Poverty In The House On Mango Street

The House on Mango Street, is a fictional novel written by Sandra Cisneros.
The House on Mango Street is a novel composed of connected vignettes. The novel is told through the eyes of Esperanza, the main heroine. Throughout the novel Esperanza expresses her desire to leave Mango Street for a better, wealthier, and happier life. Esperanza makes many references to her feelings about her family's poverty; in multiple vignettes Esperanza expresses her sadness,resentfulness, and disappointment of her poverty
In the vignette "a rice sandwich" Esperanza shows her embarrassment and sadness for her family's poverty. "That one? She said, pointing to a row of ugly three-flats, that even the raggedy men are ashamed to go into. Yes, I nodded even though I knew that was not my house and started to cry." (Cisneros, 45). This quote really portrays Esperanza's sadness. Even though, Esperanza knew that was not her house she started to cry

because that is the kind of house the nun thinks she lives in. The nun thought that since Esperanza was not wearing new clothes or new shoes she was not capable of living in a nice house, she looked as if she was living in a ugly and shameful house. Esperanza is just a young girl, the nun's statement makes her sad because she feels like her poverty shows, that people judge her because her family does not come from wealth.
The nun judged a book by its cover, not knowing where Esperanza lives the nun looked at her and assumed she was living in rundown home. Esperanza is already ashamed of her home because of its image and location and the nun making that comment only makes Esperanza feel more looked down upon for her lack of money.
In the vignette "Alicia and I talking on Edna's steps" Esperanza explains to Alicia how she resents The House on Mango Street. "No, this isn't my house I say and shake my head as if shaking could undo the year I have lived here. I don't belong. I don't ever want to come here." (Cisneros, 107). Esperanza is resentful of her family's poverty. She is resentful of her house on Mango Street. It causes her distress to be poor, she does not feel like she belongs on Mango Street, a poor neighborhood. She feels this way because deep down she cannot cope with the life of poverty. Esperanza does not want to live on Mango Street. Even after a year Esperanza does not want to admit to herself that this is her life. That probability suggest she will not become very wealthy, because she has been raised in poverty. She does not have the money to do something with her life. Esperanza cannot come to terms with herself and admit this because it means she is giving up her dreams. She is letting go of all her hopes.
In the first vignette "The house on Mango Street" the reader truly gets to feel Esperanza's pain and constant disappointment.

" They always told me that one day we would move into a real house, that would be ours. A house with trees, a white picket fence, real stairs and running water. The house on Mango Street isn't it. " (Cisneros, 4). This quote gives the reader a better understanding on why Esperanza is so frustrated with her poverty. Esperanza is constantly being let down because her poverty gets in the way. Her parents make all these promises to her that they cannot keep, because they do not have the money. Esperanza is still young and so far her life has been full of disappointment. When Esperanza's family moved into The House on Mango Street Esperanza's was excited, she expected to be moving into her dream house. Yet, once again her family's poverty gets in the way and they move into a shabby house. Esperanza's constant disappointment causes her a great deal of emotional pain, and all this pain leads back to her family's

poverty.
Throughout the novel The house on Mango Street the main character Esperanza makes many references to her feelings about her family's poverty; in multiple vignettes Esperanza expresses her sadness,resentfulness, and disappointment of her poverty
Esperanza is often saddened because her family lives in an awful house, and they cannot afford to buy her new shoes and clothing. She is also very resentful of her family's poverty. Esperanza does not like to accept the fact that she is poor. For almost the whole novel she refuses to accept her place on Mango Street. She never embraces her place there. Lastly, Esperanza was often disappointed because her family's poverty prevented her parents from coming through with their promises. This being the case Esperanza was often disappointed which lead her to hate her family's poverty even more.