House On Mango Street Thesis

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

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

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