Esperanza's 'Home In Her Heart'

All the people on Mango Street were struggling to get by, but they seemed satisfied with just making it. Esperanza was not. There were characters like Esperanza’s mother who was a “smart cookie,” and could’ve been anything, but she let shame get the best of her and dropped out of school. There was also Rafaela who got married before the 8th grade just so she could move into her own house, but her husband never let her leave the house afterward. He never let her see her friends, and the highlight of her week was getting coconut or papaya juice from someone who would send it up in a paper bag attached to a clothespin since she couldn’t leave the house. Lastly, there was the time when she was left stranded by the tilt-a- whirl waiting for a friend that never came back and got molested by a group of boys. The only witnesses were the red clown statues that seemed to be laughing at her. Nevertheless, she let none of this stopped her from going forward and perusing her dream. She still seemed to be struggling with a sense of belonging, but maybe that’s because she didn’t.

The neighborhood is not exactly a pretty place as Esperanza describes it. She says, “here there is too much sadness and not enough sky. Butterflies too are few and so are flowers and most things that are beautiful” (39). In the one year of Esperanza’s life that this book covers, she is raped, abused, and sees the death of the only person who would listen to her poetry- “Her name was Aunt Lupe and she was beautiful like [her] mother” (70). Her discontent with the neighborhood surrounding the house on Mango Street and the rough times that she experienced caused her to want to move away from

As a young girl, Esperanza is a young girl who looks at life from experience of living in poverty, where many do not question their experience. She is a shy, but very bright girl. She dreams of the perfect home, with beautiful flowers and a room for everyone. When she moves to the house of Mango Street, reality is so different than the dream. In this story, hope (Esperanza) sustains tragedy. The house she dreamed of was another on. It was one of her own. One where she did not have to share a bedroom with everyone. That included her mother, father and two siblings. The run down tiny house has "bricks crumbling in places". The one she dreamed of had a great big yard, trees and 'grass growing without a fence'. She did not want to abandon

Esperanza realizes just how trapped she is are a treasure in a furniture shop that they

Esperanza, a strong- willed girl who dreams big despite her surroundings and restrictions, is the main character in The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. Esperanza represents the females of her poor and impoverished neighborhood who wish to change and better themselves. She desires both sexuality and autonomy of marriage, hoping to break the typical life cycle of woman in her family and neighborhood. Throughout the novel, she goes through many different changes in search of identity and maturity, seeking self-reliance and interdependence, through insecure ideas such as owning her own house, instead of seeking comfort and in one’s self. Esperanza matures as she begins to see the difference. She evolves from an insecure girl to a

In The House on Mango Street, Esperanza narrates “One day ill own my own house, but I won’t forget who I am or where I came from. Passing bums will ask, Can I come in? I’ll offer them the attic, ask them to stay, because I know how it is to be without a house” (Cisneros 87). This quote from the story displays how considerate Esperanza is.

She points out to readers that the place she will live in one day will be “Not an apartment in the back. Not a man’s house. Not a daddy’s. A house all my own” (108). In this Esperanza is making connections again to the women who she is surrounded by on Mango Street. As she is maturing she has come to the realization that these women are in an oppressive situation and belong to men because they do not own anything on their own. The women who make up Mango Street are at the mercy of their significant others who are able to control them this way. Since the beginning of the text Esperanza has been obsessed with finding a place that is her own. She does not see Mango Street as being her home but through the community who makes up Mango Street she is being transformed. In this piece she conveys her desire to own her own home and by pointing out to the readers that it will not be a man’s house or a dad’s house she is demonstrating how the environment of Mango Street is influencing her. By seeing the women on her street being confined Esperanza has decided that she will own her home, something that cannot be taken away from her and cannot be turned against her to hold her imprisoned within its

But when she saw the house that they moved into, it was not what she had expected. In the book, Esperanza says, “But the house on Mango Street is not the way they told it at all. It’s small and red with tight steps in front and windows so small you’d think they were holding their breath. Bricks are crumbling in places, and the front door is so swollen you have to push hard to get in. There is no front yard, only four little elms the city planted by the curb. Out back is a small garage for the car we don’t own yet and a small yard that looks smaller between the two buildings on either side. There are stairs in our house, but they’re ordinary hallway stairs, and the house has only one washroom. Everybody has to share a bedroom-- Mama and Papa, Carlos and Kiki, me and Nenny.” (Cisneros 4). By reading this, the reader can see the parallel between the house and Esperanza’s struggle with her identity. Esperanza expected her house to be this beautiful, huge, almost mansion-type place, whereas in reality it was a small house, with not much inside. Just like that, Esperanza wants to be this amazing, strong, confident, prolific writer, whereas she does not even know who she is yet. Like the house she imagined, she wants there to be so much to her, but now, she is like her house on Mango Street with not much to her that she has discovered

Throughout The House on Mango Street, the reader can discover the constant tension between belonging and not belonging. This is especially visible through Esperanza feeling like she does not belong, even though she does belong. The reader can also feel how she does not want to belong to Mango street, then her understanding that she truly belongs, and she belongs the same way the other innocent and creative women do. Esperanza has dreamed of a perfect house to call home, and the house she lives in on mango street does not fulfill her dreams. She also has experienced many heavy topics, like assault and abuse, in one year, that there is no worse place for her to be, and to belong to. “No, this isn’t my house I say and shake my head as if shaking could undo the year I’ve lived here. I don’t belong. I don’t ever want to come from here” (Cisneros 106). Esperanza does not want to belong to what she

Esperanza is a shy but a very bright girl. She dreams of the perfect home now, with beautiful flowers in their luscious garden and a room for everyone to live in comfortably all because of the unsatisfied face the nun made that one afternoon--when she moves to the house of Mango Street. She thinks it’s going to be a “grand house on a hill that will have a bedroom for everyone and at least three washrooms so when they took a bath they would not have to tell everybody.” (Cinceros 4) Reality is so different for her when her dream is shot down in a heartbeat when she

The author wrote this text to show how this character grew to become mature. Esperanza came in as a selfish person. All she thought about was leaving Mango Street and not coming back, but Mango Street is her home. Many people say they're leaving home and never coming back. At the end, they do because there is something that is memorable and valuable at home. Home is where family and friends are. They can't just leave and forget about it.

2. What is the dream house that Esperanza describes? What does it show about her?

As esperanza got into the neighborhood they told her it was going to be a bad and dangerous neighborhood but it turned out to be a good place after all. Esperanza’s neighborhood wasn’t perfect there were men who would hit and take advantage of women, not only that but they would take away the women’s freedom

In addition, her dream displays that Esperanza wants to be safe and not in another person’s home. The girls her age hope that the man they marry will whisk them away to this dream home and Esperanza wants that, but wants the wealth and not the husband. She is still a young girl and has not matured all the way being that she wants multiple bathrooms. She is thinking of moving in with her family instead of her husband. Even though the stress of wealth and marriage is piled onto numerous teenagers in her position, it has not hit her as intently yet. Esperanza’s dream house shows that she is a dreamer and believes that one day she will receive that house. She desires to grow up, but does not want to jump into adulthood yet, she wants to stick one toe in, instead of jumping in. In conclusion, Esperanza’s dream of having an upperclass home expresses that she wants to change for the better and that she is still

Esperanza disapproved of the house because she expected the house on Mango Street to be a house with plenty of room, “real stairs,” at least three bathrooms, and a huge yard. But in reality the house was small, crumbling, with no front yard, and only a small backyard. It has apartment-style stairs, only one bathroom, and only three bedrooms, so everyone has to share. It’s not a house Esperanza can point to with pride.