Woman Hollering Creek
by Sandra Cisneros
STORY SUMMARY
Sandra Cisneros’s short story “Woman Hollering Creek” is a poignant and richly layered exploration of gender, identity, and cultural expectation. First published in her 1991 collection Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories, the narrative follows Cleófilas Enriqueta DeLeón Hernández, a young Mexican woman who moves from her hometown near Monterrey, Mexico, to a small Texas town after marrying Juan Pedro Martínez Sánchez.
At first, Cleófilas dreams of a romantic life, shaped by the melodrama of telenovelas. However, her reality quickly devolves into isolation and domestic abuse. Her husband is violent and neglectful, and Cleófilas finds herself cut off from her family, with few resources and no support network in a foreign land. The only thing that seems to break the monotony of her life is a mysterious creek nearby—La Gritona, or “Woman Hollering Creek”— named for the legend of a wailing woman, La Llorona.
In a subtle act of resistance and self-assertion, Cleófilas eventually finds a way out. With the help of two women—Graciela, a progressive doctor, and Felice, an independent woman with her own truck—Cleófilas escapes her abusive home. As they drive across the creek, Felice lets out a loud, joyful yell—subverting the expected sorrow of the mythic cry and replacing it with a shout of liberation. Cleófilas is left to reconsider what it means to be a woman and to imagine a life not defined by suffering or submission.
LITERARY ANALYSIS
Themes
• Gender Roles and Patriarchy: Cleófilas’s life is shaped by traditional expectations of women in both Mexican and Mexican-American cultures. Marriage is idealized, but her experience reveals the dark reality behind romantic fantasies. Cisneros critiques a system that normalizes female suffering and silences abuse.
• Myth and Reclamation: The legend of La Llorona—a ghostly woman who mourns her drowned children—haunts the narrative. Traditionally a symbol of grief and punishment, the “hollering woman” is reimagined through Felice’s joyful scream, suggesting that fe-
male voices can express freedom rather than sorrow.
• Cultural Borders and Identity: The story navigates literal and metaphorical borders: between Mexico and the U.S., tradition and independence, silence and voice. Cleófilas’s journey reflects a larger narrative of women negotiating identity in a bicultural, often patriarchal world.
• Female Solidarity and Empowerment: While men in the story are largely absent or abusive, the women—Graciela and Felice—represent hope, autonomy, and resistance. They show that empowerment comes not only through self-realization but also through collective support.
Character Analysis
• Cleófilas: A young wife whose disillusionment with marriage reflects the emotional toll of patriarchal culture. Her growth is internal and understated, marked by subtle shifts in perspective rather than dramatic action.
• Felice: A symbol of feminist independence and strength, Felice subverts gender norms simply by existing on her own terms—driving a truck, laughing loudly, and rejecting the idea that women must suffer.
• Juan Pedro: A representation of systemic male dominance, Juan Pedro is both ordinary
and brutal. His violence is not exceptional, but tragically common—underscoring the societal structures that enable abuse.
Symbols and Motifs
• Woman Hollering Creek / La Gritona: The creek functions as a layered symbol. It is a geographic feature, a mythic reference, and a metaphor for female expression. The transformation of its cry— from mourning to joy—mirrors Cleófilas’s emotional awakening.
• Telenovelas: These soap operas shape Cleófilas’s early expectations of love and marriage. Cisneros uses them to critique cultural narratives that romanticize female suffering and silence women’s agency.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
1. How does the story challenge traditional representations of women in both folklore and media?
2. What role do Felice and Graciela play in shaping Cleófilas’s transformation?
3. In what ways is the creek both a literal and symbolic site of change?
4. How does Cisneros use language (English and Spanish) to reflect the cultural duality of Cleófilas’s world?
CONTEXTUAL NOTE
Sandra Cisneros is a Chicana writer whose work often centers on the lives of Mexican-American women navigating identity, class, and gender. “Woman Hollering Creek” addresses the intersection of cultural expectations and female autonomy, particularly in immigrant and borderland communities. The story rewrites the familiar tragedy of La Llorona into a feminist allegory of escape and rebirth.