Cisneros is a great author about the Latinos life. Growing up in a Mexican American family and traveling between the United States and Mexico gives Cisneros a wealth of information to write about. Cisneros’ stories are full of stereotyping, traditional and cultural values, and socio-economic issues that Latinos encounter in this country. In Woman Hollering Creek, Cisneros’ characters come to life as she portrays the Latinos’ traditions, which hinders and helps the Latinas such as Cleofilas to break away from the abusive situations.

Woman Hollering Creek portraits the sad reality of a young woman after marrying and moving to her husband home in the United States. The life she is facing is just like what she saw on telenovela back in Mexico. However, Cleofinas is not your typical Latina, she has a common sense to leave her abusive husband before she becomes a statistic of the grisly news. She comes back to the loving father and family that she was happy to leave behind after her marriage to Juan Pedro.

The male domineering tradition shows in Cleofilas’ wedding arrangement. Cleofilas’ father and JuanPedro, her future husband, arrange for the couple’s short engagement and marriage. She does it because, “That’s what they said”, and, “Because Juan Pedro wants to get married right away, without a long engagement”. Neither of the men asks for her opinion of the whole thing. All she thinking is that they will drive all the way to Laredo to get her wedding dress. Obeying her father’s wish, Cleofilas is busy looking for Chela, her maid of honor, to fulfill her bouquet conspiracy. Cleofilas is supposed to be happy and follow her husband to a new home and a new neighborhood where she does not know anyone.

Latinos’ traditions give the Latinas free time to dream. For Cleofilas, after household chores, there isn’t very much to do except accompany the aunts and godmothers, play cards, or walk to the cinema to see this week’s film again, or walk to the girlfriend’s house to watch the latest telenovela episode then try to copy the way the women comb their hair and wear their makeup.

However, Cleofilas’ life in the United States also governs by the same male domination tradition. Her American town, Seguin, has nothing of interest. It has nothing that one can walk to because the towns here are built so you have to depend on the husbands. This implies that women have to stay home or they can drive to where they want to go. However, even if they are rich enough to own a car, they still need their husbands’ permission to drive.

The male dominance also includes spousal abuses. Juan Pedro has “slapped her once, and then again, and again; until the lip split and bled an orchid of blood.” The first time it has happened, she had been so surprised because her parents had never raised a hand to each other or to their children. So surprised that she forgets to fight back as she always declares she wills. She wills strike back if any man hits her because it is one thing that she would never, ever tolerate. However, she did not cry and she did not run away as she imagined she might when she saw such things in the telenovelas. This time he throws her love story book across the room and it cuts her cheek. While washing the dishes and watching her husband and his friends outside the kitchen window, she thinks of the “grisly news in the pages of the dailies” and shivered. She rethinks of how badly he is treating her and makes plan to leave him.

Even though on the morning of her departure for Mexico, she feels flutter with half-fear and half doubts, she puts her bags in the back and gets in Felice’s pickup truck.  She thinks of the happy life with her father and brothers when Felice drives cross the “Woman Hollering Creek”.  The happy thought is gurgling out of her own throat, a long ribbon of laughter, like water and she feels liberated.

Latinos traditions bind the women into the boring lives and the unhappy and abusive marriages.  However, Latinos traditions also include the absolute love of parents for their children.  This assurance and her father parting words: “I am your father, I will never abandon you” give Cleofilas the courage to escape from her violent husband.