Like Water for Chocolate
By: Laura Esquivel

The way gender is portrayed in this book is unfortunate, and heartbreaking. The reason I say this is because the main character in the book, Tita, cannot be with the one she loves due to her inconsiderate mother. Tita’s mother who happens to be Mama Elena tells Tita that since she is the last child, she cannot marry because her obligation is to take care of her mother until she dies. In fact, Mama Elena states that this obligation that Tita must deal with is known to be a tradition. It is known to be a tradition that was initiated in Mexico in which it has not been broken, and sure enough Mama Elena was not going to let Tita be the first one to break it. It so happens, even though Tita knows she is not destined to marry, she accidentally falls in love with a guy named Pedro. It seems as though, her feelings cannot be controlled when she meets eye to eye with Pedro at a Christmas party in which they both decide to marry each other. Unfortunately, the marriage cannot happen due to the fact that Mama Elena simply does not allow it. That even though Pedro and his father went out of their way to ask Mama Elena for permission, she did not budge. Instead, Mama Elena decides to give Pedro a better offer. She offers Pedro to marry her eldest daughter, Rosaura. Mama Elena explains how Rosaura is allowed to marry in which Pedro agrees to her offer. The tragic events of this story start from this point on in which we acknowledge the many stages in life that Tita goes through ever since her own sister marries the love of her life. Tita’s suffering and torture that she must deal is inevitable, in which she is not able to escape from. Not just that but Tita’s life looks as though it was never meant to be lived the way she wanted it to be because her mother has cursed her to never be happy even when she’s dead. Tita’s misfortune and the suffering she goes through is first acknowledged the day her oldest sister, Rosaura, marries the love of her life, Pedro. The fact that Mama Elena knows that Tita is deeply in love with Pedro doesn’t bother her one bit in which she orders Tita to be the one to bake the wedding cake. Not just that, but she even threatens Tita that if she starts to cry or sob while baking this cake, that Tita will see the end of it. This is proven when Mama Elena states, “You’re in charge of all the preparations starting now, and don’t ever let me catch you with a single tear or even a long face, do you hear?”(Esquivel, pg. 27). Tita afraid of her mother, obeys her orders even though she can’t help herself. By this I mean, when Mama Elena steps out of the kitchen, the narrator which happens to be Tita’s great niece, explains that Tita bursted into tears. Nacha, the family’s cook, who also happens to be like a second mother to Tita, hugs Tita and tells her that everything will be okay, she states, “Now we’re 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.”(Esquivel, pg. 29). Mind you, Nacha is somewhat deaf, but still is able to understand what Tita is going through since she basically helped raised Tita, and loves her so much as if she was her own daughter. As you can see, gender is portrayed in a heartbreaking and unjust manner because how can a mother be so cruel to do something like this? What did Tita do to deserve this? It seems as though, Mama Elena has no sympathy towards Tita’s feelings in which she does not care that her daughter is suffering. Luckily, Nacha is there to comfort Tita which is why Tita sees Nacha as more of a mother than her own biological mother, Mama Elena. We can also acknowledge Tita’s misery when her mother, Mama Elena, doesn’t appreciate her cooking skills. It so happens, Tita is known to have great cooking skills in which each chapter of the book starts with a recipe she’s preparing at the moment. The recipe she prepares in each chapter symbolizes