The American Dream in The House On Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

As a young girl, Esperanza is a young girl who looks at life from experience of living in poverty, where many do not question their experience. She is a shy, but very bright girl. She dreams of the perfect home, with beautiful flowers and a room for everyone. When she moves to the house of Mango Street, reality is so different than the dream. In this story, hope (Esperanza) sustains tragedy. The house she dreamed of was another on. It was one of her own. One where she did not have to share a bedroom with everyone. That included her mother, father and two siblings. The run down tiny house has "bricks crumbling in places". The one she dreamed of had a great big yard, trees and 'grass growing without a fence'. She did not want to abandon

With all of the bad things going on around Esperanza, she was very optimistic and made the best of everything she could. For example, in chapter one, Esperanza explain how she and her family had always grown up poor and that they always had dreams of one day owning a big beautiful house like the ones that they saw on television. One with a back yard and a basement. When Esperanza's family was forced to move her parents had purchased the first house that they could afford so they wouldn't have to continue paying rent. The house was nothing like what they had spoke of or dreamt about. But Esperanza states, "I then knew I had to have a house. One I could point to. But this isn't it. The house on Mango Street isn't it. For the time being, Mama said. Temporary, says Papa. But I know how those things go.." Within this paragraph it shows that Esperanza isn't exactly happy about where she is living but she is going to make the best of it and do what she has to do to get out of there and have a house of her own. One that she can point to.

Not a daddy 's. A house all [her] own" (Cisneros 108). Esperanza wants her own house, and not her father 's or her husband 's which shows her growth into an independent person. She wants "a house all [her] own", which shows the importance of her finding her own identity. She emphasizes on "Not a man 's house... [or] a daddy 's" because she is not someone 's daughter or wife, but her own person. Before, Esperanza did not know that she needed to have her own identity, but by wanting her own house and not a house that belongs to someone else, it shows the transformation that Esperanza experiences since the beginning. Because in the beginning, she did not have her own identity, but by realizing and understanding the importance of her independence and her own individuality. Thus, through her self-growth, Cisneros demonstrates how Esperanza becomes a more independent person as well as her experiences with the world transforming her into a more mature woman.

Throughout the whole novel The House on Mango Street, Esperanza has been affected by the poverty of inner city Mango Street. For example, poverty has affected her and her family, and Esperanza’s friends on Mango Street. In the book, Esperanza has some obstacles and emotional problems due to poverty,such as, people making her feel worse about the house than she already is. To conclude, Esperanza has been affected by the poverty of inner Mango Street and it challenges her views and desires throughout the novel. Esperanza is ashamed and disappointed of her family’s poverty.

Unfortunately, the death of Esperanza’s father forces her to flee to California and she is forced leave everything behind and live amongst those who are below her. Esperanza travels to California with her mother and previous servants Hortensia, Miguel, and Alfonso. The first main encounter Esperanza experiences of growth is an encounter with a poor girl who wants her doll. Her reaction was to hide her doll instantly because this doll was her last gift from her father and the little girl “… is poor and dirty” (pg. 70). She is surprised that her mother apologizes to the child’s mother. Therefore, the author creates this scene to be the first lesson of kindness Esperanza experiences because her mother makes a yarn doll for the crying child. Although, she is relieved that they get off at the next stop because she doesn’t want to be reminded of her selfish behavior (pg. 72). The reader becomes aware of just how rich and spoiled Esperanza was because she sees an innocent poor child to be so repulsive to her. The author writes about the character’s relief when the child is gone because it proves that she has not changed and is still entitled. However, this event is the first step in Esperanza’s realization and awareness of her selfish ways because she acknowledges that her behavior was selfish.

Esperanza, the main character of The House on Mango Street, revolves around her teenage confusion to find her identity, but also becoming a strong and independent woman. She is very observant, and in order to form this foundation, Esperanza is influenced by the people around her and always looking for pathways to follow, through examples displayed within her neighborhood. She doesn’t want to throw her life away through marriage, or to be helpless and pretty like Sire’s girlfriend, bringing her to discover what it really means to achieve that desire of hers. Within the novel, Esperanza tries to get herself out of that loop of the women in her life have been swirled through, by attaining a new level of feminine power to consolidate her independence.

Gender role is represented as a social construction in The House on Mango Street. Men are depicted as a solid figure and are looked as a primary force while women are looked down upon and are treated as a sex object. Out of all the female character in the novel, Esperanza is distinctive. She does not see a future where she is subject to anybody. She has interminable dreams of her own. Her dreams of “having a house of her own” (pg. 4) starts at a very young age. As she moves into the new neighborhood in the Mango Street, she gets baffled since it is not the house her parents talked about and also not the real one’s she has seen on

Esperanza, the protagonist in the House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, is a character who feels like she doesn't belong and struggles to find herself. Throughout the novel she is able to make connections between elements in the environment and that relate directly to her own life. For example, she identifies with The Four Skinny Trees, who appear to be out of place. Esperanza compares herself to the trees because she thinks that like the trees she does not belong on Mango Street. They greatly impact her and she forms a strong connection with them.

Esperanza “is a young girl surrounded by examples of abused, defeated, worn-out women” (De Valdes). On Mango street, most of the women experience a lack of freedom, compared to their husbands who are free to do whatever they please. Women are commonly left to “stare out of windows, locked indoors waiting for their spouses to return or for something to happen” (Martinez 1). Esperanza’s own great-grandmother “looked out the window her whole life, the way so many women sit their sadness on their elbow” (Cisneros 11). In addition, “Rafaela, who is still young but getting old from leaning out the window so much, gets

However, they finally move into their own house, even though it is not the one she had dreamed of, but it sufficed (Cisneros 4). As Esperanza grows up in the neighborhood, there are many factors that influence her upbringing, and some of those experiences are good, but most of the ones told in this story are bad. The House on Mango Street is the collection of those direct and indirect experiences told through Esperanza in a series of chapters that belong to each different experience.

-She does not like the house. It is not their dream house. It is falling apart. The family owns this house, so they are no longer subject to the whims of landlords, and at the old apartment, a nun made Esperanza feel ashamed about where she lived. The house on Mango Street is an improvement, but it is still not the house that Esperanza wants to point out as hers.

Esperanza grows up in a Hispanic environment, herself being Mexican. Many Hispanic cultures have the same view on life when it comes to women. These cultures believe women should stay home and take care of the house, kids, and husband. These standards determine how women live their daily lives and does not allow for independence. Additionally, these standards are a challenge for women who dream big and want to achieve more in life than staying in the kitchen. The women on Mango Street are portrayed as lacking independence and are trapped in their houses, due to their husbands following society’s cruel expectations on these Hispanic women. In The House on Mango Street, the reader meets a young woman who is different than the majority of the women on Mango Street. Esperanza introduces Alicia, a young lady who is a victim of cultural expectations, “Alicia, whose mama died, is sorry there is no one older to rise and make the lunchbox tortillas. Alicia, who inherited her mama’s rolling pin and sleepiness, is young and smart and studies for the first time at the university. Two trains and a bus, because she doesn’t want to spend her whole life in a factory or behind a rolling pin.”

The characters of The House on Mango Street include Esperanza the narrator, her family and her many friends and neighbors. In this literary analysis I will be analyzing the main three, Esperanza, Sally and Nenny. In The House on Mango Street a year goes by and Esperanza matures. She begins growing into a young woman. More people see her as a lady and not and innocent child. She also develops a sexual desire for some of the neighborhood boys. Emotionally she feels the desire for love. Although, her sexual desire becomes

In The House on Mango Street Esperanza’s Doesn't want her social status, heritage or her name to hold her back. This expresses the theme of identity through the characterization and imagery.

First, irony, the theme irony came to me more and more throughout the story. There were many ironic things that happen to Esperanza, as well as many ironic things that the narrator mentions. According to the text on page 4, Esperanza says, “ But the house on Mango Street is not the way they told it at all.” (Cisneros). In the same way I can connect to Esperanza, as a kid through the 3-5 grade I use to move house to house, I remember my mom telling me because each house was better but only some were. Esperanza dreamed and thought to herself that through her process of coming of age she wanted a house of her own, a house that defined her identity.