The House on Mango Street Characters

Geraldo

A Mexican man Marin meets at a dance. Geraldo dies in a car accident the evening she meets him. Nobody, including Marin, knows anything about him, including his last name.

Ruthie

A childish grown-up neighbor who enjoys playing with Esperanza and her friends. Ruthie's mother, Edna, is a landlady for the large building next door and ignores Ruthie.

The Monkey Garden

A family with a pet monkey moves away, and the neighborhood kids take over the garden behind their house. The garden quickly becomes a dump for old cars and other trash, but to the children it is a magical place where anything is possible. They explore it, looking for the old, lost things the garden keeps. One day Esperanza is there with Sally. Esperanza wants to run around with the boys, but Sally stays to the side. She does not like to get her stockings dirty, and she plays a more grown-up game by talking to the boys. Tito, a neighborhood boy, steals Sally's keys, and he and his friends tell her that she has to kiss all of them to get them back. Sally agrees, and they go behind an old car. Esperanza wants to save Sally from being exploited this way, so she runs to tell Tito's mother what the boys are doing. His mother doesn't care, and Esperanza sets out to save Sally herself. Arming herself with a brick, she confronts the boys. Sally and the boys laugh at her and tell her to go away. Esperanza hides beneath a tree and tries to will her heart to stop. When she finally gets up she looks at her feet, which look clunky and unfamiliar. The garden seems unfamiliar too.

Elenita

A witch woman Esperanza visits to have her fortune told. Elenita reads Tarot cards and tells Esperanza that she will have "a home in the heart."

Alicia Who Sees Mice

Alicia becomes an important character in the story. What's her situation? Alicia and Marin are character foils. How are A and M similar and different? What does this chapter add to the themes of gender roles and the theme of poverty and social class?

The Vargas Kids

An unspecified number of poorly raised, vagrant siblings whose father has abandoned them. One of the Vargas kids, Angel Vargas, dies by falling from a great height.

Rachel

Best Friend. Kathy is prejudice against her.

Carlos

Brother

Cathy Queen Of Cats

Cathy Queen Of Cats: Describes Cathy and her family. Cathy's departure and Meme's arrival.

Uncle Nacho

Dances with Esperanza at a family party (explore maturity)

Mango Says Goodbye Sometimes

Esperanza defines herself as a storyteller. She frames the story by saying she is going to tell the audience a story about a girl who did not want to belong. She repeats the paragraph from the first chapter about having not always lived on Mango Street, naming the other streets she has lived on. The house on Mango Street is the one she remembers the most. When she writes about it, she is able to free herself from the house's grip. She knows that one day she will pack her books and writing materials and leave Mango Street, but she will have left only to come back for the others who cannot get out on their own.

A House of My Own

Esperanza describes the qualities and parts of her ideal house: picturesque, not belonging to a man, flowers in front, a porch, and her shoes beside the bed. She describes the house as safe and full of potential, "clean as paper before the poem."

Alicia & I Talking On Edna's Steps

Esperanza has a conversation with Alicia, where Alicia expresses her struggles with balancing familial responsibilities and her desire for education. It highlights the challenges faced by women in the neighborhood, offering a glimpse into Alicia's determination to break free from societal constraints and pursue her dreams

The Red Clowns

Esperanza narrates this section after she has been sexually assaulted by a group of boys, and though she gives her impressions and expresses her confusion, she never specifies exactly what the boys do to her. We know Esperanza goes to a carnival with Sally and that she enjoys watching Sally on the rides. Sally seems careless and free, and at one point she disappears with an older boy. While Esperanza waits for Sally to return, a group of non-Latino boys attacks Esperanza. The event is nothing like sexual encounters Esperanza has seen in the movies or read in magazines, or even like what Sally has told her. She is traumatized and keeps hearing the voice of one of the boys saying mockingly, "I love you, Spanish girl." She blames Sally for abandoning her and not being there to save her, and her anger spreads to all the women who have not told her what sex is really like.

Bums In The Attic

Esperanza wants a nice suburban house with a garden, like the ones where her father works. On the weekends, the family visits these houses and dreams about moving there. Esperanza has stopped going with her family. She, too, would like to live in one of those houses, but she is tired of looking at what she cannot have. She imagines that when she owns one of these houses in the future, she will not forget where she is from. When bums pass her house she will invite them in and give them a place to live in her attic, because she knows, she says, "how it is to be without a house." When people think that the squeaking in the attic is rats, she will shake her head and say it is bums.

the House On Mango Street

Esperanza's Family and Situation: Explores Esperanza's family dynamics. Provides insights into their situation in the world. Esperanza's Character: Examines Esperanza's traits and qualities. Begins to understand the type of person she is.

Aunt lala

Esperanza's aunt who gets her first job

Aunt Lupe

Esperanza's aunt. In her youth, Lupe was a vibrant, beautiful swimmer, but now she is old, blind, and bed-ridden. She listens to Esperanza's poems and encourages her to keep writing, but Esperanza and her friends mock Lupe behind her back.

Cathy

Esperanza's first friend in the neighborhood. Cathy's family moves out the week after Esperanza's family moves in.

Hairs

Family and Situation: Family members have different hair. Reveals a different side of Esperanza's family.

Boys & Girls

Gender Roles: Dedicated to "las mujeres" (the women). E challenges traditional gender roles

And Some More

How can we tell that this vignette takes place just after the Darius vignette? How does this vignette show us that a lot of time has passed between when E first meets L&R and now? How much time might have passed in the story so far? *This chapter is a good place to talk about a theme that starts to emerge about how E is and is not like others in her social class. We've gotten hints of this in "Our Good Day" when E corrects Lucy's grammar and in "Gil's Furniture" when E appreciates the antique music box in a different way than Nenny. Here we see it with her knowledge of cloud types. What makes E different from some others in her neighborhood? How does this difference connect her to Alicia?

Geraldo No Last Name

How did Marin meet Geraldo? What happened to him? Esperanza is not involved in the events of this chapter. She only finds out about this incident from something Marin tells her. Why does she include this chapter in her story? What does this add to our understanding of life on Mango Street?

The Family Of Little Feet

How do the used shoes transform E and her friends? What do they do when they realize this transformation has occurred? What scary thing happens to them? What do they do with the shoes when they get home? This vignette brings to light another theme that has been hinted at in the story so far: sexuality and attraction. What does this vignette show us about E's conflict over this issue? What are the pros and cons of maturing and becoming more attractive to men?

Louie, His Cousin, and his Other Cousin

How does E know Louie and his family? Who comes to live with Louie from Puerto Rico? What is she like? (Note: this person is the first cousin referred to in this chapter's title. She becomes a fairly important character in the story.) The "other cousin" only appears in this chapter. Describe this cousin's car. What happens after Louie's cousins tell all the kids to get out of the car? What can we infer about where Louie's cousin's car came from?

Sally

How does Esperanza meet Sally? What is this character like? Why does Esperanza want to be her friend? What are the drawbacks for E of becoming friends with Sally instead of Lucy and Rachel?

Marin

In this chapter, E has gotten to know Louie's cousin, Marin, a little better. How does Marin relate to boys? What does Esperanza learn from Marin? E has conflicted feelings about Marin. Choose one baby quote that shows her admiration for Marin and one baby quote that shows she may pity Marin.

Louie

Lives in Memes basement. Cousin stole Cadillac.

Marin

Louie's cousin, flirts with boys, dresses provocatively, wants a man to change her life; symbolism of looking out the door

No Speak English

Mamacita is the wife of one of Esperanza's neighbors. Her husband works very hard to bring her and her child to Mango Street, but once Mamacita arrives, she never leaves the house. She misses Mexico and refuses to assimilate. She is hugely fat, but Esperanza also finds her beautiful. She sits by the window, listens to Spanish radio, and wishes to go home. Some people think she never leaves her room because she is too fat or because she cannot get down the three flights of stairs, but Esperanza believes she refuses to come down because she doesn't speak any English. Esperanza's father explains how hard it is to live in the United States without knowing English, saying that when he first arrived, the only food he knew was "ham and eggs," so he had to eat ham and eggs three times a day. The final blow for Mamacita is that her child, whom she has brought with her from Mexico, learns English. It breaks her heart that even he insists on speaking this ugly language that she cannot understand.

Minerva Writes Poems

Minerva is 2 years older than esperanza and has children, is abused by her husband, writes poems to try to get out of the cycle, nothing she can do because she is just a girl in the barrio

My Name

National Identity: Addresses national identity. Reflects E's thoughts on being Mexican.

Tito

Neighborhood boy, violent and assaults girls.

Meme Ortiz

Note: Curious about what you should be picturing when you read about Mango Street? Check out How You Might Be Picturing Mango Street... And A Southside Chicago Street comparable to the fictional Mango Street. Note: "Meme" is pronounced "May may" not "Meem." Meme moves into the house Cathy moved out of. This helps us understand a few things better about Cathy's family: Cathy's father built the house. How well built is it? What race was Cathy? What race is Meme? Why did Cathy's family leave the neighborhood? What was ironic about this? Meme's back yard has a beautiful, giant oak tree in it that the kids of the neighborhood climb. How does the neighborhood look different to Esperanza from this tree? While riding the bike on the day she meets Lucy and Rachel, E describes her house with these words, "past my house, sad, and red, and crumbly in places." In this chapter she describes her house by saying, "there at the end of the block our house, smaller still, with its feet tucked under like a cat." What do these different descriptions tell us about E's changing feelings about her house and her neighborhood?

Gil's Furniture Bought & Sold

Note: this vignette brings up a new theme/idea in the book that we haven't seen before. To discover this new theme, think about the difference in the way E and her sister react to and appreciate the music box. Describe Gil's Furniture. What kind of store is it? One day, Nenny asks Gil about an item in the store. He says it's a music box. He means something like this: When Gil plays it for them, Esperanza uses several metaphors to describe what the music sounds like and how it makes her feel. How the music sounds: How it makes E feel: Why does E say "I have to turn around and pretend I don't care about the box so Nenny won't see how stupid I am"? Why is Nenny stupider than Esperanza?

Gil

Owns furniture store. Racist.

Rafaela Who Drinks Coconut & Papaya Juice on Tuesdays

Rafela is stuck in her house, she is forbidden to leave by her husband At the end of this vignette, E says, "And always there is someone offering sweeter drinks, someone offering to keep them on a silver string." Who is E referring to with the pronoun "them?" What does the figurative language in this passage mean? What does this show about E?

Linoleum Roses

Sally gets married that year to an abusive older man, he doesn't let her out of the house. Sally claims to be happy because her husband sometimes gives her money, but her husband sometimes becomes violent and angry as well. . Sally spends her days sitting at home and looking at the domestic objects around her.

What Sally said

Sally's father is abusive because he wants to keep Sally sheltered and in line but when she comes to school bruised sally covers for her father. One day Sally's father sees Sally talking to a boy. He beats her with a belt and then with his fists. She is injured so badly that she misses two days of school.

Elenita, Cards, Palm, Water

Tarot card reading is not part of Catholicism, but some fortune tellers will make money by using the cards to tell a fortune, then offering to be the intermediary between the customer and the saint to stave off whatever bad luck was predicted "in the cards" and hasten the arrival of good things. What did Esperanza hope to get for the $5 she pays Elenita? What does she learn in this chapter? What can we tell about her feelings about belonging?

Minerva

The married woman in the neighborhood who is most similar to Esperanza. Her and Esperanza share their poems with each other. She is only two years older than Esperanza but already has a husband and two children. Her husband leaves for long periods, only to return in a violent rage.

Hips

This chapter shows us the difference between Esperanza, Lucy, and Rachel (older middle school aged girls) and Nenny, who is still in elementary school.

Laughter

This vignette takes place after some time has passed. How can we tell? What point is this vignette making about friends and siblings?

Those who don't

Those who don't what? What has E realized about we/they thinking in this chapter? This chapter solidifies a theme that has cropped up since the beginning of the novel: poverty and social class.

Our Good Day

What are Lucy and Rachel doing when Esperanza meets them? Cathy tries to discourage her from talking to Lucy and Rachel. What does E say she likes about L and R? What are some baby quotes that tell us Esperanza has made the right choice of friends when she picks Lucy and Rachel over Cathy?

Edna's Ruthie

What do the kids like about Ruthie? What seems strange about her? What is probably actually going on with Ruthie? To what extent does E understand this situation? Do you think Esperanza admires Ruthie, feels sorry for her, accepts her as is?

A Rice Sandwich

What does E want to do in this chapter, and why? What does she say to convince her mom to help her? What happens in the conversation with Sister Superior (the principal) that upsets Esperanza? *This chapter helps us realize something about E's family's financial situation. Part of the reason they live in a less affluent neighborhood is that they are putting 4 kids through private school. How does this change the way we think about E's family and E's frustration with her family's socio-economic class?

Chanclas

What happens in this vignette? How does this incident continue the theme of growing up/sexuality/gender roles? "Chancla" is a really important word with a basic denotation and a distinct connotation when used in a certain way by a Latina mom. First deal with denotation: Look up "chancla" on google. Why is this chapter titled "chanclas?" Now to get the connotation, we have to rely on another source. Look up "chancla/chanclas" on urban dictionary. Now why do you think this chapter is called "chanclas."

Darius And The Clouds

What is Darius usually like? What point does he make that Esperanza admires?

There Was An Old Woman...

What nursery rhyme does the title of this vignette come from? What are the Vargas kids like? What happens to Angel Vargas? How does this chapter add to the discussion of social class and poverty? How does E feel about the Vargas family?

Born Bad

Who is Aunt Lupe and what is her situation? What did Esperanza do that makes her feel like a horrible person? What kind of advice did Aunt Lupe give Esperanza when E would come to visit her?

The Earl of Tennessee

Who is Earl and where does he live? Is Earl actually married? Who are these women? Does Esperanza include this chapter because she DOES or DOES NOT realize who the women are?

Sire

Who is Sire? How does Esperanza know him? Why does she make such a big deal over not being afraid of him? How does Esperanza feel about Sire's girlfriend, Lois?

The first job

Why does Esperanza "sort of let" Tito push her into the open water hydrant? What job does Esperanza get, and how does she manage to get this job? What makes Esperanza trust the older Oriental man? What does he do to her? This chapter helps develop the themes of gender relations, growing up, and of kids vs. adults. What advice would you give Esperanza about this situation?

Bum

a homeless guy on the street who wants a kiss

Sally

abused by father, Esperanza wants to keep her safe from the world; gets married trying to escape her house but is more stuck

Alicia

afraid of mice and her father; taking life into own hands to become free; going to university to better herself

Sire

bad kid, has a girlfriend who Esperanza is jealous of

Mamacita

doesn't speak English, afraid, wants to go home to Mexico, trapped

Four skinny Tress

esperanza describes the trees outside her window

earl

has no wife, has prostitutes over

Meme Ortiz

he new resident of Cathy's house. Meme's real name is Juan, and he has a dog with two names.

Papa

his father dies and Esperanza shows him empathy

Papa...Dark

papa's mother dies and he become depressed

Esperanza

protagonist on journey to find herself, identity apart or as a part of Mango Street

Nenny

sister, "not her friend", criticized by Esperanza/contrast

Louie's cousin

steals and crashes a car

The Three Sisters

three weird sisters come into town and offer to let E make a wish but then warn her to never forget where she came from

Lucy & Rachel

two neighbor friends who are sisters

A Smart Cookie

we learn about all of the cool things Esperanza's mom can do

Rafaela

woman looks out window, husband locks the door so she doesn't go out; asks the kids to buy her things A neighborhood woman whose husband locks her in their apartment because he is afraid she'll run off. She sends money down on a clothesline to Esperanza and her friends so they can buy her sweet juices from the convenience store.

Kiki

youngest brother