¶ … house is the symbol in the House of Mango Street.
The title of the novel A House on mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, is both straightforward and deceptive. The name of the street suggests a quiet street in a nice neighborhood, a street lined with trees in a lazy afternoon. As soon as the first chapter begins, the reader will find out that the street and therefore the house in question are anything but. Houses do indeed symbolize in the novel stability, anchors in childhood memories, family life, and shelter.
The narrator introduces a grim series of houses she has spent her childhood in, culminating with the house that will give the title of the novel. Houses are for the adult remembering childhood memories a symbol of a life style, reminders of a harsh or sometimes, happy reality. A house stands there for the one remembering the days she spent in it and around it, as the place filled with the laughter of children, the crying of babies, parents' voices, keeper of night dreams and day dreams, dreams of escaping and dreams of change.
In the section titled "A Good Day," the narrator describes the happy moments she had spent after chipping in for the purchasing and sharing of a new bike. She and her two new friends, two sisters from the neighborhood, ride their new bike together and forget about everything else for the brief time they enjoy their ride: "We ride fast and faster. Past my house, sad and red and crumbly in places, past Mr. Benny's grocery on the corner, and down the avenue which is dangerous. Laundromat, junk store, drugstore, windows and cars and more cars, and around the block back to Mango"(16). The children escaped for a short while from the universe of their sad houses and street only to go back to it soon after.
The first section with the same title as the novel, announces a house on Mango Street that stands...
Along with the house she has lived part of her childhood in, the narrator introduces the girl who heard stories from her parents to sooth their sad life spent so far in all sorts of rented flats with broken pipes, shared yards and nasty landlords. The stories were about the house they will finally own, a nice big house in a nice neighborhood. The house they finally managed to buy is nothing but the one in their dreams. Children do not need a lot to be happy, but children need stability and a home in order to have a sense of constancy. Moreover, the appearance of a nice house allows the child to show it to anyone and announce with pride that she or he lives there.
The narrator remembers the shame and sadness she felt once when she had to point to a flat over a laundromat, after a nun from her school had asked her where she lived. Children can fabricate stories and live in their dream world as long as they want, unless they are forced to meet reality. A poor sad looking flat or house will bring the moment of truth about and it will hit a child with the brutality of something immutable.
The house on Mango Street appears to be even a bigger disappointment since it should have finally put an end to the constant moving from one cheap flat to another cheap flat. The biggest disappointments anyone will ever be able to remember will be those first moments when parents will prove to be unable to keep their promises. Esperanza is big enough to realize that the House on Mango Street represents her stability, much to her chagrin. When she lived with her family in those rented flats they had hope for a better house they would eventually own. Once they moved to that stage of owning their house, the house painfully continued to be the representation of their poor living conditions, even if it stood on its own and had no landlord attached.…
