The House on Mango Street Characters

Esperanza is the heart and soul of this story – she's our protagonist and narrator, and the person who develops and changes the most over the course of the novel. Because of the fragmentary w...

The most notable thing about Sally is that she's a bombshell. She's the gorgeous girl that all the boys at school talk about in the locker room. She's got eyes like Cleopatra, and she wears nylons...

Nenny is Esperanza's kid sister. Too young to get Esperanza's jokes or keep her secrets, Nenny is more of a pain in the butt than anything else – and Esperanza is responsible for watching out...

It's clear from her description of her parents that Esperanza feels a lot of affection for them – Esperanza's Mama and Papa are the forces that make the house on Mango Street a home, even whe...

Alicia is an older girl in the neighborhood who studies at the university. Alicia's mother died, and Alicia is forced to take up many of the chores that her mama used to do, like making the tortill...

Esperanza doesn't say much about her little brothers, Carlos and Keeky, except that they follow the supreme law against fraternizing with children of the opposite sex when they're outside the house...

Cathy is a big snob. She befriends Esperanza when the Cordero family moves to Mango Street, but tells her their friendship will be short lived – her family is moving on Tuesday because the ne...

Esperanza meets Lucy and Rachel shortly after moving into the house on Mango Street. The sisters quickly become Esperanza's constant companions – well, sometimes Nenny tags along, too. Espera...

Esperanza's Aunt Lupe used to be beautiful like Joan Crawford, until she was struck down by a mysterious disease that left her bedridden and blind. Aunt Lupe is confined to her dirty, yellowing apa...

Meme Ortiz is the new kid on the block. His real name is Juan, but he goes by Meme. Just like Meme, his dog has two names – one in English, and one in Spanish. That's really all we know about...

Minerva is a girl not much older than Esperanza, but she's already married and has two kids. Minerva and Esperanza hang out and read each other's poetry. But Minerva always has a lot of drama going...

Sire is the first boy who stares at Esperanza in the way that boys stare at Marin. He makes her sort of uncomfortable, but she also enjoys the attention. Esperanza pays attention when Sire gets a g...