Mango Street vs. Romeo and Juliet

In the book The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros and the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, women's lives are dictated in similar ways. Juliet is arranged to be married to Paris, Esperanza's grandmother is also arranged to be married to a man she does not love. Both these women's lives are planned out by their parents. A difference between the two is that the machismo attitude keeps the women away from what they want, for example getting an education. Whereas, the families rivalry is what keeps Juliet from being with Romeo. Another similarity would be that Juliet and Esperanza both want to escape the life they are living. The only difference between them is that Esperanza wants to leave in search of a better life and Juliet wants to leave to be with Romeo. All these women face many similar problems but their options are different.

Taking a stand

Taking a stand is standing up for what you believe in and much more. It is to be able to have the courage to speak out no matter what the consequences could be. Students everyday try to take a stand against bullying. People everywhere witness bullying but only a few reach out to help people. That is the real meaning of taking a stand. Doing what others are afraid to do. Tom Robinson took a stand for himself by doing what others were afraid to do. He tried to escape even though in his mind he knew that it was an impossible task. Even if he had not tried to escape the results would have been exactly the same. In his situation it would give him and his family the peace of mind knowing that they could torture him with false accusations no longer. He had taken his chances knowing he was innocent and the only crime he commited was being in the wrong place at the wrong time

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Why is freedom so important to an already escaped slave? I guess it's the grudges kept over them,"that I never should be free so long as a child of his survived" (201). The oppression drove them to the north and fear kept them there. The fear and sense of power kept over slaves turns slave owners into reckless monsters."The fact that he was entirely dependent on Luke's care, and was obliged to be tended like an infant, instead of inspiring  any gratitude or compassion towards his poor slave, seemed only to increase his irritability and cruelty"(197). If you can not show any compassion to someone who you think is lower than you how would you be able to show it towards anyone else. The system of slavery made everything in that time corrupt. Dr. Flint spent the remainder of his life after Brent escaped searching for her, all in vain. The one thing I did not understand in the book was why he continued all this. Was it to prove he did not lose to a slave? Or, Was he that obsessed with her? It had too have been more then the sense of power that he held over them that kept his efforts going.

PS This is the last journal entry for Incidents in the Life of a Slave girl. I liked the book in general but the way Jacobs wrote of certain things took away from the book. 

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Reading the book I noticed that the strongest emotions Brent shows is towards slavery and gaining her freedom,"But what cared the legislators of the "dominant race" for the blood they were crushing out of trampled hearts? (Jacobs 196). She acknowledges the pain and suffering of a slave in a way that shows that she is not that afraid of being caught by authorities. During the beginning of the book she speaks of the unspeakable things in such a plain way, but now it is as if her anger and pain has built up and is being released into her writing.I dislike how when her grandmother passes away she barely speaks of it. Even though it seems like she anticipated her death it doesn't make sense that she could say so little about the death of her own grandmother who was always there for her but talk about crying when she talks about her friend that bought her freedom,"but when I speak of Mrs. Bruce as my friend, the word is sacred"(207). This shows that Linda's hope for freedom comes before her family. How could Brent show so much gratitude to a friend but show next to nothing to someone who was there through it all? It may just be her style of writing that makes it seem like her grandmothers death was just another event in a slaves life but it seems like Mrs. Bruce became a better friend to Brent than her grandmother.

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Reading pages 87-107 I found it really interesting that Brent always talks about how she wishes her children were dead, "I thought how well it would be for her if she never waked up"(89). If her child never woke up Brent would have no reason to run away since she ran away for her children. She does not want something like this too happen but she wants a better life for them by any means necessary. She is devoted to her a children to the point were she will take the chance of not being able to see them just so they can be free. One thing I noticed during this reading is that the childrens' father is not mentioned when it comes to helping them. After many unsuccessful attempts at freeing them it is as if they have lost trust in him, "don't trust too much too him. Stand by your own children, and suffer with them till death"(93). Brent does just that but doesn't suffer with them but for them she takes matter into her own hands. She is not there for them but does everything in her power to help them even though she leaves them behind. She does not consider taking her children with her because even though they have to live the rest of their lives without a mother she knows it is better then having to constantly hide just to be free.

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What goes through Mr.Flint's mind when he says such atrocious things to Brent? Even though she may seem like less of a person to him it does not make sense to corrupt not only himself but also a young girls' mind. It shows how perverse slave owners were. They could turn the best thing about a person into something dangerous, "If God has bestowed beauty upon her, it will prove her greatest curse"(Brent 27). Only the worst people could turn something like beauty into an excuse to abuse and mistreat a person. Jealousy then becomes the cause of most a female slaves suffering,it makes them ask questions such as this one;" Why does the slave ever love?"(36). Love and lust are not to be confused in this book. Mr.Flint's selfish ways make it impossible for Brent to even think of loving anyone. It is as if he has no regard towards his family. If he actually loved his wife he would not do such things to Brent. What bothers me the most in the novel is that she regards rape as the most everyday thing but does not refer to it directly it's as if she does not want accept what has happened to her and many other females. It makes you wonder what kept Brent going other than her family. At this point it does not seem like anything else is.

Reality vs. Ideal

       
         How would you like to come to school one morning and find there is no power? I guess that's the reality of things, school is not perfect no matter how hard the teachers and administrators try. The education system has its faults and its forte's. One fault in the system is that they let students drop out. School is not for everyone but finishing high school should be a basic requirement. In some cases it is not possible for reasons such as family problems but that should be the only exception. Although teachers and administrators cannot tell students they cannot drop out they do attempt to keep them in school. The class sizes make it impossible for certain students to learn. When the classes have too many students it is unthinkable too try and accommodate student’s different learning styles. At lunch there are students sitting with the people they already know without even trying to make new friends. Then there are the kids who do not know anyone who end up sitting alone because no one talks to them or offers them a place to sit. Too add to that there is the pressure from administrators, parents and teachers to do well, get hundreds of ssl hours and do extracurricular activities. The constant pressure is what causes students to cheat and do other things in the same nature. In the ideal school there would not be such a problem.

             In the ideal school, classes would be set up so there would be from ten to fifteen students from every school, who have the same learning style working together so they could get different perspectives, socialize and learn to the best of their abilities at the same time. Class periods should allow for enough time to learn but not enough time to get bored and fall asleep. The curriculum should be based solely on basic studies involved in a student’s career pathway and students should be allowed to choose as many career pathways as they think they might want too pursue. School would be Monday through Friday from 12pm-6pm with a half day every Wednesday for students who need to catch up in their studies or want to get ssl hours. Compared to a regular school the campus and building would be designed with students’ interests in mind. There would be fields for sports, walls built especially to become murals and all kinds of utilities to help disabled people. As great as this would be it is just what I believe would be beneficial to students education and may never actually become a reality.