The House On Mango Street Essay

The House on Mango Street is a novel by Sandra Cisneros that touches on subjects that the Latin community in America commonly faces. The story is told through short vignettes about the life of a young Mexican-American girl in a poor Chicago neighborhood during the 1960s. Despite themes of poverty and discrimination, The House on Mango Street shows that determination and resilience can lift people out of poverty. Cisneros describes the circumstances in which Esperanza's family lives and shows how people in Esperanza's situation may feel about it. At the beginning of the book, Esperanza is ashamed of her house. She describes how small the place is and beat-down lit looks; for example, in the first chapter, a nun from her school sees Esperanza's house and silently shames her. "I knew I had to have a house. A real house. One I could point to. But this isn't it. The house on Mango Street isn't." (Cisneros 5) Her interaction with the nun is her turning point in the book for leaving Mango Street. Because of the humiliation of showing her house, she decides that she will eventually get a house she is proud of and will not be ashamed of pointing out.

In the chapter Those Who Don't, Cisneros describes how outsiders judge her community while driving through, "Those who don't know any better come into our neighborhood scared. They think we are dangerous"(Cisneros 28). Esperanza continues to describe people that outsiders judged simply for being Hispanic and living in a poor neighborhood. Sexist discrimination is seen in the chapter Beautiful and Cruel. It states that women are viewed solely on their looks when they grow up. Esperanza has also spoken in other chapters about how boys and girls receive different treatment. In Beautiful and Cruel, she decides not to conform to regular and unfair gender