Barrio Boy and The House on Mango Street: A Character's Goals "Goals determine your thoughts. Thoughts determine your life." The quote means that what you are striving for often influences your thoughts. What you think then influences your life. Therefore your goals indirectly determine your life. Both "Barrio Boy" by Ernesto Galorza and The House on Mango Street by Saundra Cisneros give support to the critical lens. Their characters, Ernesto and Esperanza have very different lives, but they both have goals which effect their thoughts and their lives. Ernes