tinues throughout the book. She is ashamed of where she lives, but she'll ride it out until she is old enough to get out. It is very obvious in the end of the book when Alicia tells Esperanza that the house of Mango Street is always her house. "No this isn't my house," Esperanza says 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." At the end of the story, you hear about the house of her dreams and her promise to get out of Mango Street for good.
             The story deals a lot with growing up. In the beginning of the story, Esperanza really wants friends. It seems like one of the most important things in her life. She meets Lucy and Rachel and they become quick friends. They later meet an older girl, Marin, who becomes their friend. Marin is older so she has an influence on the girls. Marin sits in front of the house every night. Marin tells Esperanza that she does this because girls need to be seen by the boys. Esperanza doesn't understand this because she is too young to really know what Marin is talking about. Later on in the story
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