House On Mango Street Compare And Contrast Essay

In the 1960s, society was drastically different than what it is today. In particular, family life was a completely different way of growing up or raising children. Books, even those written in the present day, can express these differences using examples from the past. One book in particular, The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, contains three families who exemplify the differences of raising children in that society to that of the present. The first example of family societal differences is Esperanza’s family. Esperanza comes from a very poor Mexican family. Her family lives in an apartment with only one bedroom and bathroom in a red house on Mango Street. Because of racism and the mere fact that her parents are not perfectly fluent in the English language, it is very hard for them to find jobs and make a good salary. These troubles affect their parenting and how the family functions. For example, Esperanza feels that she has no privacy and dreams of one day escaping Mango Street. She eventually achieves this, although other societal dilemmas will try to hold her back.
Cathy tells Esperanza that she will be her friend, but only for a few more days because the neighborhood is getting bad. Esperanza realizes that Cathy’s parents are only moving because people like her family keep moving in. This is a trend that happens a lot on their Chicago street and in their society. Parents raise their children to believe the ideas that they themselves believe. Therefore, if Cathy’s parents are racist against Esperanza’s family, Cathy will also feel this way. Esperanza immediately understands this and doesn’t seem the mind as much as someone in today’s society