The House On Mango Street By Sandra Cisneros

In the book The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, the passage represents the struggle for people on Mango st. to achieve their American dream by isolating their hopes from reality and illustrating their hardship. Nenny and Esperanza are in a shop when Nenny notices a music box, which, after the owner starts it up, sounds wonderful and Nenny wishes to purchase it. Nenny asks how much it costs, to which the man says, “this ain’t for sale” (Cisneros). The man implies to Nenny that it is not something she could afford. Since she could not afford something that she desired, it shows that people like her on Mango st. could not get everything they wanted. Because of this, they essentially work hard and struggle to get their American dream
or give up on their aspirations and regretfully move on. Moreover, while Nenny asks the owner about the price of the music box, she reaches with her fingers for “quarters in her pants pocket” (Cisneros). Instead of reaching in her pocket for her wallet or dollar bills, she reaches for quarters. This shows that people like her do not have much money in their possession and have merely spare change. When people can only make purchases using spare change, there should be a vast restriction on affordable items. For people on Mango st., their financial limit is probably unbearable at a point of time, and they want more than their current state. They struggle in hopes of a better life, but gradually their hopes subside and reality hits, and by this time, they have forgotten about achieving their American dream. People on Mango st. only work to live and to just “get by” in life, but their struggle for an American dream is caused, of many reasons, by their financial issues, represented by Nenny unsuccessfully walking away from the store with a purchase of a music box only because she could not afford it.