Like Water for Chocolate by Ancilla Marie Baulita Inocencio

Home-made Recipes and Remedies: A Book Review of Laura Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate

Like Water for Chocolate, written by Laura Esquivel, is a tall tale, fairy tale, soap-opera romance, Mexican cookbook, and home-remedy handbook all rolled into one. With more than two million copies in print, it has taken its place alongside such beloved novels as The Joy Stick Club and How to Make an American Quilt. It was able to touch every woman’s heart in hunger of love, freedom and self-esteem.Laura Esquivel, who is based in Mexico and originally a scriptwriter, created her first novel, Like Water for Chocolate, based on her own family traditions and her own experiences. She was nominated for the Ariel Award for best screenplay by the Mexican Academy of Motion Pictures for her screenplay Chido One. The film version of Like Water for Chocolate swept the Ariel Awards in 1992 and went on in 1993 to become the biggest grossing foreign film ever released in the United States. In 1994, Like Water for Chocolate won the prestigious ABBY award, which is given annually by the American Booksellers Association to the book the members of the organization most enjoyed hand-selling.The chapters of this book are months that come with different Mexican recipes that intertwine the life of Tita de la Garza, the youngest daughter of Elena de la Garza. This all happened during the era of the Mexican Revolution. Tita's lover, Pedro, comes to ask for her hand in marriage, but Mama Elena averts it because of their family tradition, which demands that the youngest daughter must not get married and take care of her mother until she dies. Pedro then halfheartedly marries Tita's older sister, Rosaura, just to be nearer to Tita. Though Tita suffered so much agony and hurting, she learned to express her feelings through the thing that she does best, cooking. Though Pedro was already married to Rosaura, he still hints Tita of what love he has for her but as time passed Tita lost all her hopes and just continued her life in the kitchen. Tita has a love of the kitchen and a sharp connection with food, an ability that Rosaura does not have. Tita unintentionally begins to draw Pedro away from Rosaura through her wonderful kitchen skills.. As the story unfolds together with Tita’s exceptional cooking skills, Tiat, together with the other characters, will find a bittersweet tale of love, family, tradition and womanhood.This story deals with emotional oppressions of characters. It is evident, especially in the first few chapters, that Tita has been emotionally oppressed by her dictator-like mother. Her mother, enforcing a family tradition, decrees that Tita is not allowed to marry because she is obligated to care for her mother until she dies. Deprived of the love of her life, Tita is forced to repress her feelings and transmute them into her cooking. The feeling she pours into her cooking then affects the people who eat it, contributing to the magical realism evident throughout the novel, as her repressed emotions have tangible, magical consequences.Like Water for Chocolate belongs to the genre of magical realism. This literary style, first developed by the Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier in his 1949 essay "Lo maravilloso real," generally describes novels by Latin American writers that are infused with distinct fantastic, mythical, and epic themes. Magical realism is often explained as a unique product of the Latin American condition, particularly its history of European colonialism, which resulted in a delicate relationship between the contradictory yet co-existing forces of indigenous religion and myth and the powerful Catholic Church. Like this story, it contains old tradition and existing events. The old tradition and beliefs carries the story back but the wars and revolutions bring the story to our existing time.In the science of cooking, heat is a force to be used precisely; the novel's title phrase "like water for chocolate," refers to the fact that water must be brought to the brink of boiling several times before it is ready to be used in the making of hot chocolate. However, the heat of emotions cannot be so controlled. Heat is a symbol for desire and physical love throughout the text: in Gertrudis' flight from the ranch; Pedro's lustful gazing at Tita in the shower; and the post-coital death of Pedro, among many other instances. The inner fire of the individual constitutes an important theme in the novel, and much of Tita's struggle centers on cultivating this fire. These uses of fire point toward a duality in its symbolism, as a source of strength and a force of destruction. The coupling of death and desire that occurs when the love between Tita and Pedro is freed exemplifies this duality.I really like how the story creates a magic between the characters and the food they eat. Though the scenes mostly happened in the kitchen, it still carries a heavy impact to the reader. If will just look at the back of the book, you will think that this book does not have a profound meaning towards life. But if you will really read the book and understand its message between recipes, you will learn values in life that can not be found just anywhere. This book contains life lessons that can truly warm the heart of every reader. Though this book contains some vulgar scenes, it still does not take effect from the great height of the books dignity. This book is truly a master piece of literature. It is created with a unique spice in it and topped over with some heart-touching remedies.This story frees women from all the discriminations they are suffering whether it is by culture or traditions. It torches all women to follow what they truly believe and what their heart really wants. The role of Mama Elena and Tita were the ones that showed great power from women. It was from Mama Elena’s dictator power to Tita’s liberty were all showcases of womanhood. It was such an uplifting book because it makes a woman feel that there is a greater power within all of us. It was both satisfying and very inspirational. The unfairness of the world did not take effect within the great power that is conveyed by the protagonist and the antagonist of the story.Like Water for Chocolate is mirror of feminism during the Mexican Revolution. It gives a different view of cooking with love and desire. It cracks a sealed emotion of a free woman. The use of the great-granddaughter’s character as the narrator gives off a traditional effect and makes it seem as the background of the family’s recipe.