I have chosen structuralism for my theory because there are many symbols and signs within the story Like Water for Chocolate, and most of it has to do with the food. Food is very relevant in this story so first I will begin with the significance and gravity food plays throughout Tita’s life. I explained that Tita was born and raised in the kitchen and finds comfort from cooking and also from nurturing others. Tita is in love with a man named Pablo who comes to her ranch to ask Mama Elena permission for her hand in marriage. Mama Elena explains that Tita is not allowed to marry because the youngest daughter of hers must stay and care for her until she is deceased. Mama Elena then tells Pablo that he may marry Tita’s older sister, Rosaura, instead, and Pablo agrees in order to be close to Tita. Tita is then thrown into a whirlwind of emotion because her one true love is marrying her sister. On the day of Rosaura and Pablos’s wedding, Tita prepares the frosting for the wedding cake. As she is making it, she begins to fill with tears which drop into the frosting as it is mixing. Nacha tastes the frosting in order to make sure Tita didn’t get it too salty and once she does so, she too is thrown into an emotional whirlwind. She begins to think of her long lost love and is so overwhelmed that she ends up dying because of it. The cake is also served to the rest of the guests at the wedding and they too begin to feel sorrow just like Tita and start crying and vomiting. Rosaura eats the cake and begins to vomit all over her pure white dress. This shows how powerful Tita’s cooking can be; when she is emotional, she pours her soul into the dish. After all of the madness, Mama Elena believes that Tita must have poisoned the cake so she begins to beat Tita. The significance of the frosting on the cake is that it was a way for Tita to express her feelings. If and when Tita expresses her feelings, she is usually put down by Mama Elena. The only way she can show herself is through food and her cooking. Tita was born into a world of blood and tears, which she gives back through her cake. Also, there is symbolism in the vomiting of the guests and the vomit Rosaura got on her white dress. It is evident that this wedding is very impure, false, and not meant to be.
One afternoon, Tita is preparing dinner for her family with Pedro included. Tita is stung with arousal because Pedro continues to stare deeply at her and tells her in private that he still has deep feelings for her. Tita cannot help herself and starts to cook up a meal that serves as an aphrodisiac to the family. Her sister, Gertrudis, starts to feel the affect of her sister’s cooking immediately. She goes outside for a shower and is so turned on and aroused that the heat of her body sets the shower on fire. She runs out of the shower naked and as she does, a soldier on horseback comes by and scoops her up. They gallop away on horseback and she ends up joining the war with the soldier. Here is another example of how powerful food is in the hands of Tita, and the ways of her cooking. When Pedro expresses his undying love for Tita in private, Tita, in turn, cooks him a very erotic meal to communicate her lust for him. The disappearance of Gertrudis reveals much about female sexuality in this story. While Tita can only articulate her sexuality within the family household, Gertrudis is able to exceed these limits without hesitation. Her leaving can be seen as a victory because she is able to pursue her desired yearnings. Her withdrawal from the ranch also shows that her femininity cannot exist in the domain of the ranch. She needed to shed her skin and discover who she really is, which Gertrudis did in that exact moment of the shower scene. This shows the contrast Gertrudis and Tita have from one another. Tita must hide her true feelings while Gertrudis can exclaim them to the world on a whim.
(Food and sex are closely related after Tita prepares a meal evoking her lust for Pedro.)
My next observation of symbolism in the book was when Rosaura gave birth to Roberto and was unable to produce breast milk for him. Tita would secretly feed him herself because it is the only form of food the child would consume. When Mama Elena sends Pedro and Rosaura away to San Antonio, Tita is devastated to be away from her nephew and the man she loves. Roberto soon dies because he wouldn’t eat anything else besides his Aunt Tita’s breast milk. Tita becomes extremely upset and yells at her mother telling Mama Elena that it is her fault Roberto is dead. Mama Elena then beats Tita with a wooden spoon and breaks her nose for expressing herself. The situation of Tita being able to breast feed Roberto is a sign of the love Tita has for Pedro but cannot express. It also shows how motherly and nurturing Tita is and what a cold and unsuitable mother Rosaura makes.
(Rosaura is unable to feed her own child so Tita secretly feeds the baby.
Tita is shows her love for Pedro by providing milk for his child.)
Tita's confrontation with Mama Elena marks the first time that Tita is able to assert her beliefs, but she does this at a time where she is weak and distraught. Tita tries to have power over her mother by expressing herself in words, but she is beaten for doing so. Every time Tita has the chance of expressing herself, Mama Elena quickly banishes this with physical violence. The abuse Tita receives puts her at a constant threat of violence over her body and mind. She cannot resume her motherly duties without Mama Elena being there to stop her.
After the explosion Mama Elena and Tita had, Mama Elena tries to send Tita off to an asylum. A man named Dr. Brown saves Tita and offers for her to stay with him. She decides to stay but does not talk. For the first time in her life, she in not surrounded by the ranch or the kitchen. Dr. Brown teaches her how to ignite her “inner fire” and become her own person. Tita learns what it is like to be an individual and not have restraints on her life. For once, Tita is free with the help of Dr. Brown. This inner fire becomes the central image of the novel and comes to symbolize Tita's journey toward selfhood.
(Dr. Brown teaches Tita of her "inner flame" in order for Tita to find herself)
As Tita grows into her own person, she decides that she is not going back to the ranch any time soon. One day, her house maid from the ranch named Chencha stops by and tells her news of the ranch. Apparently Mama Elena never speaks of her daughter Tita. Tita gives the message to Chencha that she is never going to come back to the ranch again. Before Chencha can deliver this message, a group of bandits attack the ranch and rape Chencha. Mama Elena tries to defend Chencha, but the bandits attack Mama Elena, rendering her a paraplegic. Tita finds out this news and decides that she must return to the ranch and care for Chencha and Mama Elena. Tita starts to cook many of her nourishing remedies to try and cure Mama Elena. She makes and ox-tail soup which has cured her own illness in the past for Mama Elena. Mama Elena quickly refuses it, accusing Tita of poisoning the soup. Mama Elena continues to refuse Tita’s nourishment and constantly takes ipecac to make herself throw up in fear of poisoning. Mama Elena eventually dies from this overdose of ipecac within a month.
The attack of the bandits on Mama Elena’s ranch symbolizes the physical and emotional trauma that she has created in Tita’s life. Mama Elena is punished for what she has done by becoming a paraplegic. Tita’s return to the ranch shows what a caring and nurturing person she is and always has been. Mama Elena, however, rejects this nourishment that easily could have brought her back to good health. Even though Mama Elena is in a weakened condition, she still has a hold over Tita’s emotions by criticizing her food. More than just rejecting the food, Mama Elena also rejects Tita’s love and healing. The way in which Mama Elena dies is symbolic in the way she has lived her life. She has always been bitter and angry, slowly torturing herself by not finding happiness in her own life. The ipecac was her final poisoning because all of her life she was never able to let in love or healing.
Tita is free from her mother and is asked by Dr. Brown for her hand in marriage. Tita agrees and is excited by their engagement until she receives news that Rosaura has had her second child. It is a girl and Tita names the child Esperanza which means “hope.” This name symbolizes the hope that a new change will come about and let Esperanza escape from the family tradition that the youngest daughter must not marry. Rosaura becomes sick and bedridden due to a complicated delivery so Tita immediately takes over the care of Esperanza. Tita begins by raising Esperanza in the kitchen just like she was raised by Nacha. Rosaura becomes jealous of the relationship Tita and Esperanza have and renounces that the family tradition will still be followed and Esperanza shall not be married. That night Tita is overwhelmed with anger and begins cooking. She is overwhelmed with heat and emotion while she is making dinner and it shows in her dish. Her aggression is said to be “like water for chocolate” pertaining to the preparation of her dish using chocolate, during which water is brought right before a boil a few times before adding in the chocolate. After her episode in the kitchen, Tita decides to take a shower outside. As she is taking a shower, Tita feels that her skin is burning from the water. She looks over and sees Pedro watching her from across the way. Later that night Pedro takes Tita to bed and makes love to her, taking her virginity. Rosaura and Chencha can hear Tita and Pedro and think that it is the ghost of Mama Elena coming back from the dead.
There are many tensions troubling Tita which explains the images of intense heat. She is worried for her niece and excited about her marriage to Dr. Brown. She also has not forgotten about her undying love and lust for Pedro and releases her tension by losing her virginity to him. The heat also symbolizes the internal flame that Dr. Brown taught Tita to have within her. This flame allows Tita to rule her own life with desire and compulsion. Now that Mama Elena is gone, Tita is free to make her own decisions and act accordingly to what her emotions tell her. All of the abuse that Tita has received over the years from Mama Elena are tucked away inside her, afraid to come out. Now that Tita realizes she can make some of her own choices, she acts out in the essence of freedom and makes love to Pedro. Tita is a very motherly woman filled with emotion, passion and love. She needs to evoke these three emotions into others and desires to care for Esperanza. Tita could not bear to see Esperanza tied down by her mother like she was. Her caring and passion for others is very overwhelming and ironic in the sense that Mama Elena had none of Tita’s wonderful traits.
Tita soon begins to fear that she might become pregnant after having sex with Pedro. She decides that she must cancel her wedding with Dr. Brown because she is no longer a virgin. Tita begins to prepare King’s Day bread and talks about how it reminds her of her childhood. She remembers being with Nacha and Gertrudis in the kitchen when she was little and innocent. The King’s Day bread could symbolize the realization that she is no longer innocent. Tita thinks of her childhood because her virginity is lost and she is becoming more of a woman, especially with her mother gone. Mama Elena is no longer around to treat her like a slave child and put a damper on Tita’s emotions. Tita is free from her childhood, yet still recalls all of the happy days she had spent cooking with Nacha. It is a bitter-sweet moment for Tita.
(Tita has many fears, worries and doubts. Her only happiness come from her cooking)
Rosaura begins to suffer from digestive problems which makes her gain weight, pass gas and have awful breath. Rosaura turns to Tita for a remedy to help her stomach. Tita offers Rosaura special foods to cure her stomach and bad breath. Meanwhile, Pedro is moving farther and farther away from Rosaura because of her condition. Rosaura is becoming de-feminized with her condition which makes Tita look even more appealing and desired to Pedro. Rosaura is getting a little payback for marrying Pedro in the first place and sentencing Esperanza to a marriage-less life. Unlike Tita, Rosaura has no power over cooking and is obviously choosing the wrong foods for her stomach. Tita is able to help because of her nurturing ways. Tita is symbolized as the all-around feminine role model as compared to her sister who does not come close. Pedro is seeing this and longing ever more for Tita and her loveliness.
(Pedro's longing for Tita becomes even more evident as his wife, Rosaura develops digestive problems leaving her overweight and pungent.)
Feeling guilty, Tita tells Rosaura about her affair with Pedro. Rosaura, upset, rushes out of the kitchen and as she does, the ghost of Mama Elena enters. She screams at Tita for having an affair with Pedro and curses the baby inside of Tita. Tita is gravely upset but does not know who to turn to about the situation. Later that night, her sister Gertrudis returns on horseback alongside the man who swept her off her feet and took her away from the ranch years ago. Gertrudis is a veteran of many battles and a general in the revolutionary army. Tita is overwhelmed with joy to see her sister once again.
(Mama Elena returns from the dead to ridicule Tita and curse her unborn child. Even in death, Mama Elena still has control of her daughter.)
The return of Mama Elena exemplifies the degree of influence she has over Tita. Even in death, Mama Elena has more power over Tita than Tita, in life, has over herself. Tita is feeling guilty about losing her virginity and cheating on Dr.Brown which might have evoked the spirit of Mama Elena upon her. She knows she deserves this punishment and also knows that she wishes not to be pregnant. She is worried about the judgement society will put on her, and of course, cannot escape the judgement of her mother.
With the return of Gertrudis, Tita is shown the model of what a woman with personal freedom looks like. Gertrudis has accomplished her success by taking risks, even if that meant being rejected from the female world. Once again, Tita is reminded of what she is not. Tita could never act upon her own freewill because she is scared of the outcomes. Being tethered by Mama Elena does not help Tita’s self esteem and self awareness.
(Gertrudis is shown as the independent woman who is shown to express herself. She is everything Tita is not because Tita remains locked up, afraid to express her desires)
The ranch is filled with house guests, including Gertrudis’ army, and they stay for over a week. Pedro becomes drunk one night and is singing love songs to Tita from under her window. The spirit of Mama Elena sees this and becomes very angry and threatens Tita to leave the house at once. For once in Tita’s life, she stands up to the spirit exclaiming that she hates her mother and she always has. Tita tells the spirit, “I know who I am! A person who has a perfect right to live her life as she pleases.” The spirit of Mama Elena retreats into a small light while Tita starts to feel a calm, soothing sensation in her breasts and stomach. At once she has a violent menstrual flow, ridding her of her unwanted pregnancy.
Tita has finally, once and for all, stood up to her evil mother and in that instance, is put at ease. By fighting back at Mama Elena, Tita has broken away from her unwanted pregnancy and the judgement society would have placed upon her. This also puts Tita at a conundrum, her fear of what others will think of her come before her motherly and nurturing ways. It seems that Tita’s true identity will not shine because of the fear she has of other’s judgement. What Tita wants is never what Tita can have because she cannot live her life like her sister Gertrudis. Gertrudis is a symbol of what the heart wants. Inner desires and needs is what Gertrudis is all about and Tita needs to listen to her own inner desires in order to be herself.
After all of the mayhem Tita goes through, she is confronted by her sister Rosaura about Tita’s relationship with Pablo. She claims that Tita is a “loose woman” and that she won’t allow Tita to be in Esperanza’s presence. After her fight with Rosaura, Tita returns to cooking tamales for dinner. All of the sudden a commotion is heard outside and Tita sees all of the chickens in the yard fighting and attacking each other. Tita tries to stop the bloody brawl but the chickens continue fighting and start to get blood on the white diapers hanging on the line above. The chicken fight creates a huge whirlwind that turns into a tornado. Tita attempts to save the diapers but a few of them are sucked in along with the whirlwind. Three chickens are also sucked into the void. When the madness ends, Tita returns to the kitchen to find that her tamales are not done cooking yet. Tita remembers what Nacha said about tamales and that they will not cook when people are fighting. Tita begins to sing to the beans and they magically begin cooking again.
(Tita sings to her tamales and they begin to cook. Tita has a whimsical connection with food.)
Rosaura is symbolized as the failed mother and wife in this story, and Tita is obviously the opposite of her. By calling Tita a “loose woman” Rosaura is trying to make up for the fact that she cannot be what Tita is. Pedro will never love her as much as he loves Tita. The chicken fight symbolizes the turmoil in Tita’s life and the fighting going on between everyone in the house. Tita’s emotions symbolize the whirlwind, sucking up the chickens. Emperanza’s diapers symbolize Tita’s purity which Rosaura has just claimed false. Tita is reinforced as a sinner when the diapers are ruined with blood. The three chickens are symbolized as the strange love triangle going on between Tita, Rosaura and Pedro. The chickens are brought to their demise by the whirlwind that symbolizes Tita’s struggle with emotion. When Tita comes back to sing to the tamales, she, too, is put at ease along with the beans in the pot. This shows where Tita can be herself which is in the kitchen. I feel like the only thing Tita really does understand is food and food also understands her as well. The connection of the two is symbolized as what keeps Tita stable and where her radiance really shines through.
That night, Dr. Brown stops by with his aunt to discuss plans of the wedding. Tita must give him the bad news that she is no longer a virgin and cannot marry him. Dr. Brown is very upset, but is very forgiving of Tita. This separates him from the rest of the characters in Like Water for Chocolate. Everyone is very judgmental of Tita and expects her to be someone she is not. I believe that Dr. Brown is sort of her guardian angel that was sent to teach her of her inner flame and accept her flaws. He has always been there for Tita and wants nothing but the best for her. Tita is shown by Dr. Brown that she can make her own decisions and live her life freely.
(The wedding of Alex and Esperanza is a time of happiness and the end of a horrible family tradition)
Years have gone by and it seems that there is a wedding being planned for at the ranch. It is the wedding of Esperanza and Alex, Dr.Brown’s son. We find that Rosaura refused this wedding from happening but she ends up passing away due to her digestive problems. Tita and Pedro are delighted to see Esperanza and Alex getting married and are now able to express their own true emotions to each other. After the wedding, Alex and Esperanza go off on their honeymoon, leaving Pedro and Tita alone in the ranch for the first time. They make love so passionately that a tunnel opens up to the spirit world. Pedro’s heart begins beating so fast that he has a heart attack and dies. Tita can see him passing on in the tunnel to the spirit world. Tita wishes to go with him so she consumes the candles in the room, letting her inner fire blaze. When she meets Pedro in the spirit world, their bodies create a spark which sets the ranch on fire. The people in town mistake the burning as fireworks going off for the celebration of Esperanza and Alex. When they return from their honeymoon, they find everything in the ranch has burnt up except for all of the recipes that were mastered by Tita.
(The love between Tita and Pedro is so strong that is takes them both away to the spirit world)
The wedding of Esperanza and Alex ends the horrible family tradition and creates a new hope for the couple. The flame that burns down the ranch is also symbolic to the end of the chaos and turmoil that has haunted Tita and each woman before her. When Pedro dies and goes into the spirit tunnel and Tita is left behind, it is shown the relationship they have had from the beginning. Pedro was always active in his decisions and showed power in his life. Tita was never able to have the power to make her own decisions and was left behind by Pedro. By making the decision to join Pedro, Tita was calling on her inner flame to do the job. The inner flame that had always been burning within her now brings her to be with Pedro forever. It is ironic that Tita’s cookbook is the only thing to survive because it seems like cooking was one of the only things to make Tita happy and stable throughout her life. Now the family of Esperanza and Alex can carry on in a new direction without the tradition that has hurt so many in the past.
