Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories

Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories

by

Sandra Cisneros

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La Virgen de Guadalupe Symbol Analysis

La Virgen de Guadalupe  Symbol Icon

La Virgen de Guadalupe, otherwise known as the Virgin Mary, appears in many of the stories in Woman Hollering Creek. These appearances are often brief and secondary to the story’s action, but because the image of the Virgin is fraught with cultural significance, these moments function rather symbolically. Indeed, Woman Hollering Creek is a book that grapples with femininity and power, two things the Virgin Mary embodies because of the vital role she played in nearly every religion still practiced today. Having given birth to Jesus via immaculate conception, she is the epitome of single-motherhood and womanly independence. For young women like the girl who cut her hair in “Little Miracles, Kept Promises,” Mary represents a woman who has managed on her own—a significant thing, considering that this girl has recently been under the impression that she was pregnant. The Virgin, then, is a role model of sorts for independent women facing hardships, and her presence throughout the collection is a constant reminder of Cisneros’s focus on how women can still triumph even in trying times.

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La Virgen de Guadalupe Symbol Timeline in Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories

The timeline below shows where the symbol La Virgen de Guadalupe appears in Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Anguiano Religious Articles
Cultural & National Identity Theme Icon
...the owner of a certain religious store is a “crab ass.” In need of a Virgen de Guadalupe statue one day, she knocks on his shop door and sees him sitting in the... (full context)
Little Miracles, Kept Promises
Female Objectification & Power Theme Icon
Coming of Age Theme Icon
...final letter of the story, which is also the longest, a girl writes to the Virgen de Guadalupe and tells her that she has cut her hair off and placed the lock on... (full context)
Female Objectification & Power Theme Icon
Coming of Age Theme Icon
...she wants to live alone and that she has had a hard time accepting the Virgen de Guadalupe into her life because she has always been upset about “all the pain” her mother... (full context)