Reoccurring Themes

Sandra Cisneros' novel, The House on Mango Street, is a coming-of-age story that explores complex issues of race, gender, and identity. The novel shows this through the experiences and development of its protagonist, Esperanza, and the other characters that live on Mango Street in Chicago. As a coming-of-age story, The House on Mango Street tackles mature themes, reflecting on the world's complications and human experiences of self-discovery and growing up.

Sandra Cisneros' novel highlights the issue of racism as a reoccurring theme. In the vignette titled "Those Who Don't," Esperanza shares her experiences of being seen as dangerous by people who are not from her neighborhood. She explains that they perceive her and her community as a threat, with ideas such as "They think we will attack them with shiny knives" (Cisneros, 28). The majority of her community is composed of low-class Latinos, and this stereotype has led to labeling the group as dangerous. Additionally, in "Cathy Queen of Cats," Cathy voices similar ideas and states

However, upon entering a laundromat, they receive sexual comments from men who call them names like "pretty girl" and offer them money in exchange for a kiss. This behavior deeply disturbs Esperanza and her cousins, highlighting the idea that some men view themselves as superior to women and feel entitled to degrade and harass them. Another example of this behavior can be seen in “Red Clowns.” Esperanza gets raped by a boy who insists on her kissing him and refers to her as “Spanish girl.” We can see that this situation incredibly troubles Esperanza to the point where she doesn’t even want to address it. Again, this moment displays how men think they have the right to do anything to women simply because they believe they are greater compared to