In Woman Hollering Creek, by Sandra Cisneros, she explores the world through a young Mexican woman's eyes, which is battling everything from love, passion, to pain and in the end, freedom. Cleofilas Enriqueta DeLeon Hernandez believed that she would live happily ever after when her father consented to her marriage to Juan Pedro. Her new life, which was supposed to have been full of the passion she had seen on television soap operas, turned sour quickly after much neglect and abuse.
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Throughout the story I think that part of Cleofilas" problem was that she was mainly a product of her background and traditions. I say this because in my eyes Cleofilas only dreamed of "passion in its purest crystalline essence. The kind the books and songs and telenovelas describe when one finds, finally, the great love of one's life, and does whatever one can, must do, at whatever cost." I believe that most Mexican women with traditional values may believe that they have no other options available to them other than to stay within an unhappy marriage. Growing up with her father and her six brothers, I believe also contributed a lot to her marriage. Having to be the passive female in a house full of males taught Cleofilas that male dominance was acceptable. And although she told herself that, "she would strike back if a man, any man, were to strike her," she not only did not fight back, but she stayed and tried to hide the fact that she was being abused. .
Though throughout the story Cleofilas chose the path of submissiveness, in the end she found a woman who helped her realize her true worth, and it was her strength that helped carry her. When Cleofilas goes to the doctors to check on the status of her unborn child, a woman working at the clinic, by the name of Felice, sees Cleofilas" bruises and decides to help her. Felice arranges to give her a ride to the bus station while her husband is at work.
