House On Mango Street Quotes

Cisneros shows how feeling isolated and lonely creates a sense that life is not worth living. An example of this is when Esperanza felt protective over Sally who agreed to kiss the boys to get her keys back. As Sally followed them to the back of a blue pickup, Esperanza felt a surge of anger, but later on as she was ready to defend Sally, the boys and Sally made her feel like as if she was the only one who was crazy. “Only how come I felt angry inside...They all looked to me as if I was the one that was crazy and made me feel ashamed...I wanted to will my blood to stop, my heart to quit its pumping. I wanted to be dead, to turn into the rain, my eyes melt into the ground like two black snails ” (97-98). This quote specifically shows how Esperanza

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.

After Esperanza reads Aunt Lupe one of her poems, her aunt tells her that she might be able to use her writing to be set free and find her real identity; however, Esperanza didn’t figure out the real meaning of her aunt’s words until her aunt passed away. After her aunt dies, Esperanza is confronted by shame and guilt, which also happen to be the feelings that Aunt Lupe felt in the years that took her to pass away (she was embarrassed to be a burden on her family for so many

In all aspects of life, women are pressured to be someone they are not. They are put in situations that force them to chose a path of life. In “The House on Mango Street”, Esperanza is forced to think about leaving Mango Street in the future, because she is surrounded by women who are pushing her to become an adult.

Esperanza does not want to be like the other women in her town, always locked inside and the only freedom they have is a small window. Her great-grandmother was a role model, she showed Esperanza the way she did not want to

This makes Esperanza begin to wonder about things and about her own life, and how she feels about these new sexual vibes that are coming

She said it was small and the bricks were crumbling. And she didn’t want to be there. Now that Mango Street is her home she tries to understand it more, but she still isn't happy living there. Another problem Esperanza faces is finding herself.

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 novel, The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, the theme of growing up is prevalent throughout the book. Throughout the novel, a young mexican girl named Esperanza goes through experiences as she matures that involve her friends, society, dangers that expose her to the outside world and help her to realize what the real world is like.

Esperanza is dealing with how she will grow as a person feeling out of place. A good example of this is when Esperanza compares herself to “four skinny trees, outside her house, having skinny necks and pointy elbow just like her.” Also when Esperanza says “ I’m the only one who understands them.” Since she feels out of place and so are the trees on Mango

In the novel, “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros, the main character Esperanza has many positive influences on her life. Hardships do not define one’s life either in a mental or physical capacity. Throughout the novel, Esperanza’s grandmother, Marin, and Rosa Vargas enable her to overcome the hardships of becoming a woman.

Esperanza explains it as, “The boys and girls live in separate worlds. The boys in their universe and we in ours” (Cisneros 8). Throughout the book, there is a constant conflict of being a female and keeping one’s freedom. Many of the men on Mango Street beat their wives and/or daughters and confine them to the home. Sally and Esperanza’s great-grandmothers are two examples of the mistreatment of women by men. Out of fear that Sally will run away, like his sisters did, Sally’s father abuses her as a means of control. In the chapter “What Sally Said”, Esperanza says,”But Sally doesn’t tell about the time he hit her with his hands just like a dog, she said, like if I was an animal” (Cisneros 92). Sally later ends up in an equally abusive and controlling marriage, which leaves her just like every other woman; by a window. Then there is Esperanza’s great-grandmother who was forced to marry and spend the rest of her life leaning out a window in sadness, dreaming of all the things she could have been in life. It is because of these things that Esperanza wants to escape; abusive relationshionships, confinement, helplessness, and fear. She refuses to comply with the expectations that society has set for her as a woman. For Esperanza, defying this gender role and remaining an independent woman is an act of dissent, and almost

“ Esperanza felt Alfonso behind her , putting his hands on her shoulders. She felt the blood drain from her face”. This quote showed Esperanza worried and thinking about what was going to happen next. She had already lost her Papa, she couldn’t lose Mama.. This was a major challenge that Esperanza had to face as an

With this in mind the internal conflict is important, because it shows Esperanza’s sensitivity about everything what concerns herself and her being insecure. One of the vignette that tells about is called “ Chanclas.” It recounts about her being non confident, because of her old shoes that she gets every year. For example, the quote says, “ Then Uncle Nacho is pulling and pulling my arm and it does not matter how the new dress Mama bought me is because my feet are ugly.” (Cisneros 46). This quote shows that she cares so much about one detail and even the prettiest dress cannot divert her attention. She does not pay attention to the dress, because she just thinks about her shoes and she assumes everyone will look at her feet. Another quote which supports her insecure, is “ Meanwhile that boy who is my cousin by first communion or something asks me to dance and I can’t. Just stuff my feet under the metal folding chair stamped Precious Blood and pick on a wad of brown gum that’s stuck beneath the seat. I shake my head no. My feet growing bigger and bigger.” (Cisneros 47) According to this quote Esperanza does not want people to notice her imperfection so she stays out of society contact. It is not because she does not want to she explains it as a cannot thing. She does not want to embarrass herself. The quote which stays for her having low self esteem is “Until my uncle who is a liar says, You are the prettiest girl here, will you dance, but I believe him, and yes, we are dancing. And Uncle spins me, and my skinny arms bend the way he taught me, and my mom watches, and my little cousins watch, and the boy who is my cousin by first communion watches, and everyone says, wow, who are those two who dance like in the movies, until I forget that I am wearing only ordinary shoes, brown and white.” (Cisneros 47) There is a clear statement that supports, that she thinks about

She gets excited when boys look at her on the streets. But her illusion of true love is destroyed by sexual violence. Her friend Sally’s behaviour towards boys contributes to Esperanza’s caution and distance by dealing with the opposite sex, too. Nevertheless, Esperanza does not stop dreaming of leaning against a car with her boyfriend in a place where that does not bother anyone. But she has set her standards higher than most of the women around her. She do not search for a man to escape from this place, she has seen too many unhappy marriages. Ruthie exemplifies such an one. She has run away from her husband and seems to be mentally disturbed. The young Rafaela is locked up by her husband because of her beauty. Nevertheless the tragic event is Sally’s which ends in abuse. Sally, Esperanza’s friend, only wanted to dream and share her love like Esperanza. Hurt and beaten by her father who just wanted to prevent the familiy’s ruin by Sally. To escape, despite of her minority, she marries a salesman. But unlike her wish, the abuse continues.