The House On Mango Street Analysis

Esperanza faces a large amount of adversity, which she must overcome, living on Mango Street. Esperanza knows that overcoming her situation on Mango Street will prove to be a challenge for her. “[The four skinny trees] strength is secret. They send ferocious roots beneath ground. They grow up and down and grab the earth between hairy toes and bite the sky with violent teeth and never quit their anger. This is how they keep.” (Cisneros 74) This quote describes that Esperanza can overcome her situation of being on Mango Street just like the skinny trees can grow up through the concrete. Esperanza feels that she must eventually come back to Mango Street because it was her first home. “They will not know I have gone away and come back.” (Cisneros 110) This quote symbolizes that even though Esperanza believes she does not belong on Mango Street that she is a part of it and she cannot change that. Esperanza copes with daily life by telling stories, stories of Mango Street and all those who lived on it. Esperanza’s ability to overcome the adversity in her neighborhood makes her a great choice for the show.

Throughout The House on Mango Street Esperanza learns to resist the gender norms that are deeply imbedded in her community. The majority of the other female characters in the novel have internalized the male viewpoint and they believe that it is their husbands or fathers responsibility to care for them and make any crucial decisions for them. However, despite the influence of other female characters that are “immasculated”, according to Judith Fetterley, Esperanza’s experiences lead her to become a “resisting reader” in Fettereley’s terminology because she does not want to become like the women that she observes, stuck under a man’s authority. She desires to leave Mango Street and have a “home of her own” so that she will never be forced

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

The shabby old house on Mango Street is all that Esperanza and her family can afford at the moment, as they are very poor. Esperanza is happy that her family owns a house, but she often feels ashamed and embarrassed to live in it. For example, one day, a nun that passes by asks Esperanza where she lives. When she points to her house, the nun asks, “You live there? The way she [says] it [makes] [her] feel like nothing. There. [she] lived there. [She] [nods].” (1.10) The way that the nun says the word “there” makes Esperanza feel very small, like there is something wrong with the house. Not only does Esperanza feel judged by people in her community, she also feels judged by outsiders. “Those who don't know any better come into our neighborhood scared. They think we’re dangerous. They think we will attack them with shiny

In conclusion, we know that Esperanza’s negativity of herself begins to slowly change as she slowly experience what accepting means and how she began to accept where she was from . Throughout this book, Cisnero showed us accepting is an important part of growing in life as well as determining the true you. In the beginning she hated her life always wanted to escape out of Mango Street versus the end she says she is going to come back. From the beginning to the end, Esperanza finally accepted where she was from and how Mango Street has developed who she became

For example as stated on page 4, “ Our house would be white with trees around it, a great big yard and grass growing without a fence. This was the house Papa talked about when he held a lottery ticket and this was the house Mama dreamed up in the stories she told us before we went to bed. But the house on Mango street is not the way they told at all.”.When the reality of her parents expectations didn’t go the way hoped it created the initial reason for Esperanza’s dream about leaving Mango Street . If their house wasn’t that much of a downgrade to what they have wanted ,Esperanza may not have felt the need to dream about a whole new house of her own. As her character continues to grow, her reason of wanting her own house becomes much more meaningful . Essentially, Esperanza's house will not only show her taste in real estate, but her true self . In other words , her house will act as a safe haven , the place she can escape to express herself and show her true nature. Illustrated on page 87 ,” One day I’ll 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

A boy feels trapped and isolated in his house. He wants to go outside with his friends and explore the landscape, but he can't. His mom isolates him inside making him study and do extra work for school. He wants to leave, breathe in the fresh air, but he can't escape his mother’s grasp. This scenario represents a similar idea addressed in the vignette “The House on Mango Street”: Isolation. In The House On Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros is able to incorporate details and characterization to illustrate Esperanza’s isolation due to her moving constantly. Ultimately, the way Cisneros develops the use of symbolism, the theme of identity and literary devices in the vignette leads one to see why it is the most powerful chapter in the novel.

The novel, The House on Mango Street, focuses on a young girl who strives to figure out her identity. She continuosly struggles to find her confidence, along with who she is. People tend to struggle with self-acceptance due to society. Society analyzes each person and dissects every one of their flaws, making them want to change themselves to fit expectations. Moving to her new home, Esperanza began to spend all of her time embarrassed. She was ashamed of her new home, and also uncomfortable with her outside appearance. She felt as if her outside didn’t convey the true personality hidden inside her. All Esperanza understood was that she didn’t fit in, and that she is different. Esperanza tries to find the person she truly wants to

In the book “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros we are advised the story of the protagonist Esperanza over a sequence of short scenes. Esperanza is a adolescent lady who moved out of her old home along with her parents into a new area called Mango Street. The new house is not what Esperanza wanted, she anticipated a big, white, provincial house with a backyard. Rather, she got a tiny, red, recap apartment in a Latino area in Chicago. It is a coming of age story where Esperanza blooms in many attitudes, all over the whole book we appreciate she wants to move out of Mango Street into her own house. One of the complications that Esperanza faces is the experience of shame. This happens through House on Mango Street, Rice Sandwich, Bums in the Attic, and Monkey Garden; the first three have to do with her despise of the new house. In the scene Rice Sandwich, Esperanza ambitions to eat in the canteen with the other “special kids” rather of having to walk back home to make lunch. She asks her mom to write a letter to the nun who is the principal of the school, she doesn't accept the letter as the grammar was amateurish and asks Esperanza where she lived.

The author conveys the theme identity through the point of view. Since the point of view is through Esperanza’s eyes the reader can see how she is affected by everything she goes through. This was the author can demonstrate how Esperanza’s internally developing. During the novel, Esperanza had to get a job at a young age to help pay for the private school she went to. She felt very out of place and uncomfortable throughout the experience. “...I wouldn’t have minded it except that you got tired after a while and I didn’t know if I could sit down or not…” (House on Mango Street p.54) The audience can see from her point of view how she is feeling. For example, she felt so uncomfortable that she didn’t know when it was acceptable to sit. She would only sit once the other ladies would. This is showing how she is feeling because it’s an example of her

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

Growing up and chasing your goals can be tough for some people because of their financial status or surroundings and more for a child that has to go through it at a young age. But what actually takes people far to succeed in life is to work diligently and to never capitulate. Esperanza Cordero, a girl who dreams are significant, is the main character on The House On Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, who represents the females of her needy neighborhood who desire to enhance and change themselves despite their surroundings and restrictions while she struggles to confront her neighborhood’s poverty. Because of her Mexican heritage, Esperanza hopes to change the typical role of women in her family and neighborhood. Throughout the book, Esperanza goes through several changes to seek her identity, maturity and independence. Throughout the novel Esperanza evolves from an immature, innocent girl to a mature young lady because of the experiences of having to deal with abuse, poverty and the fact that she wanted to be distinct.

In a series of vignettes, The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, covers a year in the life of Esperanza, who is about twelve years old. During the year, she moves into a house on Mango Street. It is the first home her parents actually own, however she has had a plethora apartments in her life. However, the house is not what Esperanza has dreamed of, for the reason that it is run-down and cramped. For the duration of the vignettes, the readers watch Esperanza struggle but overall mature. In the rest of the vignettes, the readers receive a glimpse of the lives of the women on Mango Street. When reading the readers get to learn and understand these women. They are extremely important because they act as character foils to help the readers better understand Esperanza. During the novel, the women on Mango Street are confined and go through many struggles. The reader also learns about Esperanza's identity.

Another time that Esperanza shows change is when, Esperanza goes to get her future read. She goes to see a "witch woman" named Elenita in hope that she sees if anything in her future includes a house. However Elenita only sees "a home in the heart," which causes Esperanza to be disappointed. However this is a turning point for her in the book, because once this happens she begins to accept the fact that the house on mango street is the closes thing she has to a home right now and she begins to accept it. She still dreams of one day of having her dream house on her own when she grows up, however she finally realizes that The House on Mango street is where she is from. It is her home and there is nothing she can do to change this no matter how much she changes as a person the house on Mango street is still her home.

“You will always be Esperanza. You will always be Mango Street. You can't erase what you know. You can't forget who you are” (105). No matter what, Esperanza’s experiences on Mango Street have become a part of her and she cannot change it. In the novella, The House on Mango Street, written by Sandra Cisneros, the author introduces Esperanza, a resident of Mango Street, who constantly dreams of becoming an independent woman with a house of her own ideals. As she and her family purchase a house and become a newcomer into a new neighborhood of a crowded and poor Latino area, Esperanza faces mental and physical changes that affect how she sees the world. Sadly, the characteristics of the house consist of nothing of her desires. Due to her