Like Water for Chocolate

Like Water for Chocolate

Like Water for Chocolate: Analysis of Key Passage

In Like Water for Chocolate, a romance novel by Laura Esquivel, Esquivel paints a picture of a Latin family who thinks highly of tradition.   Throughout most of the story, Esquivel illustrates Tita as a young women living under the control and will of her mother, Mama Elena.   Because of the restrictions imposed by her mother, Tita spends her time working around the De la Garza family ranch, as well as cooking the most delicious meals with her unforgettable recipes and the help of Nacha, their family cook.   However, when Esquivel introduces Pedro Musquiz, Tita’s “soul mate”, Tita develops a lustful relationship towards him, but is quickly denied of that passion through her mother’s disproval and traditions, “If he intends to ask for your hand, tell hi not to bother.   He‘ll be wasting his time and mine too.   You know perfectly well that being the youngest daughter means you have to take care of me until the day I die” (Esquivel, 10).   This lustful and restricted passion is the most common theme that Esquivel describes up until the passage at the end of the novel (pgs. 242-243)   It isn’t until then, through Esquivel’s descriptions, that the theme of this love is accepted considering the circumstances in which Tita is succumbed to by her family.   Using language, tone, symbolism and magical realism by Esquivel, we experience the passionate and true love as a theme for this novel.   Esquivel’s message through Tita’s character expresses an acceptance of undeniable love towards Pedro despite the restrictions and traditions of her family.
At the beginning of this passage, Esquivel states the temptations and “sexual impulses” Pedro and Tita are once again trying to control, a common sensation throughout this novel.   However, as the sentence continues the feeling and description of these constricted emotions are released through the use of magical realism,”…but they were so strong that they...