Shame In The House On Mango Street By Sandra Cisneros

The Street of Shame The House on Mango Street written by Sandra Cisneros, is a coming of age novel that describes the challenges that Esperanza experiences during her stay on Mango Street. The Street is adorned with the evidence of poverty by the destruction of the houses and the lives of the people living on the street. Dreams of escaping Mango Street is apparent by people longing for a better life far away from the community. Esperanza escapes Mango Street in her writings and longs for the day that in reality she will leave Mango Street to follow her dreams of a real house. Shame and identity is the main theme of “The House on Mango Street”, the theme and title are connected through stereotyping, association, and the poverty cycle. Firstly, when Esperanza encounters Cathy, she is thrilled at the idea of having a friend. Cathy states that she can be her friend until nest Tuesday because they are moving. The reason they are moving is because “the neighborhood is getting bad”. (Cisneros 14). This makes Esperanza feel ashamed because Cathy’s statement infers that the Latinos moving into Mango Street is

“Shame is a bad thing, you know? It keeps you down. You want to know why I quit school? Because I didn’t have nice clothes. No clothes, but I had brains” (Cisneros 58). She has a beautiful voice and many talents that could have allowed her to break the cycle of poverty. She chose to let shame take control of her, in hence, she lost her identity along the way. In turn, this only increased her level of shame. All these things considered, the theme shame and identity is linked to the title” The House on Mango Street” because her Mama never escaped the cycle of poverty and is still experiencing the results of her shame. Esperanza knows that through her writings that she can find her identity and break the family cycle of