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Theme Of The House On Mango Street

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Everyone has their own identity. Identity is the most important factor for the reason every action one commits. However finding ones true-self can be quite difficult since it is the strongest part of one’s personality. Many people identify themselves with ownership. Whether it be devices, automobiles, or even a home. In the story, “The House on Mango Street”, Sandra Cisneros examines a young girl who has to deal with her family living in poverty. The family is constantly moving and they finally have a home but it isn’t the one the family talks about. Throughout the story, there is a theme of the connection of a home and identity. The narrator identifies herself with her home and is ashamed of it. Similarly, in the story, “This Old House”, David …show more content…

When discussing the new house, Cisneros presents, “The house on Mango Street is ours and we don’t have to pay rent to anybody or share the yard with the people downstairs or be careful not to make too much noise and there isn’t a landlord banging on the ceiling with a broom. But even so, it’s not the house we’d thought we’d get” (119). The present tense flow of the narrator’s description and feelings is more understood due to the first person narration. As glad as the narrator is that they finally have a house, it isn’t the house they wanted and the readers can connect to the disappointment the narrator feels when realizing the house isn’t the one. However Sedaris does find his ideal home, “I longed for a home where history was respected-and, four years later, I finally found one. This was in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I’d gone there to visit an old friend from high school-and because I was between jobs, and no real obligations, I decided to stay for a while…” (1332). A feeling of being relieved is portrayed here and the first person point of view allows the readers to immediately pick that up. The language of first person perspective is less formal and gives a sense that the narrator is orally telling the readers the story rather than reading. It lets the readers feel as though they are in the narrators mind. Both stories being composed in first person point of view helps with the emotional intimacy of their identities being connected to their

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