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Like Water for Chocolate

Introduction:

Like Water for Chocolate, written by Mexican Novelist Laura Esquivel, was first published in 1989. The novel gained immense popularity and became a hit in the same year and was later converted into a movie in 1992. The novel deals with the story of a young girl, Tita, who is in love with a guy named Pedro, and also wants to marry her. However, her mother, Mama Elena does not approve of the relationship and thus prevents Tita from tying the nuptial knot with Pedro. Like Water for Chocolate contains an amazing amalgam of reality and fantasy, which is a product of writer's exceptional writing skills. There is a division of novel into twelve parts, each named after a month of the year.

The novel revolves around recipes as Tita is an excellent cook and uses her skill as an expression of her feelings and emotions. It is because of the same reason; each of the twelve chapters of the novel begins with a Mexican recipe which then finds link to the life of characters.

Mama Elena:

The character being discussed over here is Mama Elena, Tita's mother, who strictly follows some traditions, which also disallow her daughter's marriage to Pedro.

Physical Appearance and role in Like Water for Chocolate:

Mama Elena is a short and strop woman, who has sharp features and a thin and unemotional look. She is a cruel and harsh lady, with no resemblance to the typical portrayal of the mother, who is shown to be an embodiment of love, tenderness and affection. She has all the attributes of male characters and has no link with feminism or feminine attributes. She has the decisive power and manipulates the characters in the way she wants. Unlike the stereotypical loving and affectionate mother, Mama Elena is depicted as an evil mother who has no feeling for her children and treats them like mere material possessions. She has an authoritarian character and likes to practice her will, by subjugating and suppressing her very own daughters (Franco, 1992, Pp: 142).

She is not only cruel, but is heartless as well and has no concern for feelings of her children what so ever. Mama Elena has total control over all matters of home and forces her daughters to do as she says. Her barbaric nature is depicted at a number of instances in the novel. For example, when Pedro asks for Tita's hand in marriage, not only does Mama Elena refuse but also asks Pedro to marry Tita's sister, which shows her heartlessness and lack of humanly feelings. She treats marriage more like a business deal, accordingly devastating the life of both her daughters and making herself more like a villain.

Importance of Mama Elena in Like Water for Chocolate:

Mama Elena is one of the most influential and significant character in the novel, as she holds strings of all the other characters and is manipulating them in the way she wants. She is the one behind every major decision and the ...