The House on Mango Street Analysis Essay Example

The House On Mango Street is a novel written by Sandra Cisnero depicting the year of the main character, Esperanza's life when she lived on Mango Street. The book includes many characters that impact Esperanza such as her mother, her friend Sally, and her neighbor Marin. These characters give insights to not only their similarities to Esperanza, but their differences, and ultimately how Esperanza was able to avoid the pitfalls of her environment where they were not. 

We are first introduced to Esperanza’s mother in the chapter titled Hairs, where Esperanza is explaining how their hair differs in each member of her immediate family. She is also mentioned in the fourth chapter, however her first important scene isn't until page forty-three in the chapter titled Rice Sandwich. In this chapter, Esperanza asked her mother if she is able to have a sandwich to bring to school in order to eat in the canteen so she won’t have to walk home everyday during lunch. Her mother tells her no at first, claiming that if she makes Esperanza lunch for school, each of her siblings would also want one, despite their disinterest. It takes three days to convince her mother, which is where the first major difference between the two women. Esperanza, unlike her mother, is rather easy to win over as seen in the chapter titled Our Good Day where Esperanza’s future friends Lucy and Rachel ask her for five dollars in order for them to buy a bicycle. Despite Esperanza not knowing them and even being warned not to give them the money, she is quick to run inside and find the five dollars, two of which are stolen from her younger sister, in order for the two girls to buy a bike. Despite this difference though, the two women also have a major similarity that is one of the main driving characteristics of Esperanza, which is their shame. In the chapter titled Smart Cookie, Esperanza’s mother is making oatmeal when she tells her to study and work hard so she can become something. According to Mama, she too could’ve been something had she not dropped out of school due to her shame of not having new clothes. However, this similarity leads to a major difference as well, since Mama’s shame caused her to give up on finding something better, it only drives Esperanza to do the opposite, which by the end of the story we find she succeeds in doing. 

Where Esperanza and her mother have few interactions that contribute to Esperanza’s character, Marin impacts her a bit more. Described as a troublesome girl who wears short skirts to catch the attention of boys with dreams of marrying her boyfriend who lives in Puerto Rico as well as being swept away by a rich man she dreams of meeting, the differences are more noticeable. Where Marin enjoys catching the attention of boys and wants to be married and taken care of, Esperanza instead dreams of growing up and being independent and taking care of herself. In fact, Esperanza doesn’t show much interest in boys throughout the story, going as far as alluding to being scared of them and disliking when they stare at her. These differences are more difficult to spot, however they are important in furthering the story and showing how despite living in a poor neighborhood and dealing with poverty, Esperanza would prefer to get out of it on her own instead of relying on a man to do it for her. 

Sally is another important character in The House on Mango Street. She is described as a pretty girl with an abusive father who often leaves her bruised despite Sally claiming he doesn’t hit her that hard in the chapter titled What Sally Said. It gets so bad that Sally even is given permission to stay with Esperanza’s family to get away from her fathers tranny, which later turns into her husband's tyranny in an abusive cycle she marries into. Similarly to Marin, Sally is often seen entertaining boys. In the chapter The Monkey Garden, Sally is promised the return of her stolen keys if she gives each of the boys who stole them kisses. This is the first time we are given a glimpse of just how protective Esperanza is of her friend, as she goes out of her way in order to get the boys to stop exploiting Sally. Not only does she tell one of the boys’ mothers, who claims she is unable to do anything, but she also threatens to hit them with bricks if they don’t leave her alone, only to be shooed away by Sally herself, hinting that Sally doesn’t care for Esperanza in the way Esperanza cares for her. This is only cemented farther into the readers head in the chapter titled The Ted Clowns where in a heartbreaking vent from Esperanza it is learned that Sally stood Esperanza up at the fair where they were supposed to meet, leaving Esperanza alone and vulnerable to the man who ends up assaulting her. The next time we hear of Sally it is a few chapters later in a section titled Linoleum Roses where it is said that Sally got married to a man just as controlling and abusive as her father. 

Although these are only three characters that make up the entirety of The House on Mango Street, their impact on Esperanza is significant. Esperanza’s experience with them highlights the cycles in which one's environment can trap them in. As to where Mama, Marin, and Sally give into their seemingly predetermined fates, Esperanza actively fights against hers. In the end, Esperanza is able to win the fight against her fate, leading her to move away from Mango street just as she had always wanted. Independent and alone.