Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel Chapter Analysis

Authors Avatar

February

March

With Nacha’s death, Tita had filled her shoes and had become dominant in the kitchen of their ranch. She had successfully broken free of Mama Elena’s ‘iron command’ to which her dictatorship over Tita is now beyond her control through Tita’s abilities to communicate through her food which exemplifies the element of magical realism in this novel. The critical theme and focus of this chapter is the liberation of Gertrudis and Tita’s new found system of communication with Pedro.

Tita once again cooks her emotions into the food through the voice of Nacha’s spirit after death. The response was euphoric, and was able to release her second sister Gertrudis into total freedom, as she ‘made love for the first time’ on a horse ‘kissing passionately’, an image which can only be described as a fantasy. Esquivel describing her as ‘an angel and devil in one woman’ along with diction such as ‘perfection…luminous…glowing’ as though this is viewed positively as opposed to the stereotypical identification that you are either a virgin or not. The encouraging diction further connotes how the situation is almost Godly or intended to happen, and there is no sense of wrongness in it as it may otherwise be considered. Through Tita’s recipe, she was able to liberate her sister exceeding the boundaries of which she knew she could never cross due to her inescapable fate.

Secretly receiving a ‘bonquet of roses’ confirming Pedro’s love, her not being permitted to keep them inspired her to transform it into creating a dish of Quail in Rose Petal Sauce, which is her only way of communicating with Pedro to show her passion for him as the roses were stained with her blood as she ‘clasped them to her chest so tightly’, illustrating how her true passions are poured into the making of the meal that the roses ‘which had been mostly pink, h ad turned quite red from the blood from Tita’. However, It an also be interpreted as her repressed feelings bringing her pain, which the blood connotes. She wants something so bad that it hurts and stabs her like the thorns of the roses.

The other response is received by Pedro that ‘shook the ranch’ with ‘Tita’s blood and the roses from Pedro proved quite an explosive combination’ the strong response of ‘voluptuous delight…dish for the gods!’ not only with the intense reaction that profoundly insults Rosaura but it generated an ‘alchemical process’ where Tita seems to be experiencing an out of body experience where ‘her body was sitting up quite properly…there wasn’t the slightest sign of life in her’ as she ‘entered Pedro’s body, hot ,voluptuous, perfumed, totally sensuous’ making love but not in the literal sense. The listing of stricking adjectives intensifies the situation’ Through this, Pedro and Tita had discovered a ‘system of communication’

There are two extremes that are presented in this chapter: that is the sexual passion that is shut and the passion that is liberated with no regards to what others think, especially of Mama Elena. Later on in the novel, Gertrudis seems to have an undying ‘fire of passion’ that cannot be extinguish that led her to working in a brothel. Her born with a love that was never satisfied and her years of repression had set her free all at once overwhelmed with emotions. Esquivel’s creation of this was to exaggerate the potential harm of the repression of emotion, inevitably leading to something negative.

Style

Language of recipe books: the warning of “trying not to prick your fingers” in case the blood would “alter the flavour of the dish” is the same as telling us how fragile love is since roses represent love; if you hold on to it too tight it would hurt, but if you loosen too much, it will fall and leave.

        Many different types of style were explored to express some of the meanings; Magic realism elements are one of them. The dish made by Tita proved to be magical and pulled their inner needs out onto the surface as Gertrudis (the medium between Pero and Tita in the meal) “began to feel an intense heat pulsing through her limbs”. Needs that are buried deep inside and are never let out pours from the lust between Predro and Tita out, through Gertrudis.

By contaminating the roses with blood will result in ‘dangerous chemical reactions’ shows how something as unlikely as that is easily put into the paragraph as if it was normal and makes it more believable than if it sounded separate from the instructions.

Gertrudis is a symbol to represent what Pedro and Tita wants but is oppressed due to tradition and duty. She is also the symbol for freedom, a character made to show what it is like to break free from the traditions, to create a contrast with Tita and Pedro and their forced obedience (duty).    

Rose petal’s for the dish is also a symbol for the liberation of Gertrudis’ sexual passion. The fact that you have to ‘remove the petals carefully’ shows how you have to let go the passion and love in you bit by bit. If you keep it in too long and let it all out at once, it will ‘produce dangerous chemical reactions’ and you might do unexpected things like Gertrudis and her act of liberation.    

‘Tita broken in both heart and mind, like the quail’ a simile used to show how just like the quail being killed mercifully by Tita, she herself is being killed by Mama Elena, but even worse since the quail is killed in an instant but Tita is being tortured endlessly. This can also be compared to the first quail she killed. Since she didn’t kill it fully, it ended up in pain, half alive and still struggling to live. This gruesome image reminds us of Tita’s circumstance.          

Contrast of Rosaura’s and Tita’s cooking are shown clearly by placing the horrible meal cooked by Rosuara before Tita’s magical meal. Rosaura’s unpleasant attitude towards Tita before cooking of refusing the help from Tita shows no matter how hard she tries to please Pedro, it doesn’t work and Tita will always be the that can attract Pedro.

Ideas

Due to Mama Elena’s sense of duty and tradition is forced onto Tita, it makes Tita and Pedro’s love for each other become more intense causing them to find any opportunity to be with each other. Even a normal dinner could turn into something magical about them shows how the harder it is for them to have each other, makes them want each more where you always want something you can never have.

Deception is commonly used through out the novel as she lied to Elena about the truth of why Gertrudis ran away to save her sister’s honour

Sexual passion is a huge theme in this chapter as Gertrudis dismissed all sense of duty and responsibility she is embraced by the rebel. She is finally liberated from the heavy duties in the ranch.

‘They couldn’t take their eyes off each other’. The meal has made their lust of each other more open and can even be seen by Elena since she can’t do anything about what Tita cooks and is the food that evoked the lust in them.

April
April

Like Water for Chocolate is a novel by Laura Esquivel that utilizes magic realism heavily to present several ideas. Each of the chapters in the book outlines the preparation of a dish and ties it to an event in the protagonist's life. April’s dish is “Turkey Mole with Almonds and Sesame Seeds”, which the recipe of making relates to events during this month.

At the start of the chapter, a recipe cited similar to a cookbook, echoes the events Tita went through, “before the turkey is to be killed, begin feeding it small walnuts … put two in its beak … regardless of how much corn it eats voluntarily during this period.”  Similar to Tita, the turkey will have its free will taken away and be forced to do what it do not wish to leading to their own respective consequences.

Tita now having to prepare a meal for the baptism feels “immense tenderness” towards her nephew despite “he was the product of her sister’s marriage to Pedro, the love of her life” . The list of “pans bumping against each other, the smell of almonds browning in the griddle, the sound of Tita’s melodious voice, singing as she cooked”  creates a sense of speed and excitement in the kitchen that amplifies how it has all “kindled his sexual feelings” . This is when Pedro’s feelings towards Tita are revived as the two have not … recently. “Pedro knew from those sounds and smells, especially the smell of browning sesame seeds, that there was a real culinary pleasure to come.”  In addition to having pleasure from food, this also represents the sexual pleasure that Tita and Pedro may acquire. The sesame seeds foreshadow the exposure of Tita’s breasts perhaps represents sexual temptation because it is what drew Pedro into the kitchen. Then instructions for the recipe are continued but describing how the almond and sesame seeds are to be prepared.

“Pedro couldn’t resist the smells from the kitchen and was heading toward them. But he stopped shock-still in the doorway, transfixed by the sight of Tita in that erotic posture” The diction of “erotic” suggests a very strong sexual desire and charges this event.

“She stopped grinding, straightened up, and proudly lifted her chest so Pedro could see it better” This is one of the only significant actions Tita takes, in letting her clothing fall so that she may expose her breasts to Pedro and it is his gaze that alters Tita's sexuality. Here Tita's sexuality is depicted not as particularly independent, but rather as a reaction to Pedro's erotic desire.

This of course occurs in the kitchen while Tita is preparing the baptism meal which plays a significant importance as it suggests that Tita’s view of the world is filtered through the kitchen. Making a meal is Tita’s substitute for the physical act of making love so in lifting her chest for Pedro to see, Tita offers up herself as she were serving food, and her sexuality becomes an extension of her ability to nurture through food.

“Pedro had transformed Tita’s breasts from chaste to experienced flesh, without even touching them.” This suggests that just from one look of the breasts, Tita from refraining from sexual intercourse, now has great experience in it. She is made a woman with Pedro’s help and can miraculously provide breast milk for Roberto, her nephew. This is then interrupted with Chenca walking in but “perhaps Pedro would have ended up tirelessly caressing the breasts Tita offered him, but unfortunately that was not to be” . The theme of magic realism is illustrated here as the diction of ‘unfortunately’ suggests that it is for destiny to decide on matters. Tita like the turkey that is to be unwillingly fed and killed has no control over her life.

The readers are then interrupted to be instructed on how to prepare the spices.

Mama Elena being the one who asked Pedro to stop complimenting Tita’s cooking illustrated herself as being evil and ironically against her only daughter, Tita. The effort Tita would take to try to satisfy Pedro’s culinary desires were great, “she would invent new recipes, hoping to repair the connection that flowed between them through the food she prepared”. The diction of flowed suggests that it was sensuous free emotions that were shared between them.

Tita felt lonely during this time, and when she held Roberto in her hand, the feelings she felt were all “melted” away. ‘Melted’ ties in with the title, “Like Water for Chocolate”, as chocolate often melts, to amplify Roberto’s importance. Him being Rosaura’s son seems like more like Tita’s, as it is Tita who nurses him and feeds him her breast milk.

Tita then packs Gertrudis’s belongings into a case to be delivered to her, where she left to being naked and free. “Luckily, Mama Elena’s scoldings and spankings hadn’t fit either; Tita had slammed the suitcase shut before they could sneak in”. This suggests that Gertrudis didn’t like Mama Elena either, and her scoldings were portrayed as evil demons or spirits that would ‘sneak in’. 

It was then time for Rosaura’s birth, and magically Pedro, Doctor Brown, Mama Elena, and Chenca were not present to help or deliver the birth, leaving only Tita alone to do it. At first “She didn’t have the least interest in seeing the little boy, girl, whatever.” But magically again “The baby’s cries filled all the empty space in Tita’s heart”. Roberto had repaired the damage that Rosaura and Pedro’s marriage did to her.

Join now!

During the birth, Tita had no idea how to deliver the baby, but in the magic realism world of the book, she was enlightened how to do so with Nacha’s whispers. The “tunnel, dark, silent, deep has transformed into a red river, an erupting volcano, a rending of paper”. The unknown tunnel has suddenly become a disgusting river of blood to portray Rosaura negatively.

“She knew how to put on the undershirt, and the shirt, the swaddling band around his belly, the diaper, the flannel to cover his legs, the little jacket, the socks and shoes, and last of all a soft ...

This is a preview of the whole essay