Like Water for Chocolate by Ma. Ezra N. Gatus

This book was first published in 1989, Laura Esquivel's first novel, Como agua para chocolate: novela de entregas mensuales con recetas, amores, y remedios caseros, became a best seller in the author's native Mexico. It has been translated into numerous languages, and the English version, Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments, with Recipes, Romances and Home Remedies, enjoyed similar success in the United States. The film version, scripted by the author and directed by her husband, Alfonso Arau, has become one of the most popular foreign films of the past few decades. In a New York Times interview, Laura Esquivel told Manalisa Calta that her ideas for the novel came out of her own experiences in the kitchen: "When I cook certain dishes, I smell my grandmother's kitchen, my grandmother's smells. I thought: what a wonderful way to tell a story." The story Esquivel tells is that of Tita De la Garza, a young Mexican woman whose family's kitchen becomes her world after her mother forbids her to marry the man she loves. Esquivel chronicles Tita's life from her teenage to middle-age years, as she submits to and eventually rebels against her mother's domination. Readers have praised the novel's imaginative mix of recipes, home remedies, and love story set in Mexico in the early part of the century. Employing the technique of magic realism, Esquivel has created a bittersweet tale of love and loss and a compelling exploration of a woman's search for identity and fulfillment.
Laura Esquivel (1950- ) Mexican writer and author. Born on September 30, 1950, in Mexico City, Mexico. Esquivel began writing while working as a kindergarten teacher. She wrote plays for her students and then went on to write children's television programs during the 1970s and 1980s.
Esquivel often explores the relationship between men and women in Mexico in her work. She is best known for Like Water for Chocolate (1990), an imaginative and compelling combination of novel and cookbook. It had been released in Mexico a year earlier. After the release of the film version in 1992, Like Water for Chocolate became internationally known and loved. The book has sold more than 4.5 million copies.
Esquivel has continued to show her creative flair and lyrical style in her later work. Accompanied by a collection of music, her second novel The Law of Love (1996) combined romance and science fiction. Between the Fires (2000) featured essays on life, love, and food. Her most recent novel, Malinche (2006), explores the life of a near mythic figure in Mexican history-the woman who served as Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés's interpreter and mistress.
Once married to director Alfonso Arau, Esquivel is divorced and lives in Mexico City, Mexico.


There are twelve chapters in this book which is namely by the twelve months of the year. Each chapter begins with a Mexican recipe made by Tita. Tita’s mother doesn’t want Tita to marry Pedro because in there tradition the youngest daughter should care her mother until her mother dies. This tradition makes Pedro to decide to marry tita’s older, Rosaura. Even Pedro already married with Rosaura, he still in love with Tita. And the only reason why he agreed to their marriage is to be closer to Tita.Tita likes the kitchen so much and she has the skills to cook and this make her to use the power to draw away Pedro from Rosaura. Pedro fall on the power used by Tita to him. Compare to Rosaura, Tita has broader skills in cooking and this is also why Pedro doesn’t like Rosauro. But Mama Elena forced Pedro and Rosaura to leave for San Antonio, Texas. Rosaura loses her son Roberto and is later made sterile after complications with the birth of daughter Esperanza. Her elder sister, Gertrudis is affected to TIta’s skills in cooking and she marry an army. One day, Tita’s nephew which she cared so much died. She blame her mother. Mama Elena responds by beating Tita furiously with a wooden spoon. Tita, not wanting to cope with her mother's controlling ways, secludes herself in a dovecote until the sympathetic Dr. John Brown reasons her to come down. Mama Elena clearly states that there is no place for "lunatics" like Tita on the farm. After the removal of all obstacles to the relationship between Tita and Pedro, the lovers finally share a night of bliss that is so heated and passionate that Pedro actually dies while making love to Tita. Upset that Pedro dies while she lives, leaving her alone in the world, Tita proceeds to consume matches whilst thinking of his face. The matches are sparked by the heat of his memory, creating a fire that engulfs them both, leading to their deaths in union and the total destruction of the ranch. The narrator of the story is the daughter of Esperanza. Esperanza is Tita's niece and Rosaura and Pedro's daughter, and Dr. Brown's son, Alex, will marry her at the conclusion of the story. The narrator then says that all that was found under the smoldering rubble of the ranch was Tita's cookbook, which contained all the recipes described in the preceding chapters.
The phrase "like water for chocolate" comes from the Spanish como agua para chocolate. This phrase is a common expression in some Spanish-speaking countries and was the inspiration for Laura Esquivel's novel title (the name has a double meaning). In some Latin American countries, such as Mexico, hot chocolate is made not with milk, but with water instead. Chocolate will only melt to create hot chocolate when the water reaches boiling point. The saying 'like water for chocolate' alludes to this fact. It can be used as a metaphor for describing a state of passion or – sometimes – sexual arousal. It may also be used to refer to anger, such as being 'boiling mad'. Tita, the main character, actually uses the expression in the book when she says 'estoy como agua para chocolate' (I am like water for chocolate) meaning that she is boiling mad.
The Title could also mean that Tita is becoming bitter because chocolate is sweet and water has no taste, so it is literally like water for chocolate.
Instead of something sweet she substitutes water for it.
This book deals with duty and responsibility. The first chapter begins the novel's exploration of duty, responsibility, and tradition as they present Tita's main conflict. Family tradition requires that she reject Pedro's marriage proposal so she can stay at home and take care of her widowed mother for the rest of her life. If she turns her back on this tradition, she will not fulfill what society considers her responsibility to her mother. Rosaura decides that she also will impose this tradition upon her daughter Esperanza and so prevent her from marrying Alex Brown.

In fiction, the point of view is the perspective from which the story is presented The unique point of view in Like Water for Chocolate helps convey the significance of the narrative. Esperanza, Tita De la Garza's niece, finds her aunt's cookbook in the ruins of the De la Garza ranch. As she recreates the recipes in her own home, she passes down the family stories to her daughter. Her daughter becomes the novel's narrator as she incorporates her great-aunt's recipes, remedies, and experiences into one book




Ma. Ezra N. Gatus
IV - Madame Marie Curie
Submitted on March 15, 2009
Mrs. Ellen Laurente
English IV teacher
Makati Science High School