Red House On Mango Street Make Me Different

Make Me Different
Esperanza struggles with finding who she is. She is a young girl who moves a lot. Moving from house to house gets hard, especially for Esperanza. Being less fortunate and not owning a nice house like the wealthy can play a huge role on the way you view yourself. Esperanza is from Paulina, Keeler, Loomis, and now Mango Street. She lives with a family of a total of six. On Mango Street, they live in a small, red house. But, being in this house helps Esperanza find her identity. Mango Street is also a memory that Esperanza will never forget.
At the beginning of the novel, Esperanza’s self esteem and outlook on her life is extremely low and depressing. When Esperanza lived on Loomis, a nun had saw her playing outdoors and asked

where she lived. “You live there? The way she said it made me feel like nothing. I lived there. I nodded”(Cisneros 5). Esperanza is feeling guilt according to this quote. She is ashamed when she is asked if she lived in that house. Her response is speechless, and all she can do is nod. Other than feeling bad about where she lives, she also is not too fond of her name. “In English my name means hope. It means sadness it means waiting...I would like to baptize myself under a new name, a name more like the real me, the one nobody sees”(Cisneros 10-11). Esperanza’s self confidence is low because of the way she feels about her name. She wants to change her name, so it could fit who she thinks she truly is. Esperanza is not too thrilled with the life she lives, but as we dig deeper into the novel, her perspective may change.
During the course of this novel, there have been many forces/characters that have impacted the way Esperanza feels and views different issues.

Esperanza would read her aunt books and poems, and one day after she read her aunt a poem that she wrote, her aunt had something to say that would make her think. “That’s nice. That’s very good, she said in a tired voice. You just remember to keep writing Esperanza. You must keep writing. It will set you free, and I said yes, but at that time I didn’t know what she meant”(Cisneros 61). The quote is spoken from Esperanza’s aunt, and she is telling her to keep writing because it will free her. She follows the wise words of her aunt, and later finds out it did exactly that. When Esperanza feels down, she looks at the trees to give herself hope and gratefulness. “When I am sad and too skinny to keep keeping, when I am a tiny thing against so many bricks, then it is I look at trees. When there is nothing left to look at on this street. Four who grew despite concrete. Four who reach and do not forget to reach. Four whose only reason is to be and be”(Cisneros 75). The trees that she looks at encourage her to keep going. The trees give her strength, and they teach her to reach far, no matter how sad she gets. As Esperanza meets different peopel and sees how they live, her thoughts on life have definitely changed by the end of the

story.
By the end of the novel, Esperanza has completely changed the way she perceives and feels about herself and others.

She says in the book that she wants a house on the hill, and one day she knows she will get it. “One day I’ll own my own house, but I won’t forget who I am or where I come from”(Cisneros 87). Esperanza is proud of where she comes from and who she is. She says no matter where she goes in life, she knows her past will be right behind her, following her every step of the way. As Esperanza reaches the very end, she has realized how she has used writing to overcome this dislike of herself, and she comes to find out that writing did set her free and open to be Esperanza. “What I remember most is Mango Street, sad red house, the house I belong to but do not belong to. I put it on paper and then the ghost does not ache so much. I write it down and Mango says goodbye sometimes. She does not hold me with both arms. She sets me free”(Cisneros 110). Esperanza talks about how writing has helped her become independent and free like her aunt said it would. She writes about how good it makes her feel and what effect it has brought to her. Esperanza is almost a completely different person reaching the end of the novel. She now appreciates life as it is and fully accepts herself. She loves where she has come from and how far she has

came.
In conclusion, Esperanza now knows that no matter how much she does not want to be Mango Street, Mango Street will always be her. Being forced to take Mango Street where she goes, she is happy with doing it because she has learned to accept it. Although, at the beginning she didn’t like her name, her house, or her past, she has become more mature and more tolerate and embracing of what makes her Esperanza. Her viewpoints have changed drastically because of the people and the environment she’s adapted herself into. Esperanza learned from others she’s met that they can relate in very similar ways. Being able to relate to these people, Esperanza was able to change very little parts of herself to make her stand out. She values Mango Street and what it has did for her life, and she will forever keep it in her mind and heart wherever she goes.