Kin to Esperanza

Harry Potter, Huck Finn, Lucy Honeychurch, Janie, Isaac, Paul Berlin, Pi. Of these characters, who relates most to Esperanza in The House on Mango Street? It's difficult to say, since there are similarities among many of them, but after thinking about it, I'm going to still say Janie from Their Eyes Were Watching God. As we discussed in class, there are ways that these two respond very differently to the oppression they experience as minority women, but I have a hard time putting Esperanza with someone who hasn't experienced that shame and the struggle to get free of it. It colors someone's life so drastically that it's hard to — and really, I wouldn't want to — separate it out in order to compare with someone like Lucy Honeychurch, from a wealthier family and society. Both Janie and Esperanza look to defy social standards in their own ways and to find true happiness, not just settle for what others expect of them. Janie does this by searching for true love in a husband, Esperanza by rejecting the abusive men in her culture and choosing independence. Because of these similarities in overcoming challenges of race and gender discrimination, I choose Janie as Esperanza's "closest kin."