Main Issues In The House on Mango Street
Within Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street novel, Sally illustrates irresponsible behavior; Sally’s actions illustrate lack of proper judgment. For instance, Sally hands her keys to some boys and then kisses these boys to retrieve these keys. Further, Sally promises to meet Esperanza Cordero at the carnival but fails to turn up. Moreover, Sally accompanies Cordero to the monkey garden but fails to engage in recreational activities with Cordero. This essay analyses The House on Mango Street to highlight Sally’s irresponsible personality in light of the following behaviors: Sally hands her keys to some boys and then kisses these boys to retrieve these keys; Sally promises to meet Cordero at the carnival but fails to turn up; and Sally accompanies Cordero to the monkey garden but fails to engage in recreational activities with Cordero.
Given that Sally hands her keys to some boys and then kisses these boys to retrieve these keys, Sally illustrates her irresponsible personality. To this end, while at a public entertainment venue referred to as the monkey park, Sally allows Tito and his male friends to take her keys. Sally then kisses these boys to retrieve these keys (Cisneros, n.d.). While appraising this scenario, a reader would notice that Sally exposes herself to certain dangers. This is because the kissing game Sally initiates could turn wild. In other words, these boys could perform certain undesirable actions on Sally. These boys could harm Sally by raping her. Given this potential for harm, it is clear that Sally’s kissing game highlights her irresponsible personality. If she were not irresponsible, Sally would not initiate this potentially harmful kissing game.
To further illustrate her irresponsible personality, Sally promises to meet Cordero at the carnival but fails to turn up. In this regard, Sally and Cordero agree to meet at the carnival on a specific day. Sally however fails to attend the carnival. Instead, Sally goes on a tour with a certain boy. Cordero turns up at the carnival as agreed, only to discover that Sally is not present (Ibid.). By abandoning the plan to attend the carnival without alerting Cordero, Sally illustrates her (Sally’s) irresponsible personality. If she were not irresponsible, Sally would postpone her tour with this boy and instead meet Cordero at the carnival as agreed.
Moreover, considering that Sally accompanies Cordero to the monkey garden but fails to engage in recreational activities with Cordero, Sally demonstrates her (Sally’s) irresponsible personality. While reviewing this scenario, a reader would hold that, by accompanying Cordero to the monkey garden, Sally enters in some kind of unstated contract with Cordero. In other words, Sally agrees to engage in the relevant recreational activities with Cordero. With this view in mind, it is puzzling that Sally instead chooses to flirt with some boys, thus neglecting Cordero (Ibid.). Sally’s neglect of Cordero reflects Sally’s irresponsible personality. This irresponsibility causes Sally to disregard the idea that she owes Cordero a duty of ensuring that Cordero is not lonely while at the monkey garden. If she were not irresponsible, Sally would not neglect Cordero while at the monkey garden.
In conclusion, within The House on Mango Street, Sally illustrates her irresponsible personality in several ways. For example, Sally hands her keys to some boys and then kisses these boys to retrieve these keys. Moreover, Sally promises to meet Cordero at the carnival but fails to turn up. In addition, Sally accompanies Cordero to the monkey garden but fails to engage in recreational activities with Cordero. It is interesting that Sally’s irresponsibility derives from Sally’s interaction with boys. On this note, it would be enlightening to investigate what message Cisneros seeks to convey through Sally’s irresponsibility.
