Baptism and Rebirth/Christening:
The Roman Catholic sacrament of baptism appears at several points in the
novel-most notably in the baptismal celebration in the church basement in
"Chanclas," the setting in which Esperanza dances and thus begins her journey
toward adulthood. And as noted above in the Analysis section, Cisneros' choice
of the Rev. Charles Kingsley's The Waterbabies as the text that
Esperanza reads to Aunt Lupe may also be meant to evoke baptismal overtones. While
The House on Mango Street is not what could be conventionally called a
"religious" novel, it is certainly a sacramental novel, in which the
ordinary elements of life-houses, feet, next door neighbors-become visible
signs of invisible, ultimately spiritual, realities. Baptism's sacramental
emphasis on names serves Cisneros' themes well.
The Power of Narrative:
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Cisneros' novel, as a novel, has much to teach
its readers about the power of story. Author Joan Didion has famously declared,
"We tell ourselves stories in order to live," and no doubt Esperanza-and
Cisneros-would agree. The difference, of course, is that Cisneros as a novelist
already knows the truth of Didion's statement. Esperanza must learn its truth
over the course of the novel. And many characters teach it to her, most notably
Ruthie, the former author of children's fiction. She still is writing poems
when we meet her, but these poems cannot free her because, sadly, Ruthie let
her opportunity for freedom go, and continues to let it go each time she allows
her husband back into her home and thus back into her life (and, significantly,
"home" is practically code for "life" in Cisneros' novel). Aunt Lupe encourages
Esperanza to continue her writing because it will free her. The three Sisters
near the end of the book also teach Esperanza about the power of
narrative-appropriately enough, because they are symbolic of the Fates, who,
according to ancient mythology, literally "weave" the story of an individual's
life, from beginning to conclusion. When the book ends-revealing, as it does,
that the text itself is the product of Esperanza's ability to tell life as a
story; that is, as an ordered narrative that reveals truth-Esperanza has
learned that story-telling gives freedom, both to the storyteller and to her
subjects. Thus, this theme in The House on Mango Street teaches us that
in order to find home-to find ourselves-to find life. we must tell our
stories, and the stories of others.
Interconnectedness
: Related to the previous theme, readers of Cisneros' novel discover that we must tell our stories in the context of a larger story. Time and again, Esperanza introduces us to the rich variety of characters-some comical, some tragic, some hopeful, some despondent, some enigmatic-who inhabit the Mango Street neighborhood. In telling their stories, Esperanza demonstrates how these
diverse individuals are nevertheless connected to and dependent upon each
other-consider the sad case of Angel Vargas, for example. And telling the story
of the community as a whole fights the tendency of the dominant members of the
society to dismiss and dehumanize the society's minority members. In this
sense, the urgency of storytelling and the power of narrative take on an even
greater urgency. Storytelling is no luxury; it is an act of survival, and an
affirmation of interdependence. As Esperanza insists in "Geraldo No Last Name,"
people really do matter.
|
