Names meaning In The House On Mango Street
Every name in various languages has different pronunciations and meanings. Sometimes that makes people proud, but sometimes they also are ashamed about it. In this novel, The House on Mango Street published in 1983, by Sandra Cisneros. It is written from the perspective of a teenager named Esperanza, the main character, who struggles with her life in a Chicano and Puerto Rican neighborhood of Chicago. This novel discovers the plight of the disadvantaged who struggle to gain their life, through this the author incorporates the social old and new between traditional Mexican with modern American to convince the readers feel more excited. The author focuses many events of the book on the idea of names and language. Names and languages can be seen as a symbolic marker of identity among other things, that allow a specific group to distinguish themselves from others. So, if the name and language function as a symbolic tool of power in the community, then ability to manipulate language will give people power and freedom.
Considering language used in Chicano fiction is somewhat similar to identity, The House on Mango Street conveys a message that language is very important, it can make people become afraid and powerlessness if they do not know or master the words. For instance, Mamacita, who is stuck in her apartment by her fear and incomprehension of English, Cisneros writes, “Somebody said because she’s too fat, somebody because of the three fights of stairs, but I believe she doesn’t come out because she is afraid to speak English, and maybe this is so since she only knows eight words” (77). Mamacita turns to the past and tries to keep her native language since she remembers her homeland and listens to the Spanish radio station. Also, she feels disappointed when her baby begins learning English words. This shows that the people who are not able to communicate effectively are adjacent to the bottom of society. This leads to Esperanza to understand the power of controlling language, since being able to control words will bring strength for them. Moreover, Geraldo, a man with no last name, the narrator comments, “Just another brazer who didn’t speak English. Just another wet-back. You now the kind. The ones who always look ashamed”. Esperanza describes him as a person in the lower class of society because of language hurdle, and she also calls him a brazer, that means as an immigrant worker. Nobody cares about him including the surgeon who doesn’t even bother to come to the emergency room to save his life. Esperanza emphasized Geraldo’s plight, which was that his lack of English influenced his fate, and this shows that she is learning the consequence of lack of language. In addition, Esperanza’s mother can speak English, yet she could not convince the nuns at Esperanza’s school, lets Esperanza gets lunch, because of her poor writing. Moreover, Esperanza’s father can only eat ham and eggs because he doesn’t know any words of food in English. After all, the author demonstrates that not knowing or not mastering language creates helplessness, and that alternatively being able to control the language brings them power and freedom.
Through names, the author suggests that everyone should have a name that gives them the power to express their own identity and destiny. The earliest example of the issue of naming occurs when Esperanza describes her name as an example. The novel says, “In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting”. Considering the author’s word choice, this shows that Esperanza sees her name in opposing significances: hope and sadness, waiting and longing. The language used here guides the reader to realize the name is an individual’s imprint, which is representation image of a person with people around them. It also can greatly affect a person’s life and career if their name inappropriates, that causes shame or unnecessary obstacles for themselves. Additionally, Esperanza doesn’t like her name, and she comments, “At school they say my name funny as if the syllables were made out of tin and hurt the roof of your mouth. But in Spanish my name is made out of a softer something, like silver,... Magdalena who at least can come home and become Nenny. But I am always Esperanza”. This simile means that Esperanza’s name is long and difficult for her teachers at school to say. It suggests that her name just contributes to her feelings of not belonging in her community. By focusing on Esperanza’s name, the author conveys a message that a name of a person might represent a hybrid culture of Mexican and American that leads to competition of languages in multi-voices. Sometimes, that can make a person feel dislike about their name, and it also affects their confidence to express themselves. Furthermore, Esperanza wants to have a name that fits her, as shown in the text, “I would like to baptize myself under a new name, a name more like the real me, the one nobody sees. Esperanza as Lisandra or Maritza or Zeze the X. Yes. Something like Zeze the X will do” (11). This suggests the importance of Esperanza being ashamed of her name, which is always mispronounced. Esperanza is named after her great-grandmother, who is forced to marry and had a full life of sadness. But, Esperanza swears that she will not have the same destiny like her great-grandmother. Also, she puts her identity in secret like the X. The “X” is used to represent the name of a person who is not known. Ultimately, Esperanza constructs herself as a subject through name and language that can give her the power of her own destiny and identity.
Through language and name, The House on Mango Street conveys a message that if the lack of language means powerlessness, then writing makes people mentally free by putting their terrible experiences into words, which gives people the power to make them less miserable. In this part of the novel, Esperanza's aunt, Lupe, tells Esperanza to keep writing because it will keep her free. According to Esperanza’s aunt, “That’s nice. That’s very good, she said in her tired voice. You just remember to keep writing, Esperanza. You must keep writing. It will keep you free, and I said yes, but at that time I didn’t know what she meant”. This quotation shows that writing can translate her bad experiences into beautiful language, which makes her problems seem less bad and helps her process them. As a result, she is mentally free because putting her experiences into words gives her more power to pass over them. The author further illustrates her point by stating, “One day I will pack my bags of books and paper. One day I will say goodbye to Mango. I am too strong for her to keep me here forever.” This highlights Esperanza realizes energy of language gives her freedom, and she hopes to find physical freedom through her writing. Moreover, she swears that she will keep learning and get out of Mango Street, but one of the parts in her promise is to return for the people left behind and never forget who she is or where she came from. Clearly, writing helps her leave Mango Street in mentally and physically either.
Name and language might act as a symbol of power in the community, that means the ability to manipulate language will give people strength and freedom. Altogether, these messages about Esperanza’s name and influence of language, show the reader that a name in each language has different meanings, which can express their identities differently, too. In each language, a word has different pronunciations and significations that can make a person’s name changed by others. As the main character's name changed meaning and vocalization in Spanish and English, Esperanza says her name was pronounced differently in Spanish, English and at school, and that’s why she wanted to change her name to something that shows her truth and secret. The House on Mango Street brings about the theme of self-definition, where the main character fights for her identity in a society where there is a distinction between the poor and the rich. It indicates the problems that the poor face and the struggles they must go through as they strive to reach their identities. So, education suddenly makes sense as the perfect way to give people power to get out of all difficulties in their life.
