The Monkey Garden and Selfhood in "The House on Mango Street" Emaa Elrayah 12th Grade

It seems obvious that the vignette “ The Monkey Garden” in the novel The House On Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is about a pretty garden morphing into a hideous place. The garden first appears to be a safe, fun setting for the neighborhood kids to play and find comfort in, but by the end of the chapter, has become dangerous and sad. However, there is much more happening in the monkey garden than it may first seem. The monkey garden does, indeed, in a way represent changes. However, it is not simply about the garden becoming a scary place in the eyes of Esperanza, but rather Esperanza herself losing a great deal of her innocence. A closer look at “The Monkey Garden” will reveal a whole new issue regarding Esperanza losing her child-like innocence and seeing the world (and the once-safe garden) through a more matured lens. Esperanza’s encounter with Sally and the group of boys cause her to realize what the world and the people in it are really like, which shapes her perspective throughout the rest of her life as portrayed by the book as a whole. In The House on Mango Street, Cisneros uses the monkey garden to represent the most significant, perspective-changing moment in Esperanza’s life as she makes her transition from...