The title is an allusion to an old Mexican folk tale and foreshadows the journey of the main character in the story, Cleofilas. Cleofilas leaves her family in Mexico and moves across the border to get married. She thinks her life will be like the romantic Mexican telenovelas she has grown up watching. Instead, her husband is very abusive and she begins to identify with the "Woman Hollering Creek" that is near their house. The river is a real place located near I 10 in Texas. The legend behind the name of the creek, La Llorona, is the story of a woman who drowns her baby in the creek and then wanders the night hollering and crying. There are many different versions of the story, but basically, Cleofilias sees herself as the woman who is crying. She finally get a chance to escape when a woman named Felice offers her a ride back to her father's home. When Felice drives her truck over the creek, she hollers "like Tarzan", indicating not only freedom for Cleofilias but a great victory for women.