After being hurt, we grow.

 

Hello! This is Maxine AGAIN!

    As a coming-of-age novel, it contains more issues and meanings behind every chapter when I continue to read the contents. In the beginning, the main character, Esperanza, echoes others' perspectives without thinking deeply. However, after reading the remained stories, I find that she starts to disagree with others’ concepts and form her self-identity through back-and-forth viewpoint transformations. That is also the reason for me to keep reading and introspecting myself.

    Among the pages I read this time, the author devotes space to the description of Sally’s story since she is the pivotal point that alters Esperanza’s life and mental status.

   So, who is she? Sally, whom boys find desirable, is the shining star walking on the carpet that everyone will unconsciously glance over her. She looks flawless and dazzling but untouchable. Rumor has it that she is promiscuous that loves to drive men crazy and take pleasure in sexuality. However, Esperanza doesn’t care and tries to make friends with her. Once, Sally is sexually harassed by a group of boys, so Esperanza throws sticks to save her from the danger. Sadly, she receives waves of laughter and looks of contempt in return. The critical moment that she feels disappointed in Sally is the time that she is touched by an old man, but Sally leaves her alone in such a painful circumstance. Actually, we can see Sally is an unreliable friend who always chooses boys’ attention. But just as the author says, it is a way for her to use boys and men as an escape route from her abusive father. It is her approach to free herself, however, her choice indeed damages their friendship and Esperanza’s life.

    In fact, I can understand the fear and anxiety that Esperanza feels when being uncomfortably touched. While I was taking a bus a few years ago, I encountered a similar event that happened to the character. Since that day was a holiday, the bus was crowded with lots of people that everyone stood close to each other. Suddenly, I felt something hard kept touching me. Before long, I freaked out since my pants got wet and realized that it was his penis. I quickly changed my position and stood at a place that could see his face. He was a short man with strange outs and messy hygiene. At that moment, I was at the edge of bursting out crying. It was not only because I felt disgusted with his deed but more about why I dared not say it out loud. It turned out to be my nightmare and trauma that I didn’t want to mention during that period.

    I notice that the composer uses diverse writing skills to describe the diary-property story. For example, she likes to use metaphors and personifications to depict the figures or conditions more authentically, such as “The moon is a sphinx winking.” and “The dog leaps and somersaults like an apostrophe and comma.” Also, she loves to give funny examples to illustrate the character. For instance, she uses “a wide boat” to describe “an obese mother,” which enables me to pop out an image in my brain. I truly acquire lots of writing techniques to improve my ability about how to animate the characters from the paper and make my story look more interesting.

    When reading this book, I change a lot of my mindset and put myself in the shoes of Esperanza. I feel vivid as if I were the character facing different situations and coming up with relative solutions. The House on Mango Street is close to not only our daily life but also growing stages. For me, this novel is a mirror that I can examine my mental as well as physical statuses and recall something the same happened in my teenage. At the end of the story and me finishing the story, it seems that both Esperanza and I turn out to be maturer and more responsible for our own lives.