Research Paper
This Story suggests and supports the theme regarding the visualization of women in any abusive relationship. Classical biggest obstacle in this story is the abuse she went through with her husband and her trying to find a way out of her marriage. Understanding why women stay in abusive relationships will reveal why Classical stayed rather than leaving her husband. This story takes place in Segueing, Texas. It is a very dramatic story; the reader is always kept wondering about what will happen next to Classical. Her life is very dramatic, especially hen the time comes for her to leave her husband. Her life experiences are also very real.
Many women all over the country go through the same problems as Classical. The story is written in limited third person, only knowing the thoughts of Classical. Concerns uses many Spanish phrases in her stories to help clarify specific ideas and to spice up the story. In the story ‘Woman Hollering Creek” Sandra Concerns discusses the issues of living life as a married woman through a character named Classical; a character who is married to a man who abuses her physically and mentally. She is also a hearted who grows up without a mother and who has no one to guide and give her advice about life.
Since Classical grew up without a mother she had these images of what her life would be like from watching the soap operas on TV, and it gave her this impression of life. First, as a young woman, she leaves her little town in Mexico with a new husband she hardly knows to cross north to Texas, “en el tort lady”–on the other side (Concerns 247). Filled with images of fictional passions from “tealeaves”–soap operas Classical can hardly admit it to herself, let alone to anyone else, when her dreams of nuance and domestic happiness sour in the face of poverty, alcoholism, and abuse.
She remains trapped by shame, disbelief, and the limitations of women’s traditional roles on the banks of La Graviton–Woman Hollering Creek. Finally, a health care worker notices Classical bruises during a prenatal visit and offers to help her escape. The clinician arranges for her friend to drive Classical to the bus station to go back to her hometown Mexico. Crossing the bridge over the Woman Hollering Creek, Classical is introduced to and amazed by new, stronger and more positive possibilities for womanhood.
Concerns reveals in this story the way the Mexican culture puts a difference between a male and a female, men above women. The story’s main character, Classical, is an illustration of Latin women, and how non- Latino recognize them. Which are women raised and groomed, in households mainly controlled by men their fathers and brothers (Burros 1). With the anticipation that they may someday find the right men who would decide to take them as a wives. “In the town where she grew up, there isn’t much to do except accompany the aunts and godmothers to the house of one or the other to play cards” (Concerns 247).
Using that, Concerns helps the reader to get a taste of how the environment is. This was an environment which women don’t have a say in, an environment where woman don’t have the equal power as men; the environment Classical was raised in. “In the Latin world women are always considered to be just someone?s wife and with hardly a chance to say no” (Burros 1). Classical decides to leave her home town and get marriage to fulfill her dreams of a more wonder life style in the United States. Another one of those brides from across the border, and all her family are all in Mexico” (Concerns 252). Within the story there is a lot of buses that plays a major role on the family’s relationship and how it has affected on her life. It is often that you find this type of behavior within this Spanish cultural most women in this type of situation really have no way out other than to run away (Rooster 25). Classical had to deal with the pain and suffering in a patriarchal world and a male dominated, society. The theme is clearly an issue of gender and abuse in this story.
The issues of gender and prejudice are present in the story, from the beginning, as Classical decides to leave her town to accomplish her dreams of a better lifestyle. Her understanding of images on TV gave her the impression that here, life is much better and would perhaps untie her from the conventions Of the world she grew up in. A central idea from the feminist perspective in Sandra Concerns’ novel Woman Hollering Creek is that of control, specifically, a woman’s control over her own life. This is demonstrated in Classical’ story.
The most telling moment that emphasizes this idea is when Classical realized that Feline owned her own pickup truck. “Everything about this woman, this Feline, amazed Classical; it was the fact that she drove a pickup” (Concerns 253). She realized Feline had control without a man. Another feminist perspective is that Classical is without a voice of her own. Concerns suggested “Did you ever notice how nothing around here is named after a woman? Really. Unless she’s virgin. I guess you’re only famous if you’re virgin” (Concerns 251). In that moment Classical realized that women had no voice in society after all.
To overcome having a voice of her own Classical had to decide to take control over her own life. All and all, the narrator’s point Of view becomes abundantly clear as Classical crosses Woman Hollering Creek on her way home to Mexico. When moving to her new home with her husband, Classical wants to know whether “the woman has hollered from anger or pain” (Crisscross 248). The creek symbolizes the “road not taken” by staying in an abusive relationship. Indeed, crossing that river to her new home is like crossing into a world of both anger and pain.
But leaving that world, and crossing the river in order to ultimately return to Mexico, gives Classes a new perspective. Her companion, Feline hollers when they cross the river, but not in either anger or pain. She hollers “like Tarzan” (Concerns 253). In the story Feline doesn’t care what a man thinks, at least to the point f allowing one to lower her self-esteem. Classical needed that; she needed to actually see a woman hollering. She needed to know that life isn’t a fairytale and you must experience life, the good and the bad.
Also in order to appreciate life you have to know what you want, so you can then truly achieve that fairytale ending of happiness. Classical, the narrator tells us, she had expected “pain or rage, perhaps, but not a hoot like the one Feline had just let go” (Concerns 253). Thus, “Woman Hollering Creek,” when crossing it means returning to Mexico, becomes not angry or painful, but liberating. It is important to understand information about how and why women remain in abusive relationships. Pointing out these key points gives us readers a better understanding as to why Classical stayed in her abusive relationship.
In “Women Hollering Creek” we see a young woman who moves across the border to an unknown town with her new husband. “The first time she had been so surprised she didn’t cry out or try to defend herself. She had always said she would strike back if a man, any man, were to strike he” (Concerns 249). Once she settles into her new life, her husband begins to physically buses and dominate her. She would not remember her father’s parting words until later, “I am your father, I will never abandon you” (Concerns 246). He reminds Classical that he is her father and that he will never throw away her.
This is his Way Of letting her know that she will always be able to come home. She is faced with the important decision to return to her father or to stay and take more abuse. This story represents many stories that occur often today. Women are faced with these difficult decisions and many choose to stay in the abusive marriage because they do not have any means to provide for heir family and they do not have any support or protection (Herbert 314). Since Classical was from a non-dominant culture and she did not speak English, her situation was more difficult.
If she could not turn to her family in Mexico, she could possibly have chosen to stay in the abusive environment. Most women do not know their options when found in a difficult situation like Classical. In some cases if a wife chooses to leave, her husband may threaten her life as well as her children’s lives (Herbert 312). “Thus, an abused woman may be in danger of experiencing visualization both at the hands of her abuser and from others who learn of the abuse” (Herbert 312). Internal and external conflicts are the types of conflict shown in the story.
The internal conflict is inside Classical, for she cannot decide whether she should leave Juan Pedro. Classical thought life would be wonderful with him. Classical thinks, “This is the man I have waited my whole life for” (Concerns 249). Then she realizes that she could never be happy with Juan Pedro. The external conflict is between Classical and Juan Pedro. Juan Pedro beats Classical and gets angry because of “her suspicious questions and her requests to fix this ND that” (Concerns 248). Both the external and internal conflicts are resolved when Classical decides to leave her husband.
When a person gets the courage to leave a destructive relationship they break free from life itself. The final resolution in this story is left to the reader’s imagination. It does not state what happened to Classical and her husband after she attempted to leave her husband. The life that Classical had was faced with many experiences and all types of hardships. Classical thought her life would be like that, of the tealeaves, only to see the episode got sadder and sadder and to make her live that she could stay no matter what happens between her and her husband.
