Materialism In The House On Mango Street

Throughout the novel The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, Esperanza expresses her love for houses, and how much she wishes to have one for herself. Cisneros characterizes Esperanza as being borderline obsessed with tying in her identity with objects that surround her in her everyday life. This trait is mainly seen in how she idealizes houses, but is also visible in how she judges herself and others based on material items such as shoes and clothing, outward appearance, and age. Esperanza seeks for the perfect combination of these items in order to fit in with her peers and her ideas of how she should act. Materialism leads to a lack of self-esteem and greatly affects how one perceives oneself, as is evident in this particular novel by how Cisneros uses the characters of Esperanza and her mother, derogatory dialogue in Esperanza’s interactions with others, …show more content…
Because I didn’t have nice clothes” (Cisneros 91). Although Esperanza’s mother was intelligent and had a chance to succeed in her education and future profession, she ignored her options because she thought it was more important to have nice clothes. She didn’t want to be placed in a position where she felt that her clothing did not accurately represent who she was, and her self-esteem suffered as a result, which is very similar to the position in which Esperanza finds herself. The fact that Esperanza’s own mother shares the same values highlights the importance of materialism in Esperanza’s life. As Esperanza realizes that she may not have clothes that are “nice” enough for school, she is being exposed to an adult influence that adds to and supports these ideas. This exposure will help to further cement the ideas of materialism as self-worth and continue to degrade Esperanza’s self-worth until she achieves perfection in her outer