The House on Mango Street
The House on Mango StreetIn The House On Mango Street Esperanza reveals personal
experiences through which the reader is able to determine what kind of
person she is; her views on life, how she views herself, as well as
how her poverty affects her view of life, her view of her future, and
how her poverty currently affects her place in the world. The
vignettes show different aspects of Esperanza’s identity as it evolves
and changes progressively throughout The House On Mango Street.
Esperanza’s identity, as divulged in the vignettes, is
multifaceted. Her shyness is evident when she is around people who are
unfamiliar to her. This is most likely due to the intimidation these
people pose. For example, in the vignettes “The First Job” and “A Rice
Sandwich” Esperanza is too shy to eat with her other co-workers and
peers, as shown in the following quotation from “The First Job”: “When
lunch time came I was scared to eat alone in the company lunchroom”.
Another dominant feature in Esperanza’s personality is the trust she
has in others. This is one of Esperanza’s weaknesses as an individual
because it allows her to be gullible and vulnerable. In ‘Cathy Queen
of Cats’ Esperanza’s gullibility is obvious when Cathy tells Esperanza
that “…[her] father will have to fly to France one day and find
her…cousin…and inherit the family house. How do I know this is so?
She told me so.”. Another error in trusting others is that Esperanza
is susceptible to betrayal. In ‘Red Clowns’ Esperanza is betrayed by
Sally because Sally told Esperanza that the circus would be a fun
experience, but instead she was raped. Esperanza blames Sally, the
magazines, and the movies for lying to her about the circus. Esperanza
is a very idealistic person. She assumes everything is pretty and fun,
but when she finds out the acrimonious reality of life she becomes
disappointed and deems herself stupid for not knowing better.
Unbeknownst to Esperanza, her naiveté and inexperience is normal. For
example, in ‘Gil’s Furniture Bought & Sold’ Esperanza assumes that a
music box is “…a pretty box with flowers painted on it, with a
ballerina inside…” but when it’s revealed to her that...
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