We were discussing the idea of community today in class. One of the three sisters says to Esperanza, "When you leave you must remember to come back for the others. A circle, understand? You will always be Esperanza. You will always be Mango Street. You can't erase what you know. You can't forget who you are" (Cisneros 105). Esperanza is fighting against her community, constantly fighting to escape Mango Street because she doesn't belong. She doesn't want to belong to her rundown red house or her neighborhood that white people fear. Though she doesn't say it directly, as Esperanza holds the three sisters' hands, she makes a wish to leave and never return. The sisters force her to realize that Esperanza's community will always be a part of her and she has a responsibility to return and help those that could not escape the cycle of poverty and abuse.
How does this idea of coming back out of responsibility tie to other works we've read, such as Home to Harlem or Bread Givers? Can one ever escape the community in which he or she matured?
I think it's normal for people who grow up in poorer neighborhoods to want to get out and find something better for themselves in the future and I think most of the time they would want to bring their family and friends with them. However, Esperanza seems selfish by saying that she wants to leave and never return. I think this part of the story shows a little bit of every child that think their childhood is so terrible and they want nothing to do with their family anymore and they're going to run away and never come back and their life is just going to work out perfectly on it's own. However, as we all get older, we realize that the things we once thought we hated became the things we missed the most. I think someone can grow up and achieve greater wealth and physically escape the places that molded who we are, but in our hearts, that place will always be there and I think all of us will always have one place we call home that isn't necessarily our physical address.
ReplyDeleteI understand where Esperanza is coming from. It's hard to stay in a place you don't want to. But I think she realizes, or starts to realize, that it will always be a part of her identity. It made me think of Sara in Bread Givers and the fact that she let her father come live with her, in her new life that she had fought so hard for. It's an acceptance that you can't escape your past entirely, no matter how hard you might try. And perhaps it isn't worthwhile to lose it.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that even though one may want to get away from a certain place, one may always remember where they came from. If I was Esperanza and I went away to have a house of my own in another city, I would still come back for my family and my parents. And after all, this place is where her roots are because this was her first house and the first home that her parents actually owned instead of rented. I think that once she is out of Mango, she will be more grown up and decide to come back. Seeing that she is still in Mango and still wanting to get away, she doesn't see right at that moment that she will come back. All she wants is to go and never look back. I feel like I will always go back to my country of origin because that's where I'm from and I see this more now than I did when I was a teenager. As a young adult you just never want to admit you are from a different place and never want to look back, but as a "grown up" you realize that's where you're from even if you don't want to call it your "home."
ReplyDeleteI don't think someone could truly escape their original community, because a lot of their memories, good or bad, are contained there. Whatever happens to you in your old community effects how you perceive life and others.
ReplyDeleteI think one can escape, but it is difficult. In the end, the way they were raised will always have a significant impact on them.
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