Laura Esquivel’s Like Water for Chocolate, a Life Metaphor
Laura Esquivel’s Like Water for Chocolate, a Life Metaphor

Summary/Abstract: The structuring of “Like Water for Chocolate” as “A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies”, as it is subtitled, establishes the filter through which the reader will experience the world of the novel. It can be distilled into the stories of two women, Tita de la Garza and her mother, Mama Elena. The trajectory of their struggle against one another is the axis around which the entire novel turns. Tita, the protagonist, strives for love, freedom, and individuality, and Mama Elena, the chief antagonist, stands as the prime opposition to the fulfillment of these goals. This mother-daughter relationship is fraught with difficulty from its inception, when Tita is brought into the world prematurely after her father’s sudden death. Mama Elena is the opposite of a nurturer, never forging any bond with Tita. Consequently, the girl develops a relationship with food that enables her to give outlet to her emotions. The reader must explore the work through the role and power of food, guided by the recipes that begin each chapter. Laura Esquivel employs the technique of magical realism throughout her novel in such a way that the mythical occurrences do not seem odd to the characters at all. The characters accept the supernatural incidents as a part of everyday life. In the novel, the author extends the religious-mythical themes of magical realism to the everyday world of the domestic realm of a female-dominated household. “Like Water for Chocolate” embodies an unceasing quest for meaning in life.

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