What insights do the main characters have or gain about themselves or about the human condition?
- The main character in this novel is Tita. Tita does not like the fact that Mama Elena is keeping her from her true love Pedro. One night Pedro is drunk serenading Tita when the ghost of Mama Elena shows up being angry just from the sight of Pedro. The Mama Elena ghost threatens Tita wanting her to leave the house. Tita yells at the ghost with strong words "I know who I am! A person who has a perfect right to live her life as she pleases. Once and for all, leave me alone, I won't put up with you! I hate you, I've always hated you!". When Tita stands up for herself she is able to make the the haunting spirit of Mama Elena go away, the ghost of Mama Elena shrinks into a small spinning light. Even though Mama Elena’s actions to Tita through her childhood were mostly cruel, they probably had an indirect positive effect to help Tita develop a strong personality as an adult.
How are the character(s) developed? Are they dynamic, round characters or flat, static ones? Explain in detail.
- In this novel Tita, Pedro and Mama Elena are round dynamic characters because they are the main characters in the book, and evolve as you read through the novel. Rosaura, Gertrudis as well as the other characters including Dr. John Brown, Nacha, Chencha, Roberto, Esperanza and Alex are mentioned throughout the book and are flat static characters since they are more of the side line characters.
Theme (The theme of a work of literature is the underlying universal truth behind the work.)
Write out the major theme of your novel. (For example, it could be that fate determines our destines or that evil in the world will be punished.)
- The theme in this book “Like Water for Chocolate” is magical realism. This is one of the major themes because the books story line revolves around magical symbolism. Different foods and recipes start off each chapter, and will have a magical symbolism twist to it that moves the main characters through the story and their personal journeys.
How do you know this is the theme? What evidence points you in this direction? (setting, character, plot, devices)
- Laura Esquivel (author) combines magical elements, so that in many of the chapters, Tita's emotions go into the food she's preparing, and the food then heavily influences the plot and theme in a magical and mystical way. Both the cooking and the plot development in a chapter also reflect the particular recipe that leads off the chapter. As an example in the month of February Gertrudis bakes a cake and her tears fall into the icing, later when everyone eats the cake everyone started to cry as Tita’s emotions were stuck into the cake. Overall this novel is like a cookbook where the recipes influence magical realism within the book.
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