The way Cisneros uses similes in The House on Mango Street helps to create concrete imagery that solidifies the image in the reader's brain. For example, in "Louie, His Cousin & His Other Cousin," the simile "The nose of that yellow Cadillac was all pleated like an alligator's" (25) gives a solid mental picture of the front of that car crunched up and looking like an alligator. This visual image is so vivid, unlikely that a reader would misunderstand what the car looks like after it crashes into a wall or a building as it tried to escape a cop.
Another simile found in "Laughter" also help to create concrete imagery for sound. For instance, Esperanza says that the way she laughs with her sister is "all of a sudden and surprised like a pile of dishes breaking" (17). Immediately, the reader can mentally picture and hear dishes falling in the kitchen and smashing on the floor. When a simile relates to something that most humans have experienced, they will work for the benefit of the story and for the reader at the same time.
In contrast, Esperanza says that Rachel and Lucy's family laugh like "shy ice cream bells' giggle." The structure of the sentence in the book does not use the words like or as when mentioning "bells' giggle," so one could say that part is a metaphor. To be more specific, it could also be personification because inanimate objects like bells can't giggle. But the imagery is still there as one might mentally picture a couple of cute, little bells ringing to represent Rachel and Lucy's laughter.
The result of similes such as these, and found throughout the novel, add an intelligent, sensitive, and credible tone. As a result, Esperanza comes off as insightful and smart and the reader gets an authentic, empathetic feeling for the people and events in the story.
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