The House on Mango Street

This edition of The House on Mango Street begins with an autobiographical prologue, drawing comparison between the fictional Esperanza and the author, Sandra Cisneros. It is therefore important to read the novel with an eye toward biographical criticism, or the study of an author’s life and how it is reflected in their written works. To understand this novel, we must also understand Cisneros’s personal background, family relationships, and specific place in her historic and socio-political context. Cisneros describes Esperanza as her alter ego:

I couldn’t trust my own voice […] People saw a little girl when they looked at me and heard a little girl’s voice when I spoke. Because I was unsure of my own adult voice and often censored myself, I made up another voice, Esperanza’s, to be my voice and ask the things I needed answers to myself (2).

As the vignettes reveal, Cisneros is primarily concerned with asking questions about what it means to grow up in America as the child of immigrants, and what it means to grow up as a female who wants to pursue higher education and a career as a writer instead of marriage and babies right out of high school. The novel tracks a young woman from childhood into young adulthood, chronicling her life lessons and struggles along the way. The main character makes this a rare, if not the first, bildungsroman depicting a Hispanic girl in America. Not only is the content of this novel important, the voice employed by the author is critical. As Cisneros says in the prologue, she is writing at a time when there are almost no female authors of Hispanic descent. This work helped introduce the world to the notion of a Mexican American author and a female Hispanic author.

Esperanza begins by describing her disappointment. She and her family shared hopes of achieving the American dream, which for them is represented by home ownership. Moving from rental to rental has taken a toll on their family, and they hope that settling into a home of their own will allow them to feel secure and successful. However, the house they can afford looks nothing like the white picket fence suburban dream. Esperanza is sorely disappointed and realizes early on that if she wants to experience the American dream, it will be up to her to achieve it. She will not be satisfied until she owns a home of her own, not only because that will signify independence and inclusion in American society, but also because it will afford her the privacy and space that she lacks while sharing a bedroom with her entire family.

Chapters 2, 3 & 4 introduce us to Esperanza’s family. Esperanza is conflicted; she feels both a strong sense of connection to her family (as evidenced by her description of her mother’s beautiful, comforting hair) and a burgeoning sense of separation. She doesn’t feel quite as connected to her brothers as they get older: “They’ve got plenty to say to me and Nenny inside the house. But outside they can’t be seen talking to girls” (8). She feels that Nenny is an obligatory relationship rather than a true friendship, and she describes herself as “a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor” (8).

Esperanza also discusses her conflicted relationship with her name. She knows that her name makes her stand out because it isn’t American. She inherited her name from her great grandmother, which feels special. Yet her great grandmother was forced into marriage early and lived an unhappy life, a story that Esperanza does not want to repeat: “I have inherited her name, but I don’t want to inherit her place by the window” (11). Both the anecdote about her grandmother and her description of herself as a “red balloon” hint at Esperanza’s later success and her need for freedom. Esperanza is ready to float away, once her anchors are cut free.

Chapter 5 introduces the important concepts of racism and prejudice. Cathy, nicknamed “Queen of Cats” (12), is a white girl who parrots the words of adults in her life who say that “the neighborhood is getting bad” (13). She tells Esperanza of her plans to move away from Mango Street. Cathy doesn’t seem to understand what she is saying, but Esperanza knows that Cathy and others like her are moving away because people like Esperanza’s family are moving in. Here, Cisneros is describing “white flight,” when white people migrate away from ethnically diverse urban areas. While Esperanza doesn’t realize it yet, this migration is more harmful to her area than simple, racist avoidance. White flight usually coincides with red lining, or raising prices unfairly in ethnically diverse areas, and mortgage hikes. These unfair practices seek to keep people of color and immigrants confined to one area, causing overcrowding and poverty. White flight, therefore, is part of a larger problem that causes the poor condition of Esperanza’s neighborhood.