Saturday, March 14, 2009

True Love Can Never Be Broken: A Book Review on Laura Esquivel's Like Water For Chocolate by Julia Nina Moncada

True Love Can Never Be Broken: A Book Review on Laura Esquivel's Like Water For Chocolate

“... [E]ach of us is born with a box of matches inside us but we can't strike them all by ourselves; just as in the experiment, we need oxygen and a candle to help. In this case, the oxygen, for example, would come from the breath of the person you love; the candle could be any kind of food, music, caress, word, or sound that engenders the explosion that lights one of the matches.”

This quotation shows exactly what the book, “Like Water for Chocolate” or “Como Agua Para Chocolate” by Laura Esquivel, is all about. It is, in fact, the first novel that she wrote and was published in 1989. Like Esquivel’s later novels, this book combines magical or supernatural happenings with realistic social conflicts. In 1993, a film adaptation of this book was produced. The story is divided into 12 parts. One part for every month of the year and a recipe is included for every month.

The story is set in a ranch near the US-Mexico border during the Mexican Revolution. During this time, Mexican families were still firmly tied to their tradiotions. It is the story of Tita, the youngest daughter of the De La Garza family, and her struggles for her love which is forbidden by her family’s traditions. She lives with her iron-fisted mother, Mama Elena, and her two older sisters, Gertudis and Rosaura.

The conflict starts when Pedro, Tita’s admirer, asks for her hand in marriage but was strongly disapproved by Mama Elena because of their family’s tradition that the youngest daughter must never marry and must take care of their mother until she dies. Mama Elena then offers Pedro to marry Rosaura instead. He accepts but insists that he only married Rosaura to get closer to Tita. With a broken heart, she expresses her sorrow through her cooking, a skill of hers that greatly surpasses her sisters’. Unconsciously, she starts to snatch Pedro through her delicious dishes. To prevent Pedro and Tita forming a relationship, she sends the married couple away to San Antonio. The two lose their son, Roberto. And later on, Rosaura is made sterile after the birth of their daughter, Esperanza.

When Tita learned of her beloved nephew’s death, she blamed her mother who responded by beating her with a wooden spoon. Tita then secludes herself and refuses to come out until Dr John Brown convinces her. Mama Elena calls Tita a lunatic and says that the ranch didn’t need her and demands her to be institutionalized. Dr Brown takes her away, but not into an institution. He takes her into his home and takes care of her. Eventually, she gets into a relationship with him even though she can’t erase the feelings that she has for Pedro.

No longer trapped inside the cage created by her dictator mother, there are no more obstacles to Pedro and Tita’s love. They finally make love. It was so passionate that Pedro dies while doing the act. Distraught that he died and left her to live, Tita lights and lights matches. This leads to the burning of the ranch and the flames engulf the two. Nothing remained except for Tita’s cookbook. Tita’s niece, Esperanza later marries Alex, Dr Brown’s son in a previous marriage.

From just looking at the title, you can already see symbolisms. The phrase “Like water for chocolate” has a double meaning for Mexicans. It could either be an increase in one’s arousal or someone losing their temper. These two meanings are clearly shown in the novel. The characters themselves could be symbols on a much larger scale. Mama Elena could be the outdated and conservative older generation. Pedro and Tita could be the younger generation the defied the old beliefs and made a new set of values on their own. Esperanza and Alex could be the future generation whom are free to love one another because of their ancestors who liberated them from the oppression of strict family traditions. The novel is in a narrative form but will have a persuasive effect. It will persuade the readers to not stop love for it will always find its ways.

I think that the combination of magic and realism was a very unique way of writing. The character development was also superb. It clearly showed Tita’s progression from submissive and obedient to expressive and rebellious. It was also successful in showing social problems that we faced and sometimes still face in today’s modern society. It also added a little bit of humor to a topic so serious and upsetting. An example is Pedro’s death. It was supposed to be very tragic but I can’t help but laugh when I read that he died because of doing the act.

All in all, this was a very interesting book. Its genre is something that I have never touched before and its plot was like no other. I wouldn’t mind reading more of her other works if they are as great as this one. I’d also like to see if the film adaptation of the book is as good as or even better than the book

Julia Nina S Moncada
IV-Madame Marie Curie
Mrs Ellen Mae Badillo-Laurente
Teacher, Faculty and Staff
The Makati Science High School

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