In “The House on Mango Street,” by Sandra Cisneros, the thematic motif of friendship is employed through the people she encounters and how they interact. The friendship motif can be traced through various vignettes throughout the book.

At the beginning of the book, Cisneros tries to express that friendships aren’t perfect and they don’t last forever. In the vignette “Cathy Queen of Cats,” Esperanza finds her first friend in the neighborhood, but it is a short friendship. “I’ll be your friend,” Cathy said,”But only till next Tuesday. That’s when we move away” (Cisnero 13). Esperanza has been looking for a friend to tell secrets and jokes to, but her first friend is about to move, so she will have to find another friend. When playing with Cathy, Esperanza crosses paths with Rachel and Lucy. They all buy a bike together and become fast friends. Because they are little girls, they are going to fight and make up. For example, “Rachel almost put out Lucy’s eye about who was going to get to ride it first. But finally we agreed to ride it together” (15). The friends fought, especially since they are younger, but they worked through their differences. They compromised the first ride and rode it all at once.

The middle of the book puts an emphasis on friends helping one another out. When the girls were wearing heels, a bum man offer Rachel a dollar for a kiss. “We have to go right now, Lucy says taking Rachel’s hand because she looks like she’s thinking about that dollar” (40). When in need, Esperanza comes to her friend’s rescue. She knew Rachel didn’t want to kiss the scary man, but she did want a dollar. Esperanza was available to tend to her friend, simply by pulling on her wrist. Friends don’t always have to physically pull each other out of mishap to be helpful, they can also mentally pull friends out of confusion. For instance, the young girls don’t know much about growing up, so they talk to one another. When jump roping, Esperanza chants, “ I don’t care what kind I get. Just as long as I get hips” (51). The girls wouldn’t want to talk about hips with anyone else, but because they are amongst friends, they can talk about hips with other girls who are just as confused. Friends are always there for each other to help one another out.

At the end of the book, Esperanza begins to learn that friendships are a two way street and it isn’t fun to be the only car. “ I took three big sticks and a brick and figured this was enough. But when I got there Sally said go home.” Esperanza did what she thought was best. She was going to save Sally the way she saved Rachel, but Sally didn’t want to be saved and she didn’t bother explaining it to Esperanza. Sally wasn’t even nice to her. Despite Sally’s lack of friendship skills, Esperanza still cares for Sally. Once again, Sally proves her inability to be a good friend. “ I like to be with you, Sally,” Esperanza said, “You’re my friend. But that big boy, where did he take you? I waited such a long time” (99). Sally just left Esperanza alone. She allowed Esperanza to wait for her until she got into trouble. Sally was a bad friend while Esperanza was a great one. Their friendship was one-way, so it was a short friendship.

The thematic motif is expressed in the book in more places, but these quotes show friendship is fighting and working through it. Friendship is being there for each other. Friendship is two people working together to do what is best for each other, not just one person.