Like Water for Chocolate

The time: early 20th century (1910–1917); the place: a hacienda in some distant location.
Mexico. In the kitchen, something is cooking. Yes, we refer to both the literal meaning as well as
the figurative. The narrator of Like Water for Chocolate is the great-niece of Tita De la Garza,
the main protagonist of the novel.

It wasn't easy for a person [Tita] who knew life through cooking to understand the
external world." (1, 7). From the beginning, we realize that Tita's life is very,
very unfair. Below is a summary of how horrible her life is point by point:

His mother, Mama Elena, is a strict, abusive, tyrannical, and almost psychopathic woman whose
the main goal in life is to keep Tita as a slave.
Pedro, the love of Tita's life, marries her sister, Rosaura, instead of marrying Tita.
she.
Her other sister, Gertrudis, who is her friend and confidant, is kidnapped by a general.
from the revolutionary army and ends up working in a brothel.
Her best friend, maternal figure, and culinary teacher, Nacha, passes away.
John, a doctor and foreigner, loves her, but Tita is not sure she can love anyone else.
that Pedro, who is frankly a bit spoiled.
Therefore, Tita has a lot to face. Luckily for us, she is
a true fighter and faces her misfortunes bravely with grace and wit.
One of the ways she does it? She expresses her love for Pedro through food. In
halfway through the novel, she escapes the estate with John. Once Nacha dies, she
keeps close cooking and continuing the tradition of family recipes.
The kitchen, for Tita, is a form of therapy (the chicken enchiladas are good for the soul).
The help to overcome the physical and psychological abuse from her mother, the loss of her nephew, the
depression and much more. Of course there are other elements that go beyond the drama.
familiar. There is a war in full development.

And it's not just any war; for Mexico it was a great war. The type of war in
the peasants and indigenous people came together under the leadership of category leaders
ofPancho Villa yEmiliano Zapata to rise up against the current dictatorship. These
men and women wanted a free, democratic Mexico and brought the country to the point of
boiling, similar to what the women subdued under the tyranny of Mama Elena did.

Argument

The story is set inBlack Stones, Coahuila, Mexico. Located in the time of
theMexican Revolution(Oppressed village, environmental representation of the characters: Tita and
Oppressed
freedom)). The story begins with the birth of Tita, the youngest of two sisters. Tita is given
I could hear her crying even from the womb, when she was born she cried and the only thing that calmed her was the smell.

the soup, that ’s why she was always with Nacha, the cook. Tita, as she grew up, had many
skills in culinary art since Nacha taught her from a very young age. At 15 years old, Tita
fell in love with a boy named Pedro Muzquiz, and he, in turn, reciprocated her love. Pedro
he went to ask for Tita's hand from her mother but Mama Elena did not grant it, but she did grant the one for
Rosaura, her other daughter. Pedro agrees to be able to be close to Tita. Pedro and Rosaura have a
But Rosaura cannot take care of the child, as she was very ill, the wet nurse.
dies and the only one who can take care of the child is Tita, the child could only be close to his
Mother was in the kitchen but Rosaura couldn't move and they had to prepare a
soup in Rosaura's room so the child could be close to his mother, the mother
Tita suspected that Pedro and Tita were seeing each other and decided to send Pedro and Rosaura to the
city. While there, the child dies and Tita goes a little crazy, she didn't want to talk to anyone and her
mother decides to send her with Dr. John to the city. Tita is the head of the kitchen on the ranch.
and is in charge of cooking all the meals. This gives them the power to spread their emotions and
use the kitchen instead of hiding your feelings of sadness that live in it
room that her sister and her new husband. After receiving a secret from Nacha, Tita
cook some quails in rose petal sauce, flowers that Pedro had given her. This
food has a special effect on itself, Gertrudis and Pedro. It reveals the sexual desire that
Pedro and Tita have each other, he gazes at her intently through the food and they complement each other.
with the plate. The same effect is found in Gertrudis, who escapes with a soldier from the
revolution on horseback, naked. Gertrudis was the only friend Tita had and now she was gone.
alone. Food is a powerful element, as it affects people without words or
intentional actions. Like Water for Chocolate is narrated by the granddaughter of Rosaura, the daughter
of Esperanza and Alex, who feels very identified with her great-aunt and cooks her recipes,
found in an old book saved from the fire. This work stands out as one of the works
main figures belonging to the literary movement 'magic realism', creating a fusion of
the magical and mundane/reality. Throughout the work, one can also appreciate the great
variety of themes that compose it and, moreover, the relationship that these have with the work in
yes: they try to demonstrate the historical context of a specific moment, including its
customs, traditions, etc.

Characters

Tita is the main character and the youngest of three sisters. She is born in the kitchen prematurely.
"pushed into the world by a flood of tears" that spilled all over the kitchen.
Like when she was born, she grows up surrounded by the smells of spices, soups, boiled milk, garlic, and onion.
She is attended to by Nacha, the family's cook. Thanks to her, she develops that strong bond with the
kitchen. It becomes their way of expression, provoking anyone who tastes the food they prepare.
that feels from an indescribable sadness to the most burning desire. For being the youngest of
the family and according to family tradition, are prohibited from marrying to take care of their parents
in her old age. Since only her mother is alive, she would have to take care of her. From a young age, she became accustomed to

to know one's position in life, to which he shows anger and rebellion that he has to calm down for
fear of the authority of his mother. He confronts his mother when Pedro, his beloved,
wants to marry her and has to let him go because of that tradition. She was a woman who, despite
from her family's traditions, she fought for her love to be realized and despite the fact that her mother
she suffered a lot from his humiliations and mistreatment, but she never lost hope that he
led to being happy at the end of his life.

Pedro meets Tita at a social gathering and is immediately smitten by her.

Mamá Elena, a widow with deep-rooted customs, is a tough and stern woman. She maintains, with
success, the ranch that she inherits from her husband and raises her daughters with great strictness. She does not allow them to

they call her 'mom' because they consider it derogatory and teach them to call her 'mami'.
Constantly punishes Tita for her rebellion and for opposing to follow the rules to the letter.
tradition and give up the love of his life.

Rosaura The sister in the middle of Tita. From childhood, there was a rivalry between her and Tita.
He never had an interest in cooking and let his sister take care of those tasks. Upon getting married
with Pedro, that fraternal rivalry culminates, her marrying the love of the other. She is seen as
the wife by obligation, jealous of the love her husband has for his sister and
extremely proud. It relies on the severity of her mother towards Tita and in scenes of
crying to attract the interest of her husband. After the death of her firstborn, Roberto, is born
Hope. It is Tita who comes to the defense of the little one, to eliminate the tradition of not
to marry to take care of his mother in her old age.

Gertrudis, Tita's older sister. She is the daughter of a boyfriend that Mama Elena had while she was married.
with Juan de la Garza. His character becomes important after eating some Quail in Petals.
from Rosa that Tita prepares. The dish brings out her most burning desires that she tries to suppress
with a bath of ice-cold water; but its aroma reaches a soldier of the Revolution who
he rides to her and 'kidnaps' her. She lives with him for a while; she works in a brothel and
she finally enters the armed conflict where she is named General and becomes his wife.

Nacha, the family cook. She takes care of Tita, as her mother is in mourning for the
death of her husband and cannot take care of her. She treats her like her own daughter and the
keeps close to her, giving advice and affection until her death. She teaches him the goodness
and the secrets of the kitchen and upon her death, Tita continues to be the family's cook. It is she,
together with Gertrudis and Chencha, who comforts her about the wedding of Rosaura and Pedro, since she...
Just like Tita, she lost her great love because of Mama Elena.

John Brown, a widowed doctor with one son, meets Tita after the birth of Robertito.
Tita was alone with her sister. During Roberto's baptism, she couldn't take her eyes off
Tita, as noted by Mama Elena. Tita is going through a terrible depression when
he realizes the death of his nephew. He is the only one who manages to convince Tita to
abandon the Pigeon loft and takes her to his house. He falls deeply in love with her and tells her
some of his theories, developed from the knowledge passed down by his grandmother, a
indigenous woman who was known to the family as 'La Kinapú', referring to her
ethnic group. John dies bitten by a snake that represents the indigenous past of his
family and Tita's betrayal for not marrying him.

Esperanza is the daughter of Rosaura and Pedro, according to her mother, she had to follow the
tradition of not marrying and taking care of her until her death, something that Tita prevented and managed to avoid.

Esperanza married Alex Brown and has a daughter who narrates the story.
The Chencha Housemaid of the ranch is very gossipy and not very cultured. She is the youngest of the
cooks and some bandits abuse her. She married her first boyfriend she saw in the
town of his birth.

Alejandrez, man of battle. Moreover, he was the one who, driven by his passion, set out in search of
Gertrudis and took her totally naked. He married her and accepts her as an emancipated woman.
in his life.

Treviño was a bodyguard and agent of Gertrudis. He loved her.

Alex Brown Son of John Brown. Since he was a child, he loved Esperanza. Husband of Esperanza,
He earns a doctorate and goes to the United States with her.

Paquita LoboNeighbor of the De la Garza family.

Don Pascual, Father of Pedro Muzquiz.

Néstor is the bald man of the village, he loves to sleep, and he is Chencha's lover.

Father Ignacio, Parish Priest of the town.

Pulque Ranch Dog.

Mary, John's aunt. She is deaf and only knows how to read lips in English. She comes to Piedras Negras for the
wedding between John and Tita where John discovers Tita's infidelity

Roberto, son of Pedro and Rosaura. He dies in San Antonio, Texas, due to his rejection in front of the
food. He had only been breastfed by Tita, not by his own mother.