The House On Mango Street Poverty Analysis

Poverty in The House on Mango Street and America
Gasping for air, Rose from Titanic clutches the post for support as her mother, Ruth, forcibly yanks the tight laces on her corset closer. Whipping Rose around, Ruth glares straight into Rose’s eyes and admonishes,” This is not a game! Our situation is precarious. You know that the money is gone!” Rose snaps, “Of course I know it’s gone. You remind me every day!” Bitterly, Ruth whispers, “Your father let us nothing but a legacy of bad debt hidden by a good name. And that name is the only card we have to play.” The tightening of Rose’s corset and Ruth’s reminder to Rose of their debt and significant social name symbolizes Rose’s confinement of her social upbringing and economic state. As the only
Her confinement is evident in the windows of her new house on Mango Street, which she describes as “so small you’d think they were holding their breath” (Cisneros 4). Using “small” to describe the house’s windows (GP) reveals Esperanza’s suffocation and restraint inside her socioeconomic status. These “small” windows also model Esperanza’s feelings of insignificance and lack of worth within herself. Similarly, Esperanza’s lack of value is exhibited when she reminisces about the hilltop houses where her father works:” I am tired of looking at what we can’t have” (Cisneros 86). Admitting to being impoverished (PrPP), Esperanza’s disappointment of her current economic condition underscores the suppression from her economic status. She views herself as inadequate and unimportant because of her impoverished state. This unimportance and suppression is especially illustrated in Esperanza’s writing: “And so she trudged up the wooden stairs, her sad brown shoes taking her up to the house she never liked” (Cisneros 109). The phrase “sad brown shoes” expresses the lack of self-esteem and irrelevance Esperanza views in herself. The word, “trudged,” also used in Esperanza’s writing conveys the oppressive burden of Esperanza’s socioeconomic
For instance, after a passing nun doubtfully questions the dilapidated state of Esperanza’s house, Esperanza wishes, “I knew then I had to have a house” (Cisneros 5). The shabbiness of Esperanza’s house exhibits her impoverished lifestyle. Esperanza’s house representing the restraint of Esperanza’s poor living conditions, the new house Esperanza hopes for portrays her effort for freedom from her economic situation. Esperanza’s resolve to escape her economic situation is also portrayed in her depiction of the four trees outside her house,” who grew despite concrete” (Cisneros 75). Growing outside concrete, these four trees exemplify Esperanza’s resilience and persistence in enduring the shame of her economic status. The trees modeling Esperanza’s perseverance (AbP), these trees also exhibit Esperanza’s persistence to escape the humiliation and oppression of her socioeconomic status. Braving the ignominy of her economic status shapes her determination to overcome the challenges of her socioeconomic position. Likewise, Esperanza’s ambition to escape her current situation is repeated in her story of living on Mango Street. Retelling the shame and indignity of living on Mango Street, Esperanza says,” I am too strong for her [Mango] to keep me here forever” (Cisneros 110). The confidence Esperanza has in saying this shows the empowerment and courage