Role Models In The House On Mango Street

Why Are We Who We Are?

Role models are people we look up to, people we want to be like, or it can be the complete opposite; people we do not want to be like, those we try to avoid being. The stories, The House on Mango Street, and, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, are similarly based on teenagers living in poverty in hopes of having a better life. Junior, a teenage boy living in the Spokane Reservation in Washington, who leaves his old school and goes to Reardan High School in hopes of a better future; Esperanza, a young teenage girl living in poverty, who moves to a new home on Mango Street, and me, Alexis, a Mexican teenage boy born in Portland Oregon with hopes and dreams to make a difference. All of these people have role models in their stories, good and bad. Role models are key to making us the people we are today. In these stories, and in personal experience, the topic of role models are a very important way of

One particular person that is a role model to Esperanza is her own mother, whom Esperanza is very close with. Esperanza’s mother was very similar to Esperanza, with hopes and dreams to be someone in life. Esperanza’s mom is one of the main people she would look to for advice or help, so that is why she is important to the topic of role models. As stated in The House on Mango Street, by Esperanza, “I could’ve been somebody, you know? My mother says and sighs,” (90). This quote is showing Esperanza’s mom expressing her grief when talking about how she could have been somebody in life, since she had many talents. This quote is important because Esperanza doesn’t want to be like her mom; she can be considered a bad role model to Esperanza since she is trying to avoid becoming like her, however, she wants to become what her mom dreamed to be, which was just being something good in life. This is how Esperanza’s mom affects her