preview

The House On Mango Street By Sandra Cisneros

Better Essays

The Street That Changed a Life The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, displays a great emphasis on culture and people helping form a young girl into a young lady. The main character, Esperanza, has to navigate a mentally and physically challenging life growing up in a poor, Hispanic neighborhood while still learning how to mature and rise above the poverty that surrounds her. Thus, the question arises: in what way and to what extent does close human interaction change Esperanza’s life and set her on the path to being accomplished? Being around people such as her friends, family and neighbors cause Esperanza to realize what she wants in life and how to gain the maturity needed to escape the troubles of Mango Street. Mango …show more content…

Mango Street affects her at first in a bad way. Her disapproval is proven by her thought, “I knew then I had to have a house… But this isn’t it. The house on Mango Street isn’t it. For the time being, Mama says. Temporary, says Papa” (Cisneros 5). Even though Esperanza does not like the house, it is a very special thing to her family, “The house on Mango Street is ours, and we don’t have to pay rent to anybody, or share the yard with the people downstairs, or be careful not to make too much noise, and there isn’t a landlord banging on the ceiling with a broom” (Cisneros 3). This is the first sign of Esperanza’s transformation to a new and better life which will be guided by the wisdom and ignorance of people neighboring her family. Esperanza 's family has a heavy impression on her. Being the eldest out of four children made her have to mature fast if she wanted to care for her younger siblings properly. An instance in which she proves to overlook sadness for the sake of her family is when their grandfather died. She had to accept the responsibility of being a leader to her young brothers and sister, “Your abuelito is dead...Because I am the oldest, my father had told me first and now it is my turn to tell the others” (Cisneros 56). Her mother also pushed her to be mature and responsible by encouraging her to try in school and not give up, “Shame is a bad thing, you know. It keeps you down. You want to know why I quit school? Because I

Get Access