House On Mango Street

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Understanding What Is Home Home isn't just a house. It's where we feel safe, loved, and understood. Exploring what home really means helps us see how it shapes who we are and what we cherish. Esperanza's journey in The House on Mango Street is a poignant exploration of the concept of home and its significance in shaping identity and aspirations. Initially, she grapples with feelings of shame and discontent towards her house, yearning for a better life elsewhere. This internal conflict is evident when Esperanza reflects, The House on Mango Street is not the way they told it at all. It's small and red with tight steps in front and windows so small you'd think they were holding their breath" (Cisneros, The House on Mango Street). Here, Esperanza's dissatisfaction with her …show more content…

Ruthie shows that makeshift homes may work out temporarily. As Esperanza observes, "Ruthie doesn't ever leave her house." Not even to throw out the trash or answer the milkman" (Cisneros, 32). Conversely, Mamacita's deep attachment to her cultural home with her sense of loneliness and isolation in a foreign land, highlighting the hardships of someone's relationship with home. As Esperanza grows up, she realizes she doesn't want a typical home like everyone else's. She sees how women in her neighborhood are held back, and it makes her want something different. She wants a home that fits her dreams and who she is, not what society says is normal. Esperanza learns from her friend Sally, whose unhappy marriage shows her how relationships can affect how you feel about where you belong. When Sally's life doesn't turn out how Esperanza hoped, she realizes she doesn't want that for herself. Sally, you lied. It wasn't what I dreamed of. I don't know what I dreamed of. But it wasn't this" (Cisneros, 87). She feels like Sally lied to her about what life could be

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