Importance Of Food In Like Water For Chocolate

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It is thought that food is a symbolic representation of emotions in Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquirel. In the novel, the youngest daughter of the family, Tita is forbidden to marry her one true love, Pedro. This is due to the family tradition that she must live by which mandates Tita to care Mama Elena, until death; and forbids her to marry. To correct this, Pedro ends up marrying Tita’s sister Rosaura in order to remain close to Tita. This causes a great deal of issues within the family. In the novel, food and its preparation is used as a central organizing metaphor. In her novel, like water for chocolate, Laura Esquirel uses the preparation of food symbolically over the course of the book in order to display the emotions of Tita, …show more content…

Esquirel does this by allowing the reader to understand how important food is to Tita, and what is represents. In the novel Esquirel mentions to the reader that “her joy of living was wrapped up in the delights of food” (Esquirel 7). This is symbolic; it allows the reader to see that food itself represents Tita’s life. Without it, her life is incomplete. Another example of how Esquirel uses the importance of the kitchen to relate to Tita having a grasp of the real world, is by explaining what the kitchen and food preparation symbolizes for Tita. The author highlights that “because she was already crying as she emerged maybe that was because she knew that it would be her lot in life to be denial marriage” (Esquirel 6). This is important because it allows the reader to see that marriage is not in Tita’s future. Instead it is confined within the kitchen where she’s forced to prepare meals. And the final example of how Esquirel connects the importance of the kitchen to Tita’s reality is by emphasizing the images of food cooking, and how it connects to Tita’s feelings. The author accomplishes this by saying how “singing and washing wet hands in time… showering drop of water down griddle” (Esquirel 8). This is meaningful; the author is stating that Tita is “singing” while washing her hands. The fact that she is “singing” is a clear induction that Tita …show more content…

One way the author displays this is by allowing the reader to take note of the concepts of hot and cold to describe Tita. One of the phrases that illustrates the concepts of hot and cold as they represent Tita’s sexual awakening for her emotional well-being is “Titan felt her body fill with a wintry chill: in one sharp, quick blast she was so cold and dry her cheeks burned and turned red, red as the apples beside her.” (Esquire 14). This quote is important because it allows the reader to see that she was shocked at that fact that her beloved Pedro was marrying her sister Rosaura, to the point that her face was red as the “apples beside her.” Another example that illustrates the concepts of hot and cold is “That look! She been walking to the table carrying a tray of egg-yolk candies when she first felt his hot gaze burning her skin.” (Esquire 16). This quote is powerful because it allows the reader to see that her erotic feelings towards Pedro enhances during his presence with her. And this is apparent when her skin starts burning while in his presence. Another example of how Esquire allows the reader to take note of the effects of Tita’s tears and feelings, is her preparation of food, and the transmission of emotions from her food to whose who eat it. While preparing the wedding cake,

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