The House On Mango Street Analysis

Submitted By Quin-Green
Words: 444
Pages: 2

The house on Mango Street starts with a Mexican girl, Esperanza Cordero, growing up in Chicago with Mexicans and Puerto Ricans. Esperanza is determined to "say goodbye" to her run downed Latino neighborhood. Focusing on her day-to-day activities. The stories she tells can be as short as two or three paragraphs long. In The Family of Little Feet for example, Esperanza says:

"Their arms were little, and their hands were little, and their height was not tall, and their feet very small each story can stand as an independent story. They often mention characters introduced in earlier chapters. The conflicts and problems in these short stories are never fully finished. There is very little distance between the reader and the narrator. The tone is hopeful, as Esperanza herself sometimes expresses her worn views on life: "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. For the time being, Mama says. Temporary, says Papa. But I know how those things go."

Though Esperanza's age is never revealed to the reader, it is implied that she is about thirteen. She begins to write as a way of telling her story and as a way to escape the annoying effect of the neighborhood. The book also includes the stories of many of Esperanza’s neighbors, giving a full image of the neighborhood. Esperanza quickly befriends Lucy and Rachel Guerrero, two Texan girls who live across the street. Lucy, Rachel, Esperanza, and Nenny, have many adventures in the small space of their neighborhood.

Esperanza later starts to get older and begins to like it when boys watch her dance. Esperanza's new views lead her to become friends with Sally, a girl