Cisneros Essay

Cisneros Essay In “Only Daughter” and “Caramelo”, Sandra Cisneros explains how being an only daughter made her feel abandoned and erased by her family. But it also impacts her future because it transformed her into a strong independent women and a prominent writer. In “Only Daughter” Cisneros writes, “Being an only daughter in a family of six sons forced me by circumstance to spend a lot of time by myself because my brother felt it beneath them to play with a girl in public.”(Page.816) This quote shows that she feels isolated because no one in her family wants to be with her to keep her company. Also Cisneros recalls that aloneness allowed her time to “think and think, to imagine, and to read and prepare herself”. She includes this in her story, because it shows that she felt her brothers are not only making her feel heartbroken, but they are helping her become a better writer. In “Caramelo” the central idea is similar. The narrator tells a story of Cisneros being forgotten and left playing by herself building sand houses while her family are off having fun together, taking family photos without Cisneros. She writes, “I’m not here, they’ve forgotten about me when the photographer walking along the beach proposes a portrait, un recuerdo, a remembrance literally. No one notices I’m off playing by myself building sand houses.” (Page.820) To emphasize the point that her family abandoned her, Cisneros says that the family noticed the portrait was incomplete once it was delivered to Catita’s house and they didn’t even care, as if she didn’t even exist.

Being an only daughter in a family of six brothers not only affects her identity, but it also has a huge impact on her future. When she was little her brothers would not play with her

because they thought playing with a girl is public was awkward and embarrassing. This is great for her future because she will grow up knowing gender has no affect when you’re playing with either boy