The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is about a young Latino girl,Esperanza, who has recently moved to Mango Street with her family. During her stay on Mango Street, she matures and is exposed to the negative implications her social class carries and the limitations of her gender. The small monetary value of her home causes her to feel ashamed and worthless, motivating her to seek a better life elsewhere and to escape the stigma of poverty. She begins to realize that improving her life is a difficult task because of the limited opportunities available to her as a woman. She explains how in Mexican culture, women are not supposed to be strong, as seen by the lives of women in her neighborhood. Esperanza’s observations of the trapped…show more content… She recalls the time when a nun passed by her previous home in Loomis and asked her where she lived.
When Esperanza pointed to her home with “paint peeling” and “wooden bars” on windows to prevent them from falling out, the nun questioned Esperanza, “You live there?”, making Esperanza “feel like nothing” (5). The way that the nun refers to the house as “there” demonstrates how society views houses as an indicator of one’s worth in society. Esperanza’s house with “paint peeling” and “wooden bars,” flaws that can be fixed with money, causes Esperanza to “feel like nothing.” The nun prompts Esperanza to associate her self-worth to the worth of her home, forcing her to realize the social implications that come with poverty. This realization encourages her to better her life as she “knew then [she] had to have a house. A real house. One [she] could point to”.
She wants a house of her own, one that she does not feel embarrassed of having but one that makes her feel respected and proud. The use of the words “had to have” portrays Esperanza’s intense desire to own a home as a goal she must accomplish in her life, implying that she will persevere through barriers that prevent her from achieving her
