Alicia is Esperanza’s friend who attends a local university near the Mango Street community. Since Alicia’s mother passed away, her father forces her to take over the family’s domestic chores including all of the cooking and cleaning. Alicia is a rare yet beautiful example of a neighborhood girl who has not tried to escape the neighborhood through marriage, but instead works hard and hopes to change her life from within. This bright and shining hope is what makes her one of the most hopeful characters in the book. Like Esperanza, Alicia wants more in life then just cooking and cleaning for the family. She's determined to make her life better and have something good happen. She is striving for change. "Two trains and a bus, because she doesn't want to spend her whole life in a factory or behind a rolling pin" (Cisneros 31). Her determination to get to school and do well is what will drive her to excellence. Unlike Marin, Alicia is trying to study to get out of the Mango Street community and have a future while Marin doesn't want to work and wants a man to do everything for her. Alicia's strategy is college. Marin's strategy is marriage. Marin is a young woman from Puerto Rico who lives with her cousin’s family. Marin spends most of her time baby-sitting, so she cannot leave the house. She sells makeup for Avon and teaches Esperanza and her friends about the world of boys. "What matters, Marin says, is for the boys to see us and for us to see them" (Cisneros 27). Although she has a fiancé back in Puerto Rico, she also dreams about American men taking her away from Mango Street to the suburbs. This way of thinking that a man will do everything for you is very wrong. Marin doesn't have enough self-pride and confidence to know that she can do anything a man can do. She also might just be lazy because she puts off getting a real job so she can continue babysitting. She refuses to get a real job because she doesn’t want to work very hard, and this will get her nowhere in life. Alicia's father's beliefs are similar to that of Marin's because he believes a woman's place is in the kitchen cooking and he doesn't want Alicia to leave. "And anyway, a woman's place is sleeping so she can wake up early with the tortilla star" (Cisneros 31). This setback from her father might be more motivation for Alicia to get out of the community faster. She knows that a brighter, better future is possible, but not where she currently is. Just like Arnold in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Alicia has hope for a promising future and is positive that she will get out of the Mango Street community that has been holding her back all these years.
Alicia Who Sees Mice
Alicia is Esperanza’s friend who attends a local university near the Mango Street community. Since Alicia’s mother passed away, her father forces her to take over the family’s domestic chores including all of the cooking and cleaning. Alicia is a rare yet beautiful example of a neighborhood girl who has not tried to escape the neighborhood through marriage, but instead works hard and hopes to change her life from within. This bright and shining hope is what makes her one of the most hopeful characters in the book.
Like Esperanza, Alicia wants more in life then just cooking and cleaning for the family. She's determined to make her life better and have something good happen. She is striving for change. "Two trains and a bus, because she doesn't want to spend her whole life in a factory or behind a rolling pin" (Cisneros 31). Her determination to get to school and do well is what will drive her to excellence. Unlike Marin, Alicia is trying to study to get out of the Mango Street community and have a future while Marin doesn't want to work and wants a man to do everything for her. Alicia's strategy is college. Marin's strategy is marriage.
Marin is a young woman from Puerto Rico who lives with her cousin’s family. Marin spends most of her time baby-sitting, so she cannot leave the house. She sells makeup for Avon and teaches Esperanza and her friends about the world of boys. "What matters, Marin says, is for the boys to see us and for us to see them" (Cisneros 27). Although she has a fiancé back in Puerto Rico, she also dreams about American men taking her away from Mango Street to the suburbs. This way of thinking that a man will do everything for you is very wrong. Marin doesn't have enough self-pride and confidence to know that she can do anything a man can do. She also might just be lazy because she puts off getting a real job so she can continue babysitting. She refuses to get a real job because she doesn’t want to work very hard, and this will get her nowhere in life.
Alicia's father's beliefs are similar to that of Marin's because he believes a woman's place is in the kitchen cooking and he doesn't want Alicia to leave. "And anyway, a woman's place is sleeping so she can wake up early with the tortilla star" (Cisneros 31). This setback from her father might be more motivation for Alicia to get out of the community faster. She knows that a brighter, better future is possible, but not where she currently is. Just like Arnold in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Alicia has hope for a promising future and is positive that she will get out of the Mango Street community that has been holding her back all these years.