The House on Mango Street, 2.

The portrayal of Esperanza's character in The House On Mango Street has a sort of kinship with a couple of the other characters that we have covered this semester.  Principally, the characters that I see as akin to Esperanza are Pi, Ike, Janie, and Lucy.  First of all, the importance of one's name and the background of having both a mother and a father connect Esperanza with the character of Pi.  Secondly, Esperanza and Ike share a profound sense of inheritance and heritage as represented through Esperanza's shame and Ike's action of renouncing his familial inheritance.  Thirdly, there are obvious connections between Esperanza and Janie as seemingly hindered individuals, being born female and a minority in society.  Lastly, I found the kinship between Esperanza and Lucy to be very interesting as they are nearly opposite in aspects.  These two characters are not an example of who I would of put together right away as having a connection, but I was really intrigued by our discussion in class today about how, despite all of their extraneous traits (like societal status, financial status, living situation, ethnicity, etc.), the fundamental issues they are going through are incredibly similar.  This is profound, especially in today's society with current events including wars on religion and violence between cultures, in that if we clear away the smoke from the bombs and the walls built up to the "other," I think what we would find is that at the core of every person is a heart and soul that wants to live, and grow, and prosper, just like you and me.