Of Mice and Men

Just a test.

Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street

I really connect with Esperanza's struggle to define herself in The House on Mango Street. There are so many factors that influence our sense of ourselves--and adolescence in particular is a time in which we try to separate what we believe (our opinions, ideas, definitions, values) as opposed to what we've been taught to believe.

Cisneros's novel illustrates this struggle, but with added layers of complexity: the main character is female growing up in a culture where her models of womanhood are too often passive, victims of a patriarchal culture. Repeatedly in the novel, Esperanza, which means "hope" but also "waiting" in Spanish, asserts that she wants to have power and control over her life. At one point, she renames herself: "I would like to baptize myself under a new name, a name more like the real me, the one nobody sees. Esperanza as Lisandra or Maritza or Zeze the X. Yes. Something like Zeze the X will do" (11). This passage makes clear that Esperanza has a strong sense of self--she realizes that there's an "Esperanza" that no one else sees or knows, one who has the strength to inhabit a powerful, mysterious name like "Zeze the X." Since Esperanza expresses the desire to "baptize [her]self" (transform herself?), taking on what is a male priest's job in the Catholic Church, she is also expressing a rebellion against her upbringing and the desire to take authority over her own life.

My association here may be personal, but when I read "Zeze the X" I can't help but think of the fictional character Zorro who carves the letter "Z" as a marker of where he's been, but also as an assertion of power. Since both names begin with "z," have two syllables, end in a vowel, and are associated with letters at the end of alphabet, I think this is a valid point. Esperanza sees herself as a powerful person, one who could have adventures, defend those who are victimized, and otherwise take control of situations. Her "x" implies an unknown quality (as in algebra equations that use "x"), just as she protects her hidden self. As the novel progresses, however, it becomes clear that Esperanza won't be able to maintain the performance of docile, passive female. At some point, she will have to strike out on her own, leaving Mango Street behind, in order to become the person she wishes to be: a strong woman who controls her own life.