Objects/Places
Mango Street: Although it is not the only place Esperanza Cordero has lived, it is the most important in her cultural heritage. Mango Street is not in a good neighborhood, and Esperanza's house is a broken down old shack in which she is ashamed to live. However, through all the people she meets living on Mango Street, she realizes that she must always return to it in order to remember who she is and from where she comes.
Pan Photo Finishers: Pan Photo Finishers is the photo lab in which Esperanza finds her first job. She must simply correlate the photos with the negatives. One day during her lunch hour, she hides in the closet and finds an older Oriental man who tries to kiss her.
The Canteen: The canteen is the lunchroom at school in which many boys and girls eat when they live too far to go home for lunch. Esperanza desperately wants to be a part of the canteen and begs her mother to write her a note and make her a sack lunch so that she may join the rest of the children. However, when her mother finally complies, the nuns at school claim that she lives too close to eat in the canteen and make a mockery of her attempts. She spends her one lunch hour in the canteen crying.
The Monkey Garden: The Monkey Garden is located on Mango Street and seems one place where Esperanza can hide and play and just be herself. However, when she plays with Sally in it, the boys taunt and tease them. When Esperanza tries to save Sally from the boys, she is raped.
Gil's Furniture Bought and Sold: Gil's Furniture store is a vintage store that Esperanza and Nenny visit during their youth.
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