"They bloom like roses, I continue because it's obvious I'm the only one who can speak with any authority; I have science on my side. 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." (Chapter 20, pg. 50) Just like this quote, The House on Mango Street is about growing up. Esperanza sees what is around her and is scared; the girls that she knew or was friends with got pregnant when she was still playing tag, or there were shootings, or friends cousins being put under arrest. Esperanza was confused about growing and most of the time did not want to. Throughout the book, Esperanza is growing and it is always mentioned, subtle or not so subtle.
When Esperanza sees some girls wearing high heels she admires the way it looks on themit looks grownup, mature, and makes their legs looks longer. Esperanza and her friends try on some high-heeled shoes and walk around the streets of their neighborhood, but return home not liking the effect they had on other people. They were glad to find out that the shoes were thrown out by accident in the end. "Everything is holding its breath inside me. Everything is waiting to explode like Christmas. I want to be all new and shiny. I want to sit out bad at night, a boy around my neck and the wind under my skirt. Not this way, every evening talking to the trees, leaning out my window, imagining what I can't see." (Chapter 28, pg. 73) Esperanza wishes for what she does not know.
As Esperanza grows up, she learns more and sees things from eyes that she has never seen through before. She now knows enough to be able to hope to get out of Mango Street someday. "Their strength is secret. They send ferocious roots beneath the ground. They grow up and they grow down and grab the earth between their hairy toes and bite the sky with violent teeth and never quit their anger. This is how they keep." (Chapter 29, pg. 74) Esperanzas hope is as strong as the trees and as she and the trees grow, she grows too.
Esperanza seems to be more and more aware of the woman that she is becoming, and feels ashamed of it, because she knows how most of the other girls who grew up turned out like. "I looked at my feet in their white socks and ugly round shoes. They seemed far away. They didn't seem to be my feet anymore. And the garden that had been such a good place to play didn't' seem mine either." (Chapter 38, pg. 98) Esperanza sees her feet as signs of womanhood and what little of a childhood she did have was snatched from under feet; she was betrayed by her own barrio, and nothing can gain back her innocence.
Her whole life Esperanza knows what she wants; she wants a house. A house to call her own, but she finally realizes that she must grow up before her future can be so bright. Esperanza is a keen observer and living in the place she lived in was not such a good thing, but Esperanza was strong and never grew up like the other girls. She did not have a childhood to grow up in. Esperanzas feet, the trees, and even the reaction that she got from wearing heels influenced Esperanzas life. "I put it down on paper and then the ghost does not ache so much. I write it down and Mango says goodbye sometimes. She does not hold me with both arms. She sets me free. 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." (Chapter 44, pg. 110)
All information is found in the book.
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