A House On Mango Street Literary Analysis

A House on Mango Street is a coming of age story that is widely considered a modern American classic. It was written by Sandra Cisneros and published in 1984 by Arte Público Press. A House on Mango Street tells a story of a young girl growing up in a house she is not proud of. Along the journey, she goes through a lot of change and meets many new people. The story is set in a Spanish neighborhood in Chicago. This neighborhood is where the reader meets many fascinating character, the conflicts of the plot convey themselves and the deeper meaning of the story is understood.

From the beginning, the reader is given with a lot of characters to keep track. The story, which is told in first person point of view, is narrated by the main character Esperanza. Esperanza is a young girl who goes through a lot of difficulty in her life, starting off with her family moving again to Mango Street. Their house is described as a very unsightly one which makes Esperanza ashamed. The novel is written much like her journal where she records important events and people she meets. Beyond her, there are no other major characters. There are at least 27 other characters that only get occasional mentions in the book. Almost every chapter introduces a new character, and it becomes difficult to keep up with all of the character in the book. Esperanza has a younger sister named Nenny who she

often describes as stupid and annoying. Her two closest friends are Lucy and Rachel who she hangs out with often.

None of the characters other than Esperanza play a large part in the plot because the plot is mainly her internal conflict.

It is possible that even as young as the girl is, she is depressed. Her family has moved many times, and she does not have any close friends. The plot revolves around the many things that could add to this. While there are many conflicts and struggles, the story lacks a resolution. By the end of the book, the reader is left wondering what ever happened to Esperanza. The plot is poorly constructed with a lot of questions that remained unanswered throughout the

story.

Even though the plot seems like the life of an ordinary girl, there can be much deeper interpreted messages. The structure of the book itself can easily represent the thinking of a child. The author uses things like repetition an similes. She occasionally lacks grammatical structure, such as not using quotations for dialog. The simplistic way of writing, however hard to read it may be, gives a little more insight to how Esperanza's mind works.

There are also a lot of things that could be assumed about the theme. Considering a majority of the plot consists of Esperanza struggling with her own appearance and the appearance of the place she lives, it could be said that the theme is don't judge a book by its cover.

In conclusion, many readers think highly of A House on Mango Street because of its charming use of litterary elements, heart felt plot, and relatable characters. A House on Mango Street shows us that even children of young ages can have major struggles and problems of their own. People should be more aware of their children and not dismiss the idea that they may be in pain. Despite its flaws, A House on Mango Street proves to be an inspirational novel perfect for younger and older readers a like.