Essay Example on Poverty and Esperanza's Family: Exploring 'The House on Mango Street'

Introduction

The story "The House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros uses various themes to build the plot, and bring out the traits of various characters. However, the most prominent theme that is central to the story is the theme of poverty. The narrator of the story, Esperanza takes the reader through the life experiences of her family as they move from one location to the other. All the events narrated in the story function to explain how poverty influenced the life of the family of Esperanza. Esperanza is a young Mexican-American girl who is not satisfied with the way they are living and expresses her dismay and disappointment with the fact that they are poor and cannot afford basic needs and even luxuries such as a car. In essence, the author uses the theme of poverty to build the plot of the story, and perhaps outline the general life of poor Mexican-American children. The theme of poverty becomes apparent when one considers the fact that they are a minority group living in a multicultural society, where they are bound to face socio-economic challenges. Despite Esperanza and her family living in poverty, Esperanza remains optimistic and positive throughout the story.

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One of the factors that prompt the reader to conclude that the family of Esperanza is poor is that they move a lot from one place to the other. The author asserts that they did not always live on Mango Street, but had lived in other places such as Keeler and Paulina (Cisneros 3). Lack of a stable home is often as a result of a family's inability to afford to buy a home or even rent one. Therefore, from the statement, the reader is immediately introduced to the theme of poverty. The author even confesses that she cannot remember some of the places that they have lived before as a result of constantly moving (3). Perhaps there were even instances where they were forced to stay in shelters as a result of lack of a stable home.

Lack of a stable home is what leads to the family of the narrator to end up in a house in Mango Street. The narrator explains that she had always dreamt of a house that would have a yard and some little compound. From the explanation of Esperanza, the reader understands that before they were living in houses where they did not have a yard. Such houses were small and communal where people shared a lot of facilities. From her explanation, there is the realization that they were staying in flats will little or no room for playing. The houses were built in flats that housed many families. The narrator explanation quickly takes the reader to low-income settlements in the United States that mostly housed poor immigrants and minority groups.

Large Family

The narrator also explains that the family was huge even though they were poor. One primary cause and consequence of poverty is the lack of family planning. The narrator observes that each time they moved the family expanded implying that her parents had not taken any measures to plan the family. The author writes that by the time the family got to Mango Street, they were six of them in the family. There were their father and mother, and four children (3). A common attribute of poor families is that they are often large. Perhaps due to the inability of the parents to fail to understand that more children mean more responsibility and the need to have a stable income. When the family is large, there is the realization that basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter become a luxury as parents struggle to meet the needs of an expanded family.

The narrator stresses the aspect of a large family to emphasize the theme of poverty. Poverty is as a result of lack of family planning where the parents give birth to children without having a comprehensive plan on how to bring them up. Therefore, the author stresses on this fact to bring into perspective the ignorance of her parents. Perhaps it is the ignorance that has contributed to the present state of the family.

Money Problems

The theme of poverty is brought out in the play in several instances where the narrator explains that they had money problems. Although the house in Mango Street has a small yard for packing a car, the narrator explains that they do not have a car (4). The fact that they cannot afford a car implies that they are short of money and can only afford some basic needs. When talking about "Our Good Day," the narrator explains that she says that a kid in the neighborhood is trying to get five dollars to add onto ten dollars so that they can purchase a second-hand bicycle (14). Furthermore, she explains that they buy most of their belongings from a junk store where they once bought a used fridge (19). In essence, they are not able to purchase new items because they have money problems.

Neighborhood

The vivid picture painted by the narrator of the Mango Street Neighborhood explains nothing but a poor neighborhood. When the narrator talks about some of the kids, she interacts with she outlines that their clothes are tattered and that they smell like "brooms" (14). Furthermore, when she talks of the streets, it brings into perspective the fact that they were living in a ghetto. The author explains that some of the businesses in the neighborhood included a junk store and Laundromat (16). The locality is also dangerous explained by the fact that visitors are often afraid that they can get attacked by "shiny knives" at night as explained by the narrator (28). These attributes bring into perspective the fact that they lived in a poor neighborhood because they were poor.

Although for once, they have managed to settle in a home where they can have their yard and do not have to share facilities, there is still the realization that the family of Esperanza is living in poverty. The poverty is depicted by the author when she describes their neighborhood which is nothing but a ghetto.

Conclusion

The theme of poverty is prominent in the story because it runs from the beginning of the story to the end. The theme has been used by the author to show the reader the life of a normal Mexican-American family living in poverty. The first thing that the narrator emphasizes is the fact that their family moved a lot because they could not afford a home. Furthermore, the author explains that the family grew and that they were hitherto a household of six. Also, the narrator explains that they had money problems. Lastly, in depicting their neighborhood, the narrator paints a vivid picture of a ghetto. All these factors demonstrate that poverty was used as a major theme in the story.

Works Cited

Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street. New York, NY: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2013.