The Style of Sandra Cisneros in “The House on Mango Street”
Style is like uniqe colors for an artist. Sandra Cisneros uses her style to create uniqe worlds. Sandra Cisneros is using her sense of events and perspectives about the people inside of the community. Her aspect of language provides her to impose thoughtfully her main ideas throughout the novel. The main character, Esperanza, observes the people around her and realizes that if not knowing the language creates frailty, then she gains the ability to manipulate the language which provides her clout. First, she wants to change her name so that she can hold her destiny in her hands. Esperanza’s aunt tells her to keep writing which will keep her free virtually. Sandra Cisneros illustrates style to achieve the aim that imposing and improving the ideas she ’s using to provide the reader to assimilate the idea of self-struggling and power of language, she shows these ideas through literary devices in The House on Mango Street through the use of metaphors, diction and motifs with a huge attention. In addition, Esperanza separates herself from the environment in order to build a specialized life. The most specific reaction she gave is changing her name, as it seems. Furthermore, Esperanza characterizes her thoughts and feelings about her life, and how the description of home shows her perspective.
Firstly, Sandra Cisneros impulses her style with the usage of literary devices as metaphors. She aims to impose the idea of self-struggling and power of language. The relevancy of the usage of metaphors in Sandra Cisneros’s style is that metaphors used to boost the main idea of the textual writings in literature. The main idea is assimilating the idea of self-struggling and power of language. The best example of the usage of language is “In English my name means hope. In Spanish, it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting…”(Cisneros, 16) This quotation is from the section “My Name.” She is not exposing her name yet in this section, not because she is ashamed, it is because she just doesn’t feel like her name is belong herself. Her dissatisfaction about her name is clearly exposing from these lines which are characterized by Esperanza. She explains that in Spanish, her name means “hope.” She corresponds the question about the reader which is the translation in English, none. How she described her name is clearly shows that she is actually feels remorseful about her name. The reader understands that the word “Esparanza” means the opposite of the real meaning, “despair” for Esparanza. In the same chapter, Esperanza confesses that she wants to give herself a new name. Also she has already done that by giving her present name a newer meaning. Esparanza shows her refusion about the inequality of life by showing she has a writer’s gift for interpretation.
To explain more detailed, the words Esperanza has chosen to accomplice with the Spanish meaning of her name are very negative. She described different than the real meaning, hope. She put “too many letters” instead of hope. She exposes her idea about her name, “meaningless.” She thinks that the name “Esparanza” builds huge walls between the communication with others. She also added two negative descriptions which are the associated with herself. As she described, her life is full of despair and waiting which is too much for a little girl.
Secondly, Sandra Cisneros aims to provide her style with the usage of literary devices as diction. She focuses on the loneliness of a young woman in the society. The relevancy of the usage of diction in Sandra Cisneros’s style is that diction is mostly used to capture the attention of the reader whichever the author wants in a writing. The main idea is assimilating the idea of how society affects the behaviors of individuals. The best example of this idea is the quote: “Until then I am a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor.”(Cisneros, 56) Sandra Cisneros represented her diction persuasively and convincingly by creating a persuasively connection between the red ballon and Esparanza. Esparanza’s isolation is described as a bonded, lonely ballon to an anchor, which means she is bonded to this society, but she is actually as lonely as a single ballon floating in the sky. Esparanza feels still floating separately because she assumes that she does not belong to Mango Street, and she is still isolated because she does not share her deepest secrets with her friends. In the chapter “Laughter” the reader sees that Esperanza’s sister Nenny plays a particular and important rule about trust and sympathy.
The color red is also specifically selected to represent the outstanding and isolated single person, Esparanza. Although a simile between is created, the red ballon is the flying. Esparanza’s friends from neighborhood are trying to escape their miserable lives on Mango Street by flying. In this quote Esperanza feels like she is floating, but also as bonded to the environment she is living. When Esparanza finally abandons her bond, she preferred flying instead of falling apart, as the others have. She thinks that she will have to either fall to the ground or find a way to rescue herself from falling, which is flying. Only at the point she realizes she is not belong to the House on Mango Street, she left using this metaphor to describe herself. She finds out that she can not fly away from the society she is living.
Sandra Cisneros proves her undisputed ability to use literary devices perfectly by describing the “window.” The last literary device occurs throughout the novel is the usage of motifs. Motifs are using to help to improve and inform a text’s main themes. One of the themes in the book is trapping inside and outside. This means the main character, Esparanza, feels like she is bonded physically and spiritually. The bonding can be seen in the following quote: “She looked out the window her whole life, the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow.”(Cinceros, 76) Esparanza doesn’t want to be a woman, trapped inside a house because of her husband, father, children, or her own attitude towards inadequacy. Such women are seen in front of the “window” sitting and sadly looking outside. They sit by their windows all day and look down onto the Mango street. They don’t talk or have fun with others, basically not communicate. Instead of everything, “the women at the window” motif is clearly representing the failure of liberty.
Cisneros actually points out that the the row of third-floor apartments are a motif of jail cells. Women are trapped into the cells due to the life conditions like husbands, fathers and her own feelings; but Esperanza represents the ease of changing their conditions if they try harder. Esparanza challenges such questions about the conditions of these women, but also trying to empathize their thoughts. She understands and empathizes more when she learns particular stories about those women. “Trapping” is the particular reason why this motif is very important for the theme of the book which is not only “isolation” but also “self-struggling and power of language.”
In conclusion, the usage of style is inevitable and unavoidable reality in Sandra Cisneros’ writings. Her ability is blasting up from her pages. She impulses her style by using literary devices like metaphors, motifs and diction. She is using these literary devices in her famous novel “The House On Mango Street.” She represents the main ideas based on self-struggling and power of language. She is not only using it, she is placing those ideas to a young-girl who doesn’t appreciates her new home in Mango Street. Not only she feels isolated and non-belonged to the environment she is living, but also she displays issues about herself. The most specific example is her name. She hates her name and wants to re-name herself. The reason is controlling her own destiny, like her words. This wish is actually is a great metaphor and motif itself, it represents the “power of language.” Her use of diction is coming from her inspiring ability to write. She selects the most effective colors and words to represent the idea of “self-struggling” in Esparanza’s life. To conclude these ideas, an author’s style determines her ability to write and represent the capacity imagination inside of her. The author shows her soul by writing, like an artist. The artist represents her soul with a little brush touch.
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