Biting the Sky Forever

     In the short story Four Skinny Trees from the novel House on Mango Street , a young girl named Esperanza is comparing herself to four skinny trees in an extended metaphor. The extended metaphor is explaining how the four trees outside of her house are strong even in weakness. Esperanza described the trees as follows, “’Their strength is the secret. They send ferocious roots beneath the ground. They grow up and they grow down and grab the earth between their hairy toes and bite the sky with violent teeth and never quit their anger.’” The author uses this metaphor to create the central themes: determination and strength which both contribute to who the young girl Esperanza is growing up to be. The trees are said to claw into the ground and bite with their teeth into the sky: Esperanza is compared to do the same thing even through her hardships. Both she and the trees are strong and determined, never giving up.

 ~Sydney Bates~