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In The House on Mango Street, what is the meaning and figure of speech of "tortilla star"?
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In The House on Mango Street, the term "tortilla star" is a figurative language, specifically a metaphor or synechdoche, referring to the sun and symbolizing the cultural obligation of women to wake early and tend to family duties. This term infuses an ethnic element into the narrative, highlighting the protagonist's Latina heritage and the cultural expectations she must navigate.
Sandra Cisneros, the author of The House on Mango Street, is a Mexican American writer. Her protagonist, Esperanza Cordero, is a Latina preteen living in Chicago, Illinois. Esperanza's first-person narrative tells of her time growing up in a Latino neighborhood and of her coming to terms with her cultural heritage.
The quote regarding the "tortilla star" is found in chapter 13:
And anyway, a woman's place is sleeping so she can wake up early with the tortilla star, the one that appears early just in time to rise and catch the hind legs hide behind the sink, beneath the four-clawed tub, under the swollen floorboards nobody fixes, in the corner of your eyes.
The reference here is a cultural one. Given the ethnicity of both the author and her protagonist, a reference to a staple food within the Latino community is an expected one. Many cultures refer...
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to different ordinary objects using language that is more figurative or specifically symbolic to their culture. For example, the word "sky-candle" (heofon-candel) is a term used to describe the sun in the early Anglo-Saxon textBeowulf.
For the most part, I would argue that the usage of "tortilla star" would best be identified as either symbolism or a metaphor. The image of the tortilla is typical of the culture, and as for the star, the sun is actually a star. The quote refers to the idea that a woman must wake with the sun in order to get the things done that she needs to get done for her family.
I believe the "tortilla star" is an example of synechdoche, a figure of speech whereby a less comprehensive term is used to indicate a more comprehensive one. In this case, the "tortilla star" is a play on the conventional term "morning star", by which people are awakened. The substitution of "tortilla" for "morning" gives the original word an ethnic element, conveying the author's point that Alicia must rise very early each day because of cultural obligations she cannot escape. The "tortilla" is symbolic of the familial duties Alicia must fulfill as an Hispanic woman in a patriarchal family. Although Alicia is intelligent and has dreams of bettering herself through education, her aspirations must take a backseat to her family's needs. Since her mother is dead, she must rise early each day to make "the lunchbox tortillas" for her father and younger siblings. Her culture dictates that it is "a woman's place" to "wake up early" and care for the family and the home.