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Self Identity And Self-Identity In The House On Mango Street

Good Essays
Self-identity plays a large and significant role in shaping each of our lives. It is very important because it affects the way you feel about yourself and how you behave in challenging situations. In “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros, the main character, Esperanza, is an approximately 12-year-old Mexican-American girl who struggles for self-definition and underscores her every action and encounter as she matures emotionally and sexually. Similarly, in “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie, the main character, Junior, is a 14-year-old Spokane Indian boy who decides to go to a high school which has mostly white kids in nearby Reardan, Washington in order to have better opportunities in life. Both of these characters struggle to fit in with their surroundings that they almost forget about their self-identity. These two books are Similar in many types of ways. For instance, on page 5 of “The House on Mango Street,” Esperanza says “I knew I had to have a house. A real house. One that I could point to. But this isn’t it. The house on Mango Street isn’t it. For the time being, Mama says. Temporary says, Papa. But I know how those things go.” When a nun asked Esperanza where she lived and she told her, the nun made Esperanza feel ashamed about where she lived. Another example on page 7 of “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”Junior says “ I wish I were magical, but I am really just a poor-ass-reservation kid living with his
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