The House on Mango Street is a coming-of-age novel written by Sandra Cisneros. It tells the story of a young Latina girl named Esperanza Cordero who grows up in the tough neighborhood of Mango Street in Chicago. Throughout the novel, Cisneros uses powerful and thought-provoking quotes to illustrate the struggles and dreams of Esperanza and the people around her. These quotes resonate with readers and provide insight into the themes of identity, gender, and the pursuit of the American Dream.
Read these quotes House on Mango Street:
“The house on Mango Street is ours, and we don’t have to pay rent to anybody or share the yard with the people downstairs or be careful not to make too much noise and there isn’t a landlord banging on the ceiling with a broom. But even so, it’s not the house we’d thought we’d get.”
“I want a house on a hill like the ones with the gardens where Papa works. A house as quiet as snow, a space for myself to go, clean as paper before the poem.”
“You live there? The way she said it made me feel like nothing. There. I lived there. I nodded.”
“I knew then I had to have a house. A real house. One I could point to. But this isn’t it. The house on Mango Street isn’t it. For the time being, Mama says.”
“Those who don’t know any better come into our neighborhood scared. They think we’re dangerous. They think we will attack them with shiny knives. They are stupid people who are lost and got here by mistake.”
“I will have a daughter just like me. But over my dead body will she ever leave me. She’ll be just like me, and she’ll keep me company.”
“One day I will pack my bags of books and paper. One day I will say goodbye to Mango. I am too strong for her to keep me here forever.”
“For the ones who cannot out.” I tell her to the girl whose name I don’t even know. “The ones who cannot get out of the circle of sand.”
“She looked out the window her whole life, the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow. I wonder if she made the best with what she got or was she sorry because she couldn’t be all the things she wanted to be.”
“You can never have too much sky. You can fall asleep and wake up drunk on sky, and sky can keep you safe when you are sad. Here there is too much sadness and not enough sky. Butterflies too are few and so are flowers and most things that are beautiful. Still, we take what we can get and make the best of it.”
“I knew then I had to have a house. A real house. One I could point to. But this isn’t it. The house on Mango Street isn’t it. For the time being, Mama says.”
“They are the ones I will return to when I’m grown up, the ones I will remember even when I forget…until the day I can fit them whole in my arms.”
“I have entered a house on Mango Street but it is not the house we’d thought we’d get.”
“I want to be like the waves on the sea, like the clouds in the wind, but I’m me. One day I’ll jump out of my skin. I’ll shake the sky like a hundred violins.”
“I want to be with the ones I know I’ll never belong to, but know I want to be with them. I want to eat at their table, and I want to be like them, and just sit and stare back without having to be a mirror.”
“I will have a daughter just like me. But over my dead body will she ever leave me. She’ll be just like me, and she’ll keep me company.”
“She looked out the window her whole life, the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow. I wonder if she made the best with what she got or was she sorry because she couldn’t be all the things she wanted to be.”
“You can never have too much sky. You can fall asleep and wake up drunk on sky, and sky can keep you safe when you are sad. Here there is too much sadness and not enough sky. Butterflies too are few and so are flowers and most things that are beautiful. Still, we take what we can get and make the best of it.”
“I knew then I had to have a house. A real house. One I could point to. But this isn’t it. The house on Mango Street isn’t it. For the time being, Mama says.”
“They are the ones I will return to when I’m grown up, the ones I will remember even when I forget…until the day I can fit them whole in my arms.”
These quotes from The House on Mango Street offer a glimpse into the rich and complex world created by Sandra Cisneros. They showcase the desires, struggles, and hopes of the characters, allowing readers to connect with their experiences. Whether it’s the longing for a better home, the search for identity, or the yearning for acceptance, these quotes capture the essence of the novel and leave a lasting impact on readers’ hearts.
