I feel sympathy for Cleofilas and find myself wishing that she would leave her husband. The titular Woman Hollering creek shows Cleofilas' emotional journey throughout the text; Cleofilas, trapped in an abusive relationship, no longer has the opportunity to watch soap operas as frequently as she once had, and the romanticism that once thrived on the drama and relationships of this idealized world becomes focused on the mystery and beauty of the creek. Juan Pedro "doesn't care at all for music or telenovelas or romance or roses or the moon floating pearly over the arroyo, or through the bedroom window for that matter, shut the blinds and go back to sleep, this man, this father, this rival, this keeper, this lord, this master, this husband till kingdom come" (p. 3168).
Cleofilas' changing perception of the creek throughout the text is evidence of her gradually changing perspective. When she "drove over the bridge the first time as a newlywed... Juan Pedro has pointed it out [and called the creek] La Gritona ["the loud"]... and she had laughed. Such a funny name for a creek so pretty and full of happily ever after" (p. 3166). As Cleofilas realizes the stark reality of her isolation, she finds solace in the creek and it becomes a place of refuge for her; she explains that in the town in which she lives there is "... nothing, nothing, nothing of interest. Nothing one could walk to, at any rate. Because the towns here are built so that you have to depend on husbands. Or you stay home... There is no place to go. Unless one counts the neighbor ladies... or the creek" (p. 3168). Cleofilas describes the creek as "a good-size alive thing, a thing with a voice all its own, all day and all night calling in its high, silver voice" (p. 3169).
When Felice is driving Cleofilas and her son out of town, leaving Juan Pedro behind, Cisneros uses the creek to show the potential of Cleofilas' imminent freedom and the potential for Cleofilas to take control of her own life for the first time: "But when they drove across the arroyo, the driver opened her mouth and let out a yell as loud as any mariachi" (p. 3171). Felice explains, "Every time I drive across that bridge I do that. Because of the name, you know. Woman hollering... Did you ever notice, Felice continued, how nothing around here is named after a woman? Really.... That's why I like the name of that arroyo. Makes you want to holler like Tarzan, right?" (p. 3171). Cleofilas' amazement at "everything about this woman" (p. 3171), and the independence expressed in her hollering, seems to awaken a desire for independence. In the closing lines of the text, Cisneros notes that "then Felice began laughing again, but it wasn't Felice laughing. It was gurgling out of her own throat, a long ribbon of laughter, like water" (p. 3171). In this way, Cisneros uses the creek to express feminine power and the freedom to have control over one's own life. The end of the story is open-ended: what happens to Cleofilas? Did she return to her brothers and father in Mexico? Did Juan Pedro find her and drag her back to their home? Or did she, in her newfound freedom, establish her own life elsewhere, on her terms? I hope so.
