Plot Overview

About the Author

The House on Mango Street is about a

young girl Esperanza and her struggles to
find her identity in a poor latino
neighborhood in Chicago. She doesnt
enjoy her new house because it is in the
middle of a poor neighborhood and is rundown and broken. She believes that her
house reflects on her life and future.
Esperanza tries to change her name to show
her true-self. The young girl has a mind of
her own. Instead of getting marry as soon
as possible to find freedom, She wants to
live to be a strong women and find who she
is and what she dreams to be in the future.
When Esperanza first moves into the house,
she disliked everything about it, but as time
pass, Esperanza matures and vows to leave
Mango Street and find her true identity
through the power or writing. Esperanza is
dealing with two conflicts, man vs. self, and
man vs. society. Esperanza doesnt know
who is really is inside. She struggles
everyday to find her identity. Esperanza is
also going against what others think she
should be and is finding what she wants to
be herself.

Sandra Cisneros is a poet, author, and essayist.

She received numerous awards including the NEA
fellowships in poetry and fiction, the Texas Medal of
the ARts, a MacArthur Fellowship, and many others
awards. Her novel, The House on Mango Street has
sold over five million copies and been translated into
over twenty languages. Cisneros was born in
Chicago in 1954 and studied at Loyola University of
Chicago and the University of Iowa. As a child,
Cisneros move repeatedly and never really felt that
she belonged to the dingy houses she lived in.
Cisneros had a time of depression and was feeling
ashamed of her house and herself. As a result, The
House on Mango Street was published. It reflects on
her house on a latino street in Chicago and her
struggles of writing.

Historical Context
The House on Mango Street was published
in 1954. It was published during that time by
minority women writers, focusing on culture and
gender. Even though it was and is still is a very
popular novel, Cisneros received much criticism,
mostly by minority male writers. There were many
stereotyping of Mexican Americans by the Whites
after the Great Depression, when the Mexican
immigrated to America.. Esperanza is against
gender roles, like the author herself. In an interview,
Cisneros states, I have to say that the traditional
role is kind of a myth. The traditional Mexican
woman is a fierce woman. Theres a lot of
victimization but we are also fierce. We are very

House on Mango Street

Sandra Cisneros
Jade Ngo
13, September 2016

Essential Quotes
Page 74, Paragraph 1:
They are the only ones who understand
me. I am the only one who understands
them. Four skinny trees with skinny
necks and pointy elbows like mine. Four
who do not belong here but are here.
Page 110, Paragraph
I put it down on paper and then the
ghost does not ache so much, I write it
down and Mango says goodbye
sometimes. She does not hold me with
both arms. She sets me free.

Reflections
Esperanza and her family moved into a
old house in a latino neighborhood in
Chicago. She is ashamed of her house
and vows to leave the house and write as
a way to find her true identity.

Character Analysis

Esperanza (narrator) : Esperanza is a

strong and independent young girl living in
the middle of a poor latino neighborhood
in Chicago. She describes her life around
the hopeless latino women and vows to
leave Mango Street and come back as
her true identity.
Mamacita (the mother of the man across
the street, third-floor front) : is a hopeless
Mexican women living on Mango that
does not know how to read or speak
English. This naive character would not
learn how to speak English, so she
doesnt leave her apartment because of
her fear of using a native language.
Mamacita helped Esperanza realize the
power of language, especially english.
Sally (Esperanzas friend) : Esperanza
admires Sally because of her beauty and
her maturity with boys. She believes that
Sally also wants to escape Mango Street,
but only find the exit through sexually
activities. Esperanzas negative
experiences with Sally made her realize
that Sally was too mature her young age.
Sally ended as a bad influence to
Esperanza instead of her role model.

Themes
A major theme in the novel The House on Mango
Street is the importance of words and language.
Esperanza realized how important communication
and letters are in America. Mamacita, a character
in the novel is a migrant that does not how to
speak or read in English. The women spends her
time in the apartments all day because of her fear
to use the unfamiliar language with other
neighbors. This shows how important English is in
America. Another major theme is the transition
from childhood to womanhood. When Esperanza
first moved into the old house on Mango Street, all
she wanted to do was move out as soon as
possible and get away from the neighborhood.
Esperanza soon discover the power of writing and
starts writing poems that seems to help her
escape the neighborhood. As time pass,
Esperanza matures and grows a connection with
everyone in her neighborhood, especially the
women. She somehow feels responsible for
them. Esperanza experience on Mango Street
made her mature and find her true identity.
Knowing your true identity is another theme in the
novel. Esperanza seeks to find who she really is
through her experiences on Mango Street. She
fears that she will end up like the women in the
neighborhood, under the control of men and no
freedom.

Motifs and Symbols

The old, run-down house on Mango
Street is a symbolism of Esperanzas
identity. She believes that the house is
her dreams and hopes. Another symbol
in The House on Mango Street is
Esperanzas mature friend, Sally. Sally
was sexually mature and influenced
Esperanza to be more interested in boys.
Even though Esperanza wants to be
independent and not be under control of
a man like the other women in her
neighborhood, being with Sally somehow
influenced her to be more sexually like
her. Sally is a symbol of Esperanzas
conflict between the urge for love and the
dream of being an independent woman.
The four trees are a symbolism of
Esperanza being different from the other
women on the street. Just like the trees,
Esperanza believes that she does not
belong on Mango Street. On page 74,
paragraph 1, it states, Four skinny trees
with skinny necks and pointy elbows like
mine. Four who do not belong here but
are here. This shows that the trees are
a reflection to Esperanza herself.