Themes In The House On Mango Street

The story of young Esperanza Cordero told throughout the pages of The House on Mango Street shows the evolution of her identity and how it is swayed by personal desire and conflict within her everyday life. This narrative begins with the lonely girl who shares her embarrassment about her red house on Mango Street, that soon develops into a self-loathing adolescent who is done having to face all the problems of her world. Her words and thoughts help develop many of the overlying themes present overtime and the changes in the plot throughout the book. Starting at the beginning of Esperanza’s adventure it is easily seen how much she despises her family’s new house on Mango Street. Her view of the house soon progresses into her demand to find a house that is solely her own. On page 5 she wrote, “I knew then 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 it.”(Cisneros, 5). This desire of hers shows an underlying theme of the book, the American Dream. She craves to independently rise above her social class and reach a point where she can be proud of where she came from and the journey she took to reach it. Although this theme is present throughout the entirety of the book her view of

This can range from despising her name to finally eating in the Canteen and discovering it’s not what she expected (10, 43). However, there are larger conflicts within the book that challenges the reader to reflect on the purity of Esperanza’s identity. One that comes to mind is the many cases of sexual assault and violence shown towards supporting characters. For instance on page 100, “Sally Sally a hundred times. Why didn’t you hear me when I called? Why didn’t you tell them to leave me alone? The one who grabbed me by the arm, he wouldn’t let me go. He said I love you, Spanish girl, I love you, and pressed his sour mouth to mine.”