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House On Mango Street Thesis

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Teenagers often find themselves lost in a confusing world without something to guide them. The novella, The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros tells the story of Esperanza and her path to finding out who she is. Broken up into vignettes, Cisneros writes about different parts of Esperanza’s childhood on Mango Street. Some explain her family, her neighborhood, and other key parts of her life. Esperanza talks about the places she once lived and her yearn for a real house. She also describes her family’s personalities through their hair. Esperanza’s negative view of herself slowly changes as she begins to focus on her larger community and her place within it. Through this, Cisneros shows that knowing and accepting where one comes from is …show more content…

In the vignette, “There was an old woman …,” Rosa Vargas is one of Esperanza’s neighbors who has a lot of kids and her husband left her without money. “...and who cries every day for the man who left without even leaving a dollar for bologna or a note…”(Cisneros 29). Esperanza starts thinking about the other people in her community and realizes they are all in similar situations. When living in Chicago, it is hard for these families to find work because of their ethnicity. Many of these women, just like Rosa, are forced into marriages so they can be supported. Marriages fall apart when the short-lived passion dies out and it was not for love. Some people are left stranded with no money and end up like Esperanza’s neighbors. Esperanza develops compassion within her for these people when she focuses on everyone’s …show more content…

She meets three older women that ask her to make a wish and tell her to come back to Mango Street after she moves away. “You will always be Mango Street”(Cisneros 105). Mango Street is the most important place Esperanza will ever live. She has learned so much from it and learned to accept herself. No matter how hard she tries to forget it, Esperanza will always remember the place that opened her eyes to the world and her identity. She has become a kind, strong-willed girl who cares for her family and others around her. When the sisters said Esperanza has to come back to Mango Street and get the ones who cannot leave, they implied that she is a very caring person and will help the people who helped

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In the novel “ The House On Mango Street” , by Sandra Cisneros, the main character Esperanza views herself negatively regarding her place in the community, but slowly transitions into accepting who she is and where she comes from through life's experience. As Esperanza grows she learns the importance of where she at can help her find herself. Mango Street turns out to mean a lot to Esperanza and she wants to leave but she knows will be back, because Mango Street is where her home is ( Cisneros 3-110 ).

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One day I will say goodbye to Mango. I am too strong for her to keep me forever.” as Esperanza stated in the Chapter “Mango Says Goodbye Sometimes”. This quotations illustrates how Esperanza will leave Mango Street due to her years of hard work, strength in

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Imagine growing up in a neighborhood that tries day after day to tear you down. Imagine growing up in a world without role models to help guide you down the right path. Imagine growing up in a place where you saw your friends fall into a cycle of abuse. Imagine being the only one strong enough not to fall into the ways of the world around you. Wouldn’t that make you tougher in the long run?

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There was a man who felt the pain of isolation because he was very opinionated. The majority of the people in his world do not agree with him, making him feel alone and want to escape. Sandra Cisneros’ House On Mango Street, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, all share the unexpected benefit of isolation which leads each character to the discovery of the need for change within themselves or within their societies. Sandra Cisneros’ The House On Mango Street, shows a want for change through Esperanza’s unfortunate upbringing. Esperanza feels isolated because she doesn’t have friends and she does not have anything in common with her family.

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Esperanza is learning from the mistakes that Sally has made in her life. Esperanza fells sad for Sally, she always looked up to her, but now Sally is slowly rotting away. Even though Sally is made mistakes in her childhood Esperanza is taking in the things she should not be doing. She knows about how boys will try and talk to you because of “Hips” or your “Looks” Esperanza has learned from her friends mistakes. She is slowly maturing into a young

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In the book, The House on Mango Street, Esperanza is portrayed as a young innocent girl that drastically changes over the course of the book. Esperanza is new to mango street and encounters many challenges but also positive experiences that she is able to take away from mango street. In order for Esperanza to transform as a human it was inevitable for her to face the struggles on mango street. As Esperanza matures throughout the novel she experiences three major developments that shape her future through the awakening of maturity, responsibility and her awakening of her interest in poetry.

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Esperanza is often humiliated not only by where she lives, but also by her physical appearance, hence causing a restriction in her climb to a higher social class. Esperanza is frequently ashamed of her family’s broken-down house in an urban, poor

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She constantly searches for her own identity when she doesn’t even realize, what she does now will become a new version of herself in the future. This is where the use of Poetry comes into play. She observes the world and describes it in a different perspective. One where she can find no negativity in calling it a safe haven. Esperanza despised living on Mango Street, but little by little she discovers fragments of herself wanting to become a better person.

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In the House on Mango Street, Esperanza is seeking for an identity of her own. In her current neighborhood, she struggles with economic, cultural, and gender based barriers to personal growth, and she believes that changing her surroundings is her solution; however, she realizes that to discover her identity, her ultimate destination is a home in the heart. The house on Mango Street was one that was the opposite of what Esperanza had dreamt her entire life. The house is, “…small and red with tight steps in front and windows so small you 'd think they were holding their breath... bricks...crumbling in places, and the front door...so swollen you have to push hard to get in". (Cisneros 5)

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“In the meantime they’ll just have to move a little farther north from Mango Street, a little farther away every time people like us keep moving in (Cisneros 13).” This quote is a significant part of the story because it shows how Esperanza truly feels about herself and her family. She thinks that because she is poor and lives and a bad neighborhood people move away from her family. Esperanza doesn’t think very much of her or her family at all. She thinks that it is because of their race that people do not want to be near them.

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The House on Mango Street is a touching and timeless tale told in short vignettes. It tells the story of a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago. Her life, and the lives of the people around her, are laid bare to the readers in this touching novella. In the beginning, Esperanza is not accepting of herself. Her family’s poor financial situation, the sadness of the people around her, and the problems she faces in her daily life make her very cynical.

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She however is very reactive to this situation, she doesn’t tell anybody what happened, she steals late passes, hides in an abandoned janitor closet, and eventually ditches school. That example shows how irresponsible she is. House On Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, is about a young girl who moves into a new house with her family in Chicago Illinois in the early 1980’s. Esperanza is not a very happy person, especially after the year she had at the house on Mango Street.

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