Mirrors are important in books because by seeing yourself in the media, you can see how people like you live life and deal with hardships. Mirrors are important in life by helping you reflect on your life by seeing other people and things like you. Laura Esquivel's classic novel, Like Water for Chocolate, is about the struggles of a Mexican family and the various love stories and afflictions they go through. Among all the characters in the novel, the one I see myself in most is Tita De LaGarza. She is the main character in LWFC and she overcomes her issues with her abusive mother and her love affair with someone she was forbidden to date. Examining Tita’s character, I saw characteristics of self-determination that mirror much of my experience …show more content…
I hate you, I’ve always hated you!” (1999). The phrases “know” and “perfect right” describe the change in confidence in Tita throughout the novel by showing how she knows what's right for her. She declares to Mama Elena that she has a right to do what she wants because she is finally free from her mothers hold. Mama Elena, the dictator in Tita’s life, is telling Tita that what she is doing is humiliating and shameful. She knows what’s right and what's wrong without someone telling her. This represents the changing self-determination Tita is feeling throughout the novel. By describing Tita’s advancing confidence, Esquival shows how self determination is hard to obtain, but is necessary to get through predicaments, for example, Tita and Mama Elena’s constant arguing. Like Tita, my self-determination has changed throughout my life. When I was in elementary school, I had friends who consistently ignored another girl who wanted to talk to us. In fourth grade, I attended Ravinia Elementary school with my friend group of 3 girls and I. A new girl, Bella, had moved to the school. And since it was a small class, our friend group seemed like the most friendly one to talk …show more content…
My friends and I weren’t angry with her, but Erin was. Erin unfollowed Lainey on Instagram and Snapchat and said that she was going to confront her on Monday. I did not want to lose Lainey as a friend, so I told Erin that having other friends is an acceptable thing. She was displeased for a while, but thanks to me, she forgave Lainey. As I went into high school, I learned that being shy won’t get you far. I learned that in a friend group with teenage girls, you have to stand up for yourself so that you aren’t avoided by your friends for a week. Like Tita, there were many situations with a close person in our lives that we had to finally deal with. We realized that we had self-determination when we fought for something we believed to be true. Tita was fighting for her relationship with Pedro, and I was fighting for my friend Lainey and her actions. Both my examples have taught me that self-determination gets you through difficult situations. In conclusion, Tita and I share the trait of being self-determined. We both experienced a changing confidence throughout our lives that benefited our relationships with others by advocating for
1. Tita Quote: "Tita was so sensitive to onions, any time they were being chopped, they say she would just cry and cry; " (Pg. 5) Write-up: Tita is the main character of the story, also the narrator, who suffers from unjust oppression from Mama Elena, her mother. She is raised to excel in the kitchen and many entertaining arts where she is expected to spend her whole life taking care of her mother. This is following the family tradition that the youngest daughter takes care of the mother until she dies. With her frivolous wants, Mama Elena denies her marriage and happiness to any man especially Pedro.
“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.
The mirrors allow people to speak their minds without having to face the person they are talking to, directly, perhaps making it easier to say uncomfortable, or socially polite responses they don't really mean. Marjorie is looking in the mirror when she tells Bernice she doesn't have a chance with Warren (102). Later, while trying to put on a brave front, Bernice looks into the mirror rather than face Marjorie, while she tells her, "I like it," (107).
Irony is the most obvious and most absurd element in postmodernism. In “Mirror,” the woman’s action is portrayed as ironic. The woman “bends over” the mirror, “searching for what she really is.” The mirror “reflect[s] it faithfully”, yet the woman burst into “tears and an agitation of hands.” The woman is disappointed by the fact that she is no longer young, and is depressed by that every single time she looks into the mirror. Ironically, she returns to the mirror everyday, and it is “her face that replaces the darkness” every morning. The irony is presented with a light and playful tone, yet it leads readers to think about their personal experiences, because everyone looks at themselves in the mirror and judge themselves without even realising it. The subtle irony in the poem points out the seemingly normal occurrence in life and hints the readers of the raw truth that humans often
Laura Esquivel, the author of Like Water For Chocolate, used magical realism quite often throughout the story. Magical realism is when unreal elements play a natural part in a realistic environment. Literary magic realism originated in Latin America and is a very large part in Like Water For Chocolate. It makes the book much more dramatic and intriguing than it would be without magical realism.
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.
I am currently a year 11 student and if I may, I highly recommend ‘Like Water For Chocolate’ by Laura Esquivel to be included in the new list of texts for the HSC Standard English course. It is an exceptional piece of literature that my class is presently studying; it captures the whole class’ attention with its narrative style and it’s creative use of language techniques. The central conflict depicts Tita’s struggle with tradition, and desire for liberation and freedom has captivated us all. The way ‘Like Water For Chocolate’ has been written is extremely brilliant.
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.
This control of Tita fulfills a long standing family tradition. This narrative presents Mama Elena as the patriarchal force denying Tita a life of her own. This is reinforced by Mama Elena's dialogue with Tita attempting disagree with her mother's ruling “But in my opinion. . . You don't have an opinion” (Esquivel 11) states Mama Elena thus Tita’s fate is decided by one other than her own. Tita being destined to a life of service to the patriarchy begins to reclaim her power through different avenues of production.
The author applies sight and personification to accentuate the mirror’s roles. The declaimer of the poem says “I am silver and exact [and] whatever I see I swallow” (1, 20). The purpose of these devices is to convey the position of the mirror in the poem. As an inanimate object, the mirror is incapable of consuming anything but the appearances of entities. Furthermore, the glass’ role accentuates an inner mirror, the human mirror which does not forget instances of misery and contentment. According to Freedman, the mimicking image emulated by the mirror elicits “… a look for oneself inside” as observed from the life of the elderly woman in the sonnet (153). Moreover, as the woman looks into the lake, she commemorates her appealing and attractive and pleasant figure as a young girl. As time passes, the inevitability of old age knocks on the door of the woman, readily waiting to change the sterling rapturous lady perceived by many. One’s appearance can change; it is up to an individual to embrace it or reject it.
The poem “Mirror,” by Sylvia Plath, portrays the difficult truth in relation to aging. The poem is told in the point of view of a mirror belonging to an aging woman. The mirror “[is] silver and exact,” with “no preconceptions” (1). It reflects only the truth, real images without distortion. The mirror has been a part of the woman’s life ever since she was young, sitting across her pink, speckled walls acting like “the eye of a little god” (5). As the woman ages, she seems to be in frustration with her appearance, seeking relief by looking at “liars, the candles or the moon” (12). This symbolizes the woman’s attempt to look at things that will reflect back an image she desires, a fake image versus reality. The mirror, however, only gives her the
In my project #3, the poetic themes I engaged in my series of using metaphor is to reflect the real identity of a person by the mirror. I construct this relationship visually by photoshopped two images together and have the mirror on one of the images shows the different reflection of the real world. This time, I choose only to reflect on the identity of the model, which is myself, to show my real thoughts in my mind when I am doing something. There is no more juxtaposition and poetic reflection of things in the final version, such as the camera and gun, cat and lion, etc.
The purpose of “Mirror” is to portray the reality and inevitability of aging. The “Mirror” by Sylvia Plath is a poem in which life is told from the perspective of a mirror. Naturally, a mirror cannot speak, Plath uses the literary method of personification to add a voice for the mirror. The mirror in the first
In Sylvia Plath’s poem “Mirror”, the reader takes a look into the messages presented and compares them with the reflections that are cast in a mirror and images in a lake. When reading this poem, we discover that the speaker is the actual reflection that gives the interpretation of its views. The first interpretation is shown as a mirror on the wall “I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.” (1), second as the water in the lake because she states “Now I am a lake.” (10), and third through the eyes of an aging woman that is revealed in line 17 “In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman/ Rises toward her day after day…”
Upon seeing her each time my thirst for revenge grew. Dark remorseless thoughts of how I should treat her evolved one into another. I decided if she doesn’t want to be friends with me, there is no way she deserves to be friends with my friends. I told my friends to not talk to her and planted my own beliefs in their heads. Every time I saw her I was so overwhelmed with anger and hatred towards her I couldn't concentrate.