Monkey Garden
Monkey Garden is a story about a young little girl transitioning into an adult. The young girl Esperanza narrates the story and explains how how her childhood led her into the garden. Esperanza tells us how she realizes that the other kids are growing up. These kids are a huge impact on the narrator’s role and help her into her a new stage of life. The monkey garden is the place where Esperanza lost her innocence, and Esperanza loses her innocence about her friends and the community, she cannot return to the garden. A group of anonymous boys assaults Esperanza, she directs her anger toward women and society instead of toward the specific boys responsible. Sally has proven to be an unreliable friend, always choosing boys’ attention over …show more content…
She feels confused and afraid and no longer knows where she belongs, as a child or a woman. One day Esperanza, Sally, and some other kids are in the monkey garden. Esperanza wants to play with the younger children, but Sally stays on the curb talking to Tito and some other boys. The boys have stolen her keys, and they decide that Sally has to kiss all of them if she wants them back. Sally agrees and they all go behind an old car. The “loss of innocence” moment begins as Tito and the other boys begin to play a more adult game in the garden. They see no problem in manipulating Sally for sexual favors, and she allows herself to be manipulated, The story approaches the fantastical here, as the sisters seem to read Esperanza’s mind and predict her future. They recognize that Esperanza is already strong enough to leave Mango Street, but they remind her of what she thought in “Bums in the Attic,” that she cannot forget where she came from, or abandon those left behind. One of the sisters pulls Esperanza aside and holds her face in her hands. The woman says that after Esperanza leaves the neighborhood, she must come back for those who
Monkey Garden is a story about a young little girl transitioning into an adult. The young girl Esperanza narrates the story and explains how how her childhood led her into the garden. Esperanza tells us how she realizes that the other kids are growing up. These kids are a huge impact on the narrator’s role and help her into her a new stage of life. The monkey garden is the place where Esperanza lost her innocence, and Esperanza loses her innocence about her friends and the community, she cannot return to the garden. A group of anonymous boys assaults Esperanza, she directs her anger toward women and society instead of toward the specific boys responsible. Sally has proven to be an unreliable friend, always choosing boys’ attention over …show more content…
She feels confused and afraid and no longer knows where she belongs, as a child or a woman. One day Esperanza, Sally, and some other kids are in the monkey garden. Esperanza wants to play with the younger children, but Sally stays on the curb talking to Tito and some other boys. The boys have stolen her keys, and they decide that Sally has to kiss all of them if she wants them back. Sally agrees and they all go behind an old car. The “loss of innocence” moment begins as Tito and the other boys begin to play a more adult game in the garden. They see no problem in manipulating Sally for sexual favors, and she allows herself to be manipulated, The story approaches the fantastical here, as the sisters seem to read Esperanza’s mind and predict her future. They recognize that Esperanza is already strong enough to leave Mango Street, but they remind her of what she thought in “Bums in the Attic,” that she cannot forget where she came from, or abandon those left behind. One of the sisters pulls Esperanza aside and holds her face in her hands. The woman says that after Esperanza leaves the neighborhood, she must come back for those who