The Color Red:House on Mango Street
Author: Billy Lau // Category: In The House on Mango Street, the symbol red is very important and it shows up in many different situations. I think red means the social world problems and or situations that affect her. She grows up in a very poor environment, and one of the many things she does not like about her poor life is her house on Mango street.
"It's small and red with tight steps... Bricks are crumbling in places..."pg 4
She completely does not like her house at all. In her dreams, Mama and Papa would look for a house that is real, and that she can stay in forever and not move ever year. The color red in this is a symbol signifying that her life has rough edges that she can not change. Only her environment changes and she has to adapt to it.
In one of the most important chapters, Esperanza is being sexually abused. Although the chapter is filled with hidden meanings and is definitely hard to understand, it still gives the reader a central understanding that she is being forced to do what she does not want to do. In Red Clowns on pg 99
The idea of red signifying uncomfort reappears in "Our Good Day".
"I was waiting by the red clowns... I went to be with you because you laugh on the tilt-a-whirl, you throw your head back and laugh."Sally forces Esperanza to stay at the carnival, with a bunch of "Red Clowns". Red in this means uncomfortableness. Esperanza is stuck in a tight situation either to run away from the scary red clowns or listen to Sally and stay at the carnival. I think this chapter's importance is not just about being raped it is about the color red itself.
The idea of red signifying uncomfort reappears in "Our Good Day".
“Until then I am a red balloon, a ballon tied to an anchor,” pg 9
I think this quote means that uncomfort drags her down and she is unable to reach up. She is not able to express herself because of her environment and her place in the social status. She is like a balloon tied to an anchor, stuck at the bottom forever until someone cuts her string. Then she can fly away freely. Her struggles are the anchor while the string is in her inner self.
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