The House On Mango Street Essay

852 Words2 Pages

In Esperanza’s life, she learns to value friendship and other relationships along with her background and education, turning her into a well-rounded individual. In Esperanza's heart, for example, she values those around her and her relationships with them. In “Boys & Girls” Esperanza states, “Someday I will have a best friend all my own” (9). You can see her accomplish this in “Sally” when she says to Sally, “Sally, not since then, you don’t have a best friend to lean against the schoolyard fence with” (82). In this, she implies that she will be Sally’s best friend, following her heart in the process. However, Esperanza’s life is formed by more than people. It is also formed off of her foundation through school and education. She has been taught …show more content…

Because I didn’t have nice clothes. No clothes, but I had brains” prove that her parents instilled this belief in her at a young age. This belief leads to her biggest goal in life, to be successful and have the money to improve her state. However, she wants to do this while still being the girl who grew up on Mango Street and who people once looked down on. She expresses this in “Bums in the Attic”, “One day I’ll own my own house, but I won’t forget who I am or where I came from” (87). Because of these goals and beliefs, the trees from “Four Skinny Trees” are a good symbol for Esperanza. She herself experiences many of the traits she gives the trees, “Their strength is secret. They send ferocious roots beneath the ground. They grow up and they grow down and grab the earth between their hairy toes and bite the sky with violent teeth and never quit their anger” (74) and even goes as far as to compare herself to their trees in the ways she describes. Between everything in her life, Esperanza has learned to value others and success and therefore strives to achieve

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