- In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting. This quote means that Esperanza's Spanish name means "hope" but when she describes her name she uses negative words which tells us she is not happy with her name and instead of Esperanza being happy and hopeful she is the total opposite because her life is full of sadness and waiting. This story relates to me because Esperanza does not like her name or the life she lives but she cannot change it, much like a lot of people in today's world but even if you don't have the best life or name you still have to keep going on.
- She looked out the window her whole life, the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow. I wonder if she made the best with what she got or was she sorry because she couldn’t be all the things she wanted to be. Esperanza. I have inherited her name, but I don’t want to inherit her place by the window. This quote means that Esperanza got her name from her grandmother who used to look out the window of her house wishing she could be living somewhere instead of Mango street. Esperanza says that she is not going to get trapped like her grandmother and the other women who still live on Mango street. I can relate to this because Bear Creek is a small town and we don't get out much and I think that a lot of people around here like it but want to get away to more people and more things to do but they are to scared to leave the place they've always lived behind.
- No, this isn’t my house I say and shake my head as if shaking could undo the year I’ve lived here. I don’t belong. I don’t ever want to come from here. This quote means that Esperanza is denying that she has lived on Mango street her whole life but she knows she belongs on Mango street and nowhere else. No matter what she does and no matter where she moves to she will never be able to leave Mango street. It will always be her home. I can relate to this quote because Bear Creek is like my Mango street. No matter where I go or what I do I will never be able to let go of Bear Creek.
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/mangostreet/quotes.html#explanation5
