Have you ever felt unaccepted or lonely in your family? As children we all want our parents to feel pleased and accepted for who we are. Being loved and having acceptance from people whom we respect the most is what we all want. The essay "Only Daughter", reveals how parents' lack of acceptance and motivation can change someone's life. The author of the essay, Cisneros uses many examples of how isolation challenged and impacted her early life in many ways.
Sandra Cisneros grew up as one of the seven children in an traditional Mexican family. She was the only daughter surrounded by six brothers who despised her for being the only girl in the family. They left her alone because they were ashamed to play with a girl in public. Cisneros always had to find a way to grab attention in her family. From an early age, she understood the meaning of loneliness. Throughout the story Cisneros speaks about how isolated her family made her feel. Her father would go around telling people, "I have seven sons" (paragraph). Those words from her father were never to meant to hurt her but it still affected her. Cisneros says, "He didn't mean anything by that mistranslation, I'm sure. But somehow I could feel myself being erased" (paragraph). To understand what Cisneros meant when she said "mistranslation". An example of this would be the term hijos, meaning "children" or "sons" in the spanish language. When Cisneros's father said, "siete hijos"(paragraph), he meant seven children, but Cisneros was sensitive and felt left out and got offended by the mistranslation. Despite the fact this saddened her, Cisneros used her loneliness to her advantage. Cisneros uses her isolation as a time to be driven as a writer and a visionary writer.
Cisneros also talks about her Mexican culture and the impact it had on her. She grew up in different homes constantly switching between America and Mexico.