House On Mango Street Identity Essay

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Sandra Cisneros, the author of House on Mango Street conveys her thoughts throughout the whole book. In the book, she has a large family of seven, while in reality she has a family of 9. Both of these families are large, and this allows for the author to express her feeling toward these large families. There are two sides to the story that Sandra Cisneros tries to state. First is the identity already planned out by the people around her including her grandma, neighbors, and family. Then, there is the identity Esperanza tries to make for herself throughout the story. Growing up in an underdeveloped family, Esperanza finds it very hard to express her own thoughts. Esperanza dreams for this intangible idea of escaping poverty, but the siblings needing her help force this unrealistic dream to be unimaginable. “Until then I am a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor,” (Cisneros 9) clearly shows what the author is trying to state; Esperanza wants to dream her own future but just does not have the power to do so. Living in a home that feels like hell, Esperanza wants to escape the ropes society has placed on her and live life the way she wants to with her own unique identity. …show more content…

By showing the young, innocent view of Mango Street, the reader is able to grasp the idea of the stereotype inside mango street and show why Esperanza is a requirement in the family. Nenny is a huge part of this, and because she is the only sister, Esperanza has this huge urge to protect her. “If you get them you may turn into a man,” dumbfoundedly spoken by Nenny is soon recovered by “That’s right,” to show Rachel and Lucy, Nenny is not dumb.(Cisneros 50) This shows that Esperanza knows the reason she is needed in the

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