Major portions of the people reflect on a neighborhood. While Esperanza discusses her neighborhood, she describes many people, who all seem dysfunctional. This creates the neighborhoods unpleasant atmosphere. .
Beginning with herself, Esperanza hates her name. She says that she "would like to baptize [herself] under a new name." She feels that the name is ugly, which gives her a little bit of a low self-esteem. This negativity may be caused because her name is Hispanic, and there is some sort of Hispanic prejudice in the neighborhood.
Prejudice is shown toward Esperanza when Cathy is mentioned. Cathy said that she was moving, "as if she forgot I just moved in, she says the neighborhood is getting bad." Cathy is implying that the neighborhood is getting bad because a Hispanic family moved in, which greatly depresses Esperanza. .
Another thing that influences the atmosphere of the environment is the role of gender. The class of the neighborhood gets lowered because the women let themselves be taken advantage of. Usually in a society, both the man and woman are equal. Many women on Mango Street, however, are trapped in their own homes. .
Everyday, Rafaela, a lady Esperanza knows, "gets locked indoors because her husband is afraid [she] will run away since she is too beautiful." Sally, this girl who is at the age who likes to flirt, lets the boys kiss her to get her keys back that they steal. Minerva, another lady, is helpless. She's even abused. Even Esperanzas brothers don't allow her to speak to them unless it's done privately. Also, an older Oriental man grabs Esperanza and kisses her, and she didn't prevent it! All these women are showing that they give into men, making them weak. It shows how one of the traditions of Hispanic culture, how to treat people, connects with gender. Yet it also shows that Esperanzas neighborhood is not a very strong one, and the people cant get along. Other communities look down upon this.