The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is a fictional novel about a twelve year old girl, Esperanza Cordero, growing up in a poor Latino neighborhood in Illinois, on Mango Street. Esperanza dislikes and is ashamed of her house on Mango Street because it represents her family’s poverty. During this time, all women are forced and controlled by the men. In her neighborhood, most women are restrained by their fathers or husbands, leading them to wait for someone to change the present society and let woman free. However, Esperanza is different from all of the woman and strives to be independent from her poverty and men. Esperanza struggles to live in her neighborhood on Mango Street because her house symbolizes her poverty and she is affected …show more content…
She explains how her whole life, Esperanza's family of six have moved several times because of financial issues. Before, when she had lived on Loomis a nun from her school had made Esperanza feel remorse as the nun confront her with a remark saying, “You live there? The way she said it made me feel like nothing”(Cisneros 5). Esperanza understands that her house is lacking in appearance; however, it saddens her even more when others address the type of condition she is living in . As the story continues, she again describes how her house house and economic state can stop her from achieving many opportunities such as making friends, going to a catholic school, and becoming free. Esperanza states, “... I am a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor,” as she was explaining her incapability of finding her own friends. In this scenario, Esperanza is inferring that she is balloon who is bright and is capable in taking on new challenges; but, her being poor and her house portrays the anchor that is holding her from pursuing her dreams and goals in life. Since Esperanza's house brings her shame and reminds her of her hardships she is inspired to become self dependent and live a free …show more content…
Esperanza chooses to not be overpowered and controlled by any men in her life as she has decided work hard to establish a life of independence. To be able to become successful in life Esperanza concluded, “I needed 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). In order for Esperanza to accomplish her hope of breaking away from the poverty of Mango Street, she is courageous in finding money in starting an education, which is not common for people similar to her. Esperanza chooses to live a different life filled with education so she will have the pleasure of creating self definition from her current society and culture. She is one of the only woman in her neighborhood who is capable of escaping the idea of inequality from men and neediness that is upon all woman in civilization. It is typical for woman to be kept in the house by their husbands, doing housework however, Esperanza states that, “One day I’ll own my own house, but I won’t forget who I am or where I came from” (Cisneros 87). Not only is she stating her separation from other individuals, but she is also expressing that even though she never grew up in her dream house, she will never forget her memories or lessons she experienced on Mango Street. Although Esperanza has the ability to move away and begin a new life,
(hook) Written by Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street is a beautiful coming-of-age story from the perspective of a little Latina girl named Esperanza Cordero, who has just moved to a new house on Mango Street with her family. The story follows Esperanza and the people she encounters during her time on Mango Street as she struggles to find herself as an individual/her identity. During the story, Esperanza discovers how her culture and social class affects her, how she relates to the roles of
Showing Innocence in a Cruel World In the story The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, the main character, Esperanza Cordero, shows innocence as her single, most-defining personality trait by removing the negative aspects of the world around her and replacing them with light hearted thoughts and actions. One day in Esperanza’s neighborhood, one of her friend’s cousin rolls up in a marvelous yellow Cadillac. The cousin drives the group around the block, but eventually stops when the police
slim chance to none. The House on Mango Street written by Sandra Cisneros, leads us into a world of poverty, broken dreams, and slithers of hope. The House on Mango Street follows the life of a young girl by the name of Esperanza Cordero, who occupies her childhood in an indigent Latino neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois. The books expresses her dire need to have a place where she can call home, and escape the harsh reality of her expected life. Though, her life on Mango Street is bearable with help
In the book The House on Mango Street, author Sandra Cisneros presents a series of vignettes that involve a young girl, named Esperanza, growing up in the Latino section of Chicago. Esperanza Cordero is searching for a release from the low expectations and restrictions that Latino society often imposes on its young women. Cisneros draws on her own background to supply the reader with accurate views of Latino society today. In particular, Cisneros provides the chapters “Boys and Girls” and “Beautiful
The House on Mango Street, author Sandra Cisneros relives a childhood similar to hers, where the main purpose of life is having the ability to dream. Most characters that live on Mango Street, such as Esperanza Cordero, dream of having a better life and deserting their past of poverty and struggle. Cisneros constantly makes this apparent to the reader because without struggle and pain, the reward of “escaping” the neighborhood is not as meaningful. Throughout the novel, The House on Mango Street
A future can never be certain, but there are things that may help it to become more clear. The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, is a simplistic yet emotionally moving piece of writing. The narrator is a young Latina girl who has found herself living in a house on Mango Street. Not following a chronological order, the short vignettes give a sense of incomplete endings and a never ending story. Although the book does follow Esperanza’s viewpoint, the book’s title fully embodies the experiences
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
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
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
In Sandra Cisneros’ novel, The House on Mango Street, the protagonist Esperanza Cordero expresses her desire to transcend her current life and find her true identity. She poetically writes, “I want to be like the waves on the sea, like the clouds in the wind, but I’m me. One day I’ll jump out of my skin. I’ll shake the sky like a hundred violins” (Cisneros 60). This quote encapsulates Esperanza’s yearning to be part of something greater while maintaining her uniqueness. Throughout the novel, Esperanza
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
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 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