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Arguably, the theme of identity is the most prevalent theme throughout The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. Esperanza's goal is to become independent of her circumstances and ultimately create her own identity. We follow her along through various situations that contribute to her identity formation as a whole. For example, in "My Name," Esperanza wants to change her name to something that better fits the real her. She is not satisfied with the outcome of her grandmother's life, so she feels as though she needs to change her name in order to separate the identity from her grandmother. "I would like to baptize myself under a new name." The main purpose of the novel is to watch Esperanza grow and become independent, which is exactly what the identity theme contributes to the story.

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"I would like to baptize myself under a new name." This quote incorporates a hyperbole that demonstrates how much Esperanza wants to change her name and ultimately her identity. She does not want the same fate as her great-grandmother with the same name, so her solution to this is to change her name. She wants to grow and have a different identity. She dislikes the negative connotation she associates with her current name and uses the word "baptize" to exaggerate just how important this change is to her.

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In the vignette, "My Name,"  Esperanza is having trouble with her identity. Since she has the same name as her great-grandmother, Esperanza is under the impression they share the same identity and fate. She states, "I have inherited her name, but I don't want to inherit her place by the window." Overall, Esperanza realizes she wants to create her own identity, apart from her great-grandmother. She thinks that in order to start creating her own identity, she must change her name.

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In the vignette, "Chanclas", we see further development with Esperanza's identity, maturity, anc confidence. The vignette follows Esperanza and her family attending her little cousin's baptism party. In the vignette, Esperanza is wearing all new and nice clothing, apart fro her shoes, which are the same ones she gets every school year. She shows that she is embarrassed by them, particularly when her cousin asks her to dance. She denies his offer, however, Uncle Nacho managed to get her to dance with him. Even with her shoes that she was embarrassed of, the two were able to grab the attention of everyone in attendance, and upon finishing, received much applause. This is a moment where Esperanza realized that materialistic things aren't the only things that matter, and that to have fun and be yourself is far more important than one's appearance.

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The vignette, "Four Skinny Trees" is integral in the identity develop of Esperanza in the story. Though no real event is happening in this vignette, Esperanza rather opens up more and uses this vignette as a more personal and emotionally profound statement. In this vignette, she compares herself to 4 skinny trees by her house, specifically comparing how they have so much growth that they want to pursue but are burdened by being trapped in the place that they are.

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In the vignette, "Born Bad," Esperanza describes the identity of her Aunt Lupe. She explains how her Aunt was an amazing swimmer but unfortunately got sick. She then states how her Aunt Lupe did not deserve this disease as she was not "born on an evil day" like Esperanza. Esperanza says, "Maybe the sky did not look the day she fell down. But I think diseases have no eyes. They pick with a dizzy finger anyone, just anyone." Esperanza is using personification to give human qualities to the sky and the disease that Aunt Lupe has.

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"We must be Christmas." Esperanza claims this when she is trying on new shoes with Lucy and Rachel. Her identity is different in this vignette than normal because she feels more confident and matured. Usually, Esperanza may feel that men do not look twice in her direction, but with the high heels on, she feels that they cannot take their eyes off of her. She demonstrates this belief with the metaphor comparing her and her friends to Christmas. Everyone loves Christmas and looks forward to Christmas morning, which explains her new identity in this vignette.

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"There. I lived there. I nodded. 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. For the time being, Mama says. Temporary says Papa. But I know how those things go." This quote is significant to the theme because it is the first encounter Esperanza has with the idea of creating a new identity. She realized that she is not happy with her life and the way she is perceived so she wants to create a new life for herself and form a new identity apart from her family. Esperanza knows the repeated tendencies of her family in the past and she wants to get away from those tendencies.

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In this Youtube video, Sandra Cisneros discusses early memories she has regarding growing up. Specifically, she talks about her large family and how she didn't feel as though she felt like she belonged. But, she discovered a library where she felt a sense of identity. She felt at home and as though she truly did belong when she was at the library.

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In this Ted Talk, America Ferrera discusses the concept of identity. As a Latina aspiring actress, she did not have the best experiences growing up. She was usually stereotyped into certain roles based off of her appearance, which caused her to have issues with identity. It was not until later on in her career where she was truly able to establish her true identity and become the woman she was meant to be. As America says, "My identity is not my obstacle. My identity is my superpower. Because the truth is, I am what the world looks like. You are what the world looks like. Take your time and your talent and figure out what you can contribute to this world."

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I think that the theme of identity is extremely important to understand. Identity affects each and every person, regardless of gender, race, religion, etc., we are all searching life to find our identity and find where we belong.

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I believe that identity is a theme that is prevalent in not only my life, but everyone's life, as your identity is representative as you as a person. No one identifies the same way, and that helps to create a person's uniqueness. Everything from your age to your beliefs makes up an identity, and finding one's true identity can make them much happier and help them find their place.

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"They are the only ones who understand me. I am the only one who understands them. Four skinny trees with skinny necks and pointy elbows like mine. Four who do not belong here but are here"
This quote is not only extremely powerful, but a huge attention grabber, especially considering that its the first thing said in the vignette, "Four Skinny Trees". It also helps to showcase the continuous identity growth of Esperanza, and the disconnect from many that she is starting to feel as she's aging.

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This picture that I drew represents the different hairstyles described within the vignette, "Hairs."

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What are some ways that your own identity has changed and became what it is now?

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What Role Does Identity Have in the Development of Esperanza?

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What Role Does Identity Have in the Development of Esperanza?

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Throughout The House on Mango Street, we see the development and aging of the main character, Esperanza, along with stories of why and how she changed the way she did. One of the most prominent recurring themes throughout the novel is identity. We see in the beginning of the novel that she is mature for her age, and that she has many dreams and aspirations but doesn't know how to reach towards them. She wants a nice house, she wants friends, she wants more than what is currently possible. We easily can see this in the vignette, "Boys and Girls", when Esperanza discusses how much she longs for a friend who isn't just her sister, "a balloon tied to an anchor". We can see this idea continue to evolve later, and this idea is directly discussed in "Four Skinny Trees', where Esperanza talks about how she feels similar to these trees who have so much growth to do but are limited and bound to the ground where they were planted.

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Do you feel as though you have found your identity? What are some experiences that may have contributed to your formation of identity?

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In your opinion, what is the most important part of someone's identity, or what is the most important part of your own identity?

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I believe that the common theme Identity is a very important factor to everyone's life. You have to know who you are yourself. You can't identify as anyone else you have to be your own person and that is very important. I also think that once you know your identity you can be a better person to yourself and those around you because you know who you are and who you want to become as you grow.

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"In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting." This is an important quote because it shows how Esperanza sees herself and how she feels about her name. She doesn't like it and wishes to change it, when her name is a huge part of her identity and if she changes it, it may not fit who she truly is a person.

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“I want to be like the waves on the sea like the clouds in the wind but I’m me. One day I’ll jump out of my skin. I’ll shake the sky like a hundred violins” This quote shows how Esperanza wants to be and how she wishes she was like. She uses like to show what she wishes to be like. She wants to become a different person and change who she is now.

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“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 uses a repetition of "One day" she is telling us how she will leave pack all her things and leave Mango street. She says she will not stay here forever because she wants to become more than what she seems to be now.

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“You live there? There. I had to look to where she pointed. You live there? The way she said it made me feel like nothing. There. I lived there” Esperanza repeats the word there to show her shame in her house and where they live. She is embarked of her house. Her house is a big part of who she is and her identity and she doesn't want people to look at her house and see her that way, so she is embarrassed and ashamed.

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The red ballon shows how Esperanza sees herself and show she feels she doesn't fit In with the people around her In her neighborhood.

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"I am a red ballon, a balloon tied to an anchor." This quote represents how Esperanza believes that she is like the color red in her neighborhood because she stands out. She is still floating because she feels she does not fit in on Mango street, and she feels isolated from her friends. She believes her identifies like a red balloon standing out and not fitting in.

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"They the trees are the only ones who understand me. I am the only one who understands them." This quote shows how Esperanza feels about herself and the tress represent her loneliness. The tress were planted into the city without their consent and to her that's like how she was. She feels neither her or the trees can leave.

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"My name is the Mexican records my dad plays on Sunday mornings."  This quote shows how Esperanza feels about her name and how it identifies her. She feels that her name is incomplete and she doesn't like it. Her name reminds her pf her grandmother and she doesn't want to be how her grandmother was. She feels that Mexican people are not strong and she compares her name to a Mexican song because she doesn't feel her name suites her identity.

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"My mother says that when I get older my dusty hair will settle and my blouse will learn to stay clean, but I have decided not to grow up tame like the others" Esperanza uses human like qualities to describe how her hair and blouse will be when she gets older. Esperanza doesn't want to end up like her mother who is married with children and always has to do chores around the household. Esperanza wants to create her own identity for herself and not be like how her mother is. She wants to create a life for herself that she will enjoy.

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In this vignette Esperanza tries to find a solution to her inner conflict by becoming like a femme fatale of the movies, that is, being sexual and desired by men, but also retaining all her own power and agency. Her first act of this new self is humorously small, but also tragic in its own way by refusing to wash her dishes, she is only making more work for another woman, in this case her mother. Things will only be fair when leaving the table “like a man” no longer means being irresponsible and negatively affecting other women.

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Esperanza describes the hair types of each member of her family. Her own hair is “lazy” and doesn’t act like she wants it to. Her mother’s hair is curly and beautiful, and it smells like warm bread. Esperanza likes to sleep near her mother and smell her hair. In this chapter we see how each of her family members hairs are different, but they are still family and have other things in common. Each persons hair shows their own identity.

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In this vignette Esperanza and her friends Lucy and Rachel play a game on her aunt Lupe. Her aunt ends up dying and Esperanza feels guilt and sadness because of the way she acted and what her and friends did. They prey for themselves and feel sorry for what they did saying they didn't know she was gonna die. We see Esperanza understand that she was wrong and that she shouldn't have done what she did.