The Significance of Windows

Author: Billy Lau // Category:
        In the book, The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros there are many vignettes. In these vignettes there are hidden symbolisms, like feet and windows. In class, we read many vignettes titled My Name,No Speak English, and Sally. 
        In My Name, Esperanza talks about her grandmother Esperanza who is forced into marriage and who spent most of her days sitting by a window. Esperanza said that she does not
" ... but I don't want to inherit her place by the window." pg 11
I think this means that both of these women are trapped and they do not accept their prison inside the window but they also understand that  the outside world is not made for them. 
         In No Speak English, Mamacita moves in to Mango street, and she never comes back down. People think she is too fat to get down, but Esperanza knows that she doesn't come down because she doesn't know english. So everyday, Mamacita sits by the window and listens to the radio. 
"She sits by the window and plays the Spanish radio show."pg 77
Just like the other vignette, Mamacita is trapped in her own world. It is America, and she can not speak english, so everyday she looks through her window and dreams of knowing how to speak in english.
       In Sally, a girl named Sally is always completely under her father’s rule. At school she is gossiped about from all the boys. Her father thinks it is her beauty that makes it dangerous for her to go outside of the house, so her father restricts her from going out. Sally wishes she didn’t have to go home after school all the time.  Esperanza says 
"And if you opened the little window latch and gave it a shove, the windows would swing open..."pg 82
I think in here, the window is an emotional feeling. Sally feels like a prisoner in her house, and she wants to be free. She just has to open the latch to freedom. Esperanza thinks Sally is wonderful and she should be free to be Esperanza's best friend. 
        In all three vignettes, the window represents as a barrier to true life or happiness. The window pushes them back from getting their wishes and desires. In conclusion I think that the window is like a wall, and one side is where they are at while the other side is their imagination.  

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