Poverty In The House On Mango Street

Many people are undermined by the drawbacks of belonging to a low socioeconomic status. In The House on Mango Street, Esperanza is raised in a poor, Latino community, causing her to be introduced to poverty at an early age. This introduction of poverty affects Esperanza in many ways, one including that she is unable to find success. Esperanza struggles to achieve success in life because the cycle of poverty restricts her in a position in which she cannot break free from her socioeconomic status.
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

Many kids on Mango Street are not expected to go to college, not only because of the low expectations, but also because their families do not have enough money. In a community where the main issue present is poverty, the kids are not expected to be successful in certain aspects and are not expected to achieve great things in life. The Vargas kids, who live on Esperanza’s street, “bend trees and bounce between cars and dangle upside down from knees and almost break like fancy museum vases you can’t replace. They are without respect for all living things, including themselves” (Cisneros 29). As one can see, when a family is deeply involved with poverty, the parents often tend to forget about the children and their success. Because Esperanza’s achievements aren’t at top of the priority list for her family, Esperanza does not have to do much which reflects her life in the future. Not only are low expectations about achieving great things, but are also about the way people dress. Esperanza’s neighborhood consists of kids whose “clothes are crooked and old” (Cisneros 14). Notably, Esperanza is not expected to dress up fancy whereas if she goes to another neighborhood, their clothing and physical appearance are given a lot of attention. From these examples, one can see that when Esperanza goes into other neighborhoods or grows older and

The schools in undeveloped communities, such as the community Esperanza lives in, are not funded as much from poor families which means they don’t have as many resources as other schools in richer neighborhoods have. Esperanza’s neighborhood consists of a “laundromat, junk store, drugstore, windows and cars and more cars” (Cisneros 16). In essence, it is evident that the school in Esperanza’s neighborhood is likely not as developed either and is meant for kids whose families cannot afford private schools. In such communities, teachers may also not choose to work in schools because of the salary. Since education is not a priority for Esperanza’s family, Esperanza is sent to any random school without taking into consideration the quality of the education. The quality of Esperanza’s education matters since she is in poverty; for Esperanza to get a job better than those at fast-food places, Esperanza needs a sufficient education. With this in mind, if Esperanza wants to escape her social class, she needs to make a lot of money and hence, she needs to have a skilled job which requires education. For this reason, Esperanza’s path to a higher social class is even harder for her to follow since she is not guaranteed a high-salary job later in her life. Esperanza’s chances of escaping her low social class are low because of the education she