Esperanza to me comes off as a tough little girl. Sure she has a ton of learning to do, however I think that given her situation, where she lives and what shes been through, she has a pretty good head on her shoulders. I love that the story is told from her perspective. She is so real and it's interesting to see the world through her eyes. She is in a situation unlike any other, which I, along with us I'm sure can not relate to. This is one of the reasons I like to so much. The love that Esperanza has for her family is unconditional. The way she speaks about them and describes them down to what they smell like is remarkable. When talking about her mother's hair she states: "...sweet to put your nose into when she is holding you and you feel safe, is the warm smell of bread before you bake it, is the smell when she makes room for you on her side of the bed..." (pp.6,7). I think that although she is in this house that she is ashamed of, she still feels safe and at home when she is with her family.
I like being part of Esperanza's journey through her discovery of who she is and what her culture represents. The vignette entitled "My Name" was one that stood out to me. "At school they say my name funny as if the syllables were made out of tin and hurt the roof of your mouth. But in Spanish my name is made out of a softer something, like silver..." (p.11). I think that Esperanza is completely aware of her heritage and although it makes her proud, it also embarrasses her and she feels like she wants to just fit in. The Vignette that I think I enjoyed the most was "Those Who don't". Esperanza, regardless of how ignorant she may be, knows a lot about a lot. "But watch us drive into a neighborhood of another color and our knees go shakity-shake and our car windows get rolled up tight and our eyes look straight. Yeah. That is how it goes and goes" (p.28).
One aspect I especially love about this book is how some of the vignettes you read and think to yourself "what does this have to do with anything" and then in the end you find that every vignette has a meaning and a place. Esperanza, although a young naive girl, picks up on the everyday life of her neighborhood.
I chose "This is Home" by Switchfoot because I think that it represents Esperanza and the feeling she has maybe not physically about her home, but emotionally.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgA_bsl84qo
"I think that Esperanza is completely aware of her heritage and although it makes her proud, it also embarrasses her and she feels like she wants to just fit in."
ReplyDelete-I love the "Name" vignette. I personally love Esperanza's name, but loved the alternate monikers she came up with at the end of this section. But I think the bigger picture that it paints is made clear in your statement above. This definitely shows her wanting to push away from her name, and what it represents, which is reinforced when she talks about not wanting to end up sitting by the window like her namesake did. This idea of embarrassment is really interesting to me- you write that she's embarrassed of her home, and of her heritage. I get that type of feeling when she talks about her house and about her name, but then there's that beautiful exchange between Esperanza and Nenny where they both see Mexico in a house that they pass by, and I felt that they both had a sense of longing and love rather than disgust. I wonder if Esperanza is struggling to figure out where she fits in here in Chicago and on Mango Street, and if there's a place for her heritage and culture to exist, and more importantly, be embraced and respected. Just as I wrote in response to Alex's post, it seems that she doesn't want to fully recognize the discrimination against "people like" her - this was especially clear when Cathy Queen of Cats tells her that her family is moving because the neighborhood is getting bad aka they don't want to live among Hispanic people. I hope that Esperanza can find her way, and I'm enjoying being on this journey with her just as much as you are!
Great song choice - I would have never thought of this band! It's cool how different all four of our videos are but how they're still so relevant to the story!
Hannah's response ^ I forgot to label it!
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