A More Complete Story

 A More Complete Story  

In Things Fall Apart and The House on Mango Street, Chinua Achebe and Sandra Cisneros present a more encompassing view of the Ibo and Mexicans by focusing on a member that is a part of these groups,  acknowledging the dark side of their communities, and showing their aspirations to succeed in life. The House on Mango Street is a story about a young girl named Esperanza who is ashamed of her community and wishes to escape it.  The single stories about the Ibo and Mexicans are very similar, the most common stereotypes classify them as  poor, violent, and ignorant. Achebe and Cisneros attempt to complete this single story through Okonkwo and Esperanza who are individuals that share their thoughts about their own people. Through these characters, both authors show the flaws of the Ibo and Mexicans and undertake the task of further explaining them. Achebe and Cisneros create characters with imperfections but although they have their flaws, they are strong individuals who will try to achieve greatness despite the difficulties they encounter. 

Achebe and Cisneros create the characters of  Okonkwo and Esperanza, and use them as tools to provide insight on their communities. Through Okonkwo, Achebe presents the Ibo as hard working people and he explains that, “During the planting season Okonkwo worked daily on his farms from cock-crow until the chickens went to roost.” (Okonkwo 13) Okonkwo is a man that wakes up eager to work and that puts a lot of labor into his farming. Cisneros also presents Mexicans as hard workers through Esperanza’s story of a neighbor. Esperanza explains how the man saved money to bring his wife and child from another country, and in order to do so, "He worked two jobs He came home late and he left early. Every day." (Cisneros 76).The man was determined to bring his family together and he put a lot of effort to see it happen. Achebe and Cisneros present the Ibo and Mexicans as hard working people to reveal their commendable actions.

     In addition to being hard workers, Achebe and Cisneros describe the Ibo and Mexicans as caring people that want the best for their family. Achebe explains that, “Okonkwo wanted his son to be a great farmer and a great man. He would stamp out the disquieting signs of laziness which he thought he already saw in him.” (Achebe 28) Since Okonkwo had to work himself up from the bottom, he wants to make sure that it will be easier for his son to become a great farmer. In The House on Mango Street, Esperanza’s mom also wants her to be successful, and she tells her, “I could’ve been somebody, you know? Esperanza, you go to school. Study hard.” (Cisneros 91) As opposed to Okonkwo, Esperanza’s mom didn’t achieve much, but just like him, she wants her child to have a bright future. Achebe and Cisneros shed light on the good qualities of the Ibo and Mexicans to complete the single story.

In order to capture the true essence of the Ibo and Mexicans, Achebe and Cisneros acknowledge their imperfections because they are made up of both their admirable and undesirable traits combined. Mexicans as well as the Ibo are considered to live under a patriarchal society where men have most of the power. Okonkwo shares that, “No matter how prosperous a man [is], if he [is] unable to rule his women and children (and especially his women) he [is] not really a man.” (Achebe 53) Within the clan, the power of men is defined by imposing dominance over women and it becomes a larger problem when men assert their power through physical abuse. When Okonkwo’s wife comes home late from plaiting her hair, he is furious, “And when she [returns] he [beats] her very heavily.”(Achebe 29). Although she hasn’t committed  a great offense, Okonkwo uses the power he has over his wife to punish her. Similar to the Ibo, Esperanza shares that, “Mexicans don’t like their women strong.”(Cisneros 10), and also discusses the story of Sally who gets hit by her father.  Esperanza says that, “Sally doesn’t tell about that time he hit her with his hands just like a dog, she said, like if I was an animal. He thinks I’m going to run away like his sisters who made the family ashamed. Just because I’m a daughter, and then she doesn’t say.”(Cisneros 92). It is because Sally is a woman that her father hits her, even when she hasn’t done anything wrong. Cisneros and Achebe recognize that there are occasions when Mexicans and the Ibo transform into ruthless people.

In addition, the Ibo and Mexicans are also seen as violent people and as criminals. During the onset of imperialism, “Three converts had gone into the village and boasted openly that all the gods were dead and impotent and that they were prepared to defy them by burning all their shrines. “Go and burn your mothers’ genitals,” said one of the priests. The men were seized and beaten until they streamed with blood.”(Achebe 154). The Ibo are outraged that missionaries criticize their beliefs and also threaten them, so they attack them. It is usually not part of their nature to attack someone, but imperialism has made them change their ways. In the House on Mango Street, Esperanza tells about the time when a neighbor's cousin gave her a ride in a very fancy car, “The seventh time we drove into the alley we heard sirens...real quiet at first, but then louder. Louie’s cousin stopped the car right where we were and said, Everybody get out of the car.” (Cisneros 24). He was trying to run away from the cops because he had stolen the car. Achebe and Cisneros show both the positives and the negatives of the Ibo and Mexicans so they won’t be defined by only one or the other.

Achebe and Cisneros explain how the communities that Okonkwo and Esperanza live in influence their desire to succeed, and in doing so they show a missing part of the single story. Okonkwo grew up in poverty, and he, “did not have the start in life which many young men usually had. He did not inherit a barn from his father. There was no barn to inherit.” (Achebe 16). Since his father hadn’t been successful, Okonkwo had to work very hard to gain respect and a title among the Ibo. Achebe also states that, “His life had been ruled by a great passion - to become one of the lords of the clan. That had been his life-spring.” (Achebe 131), and Okonkwo worked hard to achieve it. Despite the troubled neighborhood that Esperanza is a part of, she wants to be like the four skinny trees, “Four who grew despite concrete, four who reach and do not forget to reach. For whose only reason is to be and be.” ( Cisneros 75). She wants to become someone successful despite of where she comes from, and doesn’t want to give up until she reaches her goal. Esperanza wishes that “One day [she’ll] own [her] own house but [she] won’t forget who [she is] or where [she]came from.” (Cisneros 87). Esperanza’s Mexican roots will always be a part of her and she accepts it because being Mexican is what drives her to become the person she wants to be.

Okonkwo and Esperanza share the goal of wanting to become someone important that others can look up to.

   In Things Fall Apart and The House on Mango Street, Achebe and Cisneros attempt to provide a more complete story of Mexicans and the Ibo.They create characters who are strong individuals and who allow us to see the admirable attributes and the faults of their people. Both the Ibo and Mexicans are lions, in some cases they might be violent and dangerous, but they are also strong willed and they won’t go down without a fight. The authors recognize that there is always room for improvement and show this through Okonkwo’s and Esperanza’s aspirations for a better life. Achebe and Cisneros believe that people must be recognized for both their strengths and their flaws because it is the only way in which their stories will be complete.