Woman Hollering Creek

"Everything about this woman, this Felice, amazed Cleofilas. The fact that she drove a pickup. A pickup, mind you, but when Cleofilas asked if it was her husband's, she said she didn't have a husband. The pickup was hers. She herself had chosen it. She herself was paying for it."

   In 1991, Sandra Cisneros published her prose, "Woman Hollering Creek." The short story is about a woman, Cleofilas, finding freedom and escaping male oppression and rule. The passage above is taken near the end of this prose, where Cleofilas is about to board a bus that will take her back to Mexico, where she has decided to become independent and free from the constant controlling men in her life. 

   The passage is written in third person, or a omniscient narrative. The meeting between Cleofilas and Felice could be a foreshadow of how Cleofilas will later become in Mexico, raising her children. It also shows a type of resolution to the prose, by introducing a foil character that is already independent that will inspire the protagonist into acting for what she will now believe in. The independence comes from Felice's lack of husband, or general authoritative male oppressor, and her own mode of transportation (and her ability to pay for it). 

   The pickup that Felice owns, and that Cleofilas repetitively refers too, symbolizes Cleofilas' ability to escape from her situation. The pickup could point to both literal and symbolic gestures toward the meaning of escaping. Literally, the pickup allows Cleofilas to flee from being trapped within the city and moving as she wills. Symbolically, Cleofilas can finally become free from the male oppression that has been ruling over her life. Also, the diction the speaker chooses to use is important as well. The fact that Felice has a “pickup” and not just a regular car or a bike or any other transportation device is nudging the expression that it “picks up” Cleofilas and her weighed down body. A pickup carries material over long distances, which is where Cleofilas wishes to go. 

   Throughout the prose, Cleofilas describes the males that have control over her life and actions. The descriptions begin to change over time from gentle and kind to harsh and depressed. Cleofilas begins to realize that she can't stand the male tyranny in her life and that's why she decides to leave back to Mexico. The mood drastically changes after she realizes this. The depressed atmosphere twists into a more curious and confused mood and then, when she meets Felice, into captivated and anticipatory. 

   Previously in the story, the speaker's sentence structures were very long and drawn out. This gave the overall prose a very tired and suffocated feeling to it. Near the end of the story, there were more shorter and concise sentences that made the atmosphere of the short story very free and liberating, airy and full of bounce, like when someone talks while jumping up and down. 

   Overall, the prose stood out significantly as a story about a woman's liberation. I appreciate the short sentences in the passage because of how it helps with the liberating feeling of the entire prose. The feeling and thought that this passage gives helps us develop more thought about the equality that I live with in America and how it effects me.

>Felice helps solidify the idea of becoming independent to Cleofilas. However, my question is what if Cleofilas hadn't met Felice. Would she forever wonder about the independence that she is seemingly reaching for? Is independence something that comes naturally to every human being? Is it something that must be earned or found or searched for?