Shoes In The House On Mango Street By Sandra Cisneros

Generally, when innocence is thought of, the first speculation recalled to one’s mind is the thought of pureness and the idea that the specific individual is free from moral wrong. On the other end of the spectrum is the term known as guilt. Guilt is the emotional notion in which one feels that they have compromised his or her own standards in a negative way. In the novel Sarah’s Key, Sarah frequently proves to struggle with both guilt and innocence. These specific themes are put on display when Sarah realizes she is not going back home, the scenario in which Sarah boards the cattle car to the camps, and the tragic event in which Sarah takes her own life.

The Essential Conversation: what parents and teachers can learn from each other, written by Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, focuses in on the “essential” discussion that occurs between parents and teachers when it comes to a child’s education and life while looking further into the hidden meanings behind this exchange. Lawrence-Lightfoot describes how often times the dialogue that occurs between parents and teachers has hidden undertones such as anxiety along with parental ghosts from the past along with several other trajectories that may impact how effectiveness of parent and teacher discussion/collaboration. The theme of Lawrence-Lightfoot’s book can best be summed up in a quote she shared about parent-teacher conferences; “Beneath the polite surface

In, "The Family of Little Feet," Esperanza, Lucy, and Rachel wear the fancy shoes intended for women and they are excited to be experiencing what it feels like to dress in a grown up way. They walk around the streets in a very seductive way, which includes crossing their legs, and they are naive to the dangers of this. Some people realize the danger they are in and ask where they got the shoes and others call attention to themselves by complimenting the girls. Mr. Benny who works at the corner grocery store realizes that they could be potentially harmed and says, "Them are dangerous. You girls too young to be wearing shoes like that" (Cisneros 41).

A boy comes up to ask her to dance and she declines, still focusing on how her feet don’t fit her shoes. Later, however, she is forced to dance with her Uncle Nacho and she notices that, “All night the boy who is a man watches me dance. He watched me dance” (48). The boy she declined watched her dance gracefully with her uncle and this made her feel unconformable. It seems she is just understanding what girls, or women, represent to boys, or men. She doesn’t need to be told because she is now more aware. There is a feeling that she doesn’t like it and it makes her more self conscious of how she looks, but that comes with growing up. In the last vignette, “Hips,” Esperanza is connecting the information she has been told by Alicia to her new experiences. Esperanza continues to inform everyone else what she has learned, saying, “They bloom like roses. They just one day open. Just like that. One day you might decide to have kids, and then where are you going to put them? Got to have room. Bones got to give”

“Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.” Jim Rohns quote highlights the basis of Debra Oswald’s play Gary’s house, and also Miroshav Holubs poem The Door. This essay will explore the notion that change causes people to shift their thinking and actions after significant catalysts. Gary’s House illustrates many of the issues and predicaments confronted by the characters and how their alteration in behaviour can have a beneficial outcome for them or others around them. The concept of "The Door" is based on the idea of taking risks and embracing change. The poet uses persuasive techniques to encourage and provoke the audience to take action.

CM: At first, Esperanza’s mental image of herself changes as she feels more confident with who and how superior she feels while walking in the heels.

In the novel, The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, the theme of growing up is prevalent throughout the book. Throughout the novel, a young mexican girl named Esperanza goes through experiences as she matures that involve her friends, society, dangers that expose her to the outside world and help her to realize what the real world is like.

In “Red Clowns”, she idealizes Sally, a girl her in her neighborhood her age who she befriended, because she was more sexually mature than her and she was affiliated (flirted, danced, etc) with boys. In the novella, Esperanza goes with Sally to the fair and Sally abandons here for a boy. Esperanza, alone with no help or protection, was sexually assaulted by a group of boys that remained after Sally and the boy left. Esperanza expresses her frustration with Sally and blames her sexual assault on Sally “... you lied, you lied. He wouldn’t let me go. He said I love you, I love you, I love you Spanish girl” (Red Clowns). She learns that sex and love do not go hand-in-hand, which is what pop culture advertises, and realizes that media will never change, so women like Sally and others who have more experience with men should debunk the myth. She knows that women have to help each other in the world they live in. This causes her to never completely leave Mango Street; she doesn’t want to abandon women who are in a dangerous place that Sally left her in (metaphorically and physically). “The Family of Little Feet” focuses on Esperanza’s journey in puberty. Esperanza, Nenny, Lucy, and Rachel receive used high heels, a staple of

Most curriculums being taught to students withhold a mass amount of history. Some may do this because they feel some events do not have the same importance as other topics being taught. Such topics for example would be the rape and sexual exploitation of thousands of African American females during the time periods where racism and segregation was the norm. It is important for people to be educated about the horrific events that these women went through without justice. It is also essential because it shows the amazing activism Rosa Parks took part in. Most people are often just taught about Parks’ actions on the bus. At the Dark End of the Street by Danielle L. McGuire shows how Rosa Parks and many other dedicated their lives to receive equality not only for themselves, but for all African Americans in the south. Danielle L. McGuire’s work is an amazing way for people to not only learn more of Rosa Parks story, but to get a better understanding of what all African American woman had to deal with during this time period. The realism of sexual violence and its dominant impact on the African American women was one of the many events that helped ignite the Civil Rights Movement. McGuire wrote At the Dark End of the Street in order to resolve the negligence of this reality.

Symbolism is key in this novel as Cisneros expresses a lot of information through symbols The concept of the high heels that the girls; Esperanza, Lucy, Rachel, and Nenny had received showed one of their first tastes into their sexual maturity. Beforehand, Esperanza believed that boys in girls live in separate social spheres as shown in the vignette “Boys & Girls” where she discusses how her brothers are best friends and that she wants another friend, specifically a girl, to talk about her feelings and share her secrets with. This is also where Esperanza talks about another key symbol in this story.

One, as been told in the film, that “red is the color of sex”, and “The Sex is in the Heel” pertaining to the idea of what message should the production of the boots give out to the niche market. Second, the wig and dresses Lola wears. It shows how she hides herself from the identity of Simon and tries to fit in the world where she believes she belongs. Lastly, the existence of shoes further implies several messages: (1) moving forward with the dreams, goals, and hopes in life, (2) comfortable shoes take you anywhere, (3) “you are a lucky man in a proper place”, quoted from Bunny Slippers, (4) shows sexuality, and (5) symbolizes power and

With this in mind the internal conflict is important, because it shows Esperanza’s sensitivity about everything what concerns herself and her being insecure. One of the vignette that tells about is called “ Chanclas.” It recounts about her being non confident, because of her old shoes that she gets every year. For example, the quote says, “ Then Uncle Nacho is pulling and pulling my arm and it does not matter how the new dress Mama bought me is because my feet are ugly.” (Cisneros 46). This quote shows that she cares so much about one detail and even the prettiest dress cannot divert her attention. She does not pay attention to the dress, because she just thinks about her shoes and she assumes everyone will look at her feet. Another quote which supports her insecure, is “ Meanwhile that boy who is my cousin by first communion or something asks me to dance and I can’t. Just stuff my feet under the metal folding chair stamped Precious Blood and pick on a wad of brown gum that’s stuck beneath the seat. I shake my head no. My feet growing bigger and bigger.” (Cisneros 47) According to this quote Esperanza does not want people to notice her imperfection so she stays out of society contact. It is not because she does not want to she explains it as a cannot thing. She does not want to embarrass herself. The quote which stays for her having low self esteem is “Until my uncle who is a liar says, You are the prettiest girl here, will you dance, but I believe him, and yes, we are dancing. And Uncle spins me, and my skinny arms bend the way he taught me, and my mom watches, and my little cousins watch, and the boy who is my cousin by first communion watches, and everyone says, wow, who are those two who dance like in the movies, until I forget that I am wearing only ordinary shoes, brown and white.” (Cisneros 47) There is a clear statement that supports, that she thinks about

The shoes worn by the women were another indication of the era they were being portrayed in. The short, wide heels, while not uncommon today were the standard shoes women of that era would

by Moore 229). High heels have an importance in everyday life, but as they are associated with different rituals, they take on the weight of that ritual as it goes on. Because of the ritual of the drag race, high heels take on a different meaning and serve a different purpose. If one examines the history of drag, it becomes obvious that high heels have always had great influence. There are a few obvious identifiers of this culturally marginal practice, which hyperbolises that which is stereotypically feminine and glamorous; these main identifiers include items such as lipstick, fake eyelashes, taped and shifted body parts, and high heels. Through the ritual of the race and the sexualisation of bodies, the heels become a sexual symbol as well as a symbol for the movement as whole. However, this shows how truly dynamic high heels are a symbol; the fact that they can be regular shoes during everyday life and take on both the history of drag during this race. High heels cannot just be viewed as objects, but must be analysed through a lens of social processes. This race is an example of just how much the symbolic nature of high heels is subject to change through rituals.

According to Judith Butler’s theory, gender is a social concept and not a natural part of being, therefore making it unstable and fluid. Gender identities are produced through what Butler calls “performativity,” the repetitive acts of expression that form and define the notions of masculinity and femininity. These repeated performances are engrained within the heteronormative society and impose these gendered expectations on individuals. In this respect, gender is something inherent in a person, however Butler writes “gender is always a doing, though not a doing by a subject who might be said to pre-exist the deed.” In Olga Tokarczuk’s House of Day, House of Night identity is undoubtedly central to the characters’ stories, specifically the strict social constructs of gender that is snarled with one’s identity. Tokarczuk’s novel presents a mosaic of stories that put into question heteronormative gender roles, while offering an alternative way of existence. Analyzing House of Day, House of Night with Judith Butler’s gender theory demonstrates the characters struggles within the rigid constructions of gender and how some ultimately deal with moving past such restricting expectations.