Essay Sample on the Story of The House on Mango Street and A & P

The stories, The House on Mango Street and A & P compare and contrast at different levels. The House on Mango Street is premised on the life of an American girl by the name Esperanza. Her age is noted to stand at twelve at the time the novel was written. It was also at the time that the family moved to the Mango House, hence the heading. The description of the house opines it as a huge one compared to the one which was initially occupied by her family. The irony ensues where it is noted that the house was not the one the protagonist (Esperanza) dreamt of. The underlying reason is drawn from its position. It is small as well as running down. It is equally located in a place which is crowded by the Latino's in the neighborhood of Chicago, a place mostly reserved for the poor. Her resolution is, however, simple. She resorts to living in the house with the hope of getting a better house when matures. The following years are marked different changes which usher her to adulthood. The significant changes are due to adolescence, and she matures both emotionally and sexually.

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The novel, therefore, takes us to how the protagonist grows hips, makes new friends, develop a sexual urge for the opposite sex, as well as enduring sexual assault, an issue which makes her escape the street. Therefore, an in-depth analysis of the novel notes the traumatic experiences of the protagonist as those that are related to her desire of escaping the neighborhood and their house to be specific to place of her own. The moment she became emotionally stable, she left the street. However, another irony also dawned on her. She was unable to do completely with the Mango Street because she had to come back and rescue the other women she had left behind.

On a different dimension, the novel A & P is one which sheds light on three girls. They are barefoot and wearing bathing suits as they head to the grocery store. The heading of the novel is deduced from the grocery store. The store was referred to as A & P. Their manner of appearance shocked many customers except for two men who were working at the cash registers. They also draw the manager's attention, who advises them to dress decently in the future because decency was part of the policies of the store. An ironical issue takes place immediately after the girls leave the store. One of the cashiers by the name Sammy decides to quit; his reason is based on the point of the managers taking things too far and embarrassing the girls, an issue which he was opposed to. Another reason is pegged on his desire of impressing the girls. The story's ending is equally ironical, Sammy, who decided to quit the job with the intent of impressing the girls finds himself lonely at the parking lot. The girls had long gone. He is, therefore, jobless and also lost the sight of the girls.

In consideration of the comparisons and contrasts noted from the description, the preciseness of the following sentences will cement the basic areas (Comparison and Contrast) of concern. The first point of comparison is based on the plot of the two stories revolving young people. For example, the novel, The House on Mango Street, revolved the 12-year old protagonist (Esperanza) and her journey to adolescent and finally, adulthood. The same is noted in the story, A & P because the description of the three girls matches those of the adolescent girls. They are noted to walk barefoot and in bathing suits to the A & P groceries. The other comparison is noted on the series of ironies noted in both. For example, the novel, The House on Mango Street, inform us of the need of Esperanza leaving their new house, a house which she had earlier yearned of, the next irony is noted after she finally leaves. In normal cases, we expected her to be happy, but she realizes that she cannot do away with the street completely and must come back to help other women. The same writing technique (irony) is employed in the story A & P when the girls visit a grocery store, barefoot, and in bathing suits. Again, when Sammy quits his job to impress the girls and finally losing them at the parking lot. The point of comparison can thus be noted on the challenges that adolescents go through in their journey of self-discovery.

On the part of the contrast, the novel, The House on the Mango Street concerns most of the things that are explicit during childhood adolescence. For example, the expectations of a child of leaving under the protection of the parents. These expectations are, however, broken when Esperanza realizes that she is not safe, and as she approaches maturity, she seeks a place of her own. On the part of A & P, the issue concerns the adolescent believing that people will understand them and share in their ideas, hence the dressing cord of the three girls to the grocery store. However, they are met with the real world's reality, an issue that causes them embarrassment as they leave the store.

In summary, the novel, The House on Mango Street and story A & P compare and contrast at different levels. On the point of comparison, the issue revolves adolescence and its challenges as well as the writing techniques. On the contrast, the basic issue is on how the adolescence challenges have been brought out as noted herein.