House on Mango Street

I wasn't really sure what to focus on for this blog because I missed class on Thursday. The themes in this book were very twisted. I would almost say it was a book for the feminist movement because of the way men are portrayed in it. They are abusive, tyrannical, and the women either rollover or run away. The fact that Esperanza wants to help the women of the barrio says something about her strength of character at the end of the book. She will leave the barrio only to return and make it better. I was reading a little bit online about the author and there's actually quite a bit of criticism. Many people fault it because it supports assimilation in a time when we support multiculturalism. Mexican-American men found it offensive because it focused on abusive stereotypes, however, they also feel that women understand nothing. I was shocked by this, and how she never seemed to blame her rapers. It wasn't their fault to her. That's incredibly disturbing.