What is magical realism? Magical realism by definition is: A literary genre or style associated especially with Latin America that incorporates fantastic or mythical elements into otherwise realistic fiction according to Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11 Edition). What this means is that the majority of the novel is real, but there are obviously fictional parts that we must accept as real. How is magical realism used in the book Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel? In this essay, we will discuss three different incidences of magical realism in the book written by Ms. Esquivel. Some of the topics that will be discussed are how the author turns “tears into salt.” Another is when Tita makes a cake and all the guests eat it, how …show more content…
the cake made everyone “long for love,” and, how, the author creatively uses a “box of matches” to signify your internal soul mate. This essay will review specific details on how these examples are used in the plot Like Water for Chocolate. Stay tuned as this is an interesting genre to discern. One of the initial examples of a plot that shows how the author illustrates magical realism is in the first chapter.
She uses tears to describe how Tita was actually born. According to the author, “Tita was literally washed into this world on a great tide of tears that spilled over the edge of the table and flooded across the kitchen floor” (Esquivel 6). In making this comment, the author is describing how Tita cried so much in her mother’s stomach that she was conceived while riding on a wave of tears. She produced an abundant of tears that they flooded the floor of the kitchen. Ms. Esquivel further expresses, “Nacha swept up the residue the tears had left on the red stone floor. There was enough salt to fill a ten-pound sack – it was used for cooking and lasted a long time (6). Imagine if you actually swept up the residue of someone’s tears, first how disgusting it is, and then to consider using it to cook. The over-exaggeration of so many tears that the residue produced ten pounds of salt. This is one of the best and my favorite example of magical realism. The author chooses to grab the reader’s attention by utilizing the plot of tears to somewhat a degree leaning heavier towards mythical elements during this …show more content…
chapter. Similarly, in chapter two, magical realism was used in an interesting manner.
First, the author uses the main character (Tita’s) tears to create the plot for this whole chapter. Tita is crying due to the reason that her sister is going to marry the love of her life. While she is crying her tears fall into the meringue icing, which she is making for her sister’s wedding. While Nacha tastes the icing to ensure that Tita’s tears have not affected the icing, Nacha “overcome[s] with an intense longing” (36). This could be described on how someone in reality can cry, but it is a little over exaggerated. When reading a novel in the magical realism genre, the reader must take everything into account as it is truth. Furthermore, later in the chapter, Laura continues in detail to describe in-depth examples of magical realism by portraying how the cake that all the guests are eating, we are describing the cake with the meringue icing which was baked with Tita’s tears, “everyone was flooded with a great wave of longing … all of them wailing over lost love” (39). This is a magnificent example of magical realism because this happened to everyone at the party, every single person, that isn’t a normal occurrence, but we are required to believe this plot based on the type of genre this novel is. Imagine every single person at your party all of the sudden gets this huge urge and bursts out in tears. This is more of a mythical element. This sample of magical realism has both elements of
mythical and realistic abilities. And finally, the third example of magical realism is in chapter six, where Laura uses a box of matches to symbolize our soul mate. The author states, “each of us is born with a box of matches inside of us” (115). In making this comment the author is describing that we each have a soul mate. We need to find that soul mate to keep our internal love intensified for one another. Laura continues “That’s why it’s important to keep your distance from people who have frigid breath” (116). What the author is trying to portray is that a negative person around you is able to extinguish your internal soul from finding the love of your life. If we don’t keep this warmth growing inside of us, there is a possibility that it may get extinguished. Both of these examples are superior ways to produce magical realism examples. In conclusion, the magical realism that was portrayed in the novel Like Water for Chocolate has fantastical mythical elements. It also provides some descriptions of real events which make this novel believable. Magical realism adds significant umph to each plot by carefully portraying fictional stories. By Laura Esquivel using magical realism in Like Water for Chocolate, brings a creative glance into some long lost traditional beliefs from the Mexican culture. She was able to capture some exciting stories and portray them in such a manner that you do not want to put the book down. By introducing magical realism into this novel, the author provides the readers with great gratification in the introduction of this fairly new genre too many new aficionados.
“A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with [their] freedom” (Dylan). However, though heroes face complications throughout their quest, in the end they often accomplish an important rask. In the book, Like Water for Chocolate, the main character, Tita shows a perfect example of a hero. Tita is in a continuous emotional quest throughout the entire story, but proves along the way she is indeed one who will not fail. Many characteristics of a hero certainly fit Tita’s character, however, there are some very important ones, she: suffers an unusual childbirth, yields a special weapon, goes through a traumatic event that leads to an adventure, has supernatural help, experiences atonement with mother, and when she dies she is rewarded spiritually.
Faris, Wendy B. Ordinary Enchantments: Magical Realism and the Remystification of Narrative. Nashville: Vanderbilt UP, 2004. 24 Sept. 2012. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. 21
Faris, Wendy B. "Scherazade's Children: Magical Realism and Postmodern Fiction." Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community. Ed. Lois Parkinson Zamora and Wendy B. Faris. Durham; N.C.: Duke UP, 1995.
Magical realism is a genre in which extraordinary events are incorporated into the ordinary world, usually referred to as realistic fiction. In Latin American culture many authors use this type of literature to describe phenomenal events that occur within our ordinary world. Magical realism can be analyzed through different novels, short stories and movies, for example, Bless me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya, “The Night Face Up,” by Julio Cortazar, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and the movie Big Fish by Tim Burton. Magical realism is a style of writing used to link the abnormal with the ordinary.
She begins talking about her childhood and who raised her until she was three years old. The woman who raised her was Thrupkaew’s “auntie”, a distant relative of the family. The speaker remembers “the thick, straight hair, and how it would come around [her] like a curtain when she bent to pick [her] up” (Thrupkaew). She remembers her soft Thai accent, the way she would cling to her auntie even if she just needed to go to the bathroom. But she also remembers that her auntie would be “beaten and slapped by another member of my family. [She] remembers screaming hysterically and wanting it to stop, as [she] did every single time it happened, for things as minor as…being a little late” (Thrupkaew). She couldn’t bear to see her beloved family member in so much pain, so she fought with the only tool she had: her voice. Instead of ceasing, her auntie was just beaten behind closed doors. It’s so heart-breaking for experiencing this as a little girl, her innocence stolen at such a young age. For those who have close family, how would it make you feel if someone you loved was beaten right in front of you? By sharing her story, Thrupkaew uses emotion to convey her feelings about human
She is helpless and trapped between her two cultures in this moment as she realizes that the person she cared for couldn’t understand or empathize with both of her cultures and
Winder, Robert. " BOOK REVIEW / Lovers Slowly Roasting in Flames of Passion: 'Like Water for Hot Chocolate'" The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, 18 Feb. 1993. Web. 02 November 2017.
In the novel “Like Water For Chocolate” by Laura Esquivel the word love is viewed uniquely by several characters, mainly by Pedro. He fell in love with Tita very suddenly not having the slightest clue of who she was. Love for Pedro was a mix of the looks of someone, obsession, and lust. Overall, he wouldn’t focus on their personalities.
Like Water for Chocolate is a novel written by the novelist Laura Esquivel, revolving around the captivating but hopeless love of Tita and Pedro who are separated from each other due to family traditions. The novel is divided into 12 monthly instalments from January to December, with each chapter beginning with the preparations of a Mexican recipe which soon reveals a connection to an event in Tita’s life. Magical realism is a type of literary genre or style that integrates surreal elements of fantasy and mythology into natural realistic surroundings. The use of reoccurring magical realism expressed
As a helpless girl living under the power of an evil mother, Tita’s character in Like Water for Chocolate can be viewed as another Cinderella. However, unlike other Cinderella fairy tales, the novel tells a mystical fantasy portrayed in a realistic setting. Magical Realism is a literary tool that incorporates fantastic or mythical elements into a realistic fiction. This style of writing roots from Latin America and is commonly used in Hispanic stories today. The novel is written by Laura Esquivel, who is a writer from Mexico that creates a romantic tall tale about her great-aunt’s life during the Mexican Revolution. Although the book may contain unrealistic events, the author makes them believable by combining them with things
Like Water for Chocolate is a novel that offers recipes as monthly segments while narrating the life of De La Garza family. Each recipe is unique from the others, but it’s not only the mere fact that it’s a different dish but rather the spectrum of emotions it sparks for the characters. Here we can witness how magical realism, a type of fiction that integrates elements of fantasy and otherwise realistic settings becomes intertwined with the culinary focus of the story. The recipes not only serve their conventional purpose but because them we learn the true motives and aspirations of the major characters along the storyline.
In the novel like water for chocolate the theme redemption show the how bittersweet life can be no farm of punishment. Mama Elena and Tita is main character in this story. Traditions are the main consideration in the insurgency that happens between these two. Tradition states that the youngest daughter must not marry, but must take care of the mother until she dies. Wrongdoers are, without fall flat, in somehow punished.
In order to see how Magical Realism is found in this treatment, one must first consider at least one of the identifying marks of Magical Realism. Among the characteristics that identify Magical Realism is the feeling of transcendence that the reader has while reading a Magical Realist text (Simpkins 150). During transcendence, a reader senses something that is beyond the real world. At the same time, however, the reader still feels as if he or she were rooted in the world (Sandner 52). After the reader undergoes transcendence, then he or she should have a different outlook on life.
Generally, in Mary Renaults writing she uses realism to capture both the logical and illogical portions of the myths. However, sometimes the use of realism begins to falter, and she adapts her stories so that magical realism can incorporate the myths into reality. What is magic realism? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary it is “a literary genre or
Magical realism is clearly present throughout Gabriel-Garcia Marquez's novel Chronicle of a Death Foretold. Magical realism is the juxtaposition of realism with fantastic, mythic, and magical elements. A secondary trait was the characteristic attitude of narrators toward the subject matter: they frequently appeared to accept events contrary to the usual operating laws of the universe as natural, even unremarkable. Though the tellers of astonishing tales, they themselves expressed little or no surprise.