“Broken Strand” by Mayra Santos-Febres blurs the consciousness of Miss Kety, Yetsaida, and ultimately, reader and writer. Santos-Febres’ tactful melding of the multiple consciousnesses further exposes the theme prevalent through the story that gendered violence is a shared experience. They all have a broken nose; they have all bled from a “ripening womb” (4). The short story opens with, “ a little girl and a father and a dream and a memory broken like a nose,” and it immediately switches into the second person, “there are days when you have to walk languid out on the street to forget” (1). There is no specific “little girl”; instead, it is Miss Kety, Yetsaida, Yetsaida’s mother, and every other woman. Every woman was this little girl; furthermore, Santos-Febres notes that you, as the reader, were this little girl. The prevalent use of the second person through the story calls the reader to attention. However, not in a way to expose the reader, but in a way to create solidarity with the reader. In this way, Santos-Febres creates a connection with a reader closer than most author-reader relationships; she wants to speak to you. 

Santos-Febres explores what is in this shared consciousness. There is always a father, a dream, and physically broken body parts that bring with it the broken memories. There are memories of children at four years old already with knowledge of “alcoholic breath and dried-out condoms” (2). Santos-Febres is alluding to the memory of violence, and the physical manifestation of this violence is everyone’s broken nose. There is also the dream in this shared consciousness. The dream is to be able to “remake yourself” physically and metaphorically (7). The strive for beauty is not superficial, and Santos-Febres expresses it in saying “Miss Kety, the saviour, the true emissary of true beauty” (3). Miss Kety’s role as the saviour reveals a divine link between physical beauty and inward beauty. Perhaps in this world where women are both physically and psychologically scarred, one must attempt to build themselves up from the outside in. 

In the short story “Woman Hollering Creek” by Sandra Cisneros the conscious use of symbolism in each character’s name is obvious and helps portray themes central to the story. However one name in particular, that of the protagonist helps develop the character and both foreshadows her growth as well as provides the reader context into the decisions she makes.

The name Cleofilas, means to seek or love “glory”. When we first are introduced to Cleofilas she is positioned to be in love, excited for what her future has to offer. We are further presented with her love for the telenovela, and the relationships and lifestyle they portray. We can see her projecting this onto her own circumstances and seeking this type of ideal or dream life of her own.

As the story progresses we see this ideal, glorious lifestyle she envisioned slip away from her as her realities set in. She goes as far as to recognize all the negatives in her life, comparing her husband, an abusive man, to the relationships she would see in her telenovelas. This contrast is important, as we see the harm that the dream ideal lifestyle has caused Cleofilas.

The idea of glory and the image telenovelas provide her provides commentary that is still very much relevant today. We see the media portrayal of ideal as something to strive for no matter the consequences. Further cultural pressures kept Cleofilas in these circumstances, as is portrayed in these stories, despite the obvious pitfalls of her relationship.

Despite all of this, the drive and courage to seek glory alluded to be her name comes to fruition in the end of the story, where she ultimately makes the decision to leave her abuse for a better life.

In Cisneros’ work Woman Hollering Creek, amid descriptions of domestic abuse and women leading restricted and often dark lives, there is a brief passage dedicated to one senora Dolores. This woman’s house and garden hold two contrasting sets of imagery; one of death – incense, candles, altars, dead sons and husbands, and morbid flowers, but also one, though smaller, of life – tall, famous sunflowers, a kind and very sweet heart, and perhaps most importantly, a living Dolores.

Dolores holds an interesting spot in the narrative, for she is described as kind and sweet – descriptors which, alongside the familiar title and her reputation for tending her garden, likely signify she was content in life – but she lost all the men in her life. This first hint suggests that it might be precisely the lack of these men that brings Dolores peace, but one can only guess whether this is because her husband (not to mention her sons) treated her as badly as the other men in the narrative treated their wives, or if it is simply the peace of having loved something so much, and the calm of tending to this love.

A second hint in this puzzle might be the flowers, which remind me of Flanders Fields, though Dolore’s field is her garden, and the battlefield is unnamed. Two of these flowers evoke darkness, blood and suffering, and these might be those for her sons. She is truly sad to have lost them, and thus these flowers grew. On the other hand, the sunflowers are described only positively, suggesting they made good out of the grief and death, and that perhaps they grew out of the loss of her husband.

Most interesting, perhaps, is the emergence of another flower a few paragraphs down that same page: Cleofilas, upon being struck, bled “an orchid of blood”. Another flower, this one from something still living, and this one undoubtedly a sign of evil and suffering. Perhaps, considering the context presented just before, this flower shows how the men create these flowers through their actions. The strike caused the flowers appearance, and in Dolores garden, the men in her life gave birth to something new.

One of the most interesting take away I got from this story was the idea of social status and the Law and the way this is used to provide commentary on the realities people faced within this time period. Within the story we were provided a view of two distinct classes of people, first with Almada, a man who is possesses a significant de facto political power through what we can assume to be a result of his connections and or wealth status. Second with those who are of low socioeconomic status, first through the crazy woman on the street but further through the lives of Larry, a woman turning to sex work to provide for herself, or her partner Antunez.

Almada is used as a symbol representing the significant divide in wealth and privilege. Each interaction he has with the poor and socioeconomically disadvantaged, he presents a disgust or hatred for these people. I believe his gives us an important insight into the way these people were treated at large during this time period. Those who were thought of as in compliant with the state were expendable and violence was normalized. Further they were made out to be lesser, and clearly treated like lower class citizens.

We see this issue institutionalized through the lack of effort the police department put into this case. Despite a lack of evidence, Antunez was expendable and as such easily accused for the murder of his partner, Larry. Despite a strong case suggesting Almada was guilty the institutional power he held prevented the police from looking into him any further. This is where journalism or in the authors case, detective literature, is introduced as an important tool for providing a voice, or an alternative perspective in a highly restrictive state where traditional checks on power do not exist.