The House on Mango Street Literary Analysis by Sandra Cisneros

GENERAL
1.   The book The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is about the process of maturing through the eyes of a twelve year old Chicana girl named Esperanza. Esperanza moves to a house on Mango St. with her parents, two brothers, and younger sister. She soon sees the separation of sexes in her neighborhood when she observes the way in which boys stay away from girls while they are outside. Her own brothers ignore her since it is not "right" for boys to interact with girls. She starts school and finds little friends. She befriends two sisters by the name of Lucy and Rachel. Together they go through various experiences that helps then mature each time. Esperanza dreams of a better house. She is ashamed of her on bedroom one bathroom house. Throughout the story she meets people that add to her knowledge of what adult life is like. She finds her first love to be a boy by the name of Sire who already has a girlfriend. She wants to be just like this girl but her mother is quick to try and convince her otherwise. Toward the end of the story, Esperanza is faced with an event that changes her. She is sexually assaulted by non-chicano boys at a carnival. Her first sexual experience is nothing like she had imagined. At the end of the story we see how what Esperanza truly wants is to leave Mango St. to one day come back for those who are unable to escape.
2.   The theme of The House on Mango Street is the coming of age. Esperanza starts off as a curious girl searching for acceptance among other children. She has grown up in a society in which women are thought of as less. Men as seen as the superior sex. Her father does not enforce this idea in their family so we see how Esperanza and her sister have a greater amount of liberty than other girls, such as Sally, have. Esperanza goes through a journey in which she changes and grows into a young lady. All of the people she meets add to to her view on life. Most of the girls she meets seem to be a lot more mature than her and her younger sister Nenny. Some await marriage others are already married and have children. Esperanza is beginning to flourish  but the people around her seem to be fast forwarding the process.
3.   The House on Mango Street has a hopeful tone (hence the name Esperanza) although at times it seemed to also show the sense of hopelessness. Esperanza  is a quick learner. She is bright on an intellectual level as well as on a worldly level. She learns a lot from Marin who teaches her about boys as well as how girls act and how they should be seen. Although there seems to be a dead end when it comes to escaping Mango St., Esperanza still has hop that someday she will escape its hold on her and she will discover a world different from the one she is so accustomed to. The story tells about some unfortunate events but ends on a good note. The most tragic event, Esperanza's assault, leads to the closing of the story in which we learn of Esperanza's plans to  leave Mango St. and return for those who could not leave. Esperanza's very name means hope. "In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means to many letters." Esperanza hopes to one day live in a house better than the one she lives in with her family. She hopes for this to one day come true. "...a real house that would be ours for always..."
4.   The House on Mango Street  uses a very simple/readable style of writing. It has no complicated text and Cisneros seems to make it as easy to read as possible. The book also consists of symbolism. "Four skinny trees with skinny necks and pointy elbows like mine. Four who do not belong here but are here." (Four Skinny Trees) Here the trees symbolize how out of place Esperanza feels in the neighborhood she lives in. The setting also plays an important part in the development of the story. It is set on the house on Mango St. which is Esperanza's overall problem. "The house has only one washroom. Everyone has to share a bedroom-..." (The House on Mango Street) The story is filled with minor conflict that makes up a greater conflict. Each character adds to the maturing the Esperanza but some bring confusion and doubt to her. The climax of the story occurs when Esperanza is sexually assaulted for this marks the end to her childhood. "He said I love you, I love you, Spanish girl." (Red Clowns) The resolution occurs when we learn that Esperanza has decided to leave Mango St. and then come back for those who are unable to leave. (Mango Says Goodbye Sometimes)

CHARACTERIZATION
1.    Esperanza is described through indirect characterization when she tells us about how she views her current situation at the beginning of the book. She tells us about the places in which she has lived before finally buying their house on Mango Street which is just as bad. It is small and later on we see how embarrassed she is because she lives there. She is a girl with dreams,  her main one being to leave Mango Street. Sally is also described indirectly. We see through her actions with the boys that she is a bit of a pervert and way to ahead for her age. I didn't see any real direct characterization in the story. Most character descriptions were made through the descriptions of others or through the descriptions of their surroundings. I think the author decided to only use one approach because she wanted to incorporate the physical surroundings of the characters into the story, since they played such an important role, and describing characters through descriptions of surroundings would accomplish this.
2   The author doesn't really tend to change the syntax/diction when focusing on character since. again, its a simple book. The story is viewed entirely through the eyes of Esperanza. She describes the settings and gives the reader insight on the characters. The story is biased toward the smaller characters since it is all told through the eyes of thirteen year old Esperanza.
3.   The protagonist, Esperanza, is definitely dynamic and round. She starts off as a naive girl who slowly learns about growing up as the story unfolds. At the beginning all she wanted to do was play and interact with the children living in the neighborhood but then she begins to interest herself in boys and sexual matters. She becomes curious and is disappointed at the end because it isn't what she expected so she goes on to worry about greater things like leaving Mango Street.
4.   I met a character through this story. A character that went through stages of life everyone experiences. She was a curious girl filled with desires and dreams. She had set goals that became stronger as the story unfolded. She wanted to become something greater and learned a lot along the way. I viewed her as a really character after she is abused by the boys at the fair. She tells of how much anger she feels toward Sally because she left her alone. She tries to place the blame on someone which is a common human reflex.