Memories Made Today Dont Leave Because Tomorrow Comes
In the novel The House On Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, Esperanza lives in Chicago, where Cisneros has lived most of her life. As the voice of Esperanza in the novel, Cisneros tells us that she often writes about things familiar to her or what she has experienced. All the emotions my characters feel, good or bad, are mine (xxii).
The actual story of Mango Street goes into detail about Esperanzas Hispanic family with dark natural glowing skin and deep brown eyes. Her family moves around a lot and finally into a house of their own. Not the house that Esperanza wants. The houses are close together in the neighborhood. Theirs is red with crumbling brick, no front yard, one washroom, and everyone must share a bedroom with someone else. Esperanza, being in her adolescence, needs her own space. Her only saving grace is four little Elm Trees growing at the curb that show her life does exist there.
The neighborhood has gone downhill according to one of the neighbors that will be moving out. Esperanza observes kids hanging out, bums on the street corner,
and that the alley is not safe but mentions kids playing in it often. She knows immediately that she does not want the fate of the wives that live their because most of them get married young, have children, are not allowed out of their homes by their husbands, and most are beaten frequently.
Many specific people are mentioned, but they more or less just pass through Esperanzas life. With that being said, she goes into great detail about each person as though working on her story telling skills.
Mango Street occupies a less desirable part of Chicago and Esperanza makes a point of telling us that people from outside of the neighborhood that end up there are scared, but the people that live there feel safe. There is a grocery store she visits often to get juice for one of the shut in wives, and around the block there are a laundry mat, broken windows, the alley, and many cars.
The children of Mango Street show us the beauty around them and how they make the best of little and simplicity the of what they expect when they say things like Butterflies too are few and so are flowers and most things that are beautiful. Still we take what we can get and make the best of it (33); You all see that cloud, that fat one there? That one there. See that. Thats God (34).
In the monkey garden when Sally went into the garden with all of Titos friends for a kiss each, Esperanza believes that Sally needs to be rescued. She gets some weapons and once at Sallys side is told to go away. Esperanza now realizes the difference between adolescence innocence and becoming an adult. This makes her understand more about why boys and girls do not socialize until a certain age.
One of the three sisters that came when Rachel and Lucys sister died is making Esperanza make a promise that one day she will return to Mango Street for those that are unable to leave. Esperanza made a commitment to do this and then takes a moment to reflect on how it will happen. At this time she grows up because she takes on responsibility in the form of a life long promise.
Esperanzas neighborhood differs from mine as a child because I grew up on a farm and there were no neighborhoods. We had a family craft business in addition to the garden, horses, dogs, and bailing hay that all had to be kept up with so we worked as a family.
My family is Caucasian with fair skin, we lived out in the country where houses are far apart and you have to drive or take a horse to get anywhere.
Our house was large, but heated by only one wood stove, so in the winter my sister and I would sleep on hardwood floors with the dogs in front of the wood stove to keep warm. We also had only one bathroom.
Coming from a poor family the only clothes we often had access to were hand-me-downs. I got picked on at school for that and also for taking my lunch each day since we could not afford for me to buy lunch.
We were members of Clemmons Moravian Church and church played a large role in my family. We went to church every Sunday and I got to go to Laurel Ridge for church camp each year until I turned fourteen.
Most of my classmates did not live on a farm and were raised differently from me. I did have two friends that kind of had the lifestyle that I did and both of them weighed greatly on my adolescent years and what would become of me.
The first of the two friends was Robin. She was an outsider with a dark nature, and tended to be on the satanic side of religion. She encouraged me to get my workers permit at the age of fourteen to get away from my family some, and to make some money of my own. Robin also encouraged my artwork and creative writing and that I will thank her forever for, but the Satanism struck a sword between my family and I that was irreversible.
Debra, being polar opposite of Robin, was my size, which meant we could share clothes. With Debra, spirit is what stood out the most. Nothing ever got her down, she was very much into church, and showed me God in all his glory. She did this through church, helping others, and other religious events especially after the most popular kid at school was killed in a car accident. Debra encouraged me to do my best at all things. The ringer is that she is the first person to ever offer me drugs, which was as bad as the Satanism. I got caught up in drugs and boys and ended up like the young women that Esperanza tells about.
I had a baby at an early age, got married, and endured being beaten by my husband. I did graduate high school but my life turned into sitting by the window, chin propped up on hand with elbow supporting it, with a baby in the other hand. This went on for two years while I saved up enough money to get my daughter and I out of the situation by working part-time jobs when allowed out of the house.
Esperanza and I both made it out of our former lives and live to tell the story today, but our former lives will never leave us. I write about my past to get it out of me, to try to put it behind me, and will never go back. Esperanza, on the other hand, will keep her promise and return someday for all of those that cannot leave and were left behind.
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