Select a Chapter:

The House on Mango Street
Hairs
Boys & Girls
My Name
Cathy Queen of Cats
Our Good Day
Laughter
Gil's Furniture Bought & Sold
Meme Ortiz
Louie, His Cousin & His Other Cousin
Marin
Those Who Don't
There Was an Old Woman She Had So Many Children She Didn't Know What to Do
Alicia Who Sees Mice
Darius & the Clouds
And Some More
The Family of Little Feet
A Rice Sandwich
Chanclas
Hips
The First Job
Papa Who Wakes Up Tired in the Dark
Born Bad
Elenita, Cards, Palm, Water
Geraldo No Last Name
Edna's Ruthie
The Earl of Tennessee
Sire
Four Skinny Trees
No Speak English
Rafaela Who Drinks Coconut & Papaya Juice on Tuesdays
Sally
Minerva Writes Poems
Bums in the Attic
Beautiful & Cruel
A Smart Cookie
What Sally Said
The Monkey Garden
Red Clowns
Linoleum Roses
The Three Sisters
Alicia & I Talking on Edna's Steps
A House of My Own
Mango Says Goodbye Sometimes

Sally

Summary
Sally is a beautiful girl at school, but her father says "to be this beautiful is trouble." Even so, Esperanza admires Sally's attractiveness. She knows that the stories boys tell about her must not be true. She wonders why Sally spends so much time alone at school, and why Sally alters her appearance before going home-for example, removing her eye shadow. She wonders if Sally wishes she did not have to go home, if she wishes that her feet "would one day keep walking and take [her] far away from Mango Street, far away and maybe your feet would stop in front of a house, a nice one." In this house, Esperanza imagines, Sally could lean against somebody "without someone thinking [she is] bad," because all Sally wants is "to love and to love and to love and to love, and no one could call that crazy."
 
Analysis
Clearly, Esperanza identifies with Sally-or, perhaps more accurately, she projects much of her own hopes (see "My Name") and aspirations (see "The House on Mango Street") onto Sally. Sally, in effect, becomes a projection of Esperanza. Readers do not know-at this point-what the reality of Sally's life and inner world are like. As she did with "Geraldo No Last Name," Esperanza is creating a narrative for Sally. This narrative, however, a story of yearning for something better that is fulfilled, does not reflect reality; as we will see in the later vignette "What Sally Said," it crashes against reality's harshness. Readers could ponder what effect such shattered narratives may have on those who construct them, and whether such storytelling is ultimately of value. The book as a whole stresses the power of narrative and storytelling, with both positive and negative results (see "Red Clowns").