Duane A. Sleath

Children in American Culture

Reflective Paper #33-18-98

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

In searching for a "related article" earlier in the semester, I happened upon one written by Deborah Dietrich and Kathleen S. Ralph entitled "Crossing Borders: Multicultural Literature in the Classroom." This article discussed the importance of introducing multicultural literature to students. The authors contended that by introducing the different realities in literature students learn to see the world from points of view otherwise foreign to them. While never being able to actually experience these realities, the students gain a truer understanding of the problems other people face. This in turn sensitizes the students to the plights of those who live in these different worlds. This in turn enables students of differing backgrounds to better empathize with and relate to each other. This empathy allows a teacher to discuss comfortably a wider variety of social issues.

To find a book to accomplish these goals one needs to look no further than Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango Street. The hero of the story, young Esperanzaís dreams of living in a house with "running water and pipes that worked"(pp.4) She hopes for real stairs, and more than one washroom. For most children in the United States, these are things taken for granted. While these children dream of more toys, or a new bicycle, Esperanzaís simple wishes do not even come true. The house on Mango Street is small and rundown, with only a single bathroom and windows so small you'd think they were holding their breath. (pp4) As we read Esperanzaís story we learn more and more about her life. We see first hand how children in this situation become desensitized to horrors that would make most peopleís blood run cold. The older man who molests her at work, the cousin of her neighbor being dragged off by the police while they wave goodbye, these things seem normal when viewed through her eyes. Cisneros does an excellent job of making Esperanzaís reality the reader's reality. Writing the book as a stream of consciousness, almost likes a diary, allows us to ride shotgun in this little girl's mind, witnessing first hand the horrors that are her everyday life.

People need to see what exists in the world around them. The view of the inner city that becomes reality to most people comes directly from the evening news. Story after story leaves the majority of the United States people thinking that every inner city child is a gang member, every parent an unemployed loafer who sponges off the welfare system. Although most people know this is not the reality, it is hard to consciously resist that which is drilled into the subconscious. People need to have a new reality burned into their mind. They need to see these people as they truly are, not as Hollywood makes them out to be. They need to see themselves living under these hard conditions, and they need to empathize. Only when we truly understand the situations others live in can we make the proper decisions in helping them. Cisneros has done her part. Through her story she shows us that these people are not bad, they are just poor and misunderstood, in need of a helping hand.