Like Water For Chocolate

Traditions and culture has been part of people for a longtime now, people have held to the traditions even as some remain outdated. Traditions have remained encrypted on people’s thoughts in that they refer to them when they want to do anything. In Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel and Blood Wedding by Frederico Garcia Lorca traditions has remained a core theme in that it plays part of what people do and practice. In both books they speak of love turn sour by the effects of traditions that do not allow certain practices and decrees. They remain a hindrance to the lives of the characters and as the authors express it remains a total barrier that needs to be addressed accordingly.
In both novels, the roles between males and females
Traditionally, virginity is considered sacred and essential in society for a women to marry. If a woman has lost virginity, it is unlikely that she would marry. After Chencha gets raped by bandits, she is worried and depressed that no men will marry her. Chencha says to Tita “you know how men are. They all say they won’t eat off a plate that isn’t clean” (134); this quote highlights the tradition that men do not marry women who lost virginity. In addition, later on in the novel, Tita admits that she cannot marry John because she had lost virginity to Pedro. When John proposes to TIta, she refused by saying “while you were gone, I had relations with a man I’ve always loved, and I lost my virginity. That’s the reason I can’t marry you anymore” (222); she admitted that she cannot marry John anymore because she had lost her virginity. In brief, certain expectations exist in society because of tradition.

In conclusion, the effect of tradition in literature is significant. In Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel and Blood Wedding by Frederico Garcia Lorca gender roles, love, and social expectations are noticeably affected by tradition. Lorca and Esquivel explore mostly the negative effects of tradition on society which is to question the morality of