Summary:
Often individuals are forced to grow up too quickly because of their surroundings. The House on Mango Street, written by Sandra Cisneros, is an excellent example of how a society has the ability to directly impact young lives, in turn creating necessary "rites of passage."
We Are Where We Live
Often individuals are forced to grow up too quickly because of their surroundings. The House on Mango Street, written by Sandra Cisneros, is an excellent example of how a society has the ability to directly impact young lives, in turn creating necessary "rites of passage." Through her environment, Esperanza, one of the many girls living on Mango Street, learns how to survive in a world full the unknown. Some may believe that the setting for this novel has no bearing on young Esperanza; however, Esperanza's character and transition into adulthood are dramatically defined by her own surroundings and neighborhood.
Sandra Cisernos's The House on Mango Street portrays the story of a young Latino girl growing up in Chicago. She has a vision of what her dream home should look like. She dreams of a house with a large beautiful backyard, real staircase, more than one bathroom, and just a house that she is overall proud to live in. Her house on Mango Street is the complete opposite to her dreams. It was a small red house, with just one washroom, no private backyard or lush green lawns. Esperanza is clear that her house on Mango Street is not what she wants. More importantly through the process of finding herself she is able to formulate a meaning of what it is like to feel "at home." Esperanza believes that to feel "at home" a person is comfortable, relaxed and at ease in their home. By the end of the book she does not find the home of her dreams in reality, but she is confident that she will find it eventually.
Esperanza expresses that in order to feel "at home" the person living in the home should be proud to show it off to other people. Esperanza shows how important the characteristic in order to feel "at home" is for her in the first vignette. She says
"There. I had to look to where she pointed-the third floor, the paint peeling, wooden bars Papa had nailed on the windows so we wouldn't fall out. You live there? The way she said it made me feel like nothing. There. I lived there? I nodded." (Cisernos 479).
This shows that Esperanza really cared about the appearance of her house. She was not proud of her current residence and greatly desired a real home. Esperanza is very conscious about what people think of her, as well as her home. Esperanza shows her passion for wanting a real home when she says "I knew then I had to have a house. A real house." (479) This quote indicates to us that she has not found a real home yet because she is still expressing her need for a real "home." Esperanza truly believes that in order to be "at home" one must be happy, comfortable and proud of it.
Esperanza's passion for a new home is so strong that she is constantly thinking what her dream home will look like. She says to her self " Not a flat, not an apartment. A house all my own... with my porch... my pretty petunias...a house quiet as snow..." (108). Esperanza's thinking on a new home specifies that she has not found the perfect home yet. By the end of the book Esperanza comes to the conclusion of what she is going to do to find a new home. She indicates this to the reader when saying, " One day I will pack my bags of books and paper. One day I will say goodbye to Mango. I am too strong for her to keep me here forever. One day I will go away" (110). By Esperanza saying this, it shows that she is determined to get out of Mango Street. When she specifically says "One day ..." that illustrates that she is still undecided about what her future holds for her. Yes she has a strong desire to have her own home, but now she thinks of sharing her fortunes with others on Mango Street by coming back to get them. Instead of being ashamed of her past and the house on Mango Street, she expresses her desire to write and tell stories about her past and how she was able to free her self from the Mango Street. In a way she comes to terms with her feelings about her house on Mango Street. At one time she was embarrassed to tell any one that she lived on Mango Street, by the end of the book she talks about telling stories of her humble and poor beginnings to her ultimate fulfillment of her dream.
Initially Esperanza is almost ashamed of her current home and would rather not let any one know where she lives. Her dream house can never be on Mango Street which is surrounded by neighbors who are poor, desperate, trapped and victims of their own unfortunate circumstances. By the end of the book Esperanza proves to us that she is definitely going to move away from Mango Street some day and come back for the trapped victims that used to live around her. She has a vision of how she will fulfill her dream. Her strong personality along with staunch determination and desire for a perfect home make it seem that these traits will help pave the path for fulfilling Esperanza's dream.
This is the complete article, containing 892 words
(approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page).
