Like Water For Chocolate Literary Analysis

Often times people believe that there are no consequences in loving a person dearly, because being with the person you love will make life a happily ever after. In the book, “Like Water for Chocolate,” Laura Esquivel takes on this misconception and states otherwise. She beautifully writes about the love story between a secretive couple, Pedro and Tita. Though their love for each other is real and grounded in truth, they face many challenges and hardships that separate them being together. Then once they are allowed to have each other, they discover the consequences their love had cheat them into. Through the romantic symbols of Tita and Pedro’s relationship, the author makes the comment that true love cannot be achieved without facing the eternal
After Pedro and Rosaura’s marriage, Tita is acknowledged for her first anniversary as the ranch cook. To congratulate Tita, Pedro hands a bouquet of roses to her. Tita, making her way to the kitchen, holds Pedro’s roses so tightly that “the roses, which had been mostly pink, had turned quite red from the blood that was flowing from Tita’s hands and breasts” (48). Pedro’s roses for Tita show the romantic relationship he wants to have with her, however, his love has harmful consequences shown through the blood coming from Tita’s chest. Blood indicates pain or hurt to the affected person. Likewise, Tita’s blood from the roses represent the pain and damage of her heart, resulting from Pedro’s love for her. Instead of throwing the blood petals away, Tita uses them to make a quail dish for the family gathering. When Tita finished eating her dish, her reaction was startling, for “Tita wasn’t there, even though her body was sitting up quite properly in her chair; there wasn’t the slightest sign of life in her eyes” (52). Tita’s lifelessness is one detrimental effect of Pedro’s love for her. She ate the quail, containing the bloody red rose petals representing Pedro’s painful love. When she consumed his love and the pain, it left her lifeless and dead. Pedro’s love in the end had only destroyed Tita. Pedro’s bouquet of roses that bled Tita and sucked the life out of
Tita’s marriage bedspread shows how love cannot fully satisfy one’s needs. Pedro’s bouquet of roses reveals the harm and pain in a romantic relationship. Lastly, the over-powered sex represents true love finally coming together, but ending in lifelessness. Although it is desirable for true love to be effortless and untroubling, the author not only shows the goodness and richness of love, but also exposes the hardships and pessimistic outcomes