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Ryan Restauro Mr. Price English 11, 1st Per. 2 February 2013 Like Water for Chocolate Summary Like Water For Chocolate by Laura Esquivel is a novel set in Mexico around the beginning of the turn of the twentieth century. It is narrated from a third-person point of view but is then revealed later on that the narrator is actually the great-niece of Tita. The book is separated into the twelve months of the year and each month includes a new recipe. The story revolves around the De La Garza family, ruled by the tyrannical matriarch, Mama Elena. It is revealed that it is family tradition, and has been for many years, that the youngest daughter of the family is burdened with the responsibility of caring for their mother until the day she dies and that she is not allowed to marry due to the fact that she must care for her mother. This is where Tita De La Garzas story begins. Tita De La Garza was weeping in Mama Elenas womb so much, that one day she was born onto the kitchen table amidst the aromas of spices and noodle soup. When only two days old Titas father dies of a heart attack and Mama Elenas milk dries up from shock. Since Mama Elena is unable to provide nourishment for Tita, she gives her to the house cook, Nacha. Nacha is the ranchs cook and soon teaches Tita the ways of the kitchen. Not only does Nacha give Tita the knowledge of cooking, but also provides the love and care that Mama Elena failed to give to her. Titas love for the kitchen begins to grow more and more until it becomes her own little world. Rosaura and Gertrudis, Titas older sisters, do not have the same feeling towards the

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kitchen and cooking. They prefer to stay away; but Tita was able to coax them into it one time and play with water on the hot griddle, until Rosaura burnt her hand on the griddle. Then the older sisters stayed out of the kitchen and leaved the cooking to Nacha and Tita. One afternoon, Tita reveals to Mama Elena that Pedor Muzquiz wanted to visit and talk to her. Tita is not quite sure what he wants to ask Mama Elena, but she states that if he has any intention of asking for Titas hand in marriage, that he will be wasting his time because Tita cannot marry and must take care of her mother until the day she dies. When Tita questions the tradition, Mama Elena becomes angry and leaves the kitchen and does not speak to Tita for a week. But the next day, Pedro and his father arrive at the De La Garzas door and Pedro asks for Titas hand in marriage even though Tita had told Pedro not to come to the house and ask her to marry him. Mama Elena is infuriated but then offers Pedro an alternative to marrying Tita. She says that Rosaura is 100 percent available and is available for marriage. Pedro accepts this offer but it really using it as a way to get closer to Tita. Once Tita finds out of Pedros acceptance of marrying Rosaura, she is overcome with sadness and not even the Christmas Rolls (Titas favorite food) can cure her sadness. Tita is punished in a way for her rebelliousness by Mama Elena by having to prepare the Chabela Wedding Cake for Pedros and Rosauras wedding. Overwhelmed with an enormous amount of work, Nacha and Tita begin to work on the cake. But they both near the point of a breakdown. Nacha advises Tita to let her emotions out before the wedding begins and Tita breaks down into tears. But after she finishes crying, Tita sees that her tears have made their way into the cake batter and made it soggy. Tita runs into Pedro later and he confesses how he still

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wants her. She refuses to listen to him and then returns to the kitchen. Tita keeps seeing things and Nacha tells her to get some rest. Nacha continues to work on the cake and tastes the batter to make sure it was not made salty by Titas tears. When Nacha tastes the batter she is suddenly overcome with sadness and loss and is so sad that she does not attend the wedding. Tita must still attend the wedding and has to deal with seeing the happiness of Pedro and Rosaura. But Pedro later confesses to Tita that his love for her is still undying. As the guests eat the wedding cake they too are overcome with grief and sadness and they all begin to vomit. The only one unaffected is Tita. Mama Elena believes that she poisoned the wedding cake on purpose. When Tita goes to look for Nacha, she finds her lifeless body and she is clutching a photo of her lost lover. With Nacha gone, Tita is left with no one to tell her secrets to or talk with or to cook with any longer. Tita cooks a quail with rose petal sauce using a rose that Pedro secretly gave to her. When Titas family sits to eat the quail in rose petal sauce, it has a strange effect, especially on Gertrudis. The meal acts as an aphrodisiac on her and it flames her sexual desires that she hold. It also has an effect on Pedro and Tita, where they are in a trance-like state and just stare at each other. Later, Gertrudis is taking a shower to try to get rid of her heat and rose-scent that is emitting from her. But she is so hot that the water evaporates before it can even hit her and then shower catches on fire. A soldier from town smells her scent and comes and takes her away. It is soon revealed that Pedro and Rosaura are due for a son, Roberto. This fills Tita with an unexpected joy. Titas love for Pedro is soon re-flamed after a brief meeting in the kitchen when Tita is preparing a meal for the baptism of Roberto. The reader is then taken into a brief flashback of the difficult birth of Roberto. The doctor was in town but the town was occupied by federal troops, so Tita was the one to help Rosaura deliver the baby. Tita had never done such a

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thing before but Nachas spirit was there to help and guide her through the process. Like Mama Elena, Rosaura is unable to produce milk to nurture her child, so the task is given unto Tita. Tita tries to give Roberto different teas but he will not drink them. But then Tita finds out that she is full of milk and can breastfeed him. Pedro then discovers that Tita is nursing Roberto and helps her to keep it a secret. Mama Elena begins to sense the bond between Pedro and Tita growing and decides to send Pedro and Rosaura off to San Antonio to seek better medical attention. Tita has now become even more alone without Pedro or Roberto. So in order to feel like she has anything or anyone to care for, she cares for a little pigeon that she kept as a pet. Tita begins to neglect her household chores. Soon the ranch is raided by a group of federal troops but Mama Elena keeps them from taking as much as they could have. Word comes from San Antonio that Roberto has died and Tita becomes empty and sad and turns to Mama Elena to blame for the childs death. Tita retreats to the dovecote on top of the house and stays in there. Mama Elena decides to send her to an insane asylum but Dr. John Brown rescues her and takes her to his home. Under the care and love of Dr. John Brown, Tita slowly comes out of the catatonic state that Chencha had found her in when in the dovecote. Tita soon befriends Johns grandmother and has silent conversations with her. Tita and John begin to grow closer and closer together as John cares for Tita and tries to nurture her back to her normal state of health. John shares with Tita a recipe for making matches and also tells her the theory of the inner fires that burn within a person and how they should protect it. Tita soon realized that she does not want to return to her mothers house and her tyrannical rule. Chencha visits Tita at Johns house and brings her ox-tail soup. When Tita eats it, it brings back many happy memories. Chencha fills Tita in on how her name is not spoken at the

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ranch any longer and also gives her a letter from Gertrudis stating that she works in a brothel. Tita asks Chencha to go back to the ranch saying that she chooses to never to return. John Brown soon proposes to Tita. The ranch is once again attacked by bandits and Chencha is raped and Mama Elena is beaten and becomes a paraplegic. Even though she said that she would never return, Tita comes back to the ranch to care for Chencha and Mama Elena. But no matter what Tita cooks for Mama Elena, she is convinced that it is poisoned and will not eat it. She soon dies because she was taking ipecac, believing that she would puke up the poisonous food she thought Tita was cooking. Although Tita has endured much pain and criticism from Mama Elena, she cannot help but feel grief and mourn for her. But she soon finds a set of keys that belonged to Mama Elena and they opened a box of love letters from her past. It is revealed that Mama Elena used to be in love with a mulatto man but her parents forbid the relationship. But she continued to love the man and ended up having an illicit child, Gertrudis. At Mama Elenas funeral Tita swears to never renounce love and she is going to marry John but she can still sense that she still has affection towards Pedro also. Now that Mama Elena is dead, Tita is now free of the tradition of having to care for her. A new daughter of Rosaura soon comes and she is named Esperanza. Tita becomes like a Nacha to Esperanza by introducing her to the kitchen and caring for her. But soon Tita finds out that Rosaura expects to continue to carry out the family tradition of not allowing the youngest daughter to marry and instead care for their mother until death. John is expected to arrive soon and ask for Titas hand in marriage. As she showers waiting for John to arrive, the shower water begins to burn but when she looks, she sees Pedro staring at her. She runs away as Pedro tries to catch up to her. John later asks Tita for her hand in marriage and then leaves to the U.S. to bring

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back his only living aunt for the wedding. Pedro confronts Tita in the dark room later and soon takes her virginity. Tita believes that she is pregnant with Pedros child and will have to call off the wedding between her and John Brown. Rosaura and Pedro become more and more distant as Rosauro has become very fat and flatulent. She comes to Tita asking for help with her digestive problems and Tita prescribes her a healthy diet to go on. The ghost of Mama Elena soon appears and scolds Tita for her relationship with Pedro and for the child that is growing in her belly. Gertrudis returns to the ranch and it is revealed that she is a general in the revolutionary army. Gertrudis and her houseguests stay for about a week at the ranch and Tita is escited and happy to have her back. Tita finally has someone whom which she can confide her problems and secrets in again. After revealing to Gertrudis the truth about her relationship with Pedro and the fact that she might be pregnant with his child, Gertrudis tells Tita that she should tell Pedro the truth. Later that night, Mama Elenas ghost comes once again to scold Tita for her relationship with Pedro and she is angry that he is drunkenly serenading her outside of her window. The ghost of Mama Elena then balls up after Tita tells her that she hates her and Elenas ghost shoots out the window and makes an oil lamp explode which causes Pedro to catch on fire. Pedro cries for Titas help, which then humiliates Gertrudis and she locks herself in her room for a week. Gertrudis and her army leave the ranch soon after this occurs and John returns from the states with his aunt. Tita is concerned about caring for Pedro but also soon comes to tell Rosaura the truth about everything. When Rosaura came out of her room, she lost all the fat she had gained and looked normal once again. Tita and Rosaura then proceed to argue about everything that has gone on and Rosaura bans Tita from being near Esperanza. Later on, John and his aunt and Tita

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have dinner together and Tita finally reveals the truth to John. John says that he still loves her but that she has to make up her mind between him and Pedro. Chencha and Tita are again working on preparations for another wedding. It is assumed that the wedding is for Tita and John but the reader actually finds out that many years have passed and Rosaura is dead and the preparations are for the union of Alex (John Browns son) and Esperanza. Pedro and Tita no longer hide their emotions for one another and as soon as they are alone at the ranch, they make love to each other. But whilst doing so, they both feel an ultimate climax and Tita remembers the words of John and how when someone feels something like that, they will see a bright tunnel of light and die. Tita, realizing this, tries to resist dying and it works, but Pedro has entered the tunnel of light and died. Tita tries to open up the passage to this tunnel by eating all of the candles in the room until re-igniting the inner flame and then seeing Pedro again. Pedro and Titas bodies emit sparks and set fire to the ranch. Neighbors believed the flames and explosions to be fireworks for the marriage of Alex and Esperanza. But when Alex and Esperanza return to the ranch, all they find are ashes and a cookbook that contains all the recipes that Tita had mastered.

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Ryan Restauro Mr. Price English 11, 1st Per. 2 February 2013 Like Water for Chocolate Analysis At first, I didnt believe that I would enjoy Like Water for Chocolate at all. I hate books about romance and usually get bored and tired with them quite quickly. Yet, Laura Esquivel was surprisingly able to catch my attention with this novel about a girl and her forbidden love that could never be, but in the end get together. Her recipes were also pretty interesting, even if they did use methods that are no longer used in modern times today. Although this novel may seem as if it only encompasses around the love of two young adults, it is also filled with humor; so the audience shouldnt drown in the blandness of romance but still keep attention to the novel. I had no prior knowledge of this novel or its author before I had read it. I also have no prior knowledge of any works remotely similar to this one. Surprisingly, I did enjoy the book. It may have been about forbidden love, but also contained a lot of laughter and other twists and turns that would make the reader either sit in shock or jump out of their seat screaming, WAIT. WHAT. NO. WHAT JUST HAPPENED? I interpret the initial impression of this work to be entertaining but it could possibly have a mix along with didactic. The book was filled with laughs and love and twists and turns that would keep the reader entertained throughout the novel. The author also may have been trying to teach that love will always prevail, no matter what the tribulations are. The author separates the twelve chapters into the twelve months of the year and in the beginning of each chapter (month), she includes a recipe that the main character cooks within said chapter.

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This work was not too difficult to read. In the beginning, there are a lot of transitions between pronouns and names and the reader can get mixed up trying to figure out who is who. But as they read along, they can continue to match up the characters with who they are and what they connect to. There were not many unfamiliar words and if there were any, they were easily able to be defined using context clues and did not require the effort to look up in a dictionary. And there werent really any foreign or outdated words or unusual sentence patterns to make reading the work difficult. My first impression did change because I thought I wouldnt enjoy the book at all but in actuality, I would probably reread the book another time if given the chance. This novel would best be classified as prose fiction. Some of the literary techniques that Laura Esquivel uses include character and point of view. She makes every character unique in their own way and makes sure that each of their qualities and characteristics are unique in their own significant way. And she makes almost all of the characters very dynamic, so very few of them remain static. The point of view is very interesting because the entire time the reader is made to believe that it is just another third-person point of view with an all-knowing narrator when in fact the narrator turns out to be Titas greatniece. That was a twist that I honestly did not expect. My reading of this work has not been enhanced in any way by personal experiences, other works, or movies. Although, the book has been made into a movie and I have heard that it is a great representation of the book and I would love to see it sometime in the near future. I am judging this book solely on its own merits. I can agree with the evaluations of this book made by other people because their reviews are fairly good and I also agree that this book is good. I cannot agree or disagree with any ideas or values presented in the work because I did not really notice and ideas or values being represented. I believe that my enjoyment of this work has been

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increased by analyzing it because the deeper one delves into the mechanics of a book, the more one can learn to appreciate it. I would definitely recommend this book to those who love romances and maybe even those who do not like romances just because of the humor that is involved in the novel. The images do seem very vivid and alive, mainly because Esquivel tries to go into detail about the surroundings that she describes. I am not sure if the reputation of this work and its author has changed. I do not have any knowledge of the authors life so no, it does not enhance my understanding of the work. I am not sure how this work compares to other works because I have never read anything similar to this novel. All in all, this book is a must read for anyone. Even for those who do not like romance. Yes, it may be a bit difficult at first because of the vast amount of characters, but it eventually becomes easier to read and get into. Plus, the humor is outrageously funny and there are twists that will shock the reader and leave them speechless. This book is a one-of-a-kind and I believe that everyone should try to read it at least once. Esquivel has created a masterpiece and a novel that cannot be recreated.