Symbol for undesirability
In the second story, the narrator tells the story of an old and ugly read sweater and how no one wanted to claim ownership over it. One day, the teacher asks the students about who owns the sweater and a girl in Rachel’s class insists that it belongs to Rachel. The sweater is important because it is used here as a symbol for undesirability and suggests that children, even from a young age, are capable of knowing what they want and what they want to avoid.
Women would have behaved differently should have they stayed home
One of the common motifs found in some of the stories is the idea that many people took the wrong path because they were away from their homeland and from their traditions. In the story One holy night, the main character’s grandfather claims that the only reason his daughter strayed from the right path is because she was away from the traditions that many obeyed out of fear and away from a society where behaving carefully when it comes to boys was the norm.
Pregnancy and shame
Another common motif found in the stories is the idea that it is shameful for a young woman without a husband to remain pregnant. Every time when this happened to some girl in the story who had no partner, the family did everything they could to hide it. Some families went as far as sending the pregnant girl to another country where it would be easier to hide it and pretend like nothing happened.
Abused women
One of the common motifs that appears in Woman Hollering Creek is the idea that more than often, men are not punished when they are cruel towards women. Instead of being criticized, those men are praised and joke about the harsh punishment they inflicted upon their wives and loved ones.
What men are attracted to
A common motif that appears in the stories is the idea that men are attracted to women who have a beautiful and voluptuous physical exterior. Carmen for example, is appreciated because of her full lips and attractive breasts and every time someone talks about her, they mention those traits. This motif shows that men are more than often shallow and interested only in what they can see.
