In The House on Mango Street, what does the quotation mean from "The Monkey Garden"?"I looked at my feet in their white socks and ugly round shoes....

This excellent vignette that makes up one of the chapters
of this coming-of-age novel concerns an epiphany regarding Esperanza's own sense of
sexuality and the role of women in her community. Note that what produces the reaction
you have highlighted in the final paragraph is the way that Sally has been pressurised
into playing various "games" with the boys from the neighbourhood. At first, Esperanza
is appalled and wants to protest violently at the way that Sally is being pressurised
sexually:

I
don't know why, but something inside me wanted to throw a stick. Something wanted to say
no when I watched Sally going into the garden with Tito's buddied all
grinning.

When she goes to
Tito's mother, she does not find sympathy for her gut feeling. Likewise when she returns
to Sally, she is made to feel "crazy" and "ashamed." The garden, which had been such an
excellent place to play, and her feet, are both now tainted by the knowledge that
Esperanza has gained about what happens between girls and boys in her community, and how
wrong it is, but how nobody does anything to prevent it or protest against
it.