o impose this image on the world, and no longer be controlled by the vision of the world, and of themselves, held by other people.”
If we look at The House On Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, we see similar themes akin to Baldwin’s, including the difficulty of identity formation in a repressive environment that only reinforces the “norm” (i.e., white) identity and values. Cisneros’ challenges are partly based on her Hispanic culture, but also because she represents another group typically oppressed in society—women. In this book we are offered more than 40 short stories which detail the life of a little girl, Esperanza Cordero, who lives in the barrio in Chicago in a house on Mango Street. Esperanza does not like this house because it is not like all the houses she sees on TV; in other words, she discovers she is not of a race or class of people who own such homes. We see how social institutions reinforces low self-esteem in minorities by the way the nuns make Esperanza ashamed of her house. As she states “I always cry when nuns yell at me, even if they’re not yelling” (Cisneros 81).
Esperanza’s poverty-ridden existence and dilapidated house mirror the dilemmas of a majority of contemporary Hispanics in America who live in the poorest neighborhoods, occupy the lowest-paying jobs, and who are subjected to racist and demeaning attitudes because of their race and income level. Many argue that since the 1940s, blacks and Hispanics have seen enormous progress in terms of education, income and political representation. However, while racism is more subtle it still exists in large measure, and blacks and Hispanics continue to face many challenges because of it. Part of t
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