My Name

"My Name" 

by Sandra Cisneros

            “My Name” by Sandra Cisneros is a chapter from her famous novel, The House on Mango Street. This chapter from her novel explains how a name related to the identity of a person. The narrator explains how in English, it means hope, a positive meaning. However, in Spanish, her name means the opposite; “it means sadness, it means waiting.” The way the narrator begins to compare the English definition of her name with the Spanish meaning shows that she seems stuck in the middle. The narrator does not seem sure to know which meaning she should follow through with.

            In the next paragraph, the narrator explains how her great-grandmother had the same name as her. She begins to compare herself to her great-grandmother. She begins by saying they were both born in the Chinese year of the horse. By saying that both the Chinese and Mexicans do not like their women strong shows that immediately being born into this year would mean that she was meant to be a ‘weak’ individual.

            In the following paragraph, the narrator explains how she never actually met her great-grandmother. However, her thoughts about her name come from information she was told about her great-grandmother. Her great-grandmother spent her whole life looking out a window. She wonders if her great-grandmother made the best of what she had or pitied her life. I think the narrator deep down feels as though her great-grandmother always ‘hoped’ for a better life. In this paragraph, Cisneros finally gives the audience the name of the narrator: Esperanza. Cisneros writes, “I don’t want to inherit her place by the window.” The narrator seems to think that the significance of her name being the same as her great-grandmother would mean that she would have the same outcome as her great-grandmother. The entire time, the narrator is afraid that her destiny would be to always ‘hope’ for a better life.

            In the following paragraph, the narrator explains how the students at school say her name “funny.” This shows the reader that although her name is authentic, from her Spanish culture, she does not feel confident about it. There seems to be a loss of connection with her father’s culture and how she does not feel comfortable with her name.

            The final paragraph explains how she needs a new name that represents “the real me.” This made me think beyond the text. When we are born, our parents name us according to the significance of the name. Some parents name their child after their idol, or after a word that means something and they hope that their child would fill the shoes of that name proudly. Perhaps Esperanza’s father was proud of his grandmother and who she was overall. However, Esperanza thought otherwise. She was more concerned with who she was and wanted a different name to represent her character. She did not want her name to define her but yet her character to define her name. She wanted to be reborn into perhaps a new ‘destiny’ for herself. She did not want her great-grandmother's life to represent the life she would have to live. At the end of the day, this chapter makes you think about your name and how meaningful it may mean to you or not. Some people may be embarrassed of their name because they do not feel comfortable with it. However, do not let the history of your name define you, but rather you define your name, without having to change it.