The Monkey Garden Analysis

Growing up is something every individual has to encounter. It’s an unstoppable and unwanted part of life. In the “Monkey Garden” Esperanza deals with her realization that she is growing up. The overall theme is growing up. This is hinted and foreshadowed throughout the story. Sandra Cisneros’ use of symbolism depicts Esperanza’s feelings of grief toward the unstoppable reality that she is growing up
The monkey garden itself is an important symbol. Monkeys are often associated with the act of being carefree, fun, and childish. This parallels to Esperanza; at this point she was still a child. In the middle of the story Esperanza commented “This is where I wanted to die” (96). Her attraction to the monkey garden is there to show her state of
It is something that is timeless, unstoppable, and it affects everyone. Esperanza’s comment “Beneath the roots of soggy flowers were the bones of murdered pirates and dinosaurs, the eye of a unicorn turned to coal” tells of children’s forgotten dreams (Cisneros 96). The monkey garden is where childhood innocence goes to die, specifically Esperanza’s. It’s in the monkey garden where Esperanza fully understands the joke. The flowers symbolizes the bloom of new life, as a young woman. The “bones of the murdered pirates and dinosaurs” symbolizes the death of childish games. While the “eye of a unicorn turned to coal” is the death of childlike
Esperanza “Ran up three flights of stairs,” this line was mentioned three times (Cisneros 97). In fairytales characters go through a series of “three feats” or three trials (Roberti). The fairy tale connation of this symbol can be used to symbolize Esperanza’s childishness. Fairy tales are often related to children. In this instance it helps to prove that she maintained some of her childlike innocence right before it was taken away from her. In each trial she was tested. The first trial was the initial time proving that the boys were wrong. The second was try to reason to Tito’s mother why what the boys were doing was wrong. The third was when she “Took three big sticks and a brick” in order to reason with the boys (Cisneros 97). Each time she was tested whether or not she understood the joke. Her view of the boys doing wrong were rejected respectively. Her prize from her trials was her realizing that she is no longer a