Socioeconomic Status In Sandra Cisneros's 'House On Mango Street'

Although Esperanza grew up in a very poverty stricken neighborhood, she didn’t let that define her as an adult and was able to be successful later on in life. Esperanza grew up in a place that was very looked down upon. On page 5, Esperanza was asked by a nun where she lived. After pointing to her house, the nun responded “You live there?” She was not only in an area that was clearly not nice, but she was also judged and she felt embarrassed about it. People who even just drove through her underprivileged neighborhood think of Esperanza and her neighbors as “dangerous. They think [they] will attack them with shiny knives. They are stupid people who got lost here by mistake” (18). This neighborhood wasn’t the type of place people wanted to be near or in. It was so run-down and such a seemingly threatening place, people would be scared just

Throughout The House on Mango Street Esperanza learns to resist the gender norms that are deeply imbedded in her community. The majority of the other female characters in the novel have internalized the male viewpoint and they believe that it is their husbands or fathers responsibility to care for them and make any crucial decisions for them. However, despite the influence of other female characters that are “immasculated”, according to Judith Fetterley, Esperanza’s experiences lead her to become a “resisting reader” in Fettereley’s terminology because she does not want to become like the women that she observes, stuck under a man’s authority. She desires to leave Mango Street and have a “home of her own” so that she will never be forced

In today’s world there are countless social problems. People are often treated as an inferior or as if they are less important for many different reasons. In The House on Mango Street, the author Sandra Cisneros addresses these problems. Throughout the story Cisneros does a thorough job explaining and showing how these issues affect the public. This novel is written through the eyes of a young girl, Esperanza, growing up in a poor neighborhood where the lifestyles of the lower class are revealed. Cisneros points out that, in today’s society, the expectation of women and their treatment, discrimination based on poverty, and discrimination because of a person’s ethnicity are the major

In the collection of vignettes, The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros develops the theme that people should not be devalued because of their financial circumstances through metaphors of classism, the motif of shame, and the contrast between minor characters Alicia and Esperanza’s mother. Esperanza, the protagonist, is a Mexican-American adolescent living in the rural Chicago region. She occupies a house on Mango Street with her father, mother, two brothers, Carlos and Kiki, and little sister, Nenny. Mango Street is filled with low-income families, like Esperanza’s, trying to adapt to their difficult circumstances. Esperanza realizes it is difficult, but she dreams of leaving her house and Mango Street altogether.

As it says on page 13, “In the meantime they’ll just have to move a little farther north from Mango Street, a little farther away each time people like us keep moving in.” After reading this quote it really put in perspective how hard it must be for a young girl to have to understand that her family is unwelcome. As we can see in the book, Esperanza is able to realize that she is not living a “luxurious” life compared to others around her. For many people in this time living in neighborhoods with many different races was very uncommon. You had the middle-class and wealthy white Americans living in nicer homes with each other and colored people living in beat-up “rough” neighborhood with each other. Even before she moved within Mango Street, she was aware that her home was nothing

For Esperanza, the House on Mango Street is “not the house we thought we’d get,” (Cisneros 3). It is “the house [she] is ashamed of” (Cisneros 106); she desperately yearns to live in a big house with “real stairs… a basement and at least three washrooms” (Cisneros 4). However, in many ways, this house and this dream are unattainable. One of the many things that keeps minorities in poverty is the fact that as minority families move into a neighborhood, slightly wealthier white families move out of it. “Esperanza is aware of how white residents have fled the community to avoid sharing space with people whom they consider to be beneath them” (Roszak 66). A study from Brandeis University shows that this experience is not unique to this book, in fact, housing equity is a large factor in racial socioeconomic inequality. “Residential segregation artificially lowers demand, placing a forced ceiling on home equity for [minorities] who own homes,” (Shapiro 3) thus making it harder for minority families to get out of poverty at all as their houses, a major source of investment, lose value compared to inflation. Esperanza’s family has dreamed of the bigger house, and yet, the house they own is this one, the one on Mango Street. Even if they were to succeed in getting a bigger house, the house of their dreams, it is likely that house too would become less valuable and keep them in poverty. Other women show that the cycle of poverty is hard to break, for various reasons. Ruthie, the daughter of an apartment owner on Mango Street, failed to escape poverty also. She “had lots of job offers when she was young” but instead married and “moved away to a pretty house outside of the city,” (Cisneros 69) using marriage as her source of upward mobility. Unfortunately, her “fairy tale” escape from Mango

The house was a clear downgrade from her last house, and her parents often mentioned to Esperanza that they were only going to be living on Mango St. temporarily. However, Esperanza was not resistant to sit back patiently and wait for her parents to have the financial ability to move out. For example, Esperanza explained, “I want a house on a hill like the ones with the gardens where Papa works” (34.1). This shows that Esperanza aspires to move to an upper class community and become someone successful. Similarly, To this day I also share a similar aspiration in wanting to move into a better neighborhood in the near

Cisneros' The House on Mango Street is a novel about the importance of not forgetting where you come from. Esperanza, a young Latino girl and the story's main character, wants to

Esperanza is jealous of the “special kids” who live too far from school to go home for lunch and eat at the “canteen.” Esperanza, wishing she can eat her lunch there too, attempts to convince her mother to write her a letter granting her permission to pack a lunch and eat in the “canteen.” Her mother is reluctant at first, claiming that soon all of the children in the house will want lunches, but Esperanza uses her wit to convince her otherwise. The next day at lunchtime, Sister Superior refuses her mother’s awkwardly writing letter. She claims that Esperanza lives close to home and must eat there. Sister Superior points to an ugly row of houses across the boulevard, accusing Esperanza of living there. Esperanza, upset that she is unable to

No one wants homework over the summer. I see summer as a time to forget about school, and just have fun. I think most people feel the same, but despite how most people feel some of my teacher assigned homework over the summer. As you could image, I was highly upset about this. I was even thinking about not doing my assignment, but I knew that I didn’t want to start the year off failing. Little did I know that by the end of the summer my life would be changed, and I would be a new person. All thanks to Sandra Cisneros.

Socioeconomic status is not the sole determining factor in how Esperanza shapes her identity though, since she is also influenced by her culture of being a Mexican-American woman. Esperanza is surrounded by her family and friends who are all Mexican-Americans. She observes from them the standards of her culture. What she finds out though is that she does not want to fit the mold of her culture. She sees many women that she is close with to be either abused, neglected, or even isolated by their husbands. Esperanza thus lets these observations encourage her to be stronger and more self-respecting, because “she knows the person she is does not belong to the hostile ugly world she lives in (De Valdez).” She sees herself chasing a happier and more joyous life than the ones that she sees everyday among her culture. And even though Esperanza may want to leave her culture, she still sees her identity as a Mexican-American. When Esperanza states why some people are afraid to come into their neighborhood, she says, “They think we’re dangerous. They think we will attack them with

In the book House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, the author writes about the stories of a young girl named Esperanza. In my opinion, this book is heavily influenced by her life, and one may think it is very biographical. The stories feel like they could be real since Cisneros has a Hispanic background and grew up in Chicago, Illinois. Most stories have deep meanings and connect to the innocence of a child’s mind when viewing things that happen around them. I believe the book is somewhat biographical.

Growing up in the middle of two different cultures can be really satisfying for some. But for a minor it can be really confusing. Parents play an important role; they make things easy for their kids, so they can be able to comprehend the differences. When parents transmit the wrong information to their kids, it can carry a lot of problems. This is the story of Esperanza, on “The house on Mango Street”, a novel by author Sandra Cisneros. Her childhood becomes a series of broken dreams and disappointments. She was forced to grow up, when this should come naturally. Plus she talks about how hard it was to be Chicana and be woman.

“Social location” is a term used by sociologists to describe where it is on the social ladder a specific person sits; social location is determined by that individual’s various demographic variables. In the book, The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros uses a series of short stories to describe to the readers the main character, Esperanza’s, social location and how her unique location shapes her childhood experience.

Initially, Esperanza aspired to become like Sally while, having boys pursuing her. However, she realizes Sally is not the girl she should envy. Sally is an alluring girl that draws the attention of boys which, drives Esperanza to become her friend. However, she is in fact very lonely. The environment in Sally’s home is also, unstable and dysfunctional. Sally’s father is abusive towards Sally for the reason he is very religious and believes being too beautiful is dangerous. Moreover, her father frequently