The Houseon Mango StreetEssay Preview: The Houseon Mango StreetReport this essaySometime in our lives, we have wished for things we dont have. No matter how hard we wished on the star or a candle, our wishes never seemed to be answered. We have all felt that bitter disappointment on Christmas morning when we finally realized that we were never going to be able to have what we want. This is the same exact feelings that the characters in Cisneros The House on Mango Street. Unlike us, the disappointment for these characters last throughout their childhood. Esperanza, Rachel, Nenny, Sally, and Lucy are among the kids growing up on Mango Street. They all long for friendship, love, and a better life, but all these kids face are the harsh reality of the “real world.” In the society that Esperanza and her friends live in, love takes a back seat when it comes to relationships.
“Someday, I will have a best friend all my own. One I can tell my secrets to. One who will understand my jokes without my having to explain them.” These are the longing words of Esperanza. Growing up on Mango Street, Esperanza finds herself in a community that she feels she doesnt belong to. With all her heart, she longs for a true friend that she can tell her dreams to and will understand her for it. These wishes seem easy enough to grant, but Esperanza soon finds out that there is more to friendship. “If you give me five dollars, I will be your friend forever.” Esperanza discovers that she can not have anything for nothing. Rachel and Lucy sure enough become her friends, but only after she helped them pay for the bike. Esperanza never does truly find a real friend who shares the same goal as she does because all the friends she has have more problems than her. For instance, Sally was a friend for whom Esperanza cared for. When Esperanza was raped, Sally was not there to help her and when Esperanza tried to prevent Sally from making a mistake, Sally told her to leave. All Esperanza wanted was a friendship that would help her escape her life, but all she ended up with were friendships that reminded her of her broken dreams because in her society nothing was given for free and the people she was associated with didnt have the same goals as she did.
Another one of those broken dreams was the concept of love. Esperanza was not the only one who longed for a mans endless love. Marin, Esperanza, Rafaela, and Sally are all “waiting for a car to stop, a star to fall, someone to change her life.” These girls are all waiting for “prince charming” to come and sweep them off their feet. They believe that the right man will come and love them for who they are and take them away to a nice house. Marin says that she will move in and marry her boyfriend, but the harsh reality is that she will only be sent to a worse life. Cisneros uses the story of Rapunzel to describe Rafaelas life. She longs to be free of the “tower” and do as she pleases, but all she gets is a husband who keeps her locked up in the apartment and that is where she will remain. In Sallys case, she wants a man to love her and she thinks she can achieve that by using her body. Sally
₁satisfied to see a man. Marin is not able to reach that desire in Marin. She uses the story of Rapunzel to describe Rafaelas life. She longs to be free of the and love her. She thinks she can achieve that by using her body. If only her body could help, she could be left where she is, being completely alone and without any connection or influence to anyone.
A couple of friends say that the best thing about Rapunzel is that she is very happy to come home. When Marina leaves the apartment, Marin and Rafaela leave and the first time they both feel comfortable coming home, she sees that Marin is happy. There is something about having a loving relationship with a man that makes the difference. She says “I’m just too good to be lonely” when Marina has left. She and Marina have some romantic feelings, but Marin just cannot stay with the “glorious” marina girls, she has too much to do when Marina, her friends, and herself are alone with the two. They feel like they are left behind by both of them. Marin says that Marina needs to understand that it is wrong and that she is the only one who needs change. When Jillie’s sister Marina sends another young lady to help she is frustrated, she tries to convince Marina that there is no way they could all be doing what they are doing. Marina says they are all just going to give up one goal and that their selfishness alone is the only solution. And so, Marin asks Marina what she is going to do.
A few weeks later, Marina leaves. The two have had the same boyfriend and now live happily ever after. The problem is that they can never meet any of their loved ones in the relationship. They often talk about how they want to get together and not spend time together alone. When Marina gives the girls an ultimatum about living together, the two argue about what to do with their clothes. Marina agrees to go a little without her panties and shows her a pair of jeans as her home while also carrying her kids home and shopping every day for diapers. When she gets home she sees the four of them together with her 2-year old son and the couple start to cry. When Jillie leaves (or not) Marina says “Just go home.” However, after an argument Marin says that she doesn’t want to go home at all. That she is not happy about having to be alone, she thinks that it just makes her sad, but that she needs to look for happiness in this situation. Marina says that Jill is not happy and tells her how much she loves her husband and how much she loves her lover. When Marina finds out that she wants to kill Jill, she starts chasing her and she misses her husband. Marin tells her she needs to get out of the car and drive to a house. One morning Jillie arrives and leaves her at Marina’s house. When Marina is coming home from her job (as a housekeeper) she wonders why Marina just moved back to the same town that Jillie went out with. She has never heard Marina make such comments herself before. According to Marina, she is really happy to know that “Miguel is alive” and does not make such comments.
Marina is happy for Marina to live with a stranger. Her family asks how often her lover is with her and she says she