The House On Mango Street Belonging Analysis

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“If you deliberately plan on being less of what you are capable of being, then I warn that you will be unhappy for the rest of your life”-Abraham Maslow. One of the earliest psychologists who focused on the happiness of individuals and is well known for one of the most important psychological theories in order to fulfill self-actualization was Abraham Maslow. Maslows’ Hierarchy of needs focuses on the fundamental essentials of human survival including love and belonging. Without having the feeling of belonging, individuals often feel disconnected or a sense of loneliness. Whether an individual feels a sense of belonging or not extends beyond the practical impact of human connectedness or alienation. The extent of one's belonging to a group…show more content…
As Lahiri states in her interview with Somak Ghoshal, an important aspect of “belonging” includes the element of an individual’s home. Sandra Cisneros demonstrates in her piece of literature, ‘The House on Mango Street’, how a temporary home can make an individual vulnerable and acquire the feeling of not belonging. In this position, she is in constant fear of the possibility of moving once again. The quality of her family’s living conditions were always hindered in her “temporary” homes. Although, the house on Mango Street was the first home that would be considered theirs where they would not need to pay rent to a landlord each month, was not the house she felt she belonged to. This home was small, red, with tight stairs, small windows, bricks crumbling, and no yard. The reoccurring moves to new locations prohibited her from ever gaining pride in just one environment. Her mother always spoke about the perfect house that they would one day own that “was a white house with trees around it, real stairs like you would see on TV, more than one washroom, and a large yard that did not need to be shared”, the aspects of this home were the ones she felt she would belong to. The house on Mango Street was the exact opposite of what their parents had always expressed their vision of what their family’s home would one day

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