A Close Look to Mama Elena's Personality

567 Words2 Pages

The antagonist, Mama Elena, in the novel, Like Water for Chocolate, written by Laura Esquivel, is portrayed throughout the novel as an authoritarian woman. She is a widow, and the mother of three daughters: Rosaura, Tita and Gertrudis. All three of them fear Mama Elena, because of her personality. Mama Elena's characteristics, of being intimidating, commanding, and cold-hearted, prove that her true nature is to be authoritarian.
Mama Elena's characteristic, of being intimidating, enable her to induce fear among those near her, her daughters, the people who work for her, and even a person who just have meet her, like the captain of the Mexican Revolution. Mama Elena became an expert in the art of intimidating, being a intimidating woman, she needs a single look that would make people obey her. Even when a Captain of the Mexican Revolution is being the victim of that look, it works: “It was really hard to meet Mama Elena´s gaze, even for the captain” (90). Mama Elena has such a powerful and intimidating look that comes in handy when the Captain and his men came to Mama Elena´s ranch. ...

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