Review
On most occasions, people will find themselves asking who they are, where they come from, and their place in this world. While some are lucky to find an exact lineage of where they come from, some do not have such extravagance. Most American families fall in the second category, where they do not have a family tree, nor do they have a luxurious home, they can point to with pride. The place one would call home is where they live, but that does not guarantee a sense of belonging. While a house is a material or physical home, a home is a psychological living space in which a person would feel they belong or probably home in the heart. Sandra Cisneros, in her novel the house on Mango Street, tells of a story of a poor American girl who was trying to find her identity and place in society at a time when there was adversity. Her story tells us so much self-definition, which makes Esperanza significantly outstanding in the novel. We learn from her culture, which is why we will focus on her and how identity helped define her.
The culture in this particular context is one in which they have an identity for themselves. Esperanza struggles so much to define herself in her every encounter and action. She tries to define herself as both a woman and an artist, and her whole perception of identity in the novel changes. As the novel begins, she wants to change her name and be on her own instead of associating with the family heritage’s name. She desires to change her name to stop associating with her younger sister and parents and create her own life, and that decision seems to be quite important in that direction.
Later in the novel, she becomes sexually aware, and she desires to become beautiful and cruel so that men will not hurt her but instead love her, and this goal she pursues with the help of Sally where she chooses to befriend her. Unfortunately, along the way, she becomes s assaulted, and her desire changes suddenly. She no longer wants to be termed as beautiful and cruel any longer, and at this point, she is not sure of who she is. She now begins afresh to find her identity.
Ultimately, she makes a stand that she is not interested in setting herself apart by keeping her friends away or changing her name. She even stops to force herself to develop sexually, and she thinks that she is not ready for such. She admits her place in the community, and she starts that the most important way that she can define herself is by becoming a writer. As a writer, she interacts and observes the world in a manner that separates her from other writers, and this gives her the legitimate identity that she has been looking for. Writing gives her the promise to help her leave Mango Street, where she lived both physically and emotionally.
Most times, we find ourselves in situations where we are trying to look for identity, which will not help us instead of finding identity in situations that will help define us better. Esperanza tried to look for identity in trying to separate herself from other people and changing her name, but that did not help her. What worked out for her, in the end, her writing association with people, and this is a lesson to people out there. They should not cut relationships with family and friends as they might be the ones to help you.