Like Water For Chocolate Essay

Research Report on Like Water for Chocolate

Mexican writer and author Laura Esquivel born on September 30, 1950, in Mexico City, Mexico. Esquivel began writing while working as a kindergarten teacher (“Biography”). “She wrote plays for her students and then went on to write children's television programs during the 1970s and 1980s (Biography).” Esquivel often explores the relationship between men and women in Mexico in her work and manages to incorporate her teaching abilities by giving her readers lessons about life. “She is best known for Like Water for Chocolate (1990), an imaginative and compelling combination of novel and cookbook (Biography).”” After the release of the award –winning film version in 1992, Like Water for Chocolate became

internationally known and loved. The book has sold more than 4.5 million copies (Biography).” Esquivel is continuous to demonstrate her creativeness and expressive style in her most recent work. “Accompanied by a collection of music, her second novel The Law of Love (1996) combined romance and science fiction (Biography).” “Between the Fires (2000) featured essays on life, love, and food (Biography).” “Her 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 (Biography).” To further understand the significant time period, setting that take place in and the influence it carries on Like Water for Chocolate, the knowledge of, Women in Mexico during the revolution, Mexican cuisine, and the Mexican revolution is essential.
Women in Mexico during the revolution
Frequently, in the history of Mexico, women have been represented as insignificant figures rather than rightful members in social development. Women of the middle, upper and working classes arranged an all women's organizations to talk about, examine, announce, and fight for women’s rights before and during the Revolution. In 1915, Zapatista establishments issued a family law that removed illegitimacy, identifying common law marriage and a woman’s right to divorce (Solidarity). In December 1914, the Carranza government introduced the right to divorce and remarriage. In 1917, due to their success, the Carranza’s forces created a constitution. The Constitution established the right to work and form unions, the right to the land and the separation of Church and state. This set equal rights to wages and to work for men and women, additionally security for female workers who were pregnant (Solidarity). In the same year, the family relations law was passed which allowed married women the right to sign contracts, participate in litigation, and equal rights to custody of their children (Solidarity). However, it also set that infidelity by the woman was always the foundation for divorce; on the other hand, men were given a series of warnings (Solidarity). In the years after the revolution, ”working people fought for their rights bore other fruit that women shared: greater access — not just the formal right — to education through literacy campaigns, carried out mainly by women teachers in rural areas (1921-22)(Solidarity).” With a powerful Communist party in the 1930’s presence, both rural and urban unions came together planned, lead the battle for decent working conditions, wages, and other rights.
In spite of Mexican women’s immense, definite contribution in the revolutionary progression, later struggles and firm actions to renew the country with more or less positive penalties for women, “what women gained from the Revolution was only partial recognition of their rights and demands (International view point It).” Understanding Mexican women’s position during the revolution was a major part of Like Water for Chocolate as a prominent section of the novel takes place during the revolution and supplied the novel with many controversial gender roles, all in all constructing the realistic and honest time frame that Esquivel wanted to create.
Mexican cuisine
Mexican cooking is one of the central characteristic of the culture, social structure and popular traditions of Mexico (Wikipedia).

Mexican cuisine is a mixture of indigenous Mesoamerican cooking with European, particularly Spanish, basics added after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire in the 16th century (Wikipedia). The fundamental elements are native foods, such as corn, beans and chili peppers. When the Europeans arrived they pioneered a large number of other foods, the most central were meats from domesticated animals (beef, pork, chicken, goat, and sheep), dairy products (especially cheese), and various herbs and spices (Wikipedia). When the Spanish first arrived they made efforts to inflict their own diet in the country, this ended up failing and sooner or later the foods and cooking techniques began to be mixed (Wikipedia). Mexican food carries a status for being spicy though its seasoning can be explained as strong (Wikipedia). Many dishes also have subtle flavors (Wikipedia). “Chiles are used for their flavors and not just their heat, with Mexico using the widest variety (Wikipedia).”“If a savory dish or snack does not contain Chile pepper, hot sauce is usually added, and Chile pepper is often added to fresh fruit and sweets (Wikipedia).” Many Mexican dishes are distinct by their sauces and the Chiles. “These dishes include entomatada (in tomato sauce), adobo or adobados, pipians and moles. Tamales are differentiated by the filling which is again defined by the sauce (red or green Chile pepper strips or mole) (Wikipedia).” The essential source of starch remains corn in almost all regions of Mexico (Wikipedia). “While it is eaten fresh, most corn is dried, treated with lime and ground into dough. This dough is used both fresh and fermented to make a wide variety of dishes from drinks (atole, pozol, etc.) to tamales, sopes, and much more. However, the most common way to eat corn in Mexico is in the form of a tortilla, which accompanies almost every

dish. Tortillas are made of corn in most of the country (Wikipedia).” Mexican cuisine is important for the novel, as the entire story revolves around the relationship between humans and food. It is important to know the origin and history of Mexican food, as it allows the reader to understand the novel with a high of effectiveness.

Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution began on November 20, 1910, in an effort to overthrow a dictatorial president and shortly devolved into a multi-sided civil war (History). “The conflict, in which at least 1 million people are believed to have died”, created a swarm of national heroes and a fresh constitution full of economic, social and political modifications (History). A small percentage of the people were in control of most of the country's power and wealth for most of Mexico's developing history, while the majority of the population worked in poverty (Csus). Under the leadership of General Diaz, the space between the poor and rich was increasing; the political voice of the lower classes was also increasing. “By 1910, He was eighty years-old and had ruled Mexico for thirty years (Fsmitha).” Under his command foreign investments rained in on Mexico and extreme political and social modernizations happened. Though, his position of power was endangered as Mexican elitist and middle class youth were realizing the end result of his plans. A large amount of Mexican land was sold off to foreign investors, their estates reaching thousands and sometimes millions of acres, while the other ninety-seven percent of the population in the countryside owned no land. “In Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, conditions akin to slavery existed on some tropical plantations, and Mexico's middle class was unhappy about the amount of favoritism that their government was giving to foreign businessmen (Fsmitha).” The people were discontented over the government’s lack of care for public services. Middle class discontent and the discontent of the poor could not be expressed in elections.