Like Water for Chocolate Review
Katrianne Luz P. Obillo | October 13, 2010 | R52
Down with the Men
Generally speaking, our world is founded on patriarchal principles and ideologies. Christian readings in the Bible generally center on a society where the man is the head of the family and society. Even today, misogyny and discrimination for women is present, although many movements and changes have occurred during the past decades.
Literature has been an aspect of culture that has been bombarded with new ideas in relation to feministic ideas. Like Water for Chocolate, a novel by Laura Esquivel, supports feminism in an obvious as well as a subconscious way. The different elements of the novel emphasize a society where patriarchy can be undermined by the presence of strong female individuals.
One of the strongest elements that highlight feministic ideas is characters. As above, the novel contains women who are empowered by different reasons. No matter how passive they were, they were thoroughly developed in the story to end up as individuals who are able to stand up for their desires and are able to achieve them. First and foremost is Tita, the protagonist, who was the youngest daughter of the De La Garza family which makes her unable to marry despite her having a sweetheart. Her character originally was the submissive type; she let her mother, Mama Elena, dictate what she should do in every aspect of her life. However, Tita finally stood up to her mother when she accused Mama Elena of killing her niece, Roberto, by sending him with his parents to a place far from their ranch. After this scene, Tita gradually showed her ability to stand up to people, including Rosaura in her fight for Pedro.
Mama Elena is also a very prominent character. She was very aggressive, especially in asserting her wants around their house. She can easily make other follow her rules and even the most absurd of her house policies must be followed, such as Tita’s not being able to marry. Instead of a female
Down with the Men
Generally speaking, our world is founded on patriarchal principles and ideologies. Christian readings in the Bible generally center on a society where the man is the head of the family and society. Even today, misogyny and discrimination for women is present, although many movements and changes have occurred during the past decades.
Literature has been an aspect of culture that has been bombarded with new ideas in relation to feministic ideas. Like Water for Chocolate, a novel by Laura Esquivel, supports feminism in an obvious as well as a subconscious way. The different elements of the novel emphasize a society where patriarchy can be undermined by the presence of strong female individuals.
One of the strongest elements that highlight feministic ideas is characters. As above, the novel contains women who are empowered by different reasons. No matter how passive they were, they were thoroughly developed in the story to end up as individuals who are able to stand up for their desires and are able to achieve them. First and foremost is Tita, the protagonist, who was the youngest daughter of the De La Garza family which makes her unable to marry despite her having a sweetheart. Her character originally was the submissive type; she let her mother, Mama Elena, dictate what she should do in every aspect of her life. However, Tita finally stood up to her mother when she accused Mama Elena of killing her niece, Roberto, by sending him with his parents to a place far from their ranch. After this scene, Tita gradually showed her ability to stand up to people, including Rosaura in her fight for Pedro.
Mama Elena is also a very prominent character. She was very aggressive, especially in asserting her wants around their house. She can easily make other follow her rules and even the most absurd of her house policies must be followed, such as Tita’s not being able to marry. Instead of a female