“Sandra Cisneros, author of the critically acclaimed novel The House on Mango Street, has described her early life through narrative essays as being one of seven children born to a Mexican-American mother and Mexican father. During her childhood, Cisneros's father would move the family back and forth between Mexico and the United States as a way to cure the homesickness he felt for the country where he'd grown up. As for Cisneros, the family always returned to Chicago, the city of her birth, where, upon arrival, the family would be forced to find a new residence to call home. Undoubtedly, the action of constantly moving inspired Cisneros in her writing of The House on Mango Street, a novel about a young girl from a Hispanic family that moves, not between countries, but inner-city neighborhoods of Chicago.
The House on Mango Street's protagonist, Esperanza, is a girl who is continually let down by the limitations of her impoverished life. Her working family earns enough to feed, clothe, and educate herself and her younger sister Nenny, but not enough to purchase a house that she would be proud to call her home. In one chapter, Cisneros, through Esperanza's first person narration, describes a scene in which the tale's protagonist must shamefully admit her address to a nun from her school: "Where do you live? she asked. There, I said pointing up to the third floor. You live there? There. I had to look to where she pointed -- the third floor, the paint peeling, wooden bars Papa had nailed on the windows so we wouldn't fall out. You live there? The way she said it made me feel like nothing."
Due to attitudes like those of the nun's, the act of moving is both a source of frustration and hope for Esperanza; although she dislikes packing away her things, each move means another chance at an even better life. Soon, Esperanza's parents promise her a house that they will own, a home that will be theirs to keep. Esperanza imagines the house of her dreams during the process of their move to Mango Street, only to be disappointed when she arrives and sees that that the "small and red" building is nothing like she imagined it: "I knew then I had to have a real house. One that I could point to. But this isn't it. The House on Mango Street isn't it."
While living on Mango Street, Esperanza reaches some startlingly perceptive conclusions. As a preteen girl, one would expect someone her age to be whiny and pity-seeking in her attempts to convey the hardships of her life. Cisneros's layered protagonist is just the opposite; Esperanza is extremely mature in her realistic and intelligent descriptions of inner city life. She rises above the odds that fate stacks against her and shows her ability to transcend the stereotype often assigned to people from lower class backgrounds. Her eloquent thoughts expressed through Cisneros's poetic prose make reading the truth about urban life not a chore, but a privilege.
The House on Mango Street has no set plot, but that hardly leaves anything to be desired. Each chapter is short and (sometimes) sweet and includes characters of all types: shopkeepers, school girls with bad reputations, cat ladies, tarot card readers, women oppressed by their husbands, boys who steal cars, boys who kiss girls, nuns, mothers, children, and more. It is the characters, not the plot, that make the book so remarkable. The House on Mango Street is more about the experiences of the protagonist and author than dramatic story lines or bombastic dialogue. The emotions Cisneros presents to her audience through her simple yet profound writing style may be overwhelming for readers who are unsympathetic, but eye-opening for those who are willing to read about a previously uncelebrated way of life. Despite the fact that not everyone shares the shame origins as Esperanza, it is the novel's themes of giving back, valuing education, reaching goals, and living dreams that make the tale universal and enjoyable to all.
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Ali S wrote this review Monday, January 19, 2009.
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