The House on Mango Street is like a prison everyone wants to leave. Escape. But there is always something getting in the way. The House on Mango Street written by Sandra Cisneros is about a girl named Esperanza who grew up in poverty but as much as she tries to not let it define her the older she gets the harder it gets. She is faced with many physical appearance problems and poverty. Trying to escape to fufill peoples dreams isn’t always as easy as others think. One way Esperanza tries to escape her house on mango street is by making a wish that she will be able to leave. This wish was granted by 3 old aunts at a funeral for Lucy and Rachel's baby. But shortly after, she begins to feel guilty for wishing to leave everything behind. This …show more content…
Esperanza’s family doesn't have enough money to pay for private school so she has to get a job to get a better education so she can leave Mango Street. “I needed the money. The Catholic high school cost a lot, and Papa said nobody went to public school unless you wanted to turn out bad” (Cisneros 53). This shows that her Father wants Esperanza to get a good education but the Catholic high school is expensive but she knows that getting a good education is possibly her only way of ever leaving Mango Street. Sandra Cisneros is using hyperbole in this quote, the Father is exaggerating when he says that everyone will turn out bad if they go to public school. Esperanza’s life could have been a lot different than it turned out to be if her mother hadn't her appearance get to her. “You want to know why I quit school? Because I didn’t have nice clothes. No clothes, but I had brains” (Cisneros 91). This shows how different Esperanza’s life could have been if her mom got the proper education, and the only thing that stood between them and that lifestyle was her appearance. These quotes show how being in poverty can make their future life significantly harder than others and that even though it might be hard now, know it will always pay off one way or
Esperanza uses the hope she finds in her friends to discover her home and to push past the setbacks that she encounters in her life. While Esperanza is eager to make her way home, she shows that she
She however is very reactive to this situation, she doesn’t tell anybody what happened, she steals late passes, hides in an abandoned janitor closet, and eventually ditches school. That example shows how irresponsible she is. House On Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, is about a young girl who moves into a new house with her family in Chicago Illinois in the early 1980’s. Esperanza is not a very happy person, especially after the year she had at the house on Mango Street.
Esperanza has to move a lot because her family can’t afford to live in places that are big enough for their family. For example, “We didn’t always live on Mango Street. Before that we lived on Loomis on the third floor, and before that we lived on Keeler. Before Keeler was Paulina, and before that I can’t remember” (3). However, the house on Mango Street is the first house that is theirs, even though it isn’t the house they dreamed of.
Her mom teaches Esperanza many life lessons throughout the story. The reader learns that the mom dropped out of school because she “didn't have nice clothes” (91). The mom regrets this decision as staying in school could have let her lead a better life in a wealthier place. Esperanza quickly realizes that she wants to stay in school to move out of Mango Street. This mom is also there for emotional support when Esperanza needed it.
In The House on Mango Street, Esperanza's family struggles with poverty while dreaming of a better life for herself and her loved ones. Both works of literature highlight the challenges that people from impoverished backgrounds face in their efforts to improve their lives. This is evident as Kino and Esperanza both dream of a better life for themselves and their families, but they face significant obstacles and setbacks along the way. Despite these challenges, they both demonstrate resilience and determination in their efforts to overcome poverty and improve their lives. At the beginning of the novel, Esperanza
Not once, or twice, or ever again.” (Cisneros 105). One of the reasons for this is her meeting the three old ladies who came for Rachel’s sister’s funeral. There prophesy that Esperanza will leave Mango Street boosts her self-confidence. The narrator also says, “Before Keeler it was Paulina, but what I remember most is Mango Street, sad red house, the house I belong but do not belong to.”
As a child, Esperanza wants only escape from mango Street. Her dream of independents and "self-definition" also means leaving her family behind without any responsibilities to her family. Throughout the book, her has also faced some situation where is feels ashamed to be part of the Mango Street community and in some instances refuses to admit she has anything to do with mango street. At the beginning of the book near the earlier chapters, Esperanza feels very insecure about herself in general along with the house that she lives in. As mentioned before, she doesn’t want to discuss her name nor where she lives.
“In the meantime they’ll just have to move a little farther north from Mango Street, a little farther away every time people like us keep moving in (Cisneros 13).” This quote is a significant part of the story because it shows how Esperanza truly feels about herself and her family. She thinks that because she is poor and lives and a bad neighborhood people move away from her family. Esperanza doesn’t think very much of her or her family at all. She thinks that it is because of their race that people do not want to be near them.
Many people are undermined by the drawbacks of belonging to a low socioeconomic status. In The House on Mango Street, Esperanza is raised in a poor, Latino community, causing her to be introduced to poverty at an early age. This introduction of poverty affects Esperanza in many ways, one including that she is unable to find success. Esperanza struggles to achieve success in life because the cycle of poverty restricts her in a position in which she cannot break free from her socioeconomic status.
This shows that even though the community and neighborhood environment doesn't encourage women to get an education and for them just to be housewives. Esperanza's mom still supports women getting a good education and getting their own things in life. This quote shows that Esperanza's mom isn't affected by the community by motivating Esperanza to get an education and being self-reliant even though this isn't what most of the community believes. When Esperanza is thinking about how she wants to be in the future she says something about her little sister Nenny. The author states "Nenny says she won't wait her whole life for a husband to come and get her"(88).
She dreams “One day I will pack my bags of books and paper. One day I will say goodbye to Mango. I am too strong for her to keep me here forever” (707). Esperanza believes that she can change the way she is living and live a better life. She is trying to get a good education to become a more improved and intelligent person so one day she does not have to be poor.
Esperanza shifts from a follower into a confused individual, allowing her to begin her life as a woman outside of the oppressive nature of Mango Street. The suffocating stereotypes and sad, gloomy traits of the culture surrounding Esperanza contribute to the cultivation of her strong will and ardor. Mango Street opens her eyes to the abusive nature of her environment, and aids her in breaking the chain of corruption by defining and terminating the situation for herself. The neighborhood itself allows Esperanza to
In the book, The House on Mango Street, Esperanza is portrayed as a young innocent girl that drastically changes over the course of the book. Esperanza is new to mango street and encounters many challenges but also positive experiences that she is able to take away from mango street. In order for Esperanza to transform as a human it was inevitable for her to face the struggles on mango street. As Esperanza matures throughout the novel she experiences three major developments that shape her future through the awakening of maturity, responsibility and her awakening of her interest in poetry.
There is only one thing that sets her free, and she now understands that she will always be Mango Street no matter what. Esperanza lived in many different places, but Mango Street is the only thing she will remember the most. “I am going to tell you a story about a girl who didn’t want to belong. We didn’t always live on Mango Street. Before that we lived on Loomis on the third floor, and before that we lived on Keeler.
The story The House On Mango Street was published in 1983 by a female author going by the name of Sandra Cisneros. She was born on December 20, 1954, in Chicago, Illinois. Cisneros was influenced to write The House On Mango Street because of her childhood home that she used to live in. The main character, Esperanza, grew up very lonely with no friends. This relates to Cisneros because she also grew up very lonely and without friends.