Literary Analysis: The House on Mango Street

Since my my friend, Sara had the book, I decided to read it. Thought it would save me some time from going to the library or a book store..

1. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is a mexican coming-of-age novel that is made up of vignettes, which aren't poems but also not full stories. The novel is about a girl, Esperanza Cordero who lives in society of chicanos and Puerto Ricans. She feels a strong urge of leaving her impoverish ways and going into a new world. The novel starts off during Esperanza's younger ages, where her family has just moved to a new house in the center of Chicago. The house was very big improvement from where her and her family had previously lived, but she did not like the house at all, the city was more racially segregated and Esperanza soon had hopes and dreams to get out of this city and have her own house. The novel expresses Esperanza's later years, as she matures physically and emotionally. It portrays stories of how she made friends, grows hips, about the development of her first crush, how she endured a sexual assault and how she writes to express her feelings and thoughts. Through the novel, Cisneros also describes each of the neighbors and how Esperanza crosses them in her life in the future. She matures more and more as the novel illustrates her experiences and relations with other people. She has the will to leave Mango street throughout the novel but develops an understanding that she will not fully leave the place, some of her, emotionally, will always be there and she will soon have to come back to take care of the woman she has left in the future. She then decides to stay on Mango Street but her will to leave increases and she engaged in writing her thoughts and feelings out until the day she will leave Mango Street.

2. The main themes of the novel are a quest for a better life and the loyalty and significance of her promise to someday come back for the ones she has left behind. It is important that Esperanza engages in her hopes and dreams of leaving her street and starting her own life, but throughout the novel it is very dominant that the people living on the street have effected her in some way and she will always emotionally be attached or connected to the people and the street itself.

3. The story is in Esperana's point of view. She constantly sounds young and innocent, but at the same time the way she describes things are very different, clever, and artistic. For example, in one of the first chapters called "Hairs" she describes her mother's hair:

     "...like little rosettes, like little candy circles all curly and pretty because she pinned it in pincurls all day, sweet to put your nose into when she is holding you, holding you and you feel safe, is the warm smell of bread before you bake it.."

Sometimes when she talks it seems like she says things in such a factual, nonchalant way, even though what she's saying could be considered quite sad or terrible.

      "Most likely I will go to hell and most likely I deserve to be there. My mother was born on an evil day and prays for me."
"I am an ugly daughter. I am the one nobody comes for."

4. Symbolism: Esperanza has dreams, hopes, and plans. These are symbolized by a house. Esperanza regards the house on Mango Street as simply a house she lives in with her family. When she was younger and constantly on the move from apartment to apartment, her parents promised her a real home with a green yard, real stairs, and running water with pipes that worked. She dislikes the house on Mango Street because its sad appearance and cramped quarters are completely contrary to the idealistic home she always wanted. Esperanza's dream becomes having a house of her own.

Like said in the section before this, Esperanza has a very artistic way of describing things. The author uses personification and different syntax and diction to make this happen. The tone of Esperanza is sweet and innocent which creates a dfferent mood from how she sees Mango Street.