Like Water for Chocolate Analysis

John. Soon after, Tita's mother dies from an overdose, but she still haunts Tita, because Tita still has feelings for Pedro. Pedro returns, as Rosaura dies as well, and Tita has to choose between Pedro and John. Tita's mother's spirit continues to return, and for the first time, Tita stands up to Mama Elena and, in forceful words, declares her autonomy, banishing her mother's spirit. ['I know who I am! I am a person who has a perfect right to live her life as she pleases. Once and for all, leave me alone; I won't put up with you! I hate you! I hate you, I've always hated you!' Tita had inspired the magic words that would make Mama Elena disappear forever. The imposing figure of her mother began to shrink until it became no more than a tiny light. As the ghost faded away, a sense of relief grew inside Tita's body.] Tita chooses Pedro over John, and they can finally express their love in public. They experience love so intense that both are led to a tunnel that will carry them to the afterlife. Tita turns back, wanting to continue in life and in love with Pedro. Once she does, she realizes that Pedro has already entered the tunnel, which is technically dead. Wanting to be with him, Tita takes John's grandmother's words [each of us is born with a box of matches inside us but we can't strike them all by ourselves; just as in the experiment, we need oxygen and a candle to help. In this case, the oxygen, for example, would come from the breath of the person you love; the candle could be any kind of food, music, caress, word, or sound that engenders the explosion that lights one of the matches. For a moment we are dazzled by an intense emotion. A pleasant warmth grows within us, fading slowly as time goes by, until a new explosion comes along to revive it. Each person has to discover what will set off those explosions in order to live, since the combustion that occurs when one of them is ignited is what nourishes the soul. . .You must of course take care to light the matches one at a time. If a powerful emotion should ignite them all at once they would produce a splendor so dazzling that it would illuminate far beyond what we can normally see; and then a brilliant tunnel would appear before our eyes, revealing the path we forgot the moment we were born, and summoning us to regain the divine origin we had lost. The soul ever longs to return to the place from which it came, leaving the body lifeless. . . ] literally, and ignites her inner fire by eating the candles that had lit the room. When she succeeds in recreating the passion, she reenters the tunnel and supposedly meets Pedro in the spirit world. The candles set fire to the entire ranch, and the only trace left of Tita is the recipe book in which she recorded her wisdom. -Symbolism: Food is the force in the novel, and Tita uses food to express her emotions. For example, during Rosaura's wedding, everybody who eats the cake begins to feel miserable because Tita's tears of sadness and jealousy fell in when making it, sad/jealous of seeing her lover with another woman (P. 39) Another example is when Getrudis, the eldest sister runs off with another man (P. 51) Pedro secretly gave Tita a bouquet of flowers, and when she was holding it, the blood from her hands flowed into the petals. Tita used the petals with the dinner she prepared (P. 48) and the love, intense feelings Tita had was transferred from the food to everyone who ate it, which was solely Getrudis, since she had the most it, as it was also her favorite dish. Among many other examples, in the world of the novel, food has a direct feeling on people. The recipes aren't just formulas, they hold memories, and as a crypt for the themes in the novel. Food represents a life, a space in their hostile world, where there is a way to live life, and similarly, a way to prepare food which makes the outcome enjoyable or disastrous. Another symbolic thing is Rosaura's death. Her stomach enlarges, becomes painfully unbearable, and balloons; this symbolizes her discontent and hate towards Pedro and Tita's relationship that builds up. Another symbolic representative is pregnancy. Tita entered the world in flooding tears and wailing, which symbolizes her destiny, knowing all her life that she would be locked by the mother she despises, and she would lead a sad, troubled life. If pregnancy, the womb represented destiny, then another item would be Tita's false pregnancy. At one point, Tita experiences false pregnancy as a curse from her dead mother, due to her love with Pedro. Her stomach grows, and stops having her periods. Her womb bears no child, and an empty womb represents the unborn child. It is a symbol of her destiny: that her destiny does not hold children in the future. Her womb hides nothing, which in fact means it is nothing, thus, meaning it is hiding empty space, an empty destiny. -Question: -Does your book give you an insight on the book, and is it symbolic? -What I don't understand: -What does the title mean?