The House of Spirits

Self-exploration is hindered in this book and my life. I can very much identify with Esperanza perspectives on societal issues that Latin women face. A society dominated by men and women relying on them, whether it is a father, spouse or friend. Men are considered the strong reasonable as where women are weak and emotional, in turn women need men for protection. A young girl may have two story paths, one where she relies on the protection of her father while she watches her mother cater to him or two, witnesses the struggles of a single young woman and absence for a father. This book describes marriage as priority for every girl or else how could she survive; appearances and physical features are highly valued traits. This attitude is not one that Esperanza agrees with, nor do I. For example, Marin she is the girl standing on the street just “waiting for a car to stop, a star to fall, someone to change her life.” This character implies that she does not dream of actively setting life goals for herself and working to earn them, instead she will wait until a man makes it happen for her. The ideology behind this thought being that as a woman she must thrive to be as attractive as possible to heighten her chances of marriage and acquire

Enrique’s Journey written by Sonia Nazario is a work of non-fiction that follows the journey of a young Central American boy to find his mother Lourdes, who left him at the age of five. Before Nazario introduces Enrique she discusses the experiences she put herself through to gain a better understanding of the travels a migrant child and adult go through in their conquest to make it to the United States. While going through the trials that many migrants put themselves through Nazario learns the stories of different migrants and begins her search for a migrant child to bring attention to their story and create awareness about the situation children migrating are enduring to find their mothers in the United States. Nazario traces Enrique’s steps to experience his full journey and to describe the details in depth upon writing about the journey Enrique took to find his mother in the United States.

In Isabel Allende’s novel The House of the Spirits, there are two definitive classes of people that are present throughout the novel. The poor class, including the peasants of Tres Marias and the socialist party members, has continual resentment towards the other class, which is the wealthy aristocratic class. The wealthy division of the novel shows little humanity towards the poor, treats the poor as servants, and control all politics involved in the country. The wealthy’s treatment of the lower class shattered the peace experienced by Chile because the poor and the wealthy maintained a struggle to co-exist with such division between their

Thesis statement: Esperanza has a variety of female role models in her life. Many are trapped in abusive relationships, waiting for others to change their lives. Some are actively trying to change things on their own. Through these women and Esperanza’s reactions to them, Cisneros’ shows not only the hardships women face, but also explores their power to overcome them.

“On March 20, 2000, he goes to his grandmother Águeda’s house. He stands on the same porch that his mother disappeared from eleven years ago. He hugs Maria Isabel and Aunt Rosa Amelia. Then he steps off” (44).

In conclusion, we know that Esperanza’s negativity of herself begins to slowly change as she slowly experience what accepting means and how she began to accept where she was from . Throughout this book, Cisnero showed us accepting is an important part of growing in life as well as determining the true you. In the beginning she hated her life always wanted to escape out of Mango Street versus the end she says she is going to come back. From the beginning to the end, Esperanza finally accepted where she was from and how Mango Street has developed who she became

“Beautiful and Cruel” marks the beginning of Esperanza’s “own quiet war” against machismo (Hispanic culture powered by men). She refuses to neither tame herself nor wait for a husband, and this rebellion is reflected in her leaving the “table like a man, without putting back the chair or picking up the plate (Cisneros 89).” Cisneros gives Esperanza a self-empowered voice and a desire for personal possessions, thing that she can call her own: Esperanza’s “power is her own (Cisneros 89).” Cisneros discusses two important themes: maintaining one’s own power and challenging the cultural and social expectations one is supposed to fulfill. Esperanza’s mission to create her own identity is manifest by her decision to not “lay (her) neck on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain (Cisneros 88).” Cisneros’ rough language and violent images of self-bondage reveal the contempt with which Esperanza views many of her peers whose only goal is to become a wife. To learn how to guard her power

During this time Enrique meets a girl named Maria Isabel who much like Enrique has moved from home to home over the course of her life. As the two start spending more time together Enrique wants to start a family with Maria Isabel so that they may both have a more permanent family structure, but Enrique’s drug habits worsen. Because of Enrique’s misfortunes with drugs he put his family at risk with his drug dealer threating to kill his cousin who he believes to be Enrique’s sister. To prevent his drug dealer from murdering his cousin Enrique steals jewelry from his aunt. Enrique tries to get his life back on track but gets into fights with his family and is eventually kicked out of his grandmother’s home; around this time Enrique also find out Maria Isabel is pregnant with his child. Enrique felt that being left behind by his mother as the root of his problems in life and as such sets off on a journey to America believing that she is the key to fixing his

Enrique created a larger than life image of his mother, and when he was reunited with her, his depression soon began to return. Quickly after, Enrique finds himself in the midst of a multiculturalism society like the United States. In the states, he learns what potential he has there, and how much better it would be if he could eventually have his girlfriend Maria Isabel and their daughter, Jasmin smuggled in from Honduras. Like his mother, Enrique begins to take the money he earns from his job in the United States, and saves enough money to have his family smuggled in the United States, so that they too can get the experience of what it is like to live in a multiculturalist society, and enjoy the freedoms and joy every migrant family should be able to

Reading Enrique’s Journey emphasized the crime and the need of basic necessities of people in Latin America Countries. The author Sonia Nazario, describes his families’ story and how he struggled to make it to the U.S. People for different reasons make the journey to travel to the U.S. It ranges from finding a love one to wanting a better life. While doing so everyone who dares to go on the journey have different experiences. Men and woman have the hardest journey physically compared to children. They go through many obstacles and sometimes not even make it to the other side. They face many dangers such as

Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario is an action novel about the story of a 17-year old boy looking for his mother. Enrique (17) was left by his mother at a very young age. With siblings behind him, he knew he would need more of a mother figure, not just an aunt. As the story continues, the readers can see all of the suffering from Enrique, to reach his Mom. This novel is written with the use of imagery, foreshadowing, and detail to enhance the story and keep the reader interested in their adventure reading Enrique’s Journey.

In the story entitled The Jealous Extremaduran, Cervantes exhibits the roles of a hidalgo turned indiano, poor aristocrat, child of a merchant, and multiple slaves. In this story, a man named Felipe de Carrizales is born into vast wealth and depicted as a Hidalgo, or a nobleman. He spends it all upon finite entities and becomes stripped of all affluence. He then goes to the New World, becomes rich and returns to his homeland of Spain as an indiano. He subsequently falls in love with a young and beautiful girl, Leonora, and marries her. Leonora is a great representation of the aristocracy in Spain, because she is born with a good family, but does not possess any sort of wealth. Many people in Spain at this time had an aristocratic title, but only a select few held the wealth due to the practice of mayorazgo. Those like Leonora in society at that time were known as segundónes. While Carrizales is married to her, he has such a fear of her being unfaithful to him, that he builds a house analogous to a prison to hold her. A popular, young, and handsome bachelor named Loaysa becomes enamored

The Winchester house is one of the oddest and one of most haunted houses in the world. It is located in northern California. It cost over $20,000,000 to make. The owner, Mrs. Winchester, was rich because her family made the Winchester repeating rifle known as “The gun that won the west”. The house has 160 rooms and there are spirits in each room. The builders had to keep remaking rooms that if Mrs. Winchester kept them all she would have 600 rooms. So when they were done with the house, which took over 30 years to make, there were stairs that led to the ceiling and doors that led to walls.

     An individual’s identity is unique and at the same time is something that is constantly being formed. Esperanza is constantly coming in contact with people and situations in her daily life that affects her identity and outlook upon life. The surroundings on one’s life can be positive or negative, and this is what makes a person who she

In many novels, relationships shape a character. Throughout Isabel Allende's The House of the Spirits dissimilar individuals constantly come together to form relationships that change or develop their disposition. While Allende uses relationships to build upon a character, she also depicts a character's living environment in order to confirm their true soul and lifestyle. Due to the observation of both relationships and environments, a character's true qualities are expressed to a reader. The relationship between two individuals, Ferula and Clara, proves itself a positive product of the union of differing people. Through analysis of Ferula's home and close observation of her bond with Clara,