Last but not Least (Windows through the House on Mango Street)

    As we saw in many of Sandra Cisneros' vignettes through the house on mango street windows have been seen as a central idea but with a deeper meaning then we thought at first. As it starts out in "My Name" the window idea is used as a prison from which Esperanza's grandmother could not escape. But in "No Speak English" Mamacita sees the window as a way to let feelings out and meditate on what she has, wants, and left behind. But as we see it progressing like in “Rafaela Who Drinks Coconut and Papaya Juice on Tuesdays” the window is a way to contact the outside world and really think about what could’ve been if she didn’t tie herself to the man her pries her freedom away from her. And in the last viewing of windows in The House on Mango Street in a vignette called “Linoleum Roses” it talks about when sally got married and was so controlled she couldn’t even look out of the window and forced to stare at her house and the walls, the ceilings, and the floor her whole day every day, because she’s scared. In this vignette windows symbolize basically freedom, freedom that most women in this vignette don’t get mainly by getting trapped by men, but thanks to all these examples Esperanza sees what not to do and she’ll eventually leave Mango Street but she’ll always come back to help the helpless.

--Josh.R--