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Chapters
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The House on Mango Street has 44 chapters.
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Chapters44 items
The House on Mango Street
Esperanza's family moves into a small, run-down house on Mango Street. It's their first owned home, but it falls far short of the house Esperanza's parents always promised.
Hairs
Esperanza describes the different hair types of everyone in her family. The chapter is short and sensory, but it does real work: it shows how closely Esperanza observes the people…
Boys & Girls
Esperanza reflects on how boys and girls occupy separate social worlds in her neighborhood. Her brothers won't be seen with her in public.
My Name
Esperanza explores what her name means and how she feels about it. In English it means hope, in Spanish it carries a sadness she can feel.
Cathy Queen of Cats
Esperanza meets Cathy, a girl who claims to be related to the queen of France and who has a lot of cats. Cathy offers to be Esperanza's friend but makes clear her family is moving…
Our Good Day
Esperanza makes her first real friends on Mango Street by paying two dollars to share a bicycle with Cathy, Lucy, and Rachel.
Laughter
Esperanza notices that she and her sister Nenny laugh the same way, which surprises her because she usually feels little in common with Nenny.
Gil's Furniture Bought & Sold
Esperanza describes the junk store run by a quiet old black man named Gil. The store is dark and crowded with old things.
Meme Ortiz
A boy nicknamed Meme Ortiz moves into the house Cathy's family vacated. His real name is Juan, but nobody uses it.
Louie, His Cousin & His Other Cousin
Esperanza describes her downstairs neighbor Louie and his two cousins. One cousin, Marin, lives with Louie's family and is kept close to home.
Marin
Esperanza describes Marin, an older girl from Puerto Rico who lives with her cousins and is basically kept inside all day watching the younger kids.
Those Who Don't
Esperanza reflects on how outsiders fear her neighborhood because they don't know it. They drive through and feel scared of the brown and black faces.
There Was an Old Woman She Had So Many Children She Didn't Know What to Do
This chapter is a quick portrait of Rosa Vargas, a neighbor with too many kids and no husband. She is exhausted and has given up trying to control her children.
Alicia Who Sees Mice
Alicia is a young woman from Mango Street who takes the bus to university every day because her father insists she study to make something of herself, but he also expects her to w…
Darius & the Clouds
A boy named Darius, who Esperanza usually finds annoying, says something unexpectedly wise about the clouds. He points to one big cloud and says that is God.
And Some More
Esperanza and her friends argue about how many names Eskimos have for snow, which turns into a bigger argument about boys and names.
The Family of Little Feet
A woman gives the girls a bag of old high heels. The girls put them on and walk through the neighborhood, suddenly drawing attention from men in a way that frightens and excites t…
A Rice Sandwich
Esperanza wants to eat lunch in the canteen at school like the kids who live too far away to go home. She convinces her mother to write a note.
Chanclas
Esperanza goes to a baptism party with her family. She is embarrassed because she is wearing her school shoes with a new dress, and she refuses to dance.
Hips
Esperanza and her friends jump rope and talk about hips. Esperanza thinks about what hips are for and tries to explain it to the younger girls.
The First Job
Esperanza gets her first summer job at a photo-finishing shop after her family needs money. She is nervous and out of place, and an older man tricks her into letting him kiss her…
Papa Who Wakes Up Tired in the Dark
Esperanza's father wakes her early one morning to tell her that her grandfather, his father, has died. She sees her father cry for the first time.
Born Bad
Esperanza and her friends used to play a cruel game where they imitated her Aunt Lupe, who was bedridden and ill. Aunt Lupe dies, and Esperanza feels guilty, wondering if the mock…
Elenita, Cards, Palm, Water
Esperanza visits Elenita, a woman known for telling fortunes, hoping to hear that a house is in her future. Elenita reads cards, a palm, and a glass of water but gives Esperanza a…
Geraldo No Last Name
Marin meets a young man named Geraldo at a dance. He is killed in a hit-and-run accident that same night, and Marin is the only person with him at the hospital.
Edna's Ruthie
Esperanza describes Ruthie, the grown daughter of their landlord Edna, who lives on Mango Street and seems stuck between adulthood and childhood.
The Earl of Tennessee
Earl is a neighbor who works nights and sleeps days. He has a dog and is rarely seen.
Sire
Esperanza notices a boy named Sire who watches her as she walks by. She starts to feel something new, a mix of curiosity and desire that she doesn't fully understand.
Four Skinny Trees
Esperanza looks at four trees growing outside her window and feels a deep connection to them. They don't belong on a concrete street any more than she feels she belongs on Mango S…
No Speak English
A woman named Mamacita moves into the neighborhood with her husband and baby. She is large, speaks no English, and rarely leaves the apartment.
Rafael Who Drinks Coconut & Papaya Juice on Tuesdays
Rafaela is a young woman whose husband locks her inside their apartment on Tuesday nights because he fears other men will want her.
Sally
Esperanza describes her classmate Sally, a girl whose beauty draws constant attention and whose father keeps her tightly controlled at home.
Minerva Writes Poems
Minerva is only a little older than Esperanza but already has two children and a husband who keeps leaving and coming back.
Bums in the Attic
Esperanza talks about how she no longer goes to look at houses on the hill with her family on Sundays because she's embarrassed by wanting something she doesn't have.
Beautiful & Cruel
Esperanza decides she won't wait for a man to give her power or a way out. She looks at women in movies who are beautiful and get what they want, and she decides she'll be that ki…
A Smart Cookie
Esperanza's mother talks about her own life while doing chores, and what she says lands hard. She was talented, spoke two languages, could sing and draw, but she dropped out of sc…
What Sally Said
Sally tells Esperanza that her father hits her, but she keeps explaining it away. Her father's violence comes from fear that she'll run off with a boy the way his sisters did.
The Monkey Garden
The monkey garden is an overgrown lot where neighborhood kids play. Esperanza loves it because it feels wild and outside adult rules.
Red Clowns
Esperanza is sexually assaulted at a carnival while waiting for Sally, who has wandered off with a boy. This chapter is told in fragments and addressed partly to Sally, full of di…
Linoleum Roses
Sally gets married very young to a man she met at a school bazaar. The marriage gets her out of her father's house, which was the point.
The Three Sisters
Three mysterious aunts appear at Lucy and Rachel's baby sister's wake. They single Esperanza out and seem to read her mind, telling her she will leave Mango Street but must rememb…
Alicia & I Talking on Edna's Steps
Esperanza and Alicia sit outside and talk about home. Esperanza insists she does not belong to Mango Street and does not want to claim it.
A House of My Own
In a short, concentrated passage, Esperanza describes exactly what kind of house she wants. Not one given to her by a man, not one that belongs to a husband or a father.
Mango Says Goodbye Sometimes
In the final chapter, Esperanza explains how she deals with Mango Street by telling its story. She says the house will always be with her, and she will always be Mango Street, but…
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