The House On Mango Street And Whale Rider Analysis

The 1984 novel The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros and the 2002 film Whale Rider by Niki Caro shed light on the stereotypical roles females are expected to fulfill in many different cultures. Esperanza comes from an immigrant Mexican family that resides in Chicago and is the typical minority family. Paikea, on the other hand, comes from a long line of Maori people and lives in Whangara, a small village in New Zealand. Even though the girls are separated by thousands of miles, they both are very similar and strive to be leaders in their communities, despite the discrimination they face for being young females. The role of women plays a huge part in both The House on Mango Street and Whale Rider. Esperanza comes from a culture where†¦show more content†¦She moves around frequently and lives in a rather rubbish neighborhood occupied by many other minority families. But despite how it may look to outsiders, Esperanza says it is a very safe neighborhood. While living on Mango Street, Esperanza recalls multiple times people in her neighborhood have fulfilled the stereotypical Mexican role, such as abuse by husbands, stealing cars, getting married early, and having many children. Even though Esperanza is surrounded by negative influences, she does not fall into the cycle that most women in her culture do, and instead decides to make something of her life, then come back and help the others do the same. Like Esperanza, Paikea comes from a very narrow-minded culture. Paikea is a Maori descendant and lives in a small village on the coast of New Zealand. Her grandfather is the chief, and Pa ikea’s twin brother was supposed to be the chief after her father, but unfortunately, he died when he was born. This left Paikea feeling rejected and unwanted by many people, simply because she was not â€Å"born a boy† (Whale Rider, 2002) for years. She was not allowed to be the chief because she was a girl, even though it was clear she was meant to be the next chief. Paikea’s grandfather refuses to believe it is the truth and expects Paikea to do what the rest of the Maori women do: take care of the men, cook, clean, and have children. But, Paikea’s rebellious actions to not do what she was