'As safe as houses' is a common expression, as is 'a man's home is his castle,' and 'the American Dream of home ownership.' Houses are viewed as extensions of the self. Houses have a profound symbolic value in our culture, specifically American culture.

Perhaps the most important symbol in Sandra Cisneros' the House on Mango Street is that of the house itself, and houses in general. And ultimately, this isn't the story of a house – it's the story of a girl, her disappointment, and where it leads her.Symbolism and Cisneros' the House on Mango Street Because, just as our vision of suburban cuteness is crushed, so is Esperanza's. As it turns out, the ways in which the story deviates from the picture-perfect image that the title brings to mind are more significant that the ways in which it conforms to our expectations. It's cramped and falling apart and doesn't even have a backyard to play in. Nor is the house on Mango Street the kind of cute, tidy house that you see in television sitcoms. It's not even in a nice part of the city. But to a large extent the story defies the expectations we've formulated based on the title – Mango Street isn't in suburbia, for instance. It is about a home, a family, and a girl who wants to feel like she belongs to community. Well, in a twisted way, The House on Mango Street is about all of these things. We also think of status, because it usually takes quite a bit of money to purchase a house, and being a homeowner suggests a certain amount of prestige. You know, like something you'd see on Leave it to Beaver or The Brady Bunch. We think of location, location, location – and we generally think of a cute little two-bedroom in the suburbs. We think of things like a home, a family, and a sense of belonging. When we think of a house, our mind makes all sorts of associations.

In literature, a house is rarely just a house – that's because the idea of a 'house' carries certain connotations, or ideas that are connected with the word itself. Whose house is it? What's special about the house? Where's Mango Street? Let's dig a little deeper. Pretty straightforward, right? But right off the bat the title has us asking ourselves a few questions. It could be said that this is the story of a house.

The house on mango street house