facing in her life (75). All of these quotes show that Esperanza is

not only growing up, but trying to make it through life even though the odds are against her at

the moment.

Cisneros symbolises windows in the story by showing how people interact with them and

showing how they affect the emotions of the people in the story. For instance, in the vignette

“No Speak English”, Cisneros tells about a woman who speaks only eight words of english who

is stuck in America with her son and a man who took her from her country. This woman “sits by

the window and plays the Spanish radio show and sings all the homesick songs about her

country” (77). This tells the reader that this woman would much rather be (most likely) in her
home country rather than stuck in a house that she can never leave. By sitting near the window

all day, we can tell that she sees this window as the only way that she can have some sort of

escape from her current situation. This proves that the window in the vignette is being used as a

symbol to show the true want that this woman has to leave the United States and go back to her

homeland. Another example of windows being used as symbols in in the vignette “Sally”. In this

vignette, a very naive Esperanza sees a young girl Sally”, as a misunderstood girl who is so

much more than what people see her to be. Esperanza believes that even though people and

other kids in her neighborhood call her names and say mean things to her, doesn’t mean that

they are true and that sally is much better than that. Esperanza believes that Sally wants a life

where she can be free to do what she wants to do, and that she wants a better life than the one

she is given. She thinks that Sally wants to live in a nice house with lots of windows to see

outside because she never gets to leave the house. Even though Esperanza is most likely

wrong about these assumptions, she makes a point to say that Sally wants windows. This

shows that the windows are again an opportunity for someone like Sally to see beyond her

home and have hopes and dreams about where she can go and what she can do in her

mediocre lifestyle.

Windows are shown in the story as a symbol of hope and prosperity for the poor people

that sit on the wrong side of them. This, along with the many other examples of symbolism in

“The House on Mango Street”, effectively show the reader exactly what Esperanza is thinking

and feeling without explicitly stating the direness of her circumstances on given occasions,

allowing the audience to connect and sympathize with the book’s characters in an easier way.