House on Mango Street Post #1: Windows

            In the book The House on Mango Street, the auothor Sandra Cisneros has quite a few chapters that compare the main character's experiences to windows. The first qoute is when Esperanza talks about her great-grandmother and her sadness in life. "She looked out of the window her whole life, the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow." (p 11) What can be assumed from this qoute is that looking out of a window is what people do when they have great sadness or are very distraught.
             The next qoute that refers to windows is when Esperanza talks about Mamacita and her life. "She sits all day by the window and plays the Spanish radio show and sings all the homesick songs about her country in a voice that sounds like a seagull." (p 77) What can be concluded about this qoute is that people who sit by the window might be missing something or someone and feel upset about it.
              Another qoute is when Esperanza talks about someone named Rafaela. "Rafaela leans out the window and leans on her elbow and dreams her hair is  like Rapunzel's." (p 79) An idea of what can be drawn from this is that leaning out a window and looking outside of it is also for people that wish about their life changing or they could be somewhere else, basically the desire to have another life.
              The final qoute is when Esperanza is talking to Sally, or thinking about it. "And if you opened the little window latch and gave it a shove, the windows would swing open, all the sky would come in. There'd be no nosy neighbors watching, no motorcycles and cars, no sheets and towels and laundry. Only trees and more trees and plenty of blue sky." (p 82) This qoute talks about the final significance of thew comparison to windows. So now all the peices of the puzzle are put together: Looking out of windows is just like wanting something out of life and just thinking about wanting it but never doing it. This leads to a lot of regret and sadness because their life isn't like that. But Esperanza says that you have to open the window and make the life you want by doing something about it and trying to change tyour life. Windows are symbols of obstacles that you have to get around, and by opening the window, you get the obstacle out of the way and being able to get the life you want.