Woman Hollering Creek Essay

683 Words2 Pages

Reflection of Others

In a couple between a man and woman, the man is known for being the dominant one in the relationship. In the story "Woman Hollering Creek", by Sandra Cisneros. Cleofilas Enriqueta Deleon Hernandez, is a woman who suffers from her husbands over dominance of the relationship. Cleofila is woman with ambitions to live a meaningful life filled with love and happiness just like in her telenovelas. Instead, she lives in isolation with Juan Pedro Martinez Sanchez, her husband who she loves dearly, but is constantly abused by him. The only friends Cleofila has are her lady neighbors, Dolores and Soledad. In their actions and responses, many women unwittingly reflect the viewpoints and focus of their friends and neighbors …show more content…

The husband of the families is responsible for protecting and providing for them, "Because the towns here are built so that you have to depend on the husbands."(224). Unlike Dolores and Soledad where they no longer have men in their lives to depend on, Cleofila does. Her husband is well capable of being someone she can depend, instead she's abused by him. This goes to show that Cleofila can leave him, but has no power to do so. Early in the story before the abuse starts she mentions how she would defend herself if any man struck her, "She had always said she would strike back if a man, any man, were to strike her."(222). But when her husband first hit her she did absolutely nothing, which shows how powerless she …show more content…

The moment she moved across the border with her newlywed husband is when the isolation started. She was no longer going to receive the support from her friends and family like she always had. Her husband also refused to let her contact her family " She hasn’t been allowed to call home or write or nothing."(227). Cleofila coming from Mexico and moving into a town where she knows no one, she also, doesn’t speak English. This just makes her isolation worse. Cleofila reflects Dolores and Soledad because their isolation doesn’t allow them to do anything. They spend their days gardening, watching tv, and

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