Woman Hollering Creek by Sandra Cisneros

It happens more times than we care to admit. A women leaves her family to marry the “man of her dreams.” Someone who will take her away from her mundane life of chores and cooking and cleaning. They believe it will be a change for the better, but most women end up in a relationship that they are not happy with, much like the character of Cleofilas in Sandra Cisneros’ short story “Woman Hollering Creek.”

All her life, Cleofilas had been looking for “passion”:

But what Cleofilas has been waiting for, has been whispering and sighing and giggling for, has been anticipatng since she was old enough to lean against the window displays of gauze and butterflies and lace, is passion… The kind the books and songs and telenovelas describe when one finds, finally, the great love of one’s life, and dows whatever one can, must do, at whatever the cost.

She believes she has found that “passion” in the man that she marries. He takes Cleofilas away from her family and moves them to Seguin, Texas, a small town that is unfamiliar to Cleofilas who grew up on a ranch in Mexico. Things are not as good as she believed they would be. She makes friends with the “neighbor ladies” on either side of her home, Soledad and Dolores, “The woman Soledad on the left, the woman Dolores on the right,” but begins to feel more alone in her new home than she was back with her family in Mexico.

Close by her home is an arroyo called “La Gritona.” She doesn’t know the real meaning behind the name, saying that it’s “such a funny name for such a lovely arroyo.” She goes so far as to ask her neighbors whether they known the reasoning behind the name:

The neighbor ladies, Soledad, Dolores, they might’ve known one the name of the arroyo before it turned English but they did not know now. They were too busy remembering the men who had left through either choice or circumstance and would never come back.

These “neighbor ladies” are a somewhat characterization of what Cleofilas is feeling, and maybe even a look into the her future if she stays in Seguin. The two women are miserable, for one reason or another having to do with their husbands (or lack thereof, I should say). Soledad’s husband left one day and never came back, but she calls herself a widow despite the version people may believe. Dolores’ husband passed away shortly after the death of their two sons in war, making her an actual widow. Cleofilas is plagued by the physical abuse placed upon her by her own husband, but considers herself to be in the same terrible situation as her neighbors, believing she would be stronger than the man in that sort of situation.

The first time she had been so surprised she didn’t cry out or try to defend herself. She had always said she would strike back if a man, any man, were to strike her.

But when the moment came, and he slapped her once, and then again, and again; until the lip split and bled an orchid of blood, she didn’t fight back, she didn’t break into tears, she didn’t run away as she imagined she might when she saw such things in telenovelas.

She finds herself unable to make change with her husband, or him with her. She finds herself questioning her relationship with him, as well as the reasons behind Woman Hollering creek. She begins to make a connection between Woman Hollering Creek and the old tale of La Llorona, a woman who drowned her children and was cursed to walk the earth in search of their bodies.

I believe she begins to question La Llorona’s motives for her actions, trying to find something to relate to, and maybe even contemplating for a moment to try and make her fate the same as La Llorona’s.

The stream sometimes only a muddy puddle in the summer, though now in the springtime, because of the rains, a good-size alive thing, a thing with a voice all its own, all day and all night calling in its high, silver voice. Is it La Llorona, the weeping woman? La Llorona, who drowned her own children. Perhaps La Llorona is the one they named the creek after, she thinks, remembering all the stories she learned as a child.

La Llorona calling to her. She is sure of it. … La Llorona. Wonders if something as quiet as this drives a woman to the darkness under the trees.

Breaking past these disturbing thoughts of La Llorona calling out to her, Cleofilas decides to do something about her sad situation and calls out for help from the nurse at her baby’s doctor’s office. The woman, named Graciela, agrees to help. The name Graciela is reminiscent of the spanish word “grace,” which is very fitting considering this woman is a somewhat saving grace for Cleofilas and her child. This woman is going to save Cleofilas from a physically abusive relationship. Graciela puts Cleofilas in touch with her friend, Felice (Spanish for “happy”) who drives her and her child to a bus station in San Antonio.

On their way to the station, Felice drives over past the arroyo and yells out a loud yell:

But when they drove across the arroyo, the driver opened her mouth and let out a yell as loud as a mariachi. Which startled not only Cleofilas, but Juan Pedrito as well.

Every time I cross that bridge I do that. Because of the name, you know. Woman Hollering.Pues, I holler. She said this in a Spanish pocked with English and laughed. Did you ever notice, Felice continued, how nothing around here is named after a woman? Really.

I think at this point, when Cleofilas is so close to escaping her abusive relationship and disappointing life, the connotation of the name “Woman Hollering Creek” is switched around. Instead of being seen as something sad and depressing and bringing up images of a woman who has nothing left to live for, it can be viewed as a cry for hope, for rescue, for change. Cleofilas did what she needed to in order to change her lifestyle and the situation she was in. She put things into her own hands and did what was best for herself and her child.

I have always told myself, much like Cleofilas, that I would never let a man raise a hand to me. I’ve told my husband that if he ever did I would leave him on the spot, no questions asked, no remorse, no excuses, and no apologies. Luckily for me, my husband has never raised a hand in anger towards me or my son. My husband has gone so far as to tell our son that he should never hit girls, no matter what. Because my son is growing older and his beginning to act out and explore his limits with his parents and peers, it is important to enstill those values in him.

If I were to tell Aiden anything about this story it would be that there is never a good reason to hit a woman. One of his most important jobs later in life, as a husband, would be to protect and cherish his family. Treat them with respect and dignity. And never allow yourself to become a bully and ruin someone else’s life with your anger.