Escape In The House On Mango Street

Because the story is set in a lower-class neighborhood, most characters who live there want to escape. For some, it is just the neighborhood. For example, in one of the earlier vignettes, Cathy and her family would like to move before the neighborhood gets too bad for them. However for most of Esperanza’s friends, who happen to be women, an escape means not feeling so trapped in their daily lives. Rafaela’s husband quite literally locks her in her home each day. To attempt and escape this, Rafaela leans out her window to hear the music from a nearby club. However this only heightens her longing to be outside, and she remains forever remorseful. Minerva’s husband is abusive towards her; at one point she visits Esperanza covered in bruises. To
Mamacita decides to try and escape from the new country she is in by hiding from it. She stays inside all day with her son, trying her best to block out any American culture possible. Once her son begins to adapt, she is heartbroken, realizing there may be no going back for them. Although these are all examples of marriage turning into a place without freedom for the woman, Esperanza’s friend Sally actually gets married to escape Mango Street, at an extraordinarily young age. However the way she talks about her new marriage gives readers the implication that her marriage will end like all of the others. The one escapee who will most likely end in success is Alicia, who wants to escape her father. She is very driven towards education, and has her heart set on changing her fate. Esperanza, while not trying to escape her father, chooses to go about her troubles in a similar way to Alicia. She doesn’t sit by the window waiting for something or someone to change. I believe that Esperanza will have an easier time escaping because she is already aware of how containing the kinds of marriages she’s witnessed