House On Mango Street, By Sandra Cisneros

Words: 489
Pages: 2

In the chapter ¨My Name¨ in House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, Esperanza does not like her name for many reasons. Esperanza has a grandmother and she also has the same name as her. She doesn't want to be like her grandmother because she just sits and looks out a window the whole day. The main reason Esperanza doesn't like her name is because no one could pronounce her name, it has a bad meaning, and she wishes she had a different one rather than any other reason she brings up.
One of the main reasons Esperanza does not like her name is because it has a bad meaning. Esperanza shows that she doesn't like her name when she says,¨It means sadness, it means waiting¨ (Cisneros 10). This shows that Esperanza's name has a negative meaning which has a bad effect on her self esteem. She also acknowledges how she thinks her name has a bad meaning when she mentions that her grandma was,
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Esperanza is angered at the fact that no one can pronounce her name when she states that, ¨...At school they say my name funny” (Cisneros 11). Everyone at school can't pronounce her name which makes her annoyed and sad. Esperanza describes the fact that people can't pronounce her name as if the “...syllables were made out of tin and hurt the roof of your mouth¨ (Cisneros 11). Esperanza is using an analogy to show that no one can say her name correctly which makes her mad.
In Esperanza´s dislike towards her name, she wishes that she had a different one. Esperanza wants a new name when she comments that she wants to ¨...baptize myself (Esperanza) under a new name, a name more like the real me¨ (Cisneros 11). Esperanza wants a new name which will portray her actual self. Esperanza thinks of other names she could have been named when she exclaims, “Something like Zeze the X will do” (Cisneros 11). This quote shows that Esperanza wishing of a different name that she could have had when she was