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Mama Elena's Ghost in Like Water for Chocolate

The document discusses three key points from Like Water for Chocolate: 1) The ghost of Mama Elena continued to haunt and frighten Tita after her death, though Tita was able to draw the ghost away by saying she hated her mother. 2) The author disliked that Tita stayed with Pedro, finding him stupid, and feeling Tita should have chosen John who offered her love, respect, and a proper position in his life. 3) The ending, where Tita set herself on fire after eating matches, was confusing but dramatic. It was ironic it happened after John described deep emotions through his grandmother's knowledge of her committing suicide.

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45 views2 pages

Mama Elena's Ghost in Like Water for Chocolate

The document discusses three key points from Like Water for Chocolate: 1) The ghost of Mama Elena continued to haunt and frighten Tita after her death, though Tita was able to draw the ghost away by saying she hated her mother. 2) The author disliked that Tita stayed with Pedro, finding him stupid, and feeling Tita should have chosen John who offered her love, respect, and a proper position in his life. 3) The ending, where Tita set herself on fire after eating matches, was confusing but dramatic. It was ironic it happened after John described deep emotions through his grandmother's knowledge of her committing suicide.

Uploaded by

major0002
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Talking Points 2 Like Water for Chocolate 

The Ghost of Mama Elena

The appearances of Mama Elena added to the magical realism aspect of the story. 
With this ghost, Tita continued to fear her mother, even though she died. I feel that it 
was too fast and too subtle, the way that Tita drew the ghost away by simply telling 
her ghost mother that she hated her. I feel like it would’ve been more interesting if
the ghost continued to haunt her. Still it was creative how her stress was relieved 
allowing her menstrual flow to start and make her realize that she was indeed not 
pregnant. 

Relationship with Pedro

I strongly dislike the fact that Tita stayed with Pedro, more because I dislike Pedro
for his stupidity and like John for his sincere care and interest. It is unfair for Tita 
and unfair for Esperanza and Rosaura, more because if he truly loved her, like Tita
said, he would’ve stolen her and ran away with her. On the other hand, John offered 
his eternal love, respect, and her rightful position in his life. Why would she turn 
that down?! Even after Rosaura passed away, Pedro did not insist on marrying and 
they kept their relationship hidden. I feel that they should’ve acknowledged their 
love right away and in public. Still, it’s better late than never. 

A Firey Ending

I was confused about the meaning of the last scene. It was very ironic how it
happened that John first described those deep emotions through his grandmother’s 
knowledge. She killed herself! Once again, this was a very selfish act considering 
that Chencha lived in that home and Esperanza now had no parents to go to. The set 
up, again, was very creative though. The way that Tita had to eat the matches to fire 
herself up was really dramatic and ironic. 
MIT OpenCourseWare
http://ocw.mit.edu

WGS.S10 Special Topics in Women & Gender Studies Seminar: Latina Women's Voices
Spring 2010

For information about citing these materials or our Terms of Use, visit: http://ocw.mit.edu/terms.

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