Eleven is a children’s memoir by Sandra Cisneros. The memoir only spans over one day, but that day was Sandra’s eleventh birthday. When she woke up, however, she got a feeling that she wasn’t yet quite eleven years old. Sandra recalls that it took a lot of time after her birthday for her to feel that she was actually eleven years old. She perceived that she was not a different person than before. Rather, every passing year, it just added a new layer to her personality. Since Sandra didn’t really feel like an eleven year old, she would act immaturely for her age. On her birthday, she purposely did not put on one of her old red sweatshirts because she felt that it was ugly. However, when the teacher forced Sandra to put it on, she allowed her emotions to get the better of her and cried in front of the whole class.
Even as we move forward in time and age slowly, we still carry all the previous years with us. When we try to behave as maturely as possible, it’s still easy to suddenly act like a small child or a toddler. In the story, Sandra stated that she would sometimes say something silly that was 10-year-old-ish. On other occasions she would lay down on her mother’s lap when she was scared. Sandra would also comfort her mother when she felt like three and was crying. At school, the same type of thing happened. She didn’t want to put on her old red sweatshirt, which she said was ugly. When the teacher forced her to do so, she cried. Even though it was Sandra’s eleventh birthday, she still acted a little childish. Even if we are at a certain age, it’s difficult to resist acting like a youngster.
It’s impossible to live a completely perfect life, even for one day. The good feelings that family gives one can always be tainted by society. In the story, Sandra’s family wanted to make her feel happy, but her strict teacher was just the opposite. What made things even worse was the fact that one of her classmates told the teacher that the sweater belonged to Sandra, which resulted in the teacher forcing her to put it on. All of a sudden, she wished she was 102 years old because she realized that her teacher was agreed with only because she was an elder. Through this example, Sandra explains that even if you can be happy on one part of the day, it can always be spoiled through one event. It’s easy for happiness to be ruined.
We should always treat somebody how we would like to be treated. When we do something to somebody, we should first ask ourselves, “Would I like it if somebody did this to me?”. In the story, Sandra refused to put on the ugly red sweatshirt. However, one of her classmates suggested that the sweatshirt was assigned to Sandra. She should have thought about what she said though. Unfortunately, the teacher listened to the classmate and forced Sandra to put on the sweatshirt without even giving the matter a second thought. The teacher and Sandra’s classmate were mean to her. We should respect others just as much as we respect ourselves.
Eleven by Sandra Cisneros is a memoir about her eleventh birthday. Even though Sandra was officially an eleven-year-old, she didn’t quite act like it and would feel all the previous years rattling inside her. Even though she was eleven, she still carried all the previous years inside her. Sometimes, her mother was also like that. This story teaches us that as we grow older, we still carry our younger self with us and it is not possible to completely erase those memories voluntarily. Additionally, even if one day seems to be perfectly well, it just takes one thing to spoil the happiness. Finally, we should treat others how we would like to be treated.
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