Themes+Mango+Street

=THEMES:= Power of Language Self Definition Women's Unfulfilled Responsibilities to Each Other   Sexuality vs. Autonomy  Motifs Names  The Power of Language- **  “No Speak English” – In the book people who do not speak English or speak limited amounts of it, are put to the bottom level of society. Esperanza observes the people on Mango Street and realizes that if not knowing or not mastering the language creates powerlessness, then being able to manipulate the language will give her power. She wants to change her name so that she can have power over her own destiny. Her Aunt Lupe tells her to keep writing because it will keep her free. Esperanza eventually learns what her aunt means when she says that it will keep her free because putting her experiences into words giver her power over them. (Using beautiful language to write about a terrible experience makes it less awful.)
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 **The Struggle for Self-Definition- ** Esperanza must define herself as a woman. She wants to change her name so she can define herself on her own terms. She also wants to separate herself from her family because she wants to be able to create herself on her own. When Esperanza gets older, she wants to be defined as ‘beautiful and cruel’ to men so that they will like her but she will not get hurt. After she is assaulted she does not want this and she is once again unsure of who she is. Eventually Esperanza realizes that she does not need to separate herself from her family and neighbors on Mango Street in order to be her own person, a person she is proud of. She also stops trying to force herself to develop sexually, when she is not quite ready. She learns to accept herself in her community as a writer. Writing promises to help her leave Mango Street emotionally and physically.

 **Women's Unfulfilled Responsibilities to Each Other- ** In the beginning of the novel, Esperanza states that boys and girls live in two separate worlds. Because the women’s world is often isolated and grants women very little power, Esperanza feels that women should protect each other and support each other as one big, powerful group. Unfortunately on Mango Street, this is not fulfilled because the men are very often absent, violent, or foreign from women. Esperanza accepts more responsibility as she gets older. At first she only had to care for her sister, Nenny, but as she grows older she befriends Sally and feels responsible to save her from kissing the group of boys. Esperanza tells his mother, but she refuses to help her. Sally leaves Esperanza which leaves her vulnerable to male attackers. Esperanza relies on females to help her out, ideally Sally, but she is let down. Overall, Esperanza realizes that even when she leaves Mango Street she will need to protect and watch out for other women. She realizes that this should be for all communities and that women need to stand up for one another and protect each other.

 **Sexuality vs. Autonomy: **<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Esperanza goals are clear: she wants to escape her neighborhood and live in a house of her own. These are always her goals throughout the book but as she begins to mature, the desire for men are on her mind as well. She begins to doubt that she can pursue both and seeing the way women in her neighborhood are treated by their husbands, she realizes she does not want to be like those women. Unfortunately though, her sexual feelings do not go away. So she focuses on ‘beautiful and cruel’ but then she realizes that in her male-dominated community this is impossible after being sexually assaulted. The assault makes Esperanza realize that achieving true independence won't be possible if she pursues relationships with the men in her neighborhood. She decides to spend her time on writing instead of boys. She chooses autonomy, for the present, over sexuality which increases her chances of getting away from Mango Street.

**Motifs-** recurring structures, contracts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the texts major themes.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Names:
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> __Esperanza__ is one of the only characters in <span class="chapt_body_italic">//<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The House on Mango Street // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> with just one name—most characters have two. Some have a real name and a nickname, such as __Nenny__, whose real name is __Magdalena__ , and __Aunt Lupe__ , whose real name is __Guadeloupe__. Others have an English name and a Spanish name, such as __Meme Ortiz__, whose Spanish name is __Juan__ , and __Meme__ 's dog, which has unspecified names in both languages. These dual or multiple names emphasize the mix of cultures and languages that make up Esperanza's neighborhood and the difficulties her neighbors have in figuring out who they are, in their families, their neighborhood, even their country.