Wanting More

In The House On Mango Street, Esperanza’s story is a story of wanting and yearning for something better. Living in such a small and broken down house in a poor and underprivileged community, Esperanza dreams of having a better life. She does not want to belong to or be apart of Mango Street. She describes the hardships and problems of the other inhabitants that live on Mango Street. In a sense, she wants to break away and distinguish herself from her surroundings. She wants more. She is capable of more. She is unwilling to accept such a lowly way of life, and yearns for a better future. I can connect with Esperanza because like her family, my family came to this country from Vietnam. From nothing, my parents have had to work so hard to raise my two younger sisters and I in a far away land in hopes of giving us a better future. Being the first in my family to go to college, I feel that what has gotten me to this point is my wanting and yearning for something better. I have no place to go but up. To me, failure is not an option. Additionally, like Esperanza, I will never forget where I came from or the people that have touched my life.