Mason 1

Atu Mason Ms. Morrow English 2 2/2/12 Series of Awakenings

As the character Esperanza in Sandras Cisneros novel matures during the year that makes up The House on Mango Street, she experiences a lot of awakenings, the most important being a sexual awakening. At the beginning of the novel, Esperanza is not quite ready to emerge from the asexuality of childhood. She is completely ignorant about sex and says that boys and girls live in completely different worlds. She is so much a child that she cannot even speak to her brothers outside of the house. When she becomes an adolescent, she begins to experiment with the power she, as a young woman, has over men. Marin teaches her fundamental facts about boys, but the first major step in Esperanzas awareness of her sexuality is when she and her friends explore the neighborhood in high-heeled shoes.