Tita Character Analysis

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Furthermore, the novel presents John, the family doctor as an interesting character. First of all, he chooses not to pay much attention to Tita’s cooking but rather he is compelled by her good, caring nature and beauty; traits that never seem to receive compliments. “John Brown, the doctor, was watching Tita, charmed by her. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her (…) When Tita walked by the table where he was sitting, he got up and went over to her on the pretext of admiring the baby. “How nice the child looks with such a beautiful aunt holding him!” “Thank you, Doctor.” “He isn’t even your own son. Imagine how pretty you will look with one of your own.” “Forgive me, it seems I’ve said something wrong.” “No, it’s not that. I can’t marry or have …show more content…

When Tita had a breakdown after a terrible dispute with her mother; John takes her and does everything in his power to bring her back to mental sanity. He cares for her, nurtures her and helps her begin a healing process; throughout this he teaches Tita a vital message about life. “My grandmother had a very interesting theory; she said that each of us is born with a box of matches inside of us but we can’t strike them all by ourselves;(…) Each person has to discover what will set off those explosions in order to live, since the combustion that occurs when one of them is ignited is what nourishes the soul.” (Esquivel 115) Here we witness an important shift in roles; John who is supposed to be dominant and demanding is instead affectionate and caring and does whatever it takes to nourish Tita and bring her spark back. When he talks about the box of matches he is using it as a metaphor to explain that life’s too short to be around people who will extinguish that fire that lies within us and we should instead do everything in our power to keep it burning constantly. Especially, by finding a love that is so passionate that will keep our box matches lit until the day we

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