Spanglish plays a key role in providing meaning to the names in this story. Specifically, the names Soledad and Dolores, Cleofilas’ neighbours, which reflect the impact that men have on the lives of women in this town. The suffering of these two neighbours centres around the loss of the men in their life. Soledad, meaning solitude, suffers from a life of solitude after her husband dies. Dolores, meaning pain, suffers from a life of pain and grief after her two sons and her husband die. This is a direct example of onomastics and how these names provide context. The pain and solitude that these two neighbours suffer from is indicative of patriarchal society; men are the source of all pain and suffering in this society, whether they are present or not. Understanding the meaning of these neighbours’ names, makes the line, “there is no place to go. Unless one counts the neighbour ladies. Soledad on one side. Dolores on the other” (page 224) significant since it reflects that no matter where Cleofila goes, she is trapped by pain and suffering. While she is unhappy and unsafe in her marriage with Juan Padre, her neighbours’ state of despair reflects that even without her husband she also faces a miserable life. There is no escape in this patriarchal society, Cleofila is doomed to suffer. Additionally, on page 227, the line, “this lady doesn’t even speak English. She hasn’t been allowed to call home or write or nothing”, reflects Cleofilas’ struggles in this English-speaking society. Her poor English, therefore, acts as another method of control placed on her; she can not navigate in this English speaking country alone, she is dependent on her abusive husband. She is unable to even ask for help, it is her bruises in the end that signal her need for escape from her husband and this controlled and patriarchal town. 

Therefore, Spanglish offers important meanings to understand the critiques of patriarchy that Sandra Cisneros is attempting to make; she suggests through the names of the neighbours and their situations, that solitude and pain is an inescapable reality in patriarchy. The Spanglish additionally reminds us that Cleofilas is not an English speaker, which is important as an understanding of her dependency on her husband.