Internal Factors In The House On Mango Street

Interpersonal growth is influenced by a combination of internal and external factors. An individual’s transition from childhood to adulthood (bildungsroman) is influenced by family and community but also by internal values and ideas. Often, these external factors influence the internal factors. In House on Mango Street, Cisneros highlights how Esperanza’s coming-of-age is influenced by her community by juxtaposing stereotypical ambitions of Mexican-American girls with Esperanza’s dreams and hopes for her life, and revealing Esperanza’s coming-of-age through a series of awakenings
The vignettes “Marin” and “Sally” show stereotypical ambitions of Mexican-American girls. Though Marin, on the surface, seems to represent a free-spirit, she is confined
At the core is Esperanza’s struggle to define herself. As Esperanza learns to define herself as a woman in a community that lacks strong female values, her perception of her identity changes. For example, Esperanza learns about sexuality and her identity as a women. Marin represents naivety in sexuality. Though Esperanza is first curious and holds Marin in high esteem because she “knows lots of things [about] sexuality” (27), her perception of sexuality in relation to her community changes. Similarly, though Sally seems to represent the “beautiful and cruel,” Esperanza realizes Sally is not like the women in movies. Sally is an independent but a dependent of love. As Esperanza observes other women in the neighborhood and the marriages that bind them, is realizes that women cannot be both “beautiful and cruel” in a male-dominated society; Marin and Sally are both trapped by the naivety of love. Furthermore, even though Nenny rejects the stereotypical notions of escaping through marriage or getting pregnant, Nenny still chooses to make the best of Mango Street. Esperanza, in contrast, wants to leave Mango Street all together. Esperanza is determined not to become a woman sitting by a window, choosing to “ not to grow up tame like the others who lay their necks on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain” (90). Unlike her mother who “could’ve been somebody” (90), she chooses to be somebody. She chooses to not be passive. Though most women choose to be either trapped in marriages that keep them on Mango Street or tied down by their children, she chooses autonomy over sexuality, and through poetry and writing, Esperanza gains a sense of