Characters
This character experiences a coming of age through the progression of the novel’s vignettes
Esperanza
Baby sister dies
Rachel and Lucy
“She was a horse woman too, born like me in the Chinese year of the horse—which is supposed to be bad luck if you’re born female—but I think this is a Chinese lie because the Chinese, like the Mexicans, don’t like their women strong.”
Lack of freedom
Coming of Age
Maturity
“It is like the number 9”
Similie
Esperanza’s view of this character changes over time as she realizes that she is not ready to be as sexual and mature too quickly, like this character has done. This character also ends up marrying someone like her own father
Sally
College student who sits on the steps with Esperanza at the end of the novel and tells her it's important that she keeps Mango Street a part of her.
Alicia
“she’s going to get a real job downtown because that’s where the best jobs are …and [you] can meet someone in the subway who might marry you and take you to live in a big house far away.”
Lack of freedom due to gender
Maturity
Coming of Age
“With my porch and my pillow, my purple pretty petunias.”
Alliteration
Waited with Geraldo in the emergency room even though she didn’t know him
Marin
Why is Sally hesitant to go home in the novel?
She is afraid of her father abusing her
“I write it down and Mango says goodbye sometimes. She does not hold me with both arms. She sets me free.”
Racism
Coming of Age
Heritage
Referring to Rafaela leaning out the window, similar to Rapunzel
Allusion
Full name is Magdelena, Esperanza's sister
Nenny
What does Esperanza reveal at the end of the novel?
She is going to move away and become a writer
In the vignette “Geraldo No Last Name,” about a man who is in the ER and is with no one, Cisneros is most likely writing about what THEME and aspect of immigration?
Lack of identity for immigrants
Moving to a new country
How family can impact a person
Racism and its impact
“...when she makes room for you on her side of the bed still warm with her skin, and you sleep near her, the rain outside falling and Papa snoring
Imagery
This person regrets not finishing school and encourages Esperanza to stay in it
Mama
What does Esperanza feel she is most responsible for at the end of the novel?
To find a way out but still represent women in her culture
“Four who do not belong here but are here. Four raggedy excuses planted by the city” (from the vignette “Skinny Trees”)
Symbolism