Thesis
The main subject of study in this article is the immense hope that the poor hold in their hearts despite the fact that they are passing through difficult moments that threaten to kill their dreams. Moreover, parents commit promises that they are not sure to realize to their children just to brighten their future life but it remains the offspring’s sole responsibility to work and achieve goals set by their parents
Introduction
The article “The House on Mango Street” gives an account of the life of the writer together with his siblings and parents. The writer, siblings and parents managed to reside in the following estates; Loomis on the third floor, Keeler, Paulina and other places that they had lived before which he is not able to recall. However, right now they are residents in the Mango Street. Notably, their population in the family includes his mother, father, Carlos, Kiki, his sister Nenny and himself.
Before they came to Mango Street they had actually shifted severally to different places. Therefore, this is the only moment that this family had managed to secure their own house. Hence they do not have to bear to the pressure of paying rent.
However, the lifestyle the family of the writer is deemed to live in their house in the Mango Street is so different and by just observation is worse compared to previous lifestyle in their rental houses despite having been promised better house by their parents. More promises remain unfulfilled in the mind of the writer and he therefore wonders the impression of that the life he lived, he lives and that awaits him and his siblings in the future.
Article Review
Initially the writer and his family members did not live in the house in the Mango Street but in the following places namely; third floor of Loomis, Keeler. Before residing in Keeler they were in Paulina.
However, before living in Paulina, the writer is not able to recall the names of the past estates but can only remember that the frequency of relocating from one place and house to the next was relatively high. The preceding statement is affirmed from the article when the writer says that what he remembers most is that they must have move a lot. As much as they were shifting, their family population kept on growing. By the time they were in the house at the Mango Street the population of their family was six members with parents inclusive. It seemed to worry the writer since as much as more siblings were coming into their family; no improvement in lifestyle was attained or showed signs of at one moment being achieved. As a result, their parents noticed his feelings and the best they could do as parents was to promise them better life which till this moment has not come to pass.
However, it emerged to be a great relief that as they lived in the house at the Mango Street, they never had to pay rent as they had full possession of this house.
Moreover, while at the Mango Street, they enjoyed the freedom of not sharing some of the basic facilities that one has always to share while living in a rental apartment as they did initially. These facilities included the yard which they were compelled to share with the people living downstairs.
While living in the rental houses, they had to keep to rules and regulations of not making too much noise that would probably disturb the peace of their neighbors. In addition they had to persevere from the banging on the ceiling with a broom, which is an action that was willingly being made by the landlord. Even if the writer and his family members had been saved from all above lifestyle, the writer was not yet impressed with the type of the house they had got, “But even so, it’s not the house we’d thought we’d get”.
In the event of such encounters, the writer now makes a preview of the reasons which he could recall with ease that led to the various relocations they had made as a family. To start with, they left the flat on Loomis because the water pipes had broken yet the landlord was not willing fix the problem claiming that the house was too old to afford such repairs. Therefore, for time they lived in Loomis as dilapidated as it were with the water pipes out of order, the family of the writer was compelled to ask and use the wash in the neighborhood. Water could also not be possible to be pumped up the apartment and so they had to carry water in empty milk gallons for family use. As a result they had to find an alternative house. His mother and father then landed on the house in the Mango Street which was situated relatively far away, on the other side of the town.
Initially his parents had already promised them as children that one day they would move into a house that they would own so that they would not fall into the drama of frequent shifting every year. They were promised that their house would have running water as well as pipes that worked well without unnecessary failures. In addition, inside of the house would have real stairs and not hallway stairs, but stairs inside like the houses on TV. Moreover, the house would have a basement and at least three washrooms so that they would have to shower without other people having the knowledge of their daily activities such as bathing. Their house was meant to be white with a big yard and grass without a fence. However, this was just the house their father had talked of and which their mother hopefully dreamed of her stories always before bedtime. But the house they were in now on the Mango Street was totally different from their expectations.
The house on the Mango Street had the following features instead; it was small and red in color with tight steps in front. The window was so small that you would think they were holding their breath, the bricks were crumbling in various areas and falling, the front door was so swollen that one had to push quite hard to get in. it had no front yard other than the four little elms the city had planted by the curb.
Adding salt to injury, out at the back, there was a small garage for a car which they did not actually own. Right here there was a small yard between the two buildings o the other side. The writer notices that the stairs in their house are just the ordinary hallway stairs and this has only one washroom. To the writer’s surprise, they all have to share a bedroom.
When they were living on Loomis, the writer realized that the house they were living in was not the perfect one for him. He concluded this when he noted the reactions from a nun from his school. The writer therefore feels that he must own a real house that he could point to with confidence. However, he father still claims that it a temporary resident as much as they owned it.
