20+ Important 'The House On Mango Street' Quotes From Sandra Cisneros

Written by Mexican-American novelist Sandra Cisneros, 'The House On Mango Street' is a classic novel.

Cited as a landmark novel on Chicano literature this esteemed novel won the American Book Award. The novel deals with the story of a teen girl growing up in an hispanic neighborhood and the struggles she faces while growing up.

A wide array of themes has been depicted in the novel ranging from wanting to change her life for the better, to gender discrimination, discovering oneself to experiencing adolescence and lastly understanding the sense of belonging a little better. The narrator of the story is Esperanza Cordero who lives under two cultures, Mexican and American.

With the passage of time Esperanza matures and rejects her Chicano culture and as a strong independent woman she wants to express her own identify.

The novel received harsh criticism as it featured domestic violence, sexual harassment and other sensitive topics. However that couldn't stop the novel from selling ,as it amassed a whopping six million copies sold across the globe.

The most important lines from 'The House On Mango Street' are arguably "You will always be Esperanza.

You will always be Mango Street." To this date, this novel remains a favorite for its appeal to many young readers waiting for it to come back onto our shelves.

If you find our content interesting then do check out Sandra Cisneros quotes and 'The Bluest Eye' quotes.

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Best Quotes From 'The House On Mango Street'

Here are some of the best 'The House On Mango Street' theme quotes. You will also find some cool quotes of the narrator, Esperanza Cordero. Here are some of the most important lines from the novel.

1."Marin, under the streetlight, dancing by herself, is singing the same song somewhere. I know. Is waiting for a car to stop, a star to fall, someone to change her life."

-Esperanza Cordero, 'The House On Mango Street', Chapter 11, 1984.

2. "The bones just open. Just like that. One day you might decide to have kids, and then where are you going to put them? Got to have room. Bones got to give."

-Esperanza Cordero, 'The House On Mango Street', Chapter 20, 1984.

3. "You will always be Esperanza. You will always be Mango Street."

-Sister with porcelain hands, 'The House On Mango Street', Chapter 41, 1984.

4. "You gotta be able to know what to do with hips when you get them."

-Esperanza Cordero, 'The House On Mango Street', Chapter 20, 1984.

5. "What matters is for the boys to see us and for us to see them."

-Marin, 'The House On Mango Street', Chapter 11, 1984.

6. "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. One day I will go away."

-Esperanza Cordero, 'The House On Mango Street', Chapter 44, 1984.

7. "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. Esperanza. I have inherited her name, but I don't want to inherit her place by the window."

-Esperanza Cordero, 'The House On Mango Street', Chapter Four, 1984.

8. "My uncle and me bow and he walks me back in my thick shoes to my mother who is proud to be my mother."

-Esperanza Cordero, 'The House On Mango Street', Chapter 20, 1984.

Quotes On Belonging From ‘The House On Mango Street’

A majority of the quotes of the novel were on the theme of sense of belonging and here we have enlisted a few of them. You will also find some 'The House On Mango Street' Sally quotes.

9. "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."

-Esperanza Cordero, 'The House On Mango Street', Chapter One, 1984.

10. "Ah, yes, a home in the heart. I see a home in the heart."

-Esperanza Cordero, 'The House On Mango Street', Chapter 24, 1984.

11. "No, this isn’t my house I say and shake my head as if shaking could undo the year I’ve lived here. I don’t belong. I don’t ever want to come from here."

-Esperanza Cordero, 'The House On Mango Street', Chapter 42, 1984.

12. "We didn’t always live on Mango Street. Before that we lived on Loomis on the third floor, and before that we lived on Keeler. Before Keeler it was Paulina, and before that I can’t remember. But what I remember most is moving a lot."

-Esperanza Cordero, 'The House On Mango Street', Chapter One, 1984.

13. "Friends and neighbors will say, What happened to that Esperanza? Where did she go with all those books and paper? Why did she march so far away?"

-Esperanza Cordero, 'The House On Mango Street', Chapter 44, 1984.

14. "Nenny is too young to be my friend. She's just my sister and that was not my fault."

-Esperanza Cordero, 'The House On Mango Street', Chapter Three, 1984.

15. "I like to tell stories. I am going to tell you a story about a girl who didn’t want to belong."

-Esperanza Cordero, 'The House On Mango Street', Chapter 48, 1984.

Inspirational Quotes From 'The House On Mango Street'

Enlisted below are the finest and the most inspirational 'The House On Mango Street' quotes.

16. "They will not know I have gone away to come back. For the ones I left behind. For the ones who cannot out."

-Esperanza Cordero, 'The House On Mango Street', Chapter 44, 1984.

17. "A woman's place is sleeping so she can wake up early with the tortilla star."

Alicia's father,'The House On Mango Street', Chapter 11, 1984.

18. "And the story goes she never forgave him. She looked out the window her whole life, the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow."

-Esperanza Cordero, 'The House On Mango Street', Chapter Four, 1984.

19. "In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting."

-Esperanza Cordero, 'The House On Mango Street', Chapter Four, 1984.

20. "Many people who live in the barrio can't imagine a life outside of it."

-Esperanza Cordero, 'The House On Mango Street', Chapter 44, 1984.

21. "I am a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor."

-Esperanza Cordero, 'The House On Mango Street', Chapter Three, 1984.

22. "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."

-Esperanza Cordero, 'The House On Mango Street', Chapter 12, 1984.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for 'The House On Mango Street' quotes then why not take a look at Beloved quotes, or [Maya Angelou love quotes]?

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