Growing Up In The House On Mango Street By Sandra Cisneros

In The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros reveals the importance of growing up in the main character, Esperanza, and her friends. Throughout the story Esperanza and her friends experience many parts of growing up whether from trying francy shoes to the understanding of the world around them to getting a job to earn money. First, In the vignette And Some More, Esperanza, her younger sister Nenny, and her friends Lucy and Rachel look up to the sky and observe the clouds. In this vignette you can see the age difference of Esperanza and her friends to Nenny, this is shown when Esperanza says, “That’s cumulus too. They’re all cumulus today. Cumulus, cumulus, cumulus.” and Nenny responds, “No, that one there is Nacy, otherwise known as pigeye. And over there her cousin Mildred, and little Joey, Marco, Nereida and Sue.” Nenny continues to name the clouds while Esperanza, Lucy and Rachel get into a fight with each other. This shows growing up because Nenny has a younger imagination, naming the various clouds while Esperanza calls them by their scientific name.

In this vignette, Esperanza, Lucy and Rachel receive Fancy shoes as a gift from a lady who doesn’t need them anymore. Esperanza, Lucy and Rachel wear them and walk around their area. Growing up is shown when Mr. Benny, the owner of a corner grocery, says, “Them are dangerous, you girls are too young to be wearing shoes like that.” During their walk around a drunk man tries to convince one of the girls to kiss him, revealing that these shoes are indeed dangerous. This displays the theme of growing up because the girls like the shoes they received and are beginning to enter an age where they start to attract