Does Esperanza share similarities with her mother in their approaches to life in The House on Mango Street?

Both Esperanza and her mother have dreams of a better life; both want something more than the house on Mango Street.  The house on Mango Street is "small and red with tight steps in front and windows so small you'd think they were holding their breath...the house has only one washroom...(and) everybody has to share a bedroom".  Esperanza is ashamed to admit to the Sister at school that she lives in this house, and Mama insists that this house is only "for the time being".  Mama dreams of a house that is "white with trees around it, a great big yard and grass growing without a fence", and Esperanza shares this vision of the house that will hopefully one day be theirs ("The House on Mango Street").

Mama once had hopes of "be(ing) somebody" like Esperanza does.  She speaks two languages, and can sing and draw, but she quit school because she was ashamed because she could not afford nice clothes.  Because of poverty and cultural restraints, she never left the city where she was born.  As expected, she married and had lots of children, and now she spends her days "tak(ing) care (of) all (her) own".  Mama is sometimes disappointed in how her life turned out, but, unlike Esperanza, she is accepting of her role.  Like her "comadres", she expects little else ("A Smart Cookie").

Esperanza shares the dreams her mother has of becoming something more in her life than what her culture seems to ordain, but unlike her mother, she will accept nothing less.  She is a storyteller, and wants to be a writer, and she says "I am too strong for (Mango Street) to keep me here forever".  Esperanza acknowledges that she is "an ugly daughter", but while her mother assures her that she will become prettier as she matures, with the implication that then there will be a man who will love her and give her a family, Esperanza determines that she will "not...grow up tame like the others who lay their necks on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain".  Esperanza will not do what is expected of her; she will not fall into the trap of having children early and raising them in poverty and want.  Esperanza will continue her education and maintain her independence; she "will say goodbye to Mango...will go away", to a bigger world and a life with endless possibilities ("Beautiful and Cruel", "Mango Says Goodbye Sometimes").

What is the relationship between Esperanza and her mother in The House on Mango Street?

Interestingly, Esperanza's name is a noun derivative of the Spanish verb which means to hope. She herself explains her name:

In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters.

This name certainly befits the girl, who refuses to be like her mother, who has once hoped for a better life, dreaming of a house "white with trees around it, a great big yard and grass growing without a fence," but now seems resigned to taking care of her family despite her one persistent declaration that the house in which they live is only "for the time being." But, while the mother thinks no further than "for the time being," Esperanza turns her negative and "sad house" into a springboard for her creative powers in writing.

Certainly, Esperanza does not believe what her mother says about the house's only being temporary residence, commenting, "But I know how these things go." She knows that her mother's aspirations are passive, sacrificed in the care of her family. She speaks of change just as one recites an old prayer because one must if she still has some glimmer of religious faith.

Today while cooking oatmeal [as she listens to opera on the radio] she is Madame Butterfly until she sighs and points the wooden spoon at me. I could've been somebody, you know? Esperanza, you go to school. Study hard. That Madame Butterfly was a fool. She stirs the oatmeal. Look at my comadres. She means Izaura whose husband left and Yolanda whose husband is dead. Got to take care all your own, she says shaking her head.

Esperanza's mother desires a better life for her daughter, encouraging her to put her own dreams first and not sacrifice them to duty. For this wish, Esperanza loves her mother; she will not forget her even though she leaves the barrio.

What is Esperanza's relationship with Nenny in The House on Mango Street?

In The House on Mango Street, Nenny is Esperanza's younger sister, whom she initially says is too much younger for them to have anything in common. In "Boys and Girls," Esperanza writes:

Nenny is too young to be my friend. She's just my sister and that was not my fault. You don't pick your sisters, you just get them and sometimes they come like Nenny.

At this point, Esperanza views Nenny as a responsibility and a burden. She has to look after Nenny and does not particularly enjoy doing so. Nenny does not understand any of her jokes and cannot share her secrets.

However, as the narrative progresses, Esperanza comes to feel closer to Nenny and to see the similarities between them. In "Laughter," she notes that her laugh sounds like Nenny's and that they even laugh at the same things. When Esperanza observes that a house looks like houses she has seen in Mexico, Rachel and Lucy both fail to understand her. It is only Nenny who replies:

Yes, that's Mexico all right. That's what I was thinking exactly.

Esperanza and Nenny develop a strong bond, and the elder sister eventually comes to feel protective toward the younger, and to enjoy looking after her.