Sandra Cisneros’ work Woman Hollering Creek and other stories embodies what it is like in all stages of life as a woman on both sides of the Mexican border. The women 's personal stories as they get older in life show signs of violence, whether mentally, physically or emotionally. “Woman Hollering Creek” and “Never Marry a Mexican” show the violent relationship men and women share, and why Cisneros chose to represent it this way.
The story Woman Hollering Creek describes a woman named Cleofilas experiencing married life. She wants that perfect, passionate love that she sees on the “tele” that would make women jealous of her lifestyle. Since Cleofilas grew up with no mother, books and television were all she knew about relationships, and …show more content…
Women are taught to be the perfect housewife and tend to their husbands. However, many women like Cleofilas do not learn that they are supposed to fulfill this role only when they are in a happy relationship. Cleofilas has to keep telling herself that her husband is not cheating on her, “No. Her imagination. The house the same as always. Nothing” (50). She always tries to make up her husband 's affairs and bruises by thinking it is her duty to stay with him through the mental and physical abuse. Cisneros represents women all over the world who believe they need to stay in their abusive relationship or do not know where else to go.
Never Marry a Mexican represents a different type of violence between women and men. Clemencia has been told all her life “Never marry a Mexican.” Since her mother was an American Mexican, her husband 's family thought he downgraded and gave her grief. However, this is not what deterred Clemencia from ever marrying, “I’ll never marry. Not any man. I’ve known men too intimately. I’ve witnessed their infidelities, and I’ve helped them to it” (68). She uses married men to inflict violence on herself, the men she seduces, and their …show more content…
When she sees Drew for the last time in his home, she wants to show his wife evidence of the affair. By leaving gummy bears behind in Drew 's home, it gave a sense of validation for her to know the wife will know that another woman was there in her stuff. Clemencia says “And while he was banging pots, I went around the house and left a trail of them in places I was sure she would find them. One in her lucite makeup organizer. One stuffed inside each bottle of nail polish. I untwisted the expensive lipsticks to their full length and smushed a bear on the top before recapping them” (81). It left Clemencia satisfied that she was able to disrupt a woman’s entire life, thinking her marriage was wonderful and that she had a great family life, to have it all come crashing down. She thinks, “I got a strange satisfaction wandering about the house leaving them in places only she would look” (81). Clemencia ruins these wives lives, and even if it is not direct violence, Clemencia can do a lot of damage to the marriage that can turn it into an abusive relationship for the
The story Woman Hollering Creek describes a woman named Cleofilas experiencing married life. She wants that perfect, passionate love that she sees on the “tele” that would make women jealous of her lifestyle. Since Cleofilas grew up with no mother, books and television were all she knew about relationships, and …show more content…
Women are taught to be the perfect housewife and tend to their husbands. However, many women like Cleofilas do not learn that they are supposed to fulfill this role only when they are in a happy relationship. Cleofilas has to keep telling herself that her husband is not cheating on her, “No. Her imagination. The house the same as always. Nothing” (50). She always tries to make up her husband 's affairs and bruises by thinking it is her duty to stay with him through the mental and physical abuse. Cisneros represents women all over the world who believe they need to stay in their abusive relationship or do not know where else to go.
Never Marry a Mexican represents a different type of violence between women and men. Clemencia has been told all her life “Never marry a Mexican.” Since her mother was an American Mexican, her husband 's family thought he downgraded and gave her grief. However, this is not what deterred Clemencia from ever marrying, “I’ll never marry. Not any man. I’ve known men too intimately. I’ve witnessed their infidelities, and I’ve helped them to it” (68). She uses married men to inflict violence on herself, the men she seduces, and their …show more content…
When she sees Drew for the last time in his home, she wants to show his wife evidence of the affair. By leaving gummy bears behind in Drew 's home, it gave a sense of validation for her to know the wife will know that another woman was there in her stuff. Clemencia says “And while he was banging pots, I went around the house and left a trail of them in places I was sure she would find them. One in her lucite makeup organizer. One stuffed inside each bottle of nail polish. I untwisted the expensive lipsticks to their full length and smushed a bear on the top before recapping them” (81). It left Clemencia satisfied that she was able to disrupt a woman’s entire life, thinking her marriage was wonderful and that she had a great family life, to have it all come crashing down. She thinks, “I got a strange satisfaction wandering about the house leaving them in places only she would look” (81). Clemencia ruins these wives lives, and even if it is not direct violence, Clemencia can do a lot of damage to the marriage that can turn it into an abusive relationship for the