读后感

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Reader:曾维庭
Reading Time:4.8-4.10
Reading Task：Chapter1-2
"The House on Mango Street" starts with poetic and broken storytelling, pulling readers into an immigrant neighborhood full of both beauty and struggles. In the first two chapters, Esperanza’s mixed feelings about "home" begin to show – the house on Mango Street is both a prison trapping her and a window to see the world.

Chapter 1  describes a broken home like a fairy tale: cracked floors, narrow stairs, pipes that feel "ashamed." These details seem simple but hide ideas about money and identity. When Esperanza says "This isn’t the house I want," she’s refusing not just a poor house, but a life defined by being poor. Her words "One day I’ll have my own house, but I won’t let it define me" show her dream to escape yet still belong.

Chapter 2  uses family members’ hair to show hidden cultural struggles. Mama’s hair "like roses" carries Mexican tradition’s softness, while Esperanza’s "lazy hair" fights hair clips, just like she fights stereotypes. When Papa says her hair "looks smart," his pride and misunderstandings show how immigrant children grow up caught between two cultures.

Cisneros uses childlike words to talk about big problems. She makes cracks in walls seem poetic, and loose hairs become ropes of identity. These first chapters ask the book’s main question: finding wholeness in broken places, leaving home to find where you belong – Mango Street is both a starting point and a forever home.