Windows symbolism

In "The House On Mango Street", I think that windows symbolize a barrier to the real world and its opportunities. In the vignette, "My name", Esperanza's great grandmother is taken from her vibrant and opportunity filled life into a life of boring sadness.

“I would’ve liked to have known her, a wild horse of a woman, so wild she wouldn’t marry. Until my great grandfather threw a sack over her head and carried her off…And the story goes on she never forgave him. She looked out the window her whole life, the way so many women sit on their sadness on an elbow.”

Here, she describes how her great grandmother lost the opportunity to great things in life. She got married and lost her charisma, and she regretted it ever since.

I also think that windows symbolize opportunity because in the vignette Rafaela, Rafaela looks out the window, locked inside because of her beauty. “Rafaela leans out the window and leans on her elbow and dreams of hair like Repunzel’s.” Her husband wants her to stay inside because of her stunning beauty, which he feels might cause other men to be tempted to take her.

In books, things can symbolize multiple things. Windows in “The House On Mango Street” is a perfect example. I think that this symbol also symbolizes discrimination. In parts of the book where windows are mentioned, there is always a pattern of discrimination. In the vignette “Sally”, Sally loses many friends.  “You don’t laugh, Sally. You look at your feet and walk fast to your house and you can’t come out from.” Soon after, she mentions windows and how she wishes they could be opened. In a way, this symbolizes both opportunity and discrimination. It symbolizes discrimination because when she lost all her friends, no one payed attention to her. She just walked with her head low, being shut out from the world. The windows symbolize opportunity because if they are opened, then she will have a better life. She can enjoy the outside world, and interact with people around her, when the window is open for her.