Tuesday, July 29, 2008



The House on Mango Street:
  • Cisneros, S. (1984). The House on Mango Street. New York: Vintage Books, 110 pp.
  • Genre: Coming of Age
  • Awards: American Book Award (1985),

In Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango Street a young girl, Esperanza, navigates growing-up in the harsh environment of inner-city Chicago. Esperanza's sharp perspective leads the reader through making friends with the other children of the neighborhood, dealing with her family, and analyzing the intricate system of her neighborhood. When adolescence captures Esperanza's youth, she is forced to deal with many of the factors that accompany this transition: more freedom, attraction to boys, self consciousness etc. While in the midst of this transition, Esperanza is abandoned by her highly sexual friend Sally at the circus and is sexually assaulted by a group of men. Forced to cope with this experience primarily through writing, Esperanza returns to her older, less promiscuous friends. After escaping the brunt of adolescence, a more mature Esperanza considers leaving Mango street.

Cisernos arranges this novella into a series of vignettes. This method of organization allows for Esperanza's voice to be a compilation of thematically relevant experiences rather than chronologically relevant. For example, some of the last vignettes are from the perspective of a much younger Esperanza than some of the vignettes at the beginning. Cisernos does an excellent job of using Esperanza's fragmented pictures and memories to construct a quilt of experience and maturity.

This type of narration is highly relatable to many adolescents who are stuck with the problem of attempting to sort out a brand new set of emotions from those experienced during childhood. Additionally, the juxtaposition of childhood and adolescence allows Cisernos to illustrate the complexity and fear involved in this transition from childhood to adolescence. Many adolescents will empathize with Esperanza's want to be more promiscuous like her friend Sally. However, Cisernos uses Sally to demonstrate the importance of not being swayed by the temptations of peer pressure.

Themes of transition and home are key in this novella. Cisernos plays on the multi-ethnic nature of the city as well as a variety of age ranges in her characters to create a highly diverse world for Esperanza to navigate. Esperanza is constantly attempting to determine where she fits both in her community and in the world at large. In the beginning of the book, Cathy--one of Esperanza's first friend in the neighborhood and one of the few non-Latino characters--advises against Esperanza being friends with Rachel and Lucy. This immediately introduces a cultural problem for Esperanza. This problem requires Esperanza to transition into being friends with Rachel and Lucy after Cathy moves. The volatility of these early friendships in Esperanza's life resonate with many adolescents attempting to find a social group to befriend. This is especially true for adolescents who feel some alienation due to ethnicity.

  • Classroom Use: I could easily see this novel being used as a whole group reading or read aloud. It contains invaluable perspective on cultural diversity and the process of maturation. Due to its relatively short length it seems perfect for even reluctant readers to attempt individually.
  • Appropriate Age Range: This book is appropriate for ages 13 and above. The perspective offered in this work is extremely relevant to individuals entering their teens. Additionally, this novella possess valuable lessons for both girls and boys.

The punch that a work as short as this novella packs is astounding to me. Its ability to address ethnic issues, developmental issues, domestic violence, etc. makes this work an essential read not only for young readers but also for adults. I would love to teach this book or simply discuss it with anyone interested.

Brian Lee

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