Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih

The images in the movie relate very closely to the amusing feeling the book gives us, giving us a high angle on the guests and long shots, showing us collectively how everyone was crying. At that night Nacha dies, and shatters Titas world. Later on Pedro gives Tita roses, and she decides to make quail in rose. The passion dripped from her to the dish, and made Gertrudis the older sister think of sinful thoughts. The aroma arousing from her reaches to a soldier Juan, who was Gertrudis dream, the moment is described magically: “A pink clod floated toward him, wrapped itself around him…naked as she was, luminous, glowing with energy… without slowing his gallop, so as not to waste a moment, he leaned over, put his arm around her waist, and lifted her onto the horse in front of him, face to face” (pg 55-56). The movie draws a great parallel here, the picture is blurry a little as if it is a dream, and for the first time in the movie, which is very dimly lit and poorly lighted, the picture is bright, with a flowing movement of the two as they disappear. One of the most significant moments in the book is when Tita delivers Rosauras baby Roberto, the thing she loved the most. In the movie however, the whole phase of taking care of Roberto in the kitchen and feeding him is very brief, which is very confusing for later scenes. As mama Elena senses that Pedro and Tita might have an affair going on, she sends them to one of her relatives in the United States.

In this essay, female oppression in La Casa de Bernarda Alba will be discussed and analyzed. However, in order to be able to understand the importance of this theme and the impact it has had on the play, one must first understand the role of female oppression in the Spanish society in the 1930s.

“You know perfectly well that being the youngest daughter means you have to take care of me until the day I die.” (10). This statement shows how Tita is being oppressed not by mama Elena choice but family tradition. Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel concentrate into the stories of the women of De La Garza. Tita the main character aim to find love, happiness and independent, and Elena De La Garza the antagonist who will stand in the way of Tita happiness and would do anything in her power to stop Tita to fulfil her goals which is to find true love with Pedro. This mother and daughter relationship was predestined since the day when Tita was brought up into this world, and her father’s sudden death. Mama Elena was the opposite of a loving, caring women she never had a relationship with Tita. While Tita formed a relationship with food that gives her the strength, and love she never experienced before. The women of De La Garza experienced many challenges in this strict societies. All the women expected to follow an oppressive family tradition.

Tita’s thoughts shows how, despite her fear of Mama Elena, she still attempts to gain her right to marry and she is secretly happy about Pedro marrying Rosaura just to be near her. Despite Mama Elena 's intentions to break Tita 's heart by making her watch the person she loves getting married to her sister, Tita completely changes the meaning of this wedding to something that makes her love for Pedro grow stronger. This is also portrayed in the film when Tita 's smile remains even after Mama Elena scolds her. The contrast in Mama Elena and Tita 's behaviour is conveyed when Tita thinks about what it would be like to have her mother’s strength:

In her journal “Mother- Daughter Relationship”, Jeanine Perez gives her readers a perspective on one of Mama Elena’s weakness. The author Perez writes “Mama Elena is later discovered to have betrayed her husband with her true love… the fact is that Mama Elena preaches something and behaves in a different manner” (p.192). In other words, Mama Elena does not take her own advice. Thus, making Mama Elena a fraud and voiding her of having any valid credibility. In the book Like Water for Chocolate the author also shows how Mama Elena is a harsh parent. In the book Mama Elena is quoted telling Tita “You know perfectly well that being the youngest daughter means you have to take care of me until the day I die” (p.10). This shows how messed up in the head Mama Elena is. Not only is the ordinance downright awful, it is dehumanizing to follow such a rule. As you can tell by now, Mama Elena has some serious demises that make her a weak character.

Esquivel applies suspense in the passage expressing Titas fears of becoming pregnant the night Pedro followed her into the darkroom. She has yet to tell Pedro but instead of worrying, she decides to focus on preparing the Kings’ Day Bread for her guests. Being aware of the situation, she knows she will have to cancel her engagement to John Brown, given that she is no longer a virgin. Esquivel uses tradition as a reason of why Tita feels so horrible with losing her purity of the white flower and not being holy in God's eyes. While Tita makes the bed, she remembers the King’s Days of her past. As a girl, she would always receive something Mama Elena wanted her to have on King’s Day instead of the gift she herself

“Beautiful and Cruel” marks the beginning of Esperanza’s “own quiet war” against machismo (Hispanic culture powered by men). She refuses to neither tame herself nor wait for a husband, and this rebellion is reflected in her leaving the “table like a man, without putting back the chair or picking up the plate (Cisneros 89).” Cisneros gives Esperanza a self-empowered voice and a desire for personal possessions, thing that she can call her own: Esperanza’s “power is her own (Cisneros 89).” Cisneros discusses two important themes: maintaining one’s own power and challenging the cultural and social expectations one is supposed to fulfill. Esperanza’s mission to create her own identity is manifest by her decision to not “lay (her) neck on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain (Cisneros 88).” Cisneros’ rough language and violent images of self-bondage reveal the contempt with which Esperanza views many of her peers whose only goal is to become a wife. To learn how to guard her power

Cruelty and violence have been often a solid influence with Mama Elena towards Tita. The psychological damage that Mama Elena cause Tita took effect after, Tita heard news of the death of her nephew Roberto. According to the chapter five (99) in the month of may. Mama Elena took a wooden spoon and smashes Tita across the face. The act of cruelty and the violent behavior of Mama Elena. In addition to Mama Elena attitude toward the death of her grandson being callous and tactless. This causes Tita to hide in the dovecote overnight. Where the psychological damage began to surface. When the Dr. Brown came to retrieve Tita from the dovecote, only to find Tita there naked with a broken nose and holding a dead pigeon. Tita then became suffer in silences for the next coupled of months. Instead of Mama Elena seeking professional help for Tita to get better, Mama Elena suggested that Tita be taken to the asylum.

Lila Abu-Lughod also writes about feminism in regard to culture. “ It has been important for most feminists to locate sex differences in culture, not biology or nature,” (Abu-Lughod, p. 144). There have been many cultural differences between women and men, “ a different voice” perhaps from Anglo-American feminist Gilligan and her followers, (Abu-Lughod, p. 145), as well as an explanation of the differences, “ whether through a socially informed psychoanalytic theory, a Marxist-derived theory of the effects of the division of labour and women’s role in social reproduction, an analysis of maternal practice or even a theory of sexual exploitation,” (Abu-Lughod, p. 145).

Furthermore, Esquivel puts Tita though the gauntlet using the theme of emotional repression to keep her weak and obedient to her mother and from truly discovering herself. Early on, the author makes it apparent that Tita’s ideas mean nothing to her mother and Tita is nothing more than a tool to her, “You don’t have an opinion, and that’s all I want to hear about it. For generations, not a single person in my family has ever questioned this tradition, and no daughter of mine is going to be the one to start” (11). Having to swallow her feelings and ideas Tita was forcefully pushed back by her mother into compliance. Continuing in that manner Mama Elena forces Tita to prepare

Following, we learn that Mama Elena has no milk to feed Tita, which makes Nacha, the family cook - her official caretaker as she replaces Mama Elena. This is important to point out because the initial separation of the two main characters is quite evident; there is no mother-daughter bond that should have been established, Mama Elena doesn’t have time to worry about her, “without having to worry about feeding a newborn baby on top of everything else.” (7) We grow to understand why Tita forms other vital bonds with Nacha, and of course the food that surrounds her daily, helping her not only to grow but acts as an outlet for her emotions. “From that day on, Tita’s domain was the kitchen…this explains the sixth sense Tita developed about everything concerning food.” (7) From the beginning, Tita is given barely any freedom, she is given a purpose, she will not marry anyone until Mama Elena is alive, she is to look after her, which becomes a great conflict when the love of her life, Pedro, is to marry her sister, Rosaura, and not her. Mama Elena wants to hear nothing about Tita’s frustration. Mama Elena herself has lost her true love and because of it is insensitive to Tita’s love with Pedro. The reaction of each woman to her predicament helps explain the opposite characters. Mama Elena lets the loss of her young love turn into hatred for anything but tradition, and

Mama Elena, sensing Tita's reluctance to participate in her sister's upcoming wedding, warns her, "I won't stand for disobedience... nor am I going to allow you to ruin your sister's wedding, with you acting like the victim. You're in charge of all the preparations starting now, and don't ever let me catch you with a single tear or even a long face, do you hear?" (27). At the wedding party the following day, although Tita keeps a perfectly calm demeanor, her true feelings about her sister's marriage to Pedro are revealed in the guests' first bite of the Chabela wedding cake. "The moment [the guests] took their first bite of the cake, everyone was flooded with a great wave of longing... [T]he weeping was just the first symptom of a strange intoxication that seized the guests" (39), all but Tita, on whom the cake had no effect. The author uses the cake's effect on the guests to reveal first, Tita's grief over her loss of love through the guests uncontrollable weeping and second, her disgust over her sister and Pedro's

The phrase “mother knows best” refers to maternal instinct and wisdom. It is often used to describe how mothers are the most knowledgeable when it comes to their children’s needs. This cliche is frequently used by mothers who try to guide their children on the path towards success, especially when the child protests. Tita’s mother, Mama Elena, embraces this expression fully, and always pushes Tita towards what she believes is the road to achievement. Mama Elena is perhaps one of the best portrayals of “tough love” in a character in literature. Like Water for Chocolate’s author, Esquivel, depicts Mama Elena as a strong, independent woman who does not bother with things she deems insignificant. This translates to the reader through the decisions and actions Mama Elena makes throughout the book. Her disregard for emotions is often the reason why her actions are misunderstood by readers who claim that she is a cruel, unrelenting mother who is apathetic to her daughter’s suffering. However, this is not the case, as Mama Elena never acts without reason and only goes out of her way to discipline Tita when she believes that Tita is in the wrong. The readers see her go to great lengths to protect Tita numerous times, although these instances are often hidden behind her less than pleasant words, such as when she tries to shield Tita and Nacha from the rebels who were known to frequently terrorize families and rape women. Despite being a strict and unforgiving mother, Mama Elena’s

Since this time, Tita did not have to see the love of her life marry someone else she was happy and excited for this wedding to occur. “Having brought off the wedding between Alex and Esperanza was Tita’s greatest triumph (pg.240)” Tita was happy to see her niece marry the love of her life and not allow the family tradition take her happiness away. “Everyone else, including the ranch hands, was making mad passionate love, wherever they had happened to end up (pg 242).” Since Tita made the food with love and felt passionate about the marriage, everyone that attend the wedding had a feeling of passion and lust. The result of this wedding is nothing compared to the one of Rosaura’s, the fact that Tita did not have to see her lover marry someone else made a big difference in the outcome of her food. Both of these scenes, show how Tita can have a positive or a negative effect on others through her cooking. Magical realism is used to show Tita’s emotions and reaction to the

But of course Rosaura was hurt because of the fact that he brought Tita roses instead of her and Mama Elena did not approve and told Tita to throw them out, but Tita didn’t listen to her so she went into the kitchen to express them the best way she could which was through food, so she cooked the quail in rose petals sauce making the food have a sexual tension especially towards Gertrudis. When Pedro complimented the food Mama Elena downgraded it and Rosaura excused herself. Gertrudis was feeling very hot and lusty causing her to go to the bathroom and shower herself but that didn’t help and the heat from her body cause the bathroom to catch on fire which made her run out of the bathroom naked the opposite way of the ranch, pg. 51 in “Like Water for Chocolate says “The delicacy of her face, the perfection of her pure vaginal body contrasted with passion, the lust, the leapt from her eyes, from every pore. These things, and the sexual desire Juan had contained for so long while he was fighting in the mountains, made for a spectacular encounter.” The tension that she was feeling made her run away from the ranch with Juan on the horse and from there that’s when Gertrudis made love for the very first time. Those two examples were the two major recipes that showed how much Tita’s cooking had a big impact on the people that surrounded her and what it did to them to affect them.