The House On Mango Street Cultural Identity Essay

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Culture identity is something many young people struggle with, especially teens as they go through discovering themselves. Esperanza is the kind of girl who struggles with her cultural background. She envies everyone else she sees as they fit in with the place they are at. Even if the life of others isn’t necessarily amazing she is still jealous for what they do get. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros a very touching story about how a young girl tries to fit in an American society being a Latino. Not only is it that Esperanza cares so much about living in her house but so does her family. Esperanza tells stories that “This was the house Papa talked about when he held a lottery ticket and this was the house Mama dreamed up …show more content…

An example of this is Mamacita from the chapter No Speak English. Mamacita was an immigrant who knew very little English and felt ashamed of her culture. She never came outside and cried all day long by the window. However, unlike mamacita, Esperanza knows English and is able to communicate with others. But still feels lonely. Also, throughout the story Esperanza gets negative attention from boys because of her culture. For some men she comes across in the story they see her as a toy for her ethnicity and not being from America. This also embarrasses her as she is still trying to find out what love is but can’t because if the negative attention. Therefore, even though she struggles pushing through with her ethnicity, others have it just as hard as well, showing how different ethnicities can clash. The House on Mango Street is a good representative of how many young hispanic girls feel in America. Meaning that although something in one place may seem like nothing embarrassment come easy to them. Just like her house, and Mamacita, both scenarios don’t seem as bad as there are small fixes, but because of their culture it means something completely different. Everyone can learn from this book to be nice to everyone as you don’t know what their background