Similarities Between Like Water For Chocolate And Pan's Labyrinth

Sandra Cisneros’s short story “Never Marry a Mexican” deals heavily with the concept of myth in literature, more specifically the myth La Malinche, which focuses on women, and how their lives are spun in the shadows on men (Fitts). Myths help power some of the beliefs of entire cultures or civilizations. She gives the reader the mind of a Mexican-American woman who seems traitorous to her friends, family and people she is close to. This causes destruction in her path in the form of love, power, heartbreak, hatred, and an intent to do harm to another, which are themes of myth in literature. The unreliable narrator of this story was created in this story with the purpose to show her confusion and what coming from two completely different

With the use of narrative strategies, Laura Esquivel was able to portray tone, mood, and purpose throughout the novel, “Like Water for Chocolate”. In this passage, he protagonist Tita is described cooking Ox-Tail soup and recalls to the times with her best friend Nacha who passed away. Nacha was Titas true mother figure in her life, she was the one who taught Tita how to cook, clean, and everything else. Through Esquivel's style she presents a wistful tone by reminding the reader of the memories Tita shared with her friend Nacha. Titas cooking is now a tribute that Nachas soul is alive within her food.                                 Esquivel's notion of Tita and Nachas memories she creates a reminiscent mood because of the sadness she felt

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel is a powerful novel that serves as a great introductory guide to the Latin-American culture. The novel consists of primarily female characters, the De La Garza family, where each one portrays a female stereotype, or perhaps their role in the society. The setting of the story takes place during arise of the Mexican Revolution in 1910, which helps to further distinguish the roles of the women and how they go about living their everyday life. Like Water for Chocolate can be looked at as a story about two women, a daughter and a mother, Tita and Elena De La Garza. Tita, our protagonist, struggles against her mothers’ tradition, to “serve” her until the day she dies, without having a life of her own.

Supernatural experiences and gender discrimination. Ana Castillo’s So Far From God (1993) has many instances of magical realism within it. Political messages can be interpreted through the novel’s use of this magical realism. Several instances of patriarchy within Latino culture set the stage for women to move beyond gender roles within this novel. I interpreted the use of magical realism to be used as a symbol for woman to move beyond patriarchy to find independence and identity. What does this say about the status of women (in terms of gender roles) within this novel’s Latino culture? Are they free to live their lives through gender discrimination? Through the support of scholarly sources, I will analyze ways in which Castillo’s writing

Esquivel guides the reader through the novel and makes the story enthusiastic to develop an open minded setting. She brings us to the next chapter and incorporates magical realism in which she talks about the feelings of the guests when they had ate the cake Tita made for Pedro and Rosaura’s wedding. Esquivel states “but the weeping was just the first symptom of a strange intoxication- an acute attack of pain and frustration- that seized the guests and scattered them across the patio and the grounds and in the bathrooms, all of them wailing over lost love (pg.39). These symptoms the guest had were all he feelings Tita had inside her when making the cake, they were being transmitted to them. Further on Lam states “while “Tita was preparing it, she was frustrated, sad, an angry about the wedding. Her sister was marrying her love of her life and she was crushed. This scene represents the power of Tita’s emotions and how she can negatively affect others through her cooking”. Her emotions tell a lot in this novel and makes us feel what the author is trying to portray.

A soul in distress is always looking for a mean to escape through a difficult situation. In the story Like Water For Chocolate, Tita De La Garza who suffered like no other, isn’t the exception. This young woman since birth was instilled with a very deep love for cooking. When the people who she loved most betrayed her, cooking eased her pain. All of the intense emotions that she felt while preparing food, were unknowingly added to the recipes. The author, Laura Esquivel through the use of symbolism, she demonstrates that the role of food in the story isn’t there just to sustain life, it also transmits strong emotions such as desire, sorrow and healing felt by the

Judith Ortiz Cofer, a Latin woman, shares her observations of stereotypes in her article, “The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named María”. Judith Ortiz Cofer claims that films and T.V. shows portray Hispanic women as the "Hot Tamale” woman or “sexual firebrand” (Ortiz Cofer, par. 6). And Ortiz Cofer asserts that advertisers use words like “sizzling” and “smoldering” to describe “not only the foods but also the women of Latin America" (Ortiz Cofer, par. 6). The comparisons of Latin women to food objectifies women and creates an idea that these women are there for others to use, to consume. They present an image of Latin women as sexual beings.

Esperanza’s neighborhood, home only to Mexican-American families, is separated from the rest of society. Many parents of these families were raised in Mexico, and although their children now reside in America, they still expect them to continue to practice the traditions of their initial culture. Esperanza, like many other young Hispanics, is thrown into this situation along with her siblings. She tries to balance holding on to the customs of her family with fitting in at school and among her peers. Despite her efforts to blend in, the severity of the segregation causes both the American and Mexican cultures to conflict each other. Esperanza senses the grudge between the two cultures and tells readers that “those who don’t know any better come into our neighborhood scared. They think we are dangerous. They think we will attack them with shiny knives” (28). The Mexican-Americans in Esperanza’s community are regarded as lower class and threatening to the rest of society. As a result of this labeling, Esperanza will never be completely like her white American peers. The amount of influence coming from her home culture changes her in a way that is so unlike the Americans that she gives up trying to fit in. Instead, she decides to take the best of each culture and create her own way of living. To conclude, this novel distinctly explores the theme of two different cultures striving to mix together.

In Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street, Cisneros’ captures “the image of the Chicana who needs to create her own path, not only within her culture and society, but also in Chicano fiction” (Martinez 1). This book is not like an ordinary novel, as it is “a loose-knit series of lyrical reflections, her (Esperanza’s) struggle with self identity and the search for self-respect amidst an alienating and often hostile world” (De Valdes). The men and women in Esperanza’s life play drastically different roles from each other, which tells the reader about Esperanza’s Mexican culture. Additionally, by the way women are depicted in The House on Mango Street, the reader can see that there are a great amount of expectations for Mexican women.

The book Charity and Children in the Renaissance Florence, by Philip Gravitt, many mothers abandoned their children because of “Indigence”. This agrees with my argument that during the time of Renaissance not all women and mothers of the opportunity to get the money to take care of their children, there were some people that were going through a lot and taking care of their children will be a burden on time. Going back to what the Guidelines for good living in Renaissance, a mother must be able to take care of their children up to the age of six or seven when they can think rationally that is when a mother can be considered as a good one for taking care of their kid until that age. However, not all mothers can have the opportunity to take

The entire De La Garza family participates in sausage making. Everyone has a job in order to complete the amount that they set forth to complete each day. One afternoon, as they are preparing the sausages, Tita tells her mother that Pedro Muzquiz would like to pay her a visit due to his interest in marrying Tita, still remembering the first time that they met. It was During Tita and Pedro’s adolescent years. Their families came together for a traditional Mexican Christmas dinner. While at dinner Tita, the youngest of her two sisters, was forced to serve candies to the attendees, like she is usually required to do in addition to cooking, cleaning and sewing. While performing this task, she came in contact with Pedro. He gazed at her like no

“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

“Like Water for Chocolate” by Laura Esquivel, is a beautiful romantic tale of an impossible passionate love during the revolution in Mexico. The romance is followed by the sweet aroma of kitchen secrets and cooking, with a lot of imagination and creativity. The story is that of Tita De La Garza, the youngest of all daughters in Mama Elena’s house. According to the family tradition she is to watch after her mother till the day she does, and therefore cannot marry any men. Tita finds her comfort in cooking, and soon the kitchen becomes her world, affecting every emotion she experiences to the people who taste her food. Esquivel tells Titas story as she grows to be a mature, blooming women who eventually rebels

As a woman, Angela Vicario is the epitome of a traditional Colombian woman. A traditional Colombian woman is expected to be virgins when they get married; but Vicario defys this social custom causing Vicario to get “softly pushed his wife into [her house] without speaking,” (46). These details emphasize the idea that women are given different standards than men. The details help highlight Marquez’s criticism of how the traditional Colombian woman is treated as and thought of as. From a very young age Vicario and her sisters were taught “how to do screen embroidery, sew by machine, weave bone lace, wash and iron, make artificial flowers and fancy candy, and write engagement announcements,” (31). These skills were taught to better prepare the girls for marriage; displaying the difference in gender roles. Marquez uses parallel structure to emphasize the amount of skills one has to learn before they can be considered as good and pure. Many years after Bayardo San Román returns Vicario she still does “machine embroidery with her friends just as before she had made cloth tulips and paper birds, but when her mother went to bed she would stay in her room until dawn writing letters with no future,” (93). The diction of the words “no future” and “still” suggest that Vicario’s life is stuck in

Tapahonso’s novel is filled with poems and short stories that encompass her Native American tribe the Navajos. As you follow along the journey she takes you, you are able to learn about the importance of a child’s first laugh, the creation of her people, and even how in “Tune Up” children have to come home in order to feel at peace with themselves, their lives, and their culture. “The port presents her memories— ‘long time ago stories,’ as she calls them—as explanations of the Dine way of life to her grandchildren (Vasquez).” This novel is written more for her family and tribe then it is for an outsider. However, as a reader you feel that you are invited into a private world that rarely gets seen.