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What is the lesson Esperanza must learn in The House On Mango Street?
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Esperanza's key lesson in The House on Mango Street is the importance of remembering her roots and community, even as she dreams of leaving Mango Street for a better life. Although she desires her own space away from poverty, she learns from her aunt and the "Three Sisters" that she has a responsibility to return and help those unable to escape. This lesson underscores the novel's themes of identity, community, and social responsibility.
At the beginning of The House on Mango Street, Esperanza describes the apartment that she and her family lived in compared to the new house they move into. She is so excited to move into a house separated from other neighbors' living spaces because then she won't hear their fighting or their music. Finally, she can experience what it is like to have peace and quiet. Esperanza also believes that moving to a house means that they won't have plumbing problems like they did in their apartment. Thus, moving to a house seems to be a dream come true for the young teen; however, she quickly becomes disappointed.
The house offers her a physical separation from apartment living, but she discovers that she must still deal with many of the same difficulties that are associated with living in poverty. For example, the house is so small that she has...
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to sleep with her sister and parents because the house only has one bedroom. From this point forward, Esperanza dreams of a house of her own. When she grows up, she wants not only to own her own space, but also to live outside of the poverty trap that plagues her family and neighbors. This dream, however, might have consequences if she turns from her family and culture and never looks back. One of her aunts understands Esperanza's desires to leave her gloomy circumstances but calls on her to remember the following:
"When you leave you must remember to come back for the others. A circle, understand? . . . You must remember to come back. For the ones who cannot leave as easily as you. You will remember? She asked as if she was telling me. Yes, yes, I said a little confused" (105).
On the final page of the book, Esperanza seems to show that she wants to fulfill her aunt's request, when she says the following:
"Friends and neighbors will say, What happened to Esperanza? Where did she go with all those books and paper? Why did she march so far away?
They will not know I have gone away to come back. For the ones I left behind. For the ones who cannot out" (110).
From this passage, it seems as though Esperanza is determined to leave the clutches of poverty, but she also plans not to forget those who will remain there. By going back, hopefully she will share her story of how she escaped poverty. Hopefully, she will help others to escape as well.
From the start of this incredible novel that contains so many different experiences that chart the experiences of Esperanza and the other strange assortment of characters that make up her barrio, Esperanza is clear that she wishes to leave Mango Street and to have her own house one day. However, although this desire remains unchanged, what this novel strongly suggests Esperanza needs to learn before she can leave is that Mango Street represents her home and her community, and even if she physically leaves this geographical location, you can never really abandon your roots. Consider the way that this lesson is presented in the vignette entitled "The Three Sisters." What is interesting about this chapter is that the sisters predict that Esperanza is "special" and say that "she will go far," yet at the same time they teach her an incredibly valuable lesson:
When you leave you must remember to come back for the others. A circle, understand? You will always be Esperanza. You will always be Mango Street. You can't erase what you know. You can't forget who you are.
Esperanza thus is forced to see that she cannot erase her roots. Mango Street is a part of her, and she has a responsibility towards the women of her community who "cannot leave as easily" as she can. Esperanza thus needs to learn the importance of community and what an indelible part of us it actually is. Remaining true to your roots is a key concern of this novel, as is the responsibility that Esperanza feels towards the various women of her community who are trapped in unfulfilled lives that they cannot escape from in the same way that Esperanza can.