Magical Realism : Like Water For Chocolate

Laura Esquivel writes that “There are still some natural forces that everybody understands.” These forces are emotions and experiences that everyone faces, but these moments are not new, they are felt by all humans. In the novel, Like Water for Chocolate, Esquivel frequently uses magical elements to find similar experiences that the reader can relate to with characters in the book. She uses common emotions, sadness, jealousy and love, which are felt by everyone to convey how similar all human experiences are. The frequent use of magical realism works to show universal human experiences through exaggeration of realistic events, making them appear as magical, therefore drawing attention to emotions and circumstances that are relatable to

Guillen, Glazy Via Mae J. World Lit PT2-1 Mr. Angeles Like Water for Chocolate Laura Esquivel Thesis Statement: Laura Esquivel showed in her novel, Like Water for Chocolate, how a daughter helplessly follow the decisions of her mother despite of her having different perspective in life and how the she cope up with this problem. In the story, Like Water for Chocolate, it is showed how Tita Dela Garza craved for affection. The desire of having someone who will love her, which she never felt before, makes her crave more.

Obviously the most concise definition of magical realism is that it is the combination of magical and real elements. The magical elements that

1. Magical realism is the occurrence of abnormal or illogical scenarios appearing in an otherwise realistic or normal setting throughout a work of literature. In Bless Me, Ultima the two characteristics are meshed together and not displayed as questionable in the character’s world while the reader realizes that the rational and irrational are opposite and conflicting. For example, throughout the novel, Antonio learns about the myth of the golden carp in which the newly settled pioneer tribes of the grasslands began to anger their gods, as a punishment the gods turned all their people into carp. However, one of the gods loved his people so much he asked to be turned into one as well “but because he was a god they made him very big and colored him the color of gold.

Out of many things that differ human beings from the rest of the living world one might mention our remarkable ability to be engaged in verbal interaction. Indeed, the notion of language as we know it is not found anywhere beyond the boundaries of the human society. However, one should also note that this peculiar ability to gave birth to other important aspect of our life, namely our vivid imagination. This, it will not be an exaggeration to suggest that our inner world is what truly makes us humans. There is a word of art in which these two characteristic abilities are combined. Literature allows a writer to use all the potential of the language and set fantasy free. Sometimes this takes peculiar forms, such as authors incorporating certain fantasy elements in to narration about real life. This genre of literature is usually referred to as magical realism. As can be easily understood from the very name, the authors that adhere to it, try to describe real life as it is, with all the positive and negative elements of it; however, in the course of their narration, they may engage various fantastic elements which put emphasis on particular aspects of the story or contribute to its development. Magical realism in Like Water for Chocolate is an irreplaceable element of the story, without which it would not have become as amusing as well as interesting and unable to convey the message that was designed by the author.

An oppressed soul finds means to escape through the preparation of food in the novel, Like Water for Chocolate (1992). Written by Laura Esquivel, the story is set in revolutionary Mexico at the turn of the century. Tita, the young heroine, is living on her family’s ranch with her two older sisters, her overbearing mother, and Nacha, the family cook and Tita’s surrogate mother. At a very young age, Tita is instilled with a deep love for food "for Tita, the joy of living was wrapped up in the delights of food" (7). The sudden death of Tita's father, left Tita's mother's unable to nurse the infant Tita due to shock and grief. Therefore Nacha, "who [knows]

From the very first page of Laura Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate it is clear that the real world in which her characters inhabit shall be greatly exaggerated. When Esquivel's narrator describes Tita as being so sensitive to onions that “when she was still in my great-grandmother's belly her sobs were so loud that even Nacha, the cook, who was half deaf, could hear them easily.” (Esquivel, p. 5) the reader encounters something at once refreshing, as is always the case when one experiences the supernatural where least expected, and yet ancient at the same time. While Esquivel could have attempted to tell her story, really the tale of a (mostly) unrequited love, in a straightforward manner, the casual inclusion of the extraordinary places it immediately in the tradition of magical realism.

Some great examples of magical realism are: Mrs. Gregg's bizarreness, Alice Conroy Flashback, and Bobo demon eye. Mrs. Gregg had such an extreme stutter that she could not be understood unless she spoke to the tune of "Here Comes Santa Claus." In this example, her stutter is a realistic narrative, and "Santa Claus had broken her chains and set her free," (page. 17). Santa Claus had not literally allowed her to speak, but for some odd reason, thinking and speaking to that specific tune allowed her to be understood.

Magical realism is a genre that portrays both reality and fantasy. As defined by Faris (2004) in Ordinary enchantments, magical realism is a genre of writing that includes an irreducible element of magic and details that suggest phenomenon (Faris, 2004, p. 7). He describes the irreducible element as: “…something we cannot explain according to the laws of the universe as they have been formulated in Western empirically based discourse…” (Faris, 2004, p. 7). In Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s short story, The handsomest drowned man in the world, the facets of magical realism are rife. He uses magical realism to enchant the reader. The story is of a small cliff-side and coastal community

Magical realism can broadly be defined as a style of literature in which supernatural or fictitious events occur in a mundane or realistic setting. The use of magical realism is seen frequently in Latin American culture just as it is in Laura Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate. This makes one ask "why is magical realism used? There are many extrusive reasons for these supernatural events to occur in a novel. Magical realism tends to immerse and draw the reader more into the novel due to the fact that magical realism makes a story much more compelling. Furthermore, magical realism is a manner in which the writer can easily display the characters emotions. This fictional novel is based on the story of the main protagonist, Tita, and the struggles

Magical realism is a widely known type of literature, but what makes a story fit under this genre? Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” is a great example of magical realism because it exhibits a vast collection of magical elements throughout the story. In the novella, Gregor Samsa awakens one morning to find out that he has turned into an insect. Throughout this novella, Gregor attempts to identify who he is as a person and learns that he is an outsider in his own home as well as in society. This set of elements is seen in many short stories much like “The Metamorphosis”. Julio Cortázar’s “Axolotl” reveals one of these elements, transformation of the common, when a boy internally transforms into an axolotl as he is looking at them in the exhibit. In the film Life of Pi, by Ang Lee, the element of realism is uncovered when Pi is revealing the story of his childhood adventures. The last element of magical realism, the aspect of fairy tales, is prominently seen in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” when an abnormally large man washes up on the shore of a village. The use of magical realism elements in “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World”, “Axolotl”, and Life of Pi parallels the elements revealed in “The Metamorphosis” making it an ideal example of magical realism.

Nick Rollins Mrs.Asplund Adv. 10 Hr. 7 6 Nov. 2015 Magical realism Magical realism is one of the most beloved forms of literature today many people enjoy analyzing and discussing it. There are many entertaining and interesting themes found in magical realism this is one of the things that helps to draw people in. Magic realism turns the ordinary into the absolutely extraordinary by combining dreams with reality.

The novel fits the description of “magical realism” because a lot of the concept in Bless Me, Ultima seems realistic but at the same time some of the other concepts seem much exaggerated, they are like images that can be imagined in our head, but in the book these things actually happen in life. “Oh, our sweet baby, we are coming home to you” “Aghhhhhhh! My brothers!” I screamed. I bolted up and found myself in bed. My body was wet with sweat, and my lips were trembling. I felt a heavy sorrow gagging my heart, and it was hard to breath. Outside I heard the owl cry in alarm. Someone was coming up the goat path. I jumped into my pants and raced out into the cold night. There just coming over the slope of the hill were three dark figures” (page 61 and 62). This excerpt from the book shows how Antonio was having a dream of his brothers and that they were coming home but, when Antonio woke up, he realized that his brothers were really home. In a way his dream was a way of foreshadow.

Magic realism stretches the boundaries of realism in order to stretch or widen the definition of reality. In Like Water for Chocolate, magic becomes ordinary, admitted, accepted and integrated into the rationality and materiality of literary realism. The first instance of magic realism in Like Water for Chocolate is Tita’s entry into the world, “Tita was literally washed into this world on

Laura Esquivel, like many other authors, created characters and plot in reflection of her own life and self. Like Water for Chocolate is a magical realism romance novel written by Laura Esquivel. It is the story of Tita, a blossoming woman who is battling her mother in an attempt to have her own life. Tita overcomes her struggles, including her mother, to come into her own and live the life she wants to live. The story of Tita and the family reflects the author’s own life. In Like Water for Chocolate, by Laura Esquivel, Tita, her family, and her struggles reflect the author, her struggles, and her country’s history.