The image of shoes in The House On Mango Street

周佳琪

Abstract：Sandra Cisneros is one of the most prominent writers of American and Hispanic literary world. Her successful novel titled The House on Mango Street recounts the life， the milieu and the compelling experiences encountered by women from the eyes of Esperanza， the protagonist of the novel. There are a large number of resemblances between the image of shoes and the women figures.

Key words：The House On Mango Street， shoes， feminism， foot

I. Introduction

Chicana refers to the women of Mexican decedents who live in the United States. Sandra Cisneros is one of the representative Chicana writers Cisneros early life experiences have influenced her writing to a large extent， especially reflected in her novel The House On Mango Street.

In The House On Mango Street， there are a lot symbols， like the trees， the shoes， the poetry and the moon. These symbols carried out a much deeper and more vivid meaning under the scene. This thesis will focus on the exploring of the shoes image exist through the whole novel. As it easy to notice the female figures in this novel are most connected with the image of wearing the high-heeled shoes， even the young Esperanza， Rachel and Lucy. These images of high-heeled shoes show the femininity of woman， but no matter how charming they look， they still under the control of this male-centered society. On the other hand， the image of shoes also symbolizes escape. Shoes are used for walking or running， and running from the Mango Street is what Esperanza always dream to do. To begin with these two images of shoes， first it would be better to see whats the relationship between the shoes and footbinding.

II. The Shoes and Foot Bondage

Foot binding was practiced for precisely the reason： to make women weak. By make women physically unstable， men were able to forbid their movement and thereby prevent their sisters， wives， and daughters from engaging in any other affairs. “They ought to stay in their own house. If their feet are not bound， they go here and they go there with unfitting associates： they have no good name. They are like defective gems that are rejected”.. Thus a foot bound woman was virtually a homebound woman： for all practical purposes， she was cloistered.

Interestingly， the women of the Mango Street are cloistered as well. There is a remarking scene when describe the women condition is that they lean out of windows. This implies that women cannot go outside; they are literally or figuratively made prisoners in their home. This scene is first used on Esperanzas great grandmother. Even though Esperanza told her as a wild horse of woman， the fate for her is “ my great grandfather threw a sack over her head and carried her off”. And the story goes， “she never forgave him. She looked out the window her whole life， the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow. Rafeala， who is “getting old from leaning out the window so much， gets locked indoors because her husband is afraid Rafaela will run away since she is too beautiful to look at”. Sally has to go straight home after school， to a “house （she） cant come out from”. Minerva “has many troubles， but the big one is her husband who left and keeps leaving”—confining her to the home in effect by leaving her to raise two children all by herself. In short， the womans place is one of domestic confinement， not one of liberation and choice”.

III. The Image of Shoes

In literary history， the foot （as opposed to some other body parts） features so prominently in the tale. Why does Cinderellas fate hinge upon a shoe， instead of something else？ Now when look back to The House On Mango Street， its hard to ignore that female feet and shoes are strangely and strikingly bound up with romance and sexuality.

In the chapter “ The Family of Little Feet”， Esperanza and her friends seem excessively excited by the experience of prancing around in the high-heeled shoes which have been given to them： “ Do you like these shoes？ Rachel says yes and Lucy says yes and I say these are the best shoes. We will never go back to wearing the other kind again.” Their resolution to “never go back to wearing the other kind” of shoe comes after they realize that the shoes make them sexually attractive to the men around them： Esperanza comments that they strut “down to the corner where the men cant take their eyes off of us”. They also appear to sense that their strutting has an effect on women as well： “ In front of the Laundromat six girls with the same fat face pretend we are invisible.

This power is ultimately a trap for the women of Mango Street， however， and this is illustrated through Cisneros use of the shoe motif—most notably through the use of high heels. “High hells must have been a mans idea—their asses will look good and they will be crippled.” The responses of men to an attractive woman in high heels and to an attractive woman with bound feet are quite similar.

IV. Conclusion

The parallel that Cisneros draws between Cinderella and the women of Mango Street is obvious. Like Cinderella， the women of Mango Street are confined to a life of domestic trifles. Like Cinderella， their suitability as wives is symbolically determined by their shoes and feet.

By revealing the image of shoes hidden behind the scene. In this process， it presents us with an opportunity to deepen understanding of women ‘s condition on Mango Street and also a better understanding of human nature， which is one of the highest goals a literary work can be hope to achieve.

bliography

[1] Cisneros， Sandra. The House on Mango Street. London： Bloomsbury Publishing，1991.

[2] Ganz， R. Sandra Cisneros： Border Crossings and Beyond . MELUS 1994，19 （1）： 19-29.

[3] 石平萍. 开辟女性生存的新空间——析桑德拉.希斯内罗丝的《芒果街的房子》[J]. 外国文学， 2005.

[4] 许玮芝. Growing up Chicano/a： A Study of Cisneros The House on the Mango Street. 台湾： 东吴大学， 2007.