House on Mango Street

House on Mango Street

3) Since this book takes place within one year, we as the readers get a great look at Esperanza’s childhood. We get to see her grow from a carefree child to a responsible young woman. The main concept that we get to see throughout the story is growth, not only sexually but emotionally as well. Esperanza seems to grow in a very remarkable way. Although she dreams of leaving Mango Street, by the end of the year she has significantly matured. She realizes that she cannot leave Mango Street and she must help the other woman that live there. As a child I can relate to Esperanza very well. The first house I lived in was in a neighborhood that was rather poor. We did not have a very large house due to the small amount of income my family was receiving. I remember driving through other wealthy towns and dreaming of living there someday. Once I grew older, my family was able to move into a large house in a much better neighborhood. I was so excited about this. I remember driving back to see our old house. I thought that I would just look at the houses and have terrible thoughts. This was not the case. I feel the same way as Esperanza did in the story. I thought about all the great times I did have there and what a friendly community it was. Although I did not continue to live there like Esperanza did, I still feel like it is a good neighborhood even though it is so rundown.

4) Esperanza’s mother is a very smart and strong willed woman throughout