Literary Analysis Essay Online
At the beginning of the novel, Tita was a generally submissive young lady. As the novel progresses, Tita learns to disobey the injustice of her mother, and gradually becomes more and more adept to at expressing her inner fire through various means. At first, cooking was her only outlet, but through self-discovery she learned to verbalize and actualize her feelings, and stand up to her despotic mother.
The romantic love that is so exalted throughout the novel is forbidden by Tita’s mother in order to blindly enforce the tradition that the youngest daughter be her mother’s chaste guardian.However, the traditional etiquette enforced by Mama Elena is defied progressively throughout the novel. This parallels the setting of the Mexican Revolution growing in intensity. The phrase “like water for chocolate” come from the Spanish como agua para chocolate. This phrase is a common expression in some Spanish-speaking cuntries and was the inspiration for Laura Esquivel’s novel title ( the name has a double meaning). In some Latin American countries, such as Mexico, hot chocolate is made not with milk, but with water instead.
Chocolate will only melt to crate hot chocolate when the water reaches boiling point. The saying ‘like water for chocolate’ alludes to this fact. It can be used as a metaphor for describing a stat of intense feelings or – sometimes- sexual arousal. It may also be used to refer to anger, such as being ‘boiling mad’. Tita, the main character, actually uses the expression in the book when she says ‘estoy como agua para chocolate ( I am like water for chocolate) meaning that she is boiling mad.
