In Sandra Cisneros’ novel, The House on Mango Street, she detours through the life of Esperanza Cordero, a typical Mexican girl. However, the life of Esperanza is anything but typical. Throughout her life, Esperanza experiences different people and hears the life story of them all.

As life continues to move forward in Esperanzas eyes everything in her life stays the exact same way. She lives many places as a child and is unable to call one place a home. Esperanza’s parents move her and her many siblings to a red duplex on Mango Street. The location of this house repulses her because there are many Mexicans, yet she is one herself. Throughout the story Esperanza struggles to find her and a place to fit in.

Near the end of the story, Esperanza matures and journeys to find who she is. She sits and listens to everyone’s life stories whether abuse, suicide, parenting, and death. All the while Esperanza doesn’t seem to know that her life story is beginning to develop. All her life she was ashamed of who she was, where she lived, and how she looked, but soon begins to realize that being herself is one of her best assets. The place she lived, the place she was ashamed of, the place where she met all of the different faces, Mango Street, had made Esperanza Cordero who she was.

Cisneros revealed a beautiful and touching story of the struggles one faces in life in her 1984 classic novel. She captures the true essence of reality and tells it like it is. She created her character as human as possible and achieved getting the attention. I would recommend this simple and clean novel, The House on Mango Street, to anyone that is willing to transcend their reality and take a step into Esperanzas.