The House on Mango Street (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Sandra Cisneros
- First Published: 1984
- Type of Work: Novella
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction, Social realism, Bildungsroman
- Subjects: Maturation or coming of age, 1960’s, Self-discovery, Class conflict, Racism, Sexism, Adolescence, Abused persons, Yards or backyards, Class consciousness, Writing, Chicago, Ethnic groups, Violence, Women’s issues, Multiculturalism, Mexican Americans, Mexico or Mexicans, Bilingualism, Latinos
- Locales: Chicago, IL
The House on Mango Street is Cisneros's best-known work. Though it is made up of stories and sketches, some of which have been published separately, the collection has the unity of a novella. Cisneros has described the book as a connected collection, “each story a little pearl. . . . the whole thing like a necklace.” In her own mind, Esperanza Cordero, the narrator, has one main problem: She wants to have a house of her own. As the story develops, the meaning of having a house of her own grows richer and more complex, until finally, she understands that she wants not only a...
[The entire page is 998 words long]
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