House on Mango Street Category A Prompt 3

The first sentence of the chapter titled “Born Bad” page 58 includes foreshadowing that serves to exhibit the loss of jokes and games that occurs in childhood. Esperanza believes she deserves to go to hell for making fun of her caring aunt on the day she ends up dying. This recognition in combination with her mom telling her she was born on an evil day gives birth to a troublesome mentality that starts at a young age. It is evident that she feels guilt for her actions as she states “It was a game, that’s all.” She did not make fun of her aunt out of maliciousness, she merely wanted to have a laugh with her friends. The impact of her joke weighs heavy on her by the end of the chapter and she recognizes that since her aunt had been dying for such a long time, she began to forgot. This represents a loss of childhood innocent mentality as the recognition of death becomes more evident the older she gets. Esperanza also shows that she learns not to joke about disease, showing the maturity of finding the line between having a laugh and being offensive. The passage becomes especially sad as it is revealed that Aunt Lupe was the only one that listened to her poems. She expresses being ashamed that her aunt had gone blind. This slow recognition of the effects of old age evokes sadness and hopelessness in both Esperanza and the reader. This relates to the rest of the novel as the vignettes express experiences and events that Esperanza must go through despite her lack of control over any of them. This becomes a vital part to adolescence as well since as a child, adults are seen as invincible, but when they reach an age where they begin to die that, fantasy shatters. It also sheds light on the dynamic between Esperanza, Lucy and Rachel since they all play this game Esperanza came up with. They clearly are not mature enough to set an example either, creating a sense of equal childhood ignorance that feeds off of each other in times like this.