The House on Mango Street is a short story centered around the upbringing of a young Mexican girl and her arrival at her new house. It may be seen as a simple short story; however, it has many underlying themes it raises awareness of. The book has elements of sexism, struggles in poverty, and being an immigrant. It also has simple moments alluding to the idea that a simple life is what one desires. Ultimately, The House on Mango Street truly emphasizes the importance (positive and negative) of place, culture, and environment in childhood development whilst showing the values of a young girl and her struggles. Mexican culture (Hispanic in general) is known for being one of the most family-oriented and connected cultures in the world. Traditionally, …show more content…
A traumatic situation occurred to Esperanza when she was sexually assaulted/groped by a man at the carnival. In The House on Mango Street it’s said, “Sally, you lied. It wasn't what you said at all. What he did. Where he touched me. I didn't want it, Sally. The way they said it, the way it's supposed to be, all the storybooks and movies, why did you lie to me?” (Cisneros 99). For many individuals, an experience like this may ruin their lives forever; but for Esperanza, she seemingly didn’t let it ruin her life. It’s even said at the end of the story that Esperanza would want to come back to her Chicago neighborhood. There could be two reasons for this, one is that Esperanza is just a strong person and didn’t let the trauma consume her life. The other may be due to her environment growing up. It’s said that Esperanza was catcalled regularly and at one point her friend was even forcefully kissed at a young age, just for wearing high heels. These situations may have led to Esperanza becoming desensitized to sexual activities. This is to say that a person’s environment during their youth prepares them for events in
The House on Mango Street The House on Mango Street is written by Sandra Cisneros. This book is a realistic fiction coming of age novel. The read is about a young woman named Esperanza who hopes and dreams of one day moving away from the poor community of Mango Street. This street is full of many pitiful apartments, many foreigners from other countries, and packed tight with trouble. As she faces the journey to one day leave this sorrowful street she comes to realize it will always be apart of her
and they are both there to show us who we are. The House on Mango Street is about a girl named Esperanza, and she is trying to find her place on mango street, and her place in life. Her life is impacted, in good ways and bad, by every person that she meets. We follow her, her family, her friends, and others in her journey of living on mango street, and experience her growing, developing, and experiencing the life made for her. In the book The House
The House on Mango Street The House on Mango Street,written by Sandra Cisneros, deals with a mexican girl named Esperanza, who grows up and dreams big in Chicago. Cisneros uses imagery, theme, and symbols to describe many things from Esperanza 's perspective. Imagery is used to describe items and people in a meaningful way. Cisneros uses various themes to show various ideas and beliefs. The symbols used describe objects and figures to portray ideas on a deeper level. Cisneros employs unique literary
Kurt Wechsler Ms. Sonnenberg English 2 (H), Period 6 12 April 2024 Home The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is a deep, wonderful, and powerful title, demonstrating the terrible truths that poverty and discrimination can hold. The book follows Esperanza, a young Chicano living in the ghettos of a city. Through Esperanza, Sandra Cisneros sheds light on the lives of those in poverty. She highlights the community formed by these experiences, the blooming and the home that it becomes. One theme
The short story by Sandra Cisneros revolves truly around the tittle “The House on Mango Street” and how her family moved from places to places to get there. The recollection of the street names her family lived on and how every time they moved “there’d be one more of us” added to the authors focus of emphasizing how important the word “home” meant to her throughout the story. The family of six included Mama, Papa, brothers Carlos and Kiki, and sister Nenny. According to the author’s memory, she
In Sandra Cisneros' poignant novel "The House on Mango Street," the protagonist, Esperanza Cordero, emerges as a multifaceted character whose journey is marked by a profound exploration of identity, community, and the complexities of her neighborhood. Through Esperanza's eyes, readers are invited to navigate the vibrant yet challenging landscape of her life on Mango Street, where she grapples with her sense of self, her aspirations, and her place in the world. Esperanza's identity is shaped by various
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. The first example is Cathy, who knows all the dangers of Mango Street. “She lives upstairs, over there, next door to Joe the baby – grabber. Keep away from him, she says. He is full of danger.” (Cisneros 12). Cathy tells her what to avoid on Mango Street, and about the people on it. And
Sandra Cisneros wrote one of her most famous novels about a girl who grows up very poor, struggling to overcome poverty. In the chapter “Mango Street Says Goodbye Sometimes”, Esperanza, a girl who grew up very poor is enjoying the luxuries of having her own personal house. With a joyful tone, Sandra Cisneros creates a hopeful ending in her novel to show how anyone can overcome poverty. With a hopeful tone, Sandra Cisneros explores the concept that the people you live around are very important. In
The house on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is really a coming of age novel of a Mexican American female developing in a working class Chicago neighborhood. The writer is similar to the main character Esperanza in a number of ways. It being that Cisneros was in addition a Mexican American female growing up in a Chicago working class community. While Esperanza is ashamed of becoming a Mexican American around white Americans, Cisneros is proud to be considered a Mexican American female. But she endeavors
In The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, interactions with different women impact Esperanza’s coming of age and lead her to a point in life where she is ready to move away and become independent. Through these women, Esperanza is faced with situations that inform her about the real world that she is about to experience. A negative example of this real world is set through Minerva who is not much older than Esperanza, is already tied down by being married and having two children. Minerva has
in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and Esperanza in Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street experience the ideological maturity toward womanhood while encountering problems most do not face until adulthood. Living in conservative Alabama where racial tension is high, Scout must learn to be compassionate when her father Atticus Finch defends African-American Tom Robinson against a white woman. Growing up on Mango Street, an impoverished neighborhood of Chicago, Esperanza faces being a poor, colored
The House on Mango street is an amazing coming of age story about a young Mexican girl in a poor Chicago neighborhood. It was written by Author Sandra Cisneros (who will be explored further in the paper) in the early 1980’s. The main Protagonist is named Esperanza. When the story first starts she in 12 and has just moved into her new house on mango street. The house actually does not live to Esperanza expectations because it’s old and tiny. This creates motivation in Esperanza to move from Mango Street
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, was written in 1984. The novel features the story of a Latina girl, named Esperanza, growing up in inner city Chicago. The story is told through a multitude of vignettes that showcase the struggles Mexican immigrants face in America. Although set in 1984, The House on Mango Street continues to be relevant with the enduring debate over Mexican immigrants in America today. Mexicans first “came” to America after the Mexican-American War. Mexico had ceded
conscious catches up. Each generalization contains different factors, leaving the choice of what factors to leave in and which to leave out. Causing a difficult confrontation of what to believe and what to forget. In Sandra Cisneros’ novel, The House on Mango Street, the universal process of rapid cognition inherently affects stereotyping and discrimination perpetuating gender and racial inequality. Humans obtain the ability to quickly read facial expressions and generalize personality traits. This is
The House on Mango Street Esperanza saw self definition as a struggle, the struggle for self-definition is a common theme, and in The House on Mango Street, Esperanza’s struggle to define herself underscores her every action and encounter. Esperanza must define herself both as a woman and as an artist and her perception of her identity changes over the course of the book. Esperanza portrayed a vivid picture to the audience of her surroundings, the people she encountered, and her interpretation