A Comparison Of Stories From Woman Hollering

A Comparison Of Stories From Woman Hollering Creek Essay, Research Paper A Comparison of Stories from “Woman Hollering Creek” I chose to compare the two stories “Woman Hollering Creek” and “Never Marry A Mexican”. In “Never Marry A Mexican”, the story takes place in modern day Texas, but that does not mean that Texas is the only setting which effects this story, the real context in which this story must be understood is today’s Mexican culture as a whole, both in Mexico, and here in America from the viewpoint of two women.The author describes in both stories the way that things are supposed to be in a Mexican family, setting the table a certain way, how to serve dinner, the position of a woman in the family, how they are supposed to act. In “Never Marry A

Mexican”, the character Clemencia lives in a country which she considers her home and yet she does not feel as though she fits in. Her occasional job as a translator signifies this well, as a American woman of Mexican descent, she doesn’t feel like she fits into the melting pot of America. She probably thinks if she were white that her life would be much different. She is very bitter about many aspects of her life. While I read the story I felt she didn’t have very high self-esteem. She chooses to place herself into situations that aren’t good for her emotionally. Yet, she does this again and again. In “Woman Hollering Creek”, the character of Cle filas changes through the story. After moving from Mexico to the Texas side of the border, Cle filas is filled with

romantic hopes. She thinks she is one her way to a perfect life and a perfect marriage. In Mexico, the telenovelas that she watches fill her mind with false hopes of passion and happiness. She leaves a humble and caring family for the romantic dreams she hopes to achieve on the other side of the border. It does not take long for Cle filas to realize the difficulties of being a foreigner on the Texas/Mexico border. Both stories illustrate the womens confusion over their identities and their role in a world that looks very different from an “American woman’s” perspective. Both women in both stories are entangled in abusive relationships. For one it comes in the form of beatings by a husband. For the other she places herself in relationships with married white men to get back

at them for something she feels they have done to her. In “Women Hollering Creek” we see a young woman who moves across the border to an unknown town with her new husband. Once she settles into her new life, her husband begins to physically abuse and dominate her. 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 their family and they do not have any support or protection.Because Cle filas 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 Cle filas. If a wife chooses to leave, her husband may threaten her life as well as her children’s lives.”Never Marry A Mexican” is an interesting and sometimes graphic portrayal of a Mexican American woman’s struggles with trying to straddle two unique heritages. Throughout the story, Clemencia demonstrates how her traumatic childhood and the discrimination she witnessed, and at times even took part in, against her race took its toll on her self esteem and morale. Her mother planted seeds of inferiority of the Mexican race early in her life by constantly criticizing her race, and instructing her to “never marry a