Friendship is a valuable thing to everyone especially children. They find a friend in just about anyone they are with, but if they don’t have any or don’t have a best friend it is a devastating thing. In Sandra Cisneros’, “The House On Mango Street”, Esperanza is a young girl that has to find friends in her small neighborhood. She has many friends but Cisneros puts the little girls focus is on other peopFriendship is a valuable thing to everyone especially children. They find a friend in just about anyone they are with, but if they don’t have any or don’t have a best friend it is a devastating thing. In Sandra Cisneros’, “The House On Mango Street”, Esperanza is a young girl that has to find friends in her small neighborhood. She has many friends but Cisneros puts the little girls focus is on other people and their best friends and her having a few also.
Esperanza experiences her first friendship, outside of her family, when she meets Cathy, but Cathy is an example of a conditional, temporary friend that is only there for a short time and then they move on to different or better people or places. Cathy tells Esperanza “Okay, Ill be your friend. But only till next tuesday” (Cisneros 13). She tells Esperanza this because they are moving because of people like her, implying that she is different and not good enough for Cathy, therefore proving she is temporary and judgemental, and Esperanza does not have a true friend.
When Rachel and Lucy come into the picture they are letting people ride a bike for 5 dollars and telling people they will be their friend also. Esperanza are okay with spending only 5 dollars on a bike and friends. This could be conveyed as not true friendship since they have to buy it and it is not out of genuine feelings for another, but since these are children they do not under stand this. Since this is the longest friendship Esperanza keeps, and even though she bought it, this turns out to be her best friendship. The three girls, overall, showing a good friend that will stay with you no matter how different you are from them. Rachel and lucy were from Texas and Esperanza was raised in a hispanic family,the 3 girls were very different, but still got along and were good friends through their time on Mango Street.
Another girl that also lives on Mango Street displays the girl with no friendships because she has had to grow up too fast for a certain reason. Alicia has to get up early every morning and do her mothers work, even though she is a smart girl and a young one too. Her mother passed away and she “inherited her mama’s rolling pin and sleepiness, is young and smart and studies for the first time at a university” (31). Alicia has no time for friends since she has to act like a mother to her siblings and father, and also wants to learn enough to go off to school so she can escape Mango Street. She is the example of a friendship less child that is too busy to have any friends at all. Alicia is also the girl who listened to Esperanza’s problems and gave Esperanza someone to tell her secrets and problems to. This gives the friendship that we have been waiting for.
Overall, Cisneros, emphasizes the thematic motif of friendship, through her vignettes, by using Esperanza’s interactions with other girls and boys and the thoughts she has about her sister to explore the theme. Cisneros also uses the rejection to emphasize the theme. This is important because it shows how Cisneros felt as a child also. It helps you see the ups and downs she went through because of her race and age and where she lived, what her house looked like. Cisneros uses Esperanza’s life to convey her own thoughts as a child about friendship, growing up in poverty and moving all the time.

le and their best friends and her having a few also.
Esperanza experiences her first friendship, outside of her family, when she meets Cathy, but Cathy is an example of a conditional, temporary friend that is only there for a short time and then they move on to different or better people or places. Cathy tells Esperanza “Okay, Ill be your friend. But only till next tuesday” (Cisneros 13). She tells Esperanza this because they are moving because of people like her, implying that she is different and not good enough for Cathy, therefore proving she is temporary and judgemental, and Esperanza does not have a true friend.
When Rachel and Lucy come into the picture they are letting people ride a bike for 5 dollars and telling people they will be their friend also. Esperanza are okay with spending only 5 dollars on a bike and friends. The three girls end up staying friends throughout the rest of the book, overall showing a good friend that will stay with you no matter how different you are from them. Rachel and lucy were from Texas and Esperanza was raised in a hispanic family,the 3 girls were very different, but still got along and were good friends through their time on Mango Street.
Another girl that also lives on Mango Street displays the girl with no friendships because she has had to grow up too fast for a certain reason. Alicia has to get up early every morning and do her mothers work, even though she is a smart girl and a young one too. Her mother passed away and she “inherited her mama’s rolling pin and sleepiness, is young and smart and studies for the first time at a university” (31). Alicia has no time for friends since she has to act like a mother to her siblings and father, and also wants to learn enough to go off to school so she can escape Mango Street. She is the example of a friendship less child that is too busy to have any friends at all. Alicia is also the girl who listened to Esperanza’s problems and gave Esperanza someone to tell her secrets and problems to. This gives the friendship that we have been waiting for.
Overall, Cisneros, emphasizes the thematic motif of friendship, through her vignettes, by using Esperanza’s interactions with other girls and boys and the thoughts she has about her sister to explore the theme. Cisneros also uses the rejection to emphasize the theme. This is important because it shows how Cisneros felt as a child also. It helps you see the ups and downs she went through because of her race and age and where she lived, what her house looked like. Cisneros uses Esperanza’s life to convey her own thoughts as a child about friendship, growing up in poverty and moving all the time.