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Character Analysis

Josefita (Tita) De la Garza

Biography:

             Josefita De La Garza is the protagonist in the novel “Like Water for Chocolate” written by Laura Esquivel. She is most commonly known as Tita, Tita is a beautiful Spanish woman who lives on a ranch near Mexico with her mother and her two sisters Gertrudis and Rosaura. She is the youngest daughter in her family and therefore she is cursed with the De la Garza’s family tradition. This tradition claims that the youngest daughter must remain unmarried and take care of her mother until death. Tita highly opposed this family tradition ever since she laid eyes on Pedro Musquiz. Due to her strict, cruel and tyrannical mother, she is forbidden to marry and make contact with Pedro. Therefore, Pedro married Tita’s sister Rosaura. This marriage sparked the beginning of Tita’s devastating life.

             Tita goes through a dynamic change as her personality begins to develop and mature. In the beginning, she was shown as a depressed and obedient woman who took the cruelty and violence that was thrown at her. Tita only expressed her feelings and emotions in her cooking. For example, she expressed all her erotic feelings towards Pedro as she made her quail in rose petal sauce dish. Throughout the novel, Tita changed into a spontaneous and courageous woman who was confident enough to stand up for her own rights and freedom.  When Tita heard the devastating news about the passing of her nephew Roberto, she made the first stand to her mother. This brought her to meet Dr. John Brown, a caring and a loving man who she planned to marry. Unfortunately for John, Tita cancelled the marriage as she confesses she still has feelings for Pedro and that she is no longer a virgin. After an unexpected death of Mama Elena, Tita thought that she was finally free from her mother’s clutches. However, Mama Elena’s ghost haunted her after she became pregnant with Pedro’s child. Tita made her final courageous stand to her mother that finally brought her freedom and let her out of her mother’s grasp. This sense of power and authority let Tita recognize her self worth and herself as an individual.

             Eventually, Tita ends up with Pedro since he was her true love. For the first time, they made love without the fear of anyone getting in the way. This experience was so profound and sensational that it ignited the explosions deep within her, and caused a tunnel heaven to appear in the bedroom. Pedro had entered the tunnel but Tita had not. She swallowed hot burning candles in an attempt to ignite the explosions again. When the tunnel appeared once more, Tita and Pedro were finally reunited. Tita was finally able to set off the explosions within her. She is a character who is extremely inspiring due to her courage and outstanding bravery to fight for what she believed in.. Although she faced many hardships she was strong enough to pull herself through them.

Quotes:

“Here's what I do with your orders! I'm sick of them! I'm sick of obeying you!"– Tita to her Mother after Roberto’s death. (Esquivel 99)

“It wasn’t enough he’d made his wife jealous earlier, for when Pedro tasted his first mouthful, he couldn’t help closing his eyes in voluptuous delight and exclaiming: ‘It is a dish for the gods!’" - Pedro describing Tita’s cooking (Esquivel 51)

"I know who I am! A person who has the 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!"- Tita to Mama Elena’s ghost. (Esquivel 143) 

Nacha

Biography:

               Nacha is a minor character in the novel but she plays an extremely important role in the protagonist’s life. Nacha is the family cook of the ranch and she was Tita’s primary care taker. Nacha showered Tita with the love and support that Mama Elena failed to give. She is also the one responsible for enhancing Tita’s talent in cooking.  Nacha was a mentor, a friend, and a motherly figure to Tita.

               Nacha is portrayed as a very helpful, supportive, and an extremely caring lady who gave Tita comfort and assistance whenever she needed it. She always puts Tita before herself when it came to anything. Nacha also commonly referred to Tita as her ‘child’ many times in the novel. An example would be during the preparation of Rosaura and Pedro’s wedding cake.  “’Go to bed, child, I’ll finish the meringue icing. Only the pan knows how boiling soup feels, but I know how you feel, so stop crying, you’re getting the merengue watery, and it won’t set up property—no now, go.’ Nacha covered Tita with kisses and pushed her out of the kitchen.” (Esquivel 35).  Nacha allowed Tita go to bed early even though there was a lot of work to be done. This shows Nacha’s true compassion and affection towards Tita. 

                Sadly, Nacha had passed away holding a picture of her fiancé in her hand. It seems as if she had also went through a similar situation as Tita, this would explain why Nacha understood Tita more than anyone else. Even after her passing, she was mentioned many times throughout the book spiritually. Nacha’s “spirit” became a guide for Tita whenever she was faced with difficult challenges. An example would be when Rosaura was in labour, Tita had sought for Nacha’s guidance which led her to deliver the baby successfully. Tita also mentions Nacha when she feels alone and sad. “How alone Tita felt during this period. How she missed Nacha! She hated them all, including Pedro. She was convinced she would never love anyone again as long as she lived.” (Esquivel 71). This quote shows that Tita loved Nacha more than anyone else, even Pedro. Tita pointed how she felt alone which means that Nacha was the only one who was there for her. Nacha acted like a real mother to Tita, which is why she played an important role in the protagonist’s life.  

Quotes: 

 “Now were alone in the kitchen, so go ahead and cry, my child, because I don’t want them to see you crying tomorrow. Especially not Rosaura.” - Nacha’s compassion towards Tita the day before Pedro & Rosaura’s Wedding (Esquivel 29)

“Kneeling and facing Rosaura, Tita made an urgent request to Nacha to enlighten her at this time. If Nacha could tell her recipes in the kitchen, she should also be able to help her during this emergency.”
- Tita seeking Nacha’s help during Roberto’s birth (Esquivel 72)

Dr. John Brown

Biography: 

             Dr. John Brown is one of the major characters in the novel. He is an American doctor who falls in love with Tita and is also a single father to a son named Alexander Brown. John’s character is seen as an extremely caring, intelligent, and loving. He develops a very strong relationship with Tita after he took her in his house to help her recover. 

             John’s gentle and compassionate personality made him the ideal person to revive Tita from her shattered soul. Tita gained a sense of independence with John since she had the freedom to do what she wanted, like being able to move her own hands and choosing not to talk. John was also responsible for helping Tita see her self-worth and individuality when he told Tita an extremely important story about a box of matches. This story explained that each individual is born with a box of matches. To prevent the matches from burning out inside of us, we must find out what will trigger explosions inside of this. John also explains that each of us is capable of setting these “explosions” or in other words, everyone is capable for providing the “food” to our matches.  This story helped Tita comprehend her difficult situation and reminded her about her self-worth and capability. Tita and John’s relationship grew and eventually he asks for her hand in marriage. Tita accepted since she loved and admired John, however, she questioned her love for him when she saw Pedro. Tita and Pedro had an affair when John was away on a trip to America.

              Even after Tita had lost her virginity to Pedro, John still displayed his genuine personality. Instead of being angry, John allowed Tita to choose her own happiness and told her that he still loved and cared for her. A few years later, his son Alexander marries Tita’s niece Esperanza. This allowed John to still remain close with Tita, which made him happy. Overall, Dr. John Brown was an extremely kind-hearted and charming man. He is a static character because his sincere and affectionate personality remained the same throughout the novel. John Brown was my favourite character in the novel and I also preferred him to Pedro. 

Quotes: 

“Each of us is born with a box of matches inside us but we can't strike them all by ourselves; we need oxygen and a candle to help. In this case, the oxygen for example, would come from the breath of the person you love; the candle would be any kind of food, music, caress, word, or sound that engenders the explosion that lights one of the matches. For a moment we are dazzled by an intense emotion. A pleasant warmth grows within us, fading slowly as time goes by, until a new explosion comes along to revive it. Each person has to discover what will set off those explosions in order to live, since the combustion that occurs when one of them is ignited is what nourishes the soul. That fire, in short, is its food. If one doesn't find out in time what will set off these explosions, the box of matches dampens, and not a single match will ever be lighted…. If that happens, the soul flees from the body and goes to wander among the deepest shades, trying in vain to find food to nourish itself, unaware that only the body is left behind, cold and defenceless, is capable of providing that food.” - Dr. John Brown’s Theory. (Esquivel 115)

"Tita, it doesn't matter to me what you did, there are some things in life that shouldn't be given so much importance. If your answer is yes, we will celebrate our wedding in a few days. If it's no, I will be the first to congratulate Pedro and ask him to give you the respect you deserve." - Dr. John Brown to Tita after her confession. (Esquivel 223) 

My First Impression

        
                        Like Water for Chocolate is a book written by an author named Laura Esquivel. The title was the first thing that attracted me to the book. Despite the fact that I didn’t know what it meant, I decided to give it a go since the word chocolate won me over. Laura Esquivel is also a Mexican author, which gave me a great opportunity to explore an international voice. As I read in the synopsis, this novel is about three of my most favourite things, food, romance, and magic!

The first thing I noticed when I read the novel was that it had a different style of writing. At first, it was difficult for me to understand what was going on due to all the unfamiliar vocabulary but eventually I got use to it after clarifying all of them in the dictionary. Let me tell you one thing; I could not stop flipping the pages! Laura Esquivel has an exquisite and a spectacular style of writing. This book is sensational and emotional that it became extremely difficult for me to stop. Esquivel does an exceptional job in bringing you to another world. You get to read about the life of a beautiful Spanish woman named Josefita De La Garza. Most commonly known as Tita, Tita has a traumatic life since she is forbidden to experience love, freedom and independence. Although her life is extremely difficult to cope with she finds her therapy in cooking; she has a profound love for food and the kitchen. This will explain the most fascinating part of the book; there is a recipe in the beginning of each chapter. Each recipe involves meticulous written instructions on how to prepare each dish. It is interesting to read them since I never heard of these Mexican dishes before and I was extremely impressed by how Esquivel wrote them with precision. Trust me, reading only the first 30 pages of the book will make you hungry!

Not only will this book make you hungry but it can also make you emotional! Initially I thought this book was just going to be a typical love story like Romeo and Juliet but it was not the case. You will feel the real emotion and struggle behind Tita's life and you will connect with the protagonist in the story. Women play an important role in this novel and they are portrayed as domesticated and hard-working. Tita is the woman that outshines the rest since she is fierce, courageous and diligent. I was also impressed that this book contained many characters. The best part is the fact that each character has a different personality. In the first thirty pages I was already introduced to seven characters! One of them is the evil “step-mother” named Mama Elena. She is not really a stepmother but most of her personality traits are similar to the stepmother you meet in the story of Cinderella. You will also get to meet Tita’s Prince Charming, Pedro, whom I find highly dislikable and repulsive. This story is kind of like combination of a fairytale and a fantasy. 

Speaking of fairytale and fantasy, Esquivel explores the genre of magic realism in her novel. There are many enchanting and supernatural events that you will get to encounter in the story. For example, we find out that Tita was born into the world in a flood of tears, which foreshadows the sorrow and sadness that Tita will experience in her future life. Another example would be in the second chapter, Tita was preparing the wedding cake for Pedro and her sister Rosaura. She poured all her tears into the cake batter which caused extreme vomiting as well as sorrow among the guests who ate the cake. There was a touch of magic in the each chapter and it made the story a hundred times more interesting.

This book is simply breathtaking and I can’t put it any other words. It is a combination of a recipe book and a magical love story! It’s absolutely amazing that you get a mix of everything. I was highly impressed with the unique style of writing, the suspenseful and emotional story line, and the various characters you get to encounter! Most of all, I was extremely fascinated by the Mexican recipes and the food! It’s just amazing and I can’t explain it in any other way, you have to read the book to know what I’m talking about.