Like Water for Chocolate and The Fall

Both the novels Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel and The Fall by Albert Camus illustrate the concept that the individuals are powerless to change their fate. Like Water for Chocolate written by Laura Esquivel is structured into 12 monthly chapters each centered around a recipe. The main theme of the story is the love between Tita and Pedro. There is power, love and life in food and this novel explores the life of food and woman who nourish us by starving themselves of their own desires in order to do so. The Fall by Albert Camus is an enigmatic novel. It is the story about a lawyer who introduces himself to be a perfect and blameless character. But as the novel progresses he admits his errors and mistakes and he argues that he cannot be punished for his mistakes since all the people are not flawless and without blemish either.

Literature is a mirror as well as a hammer. Literature does address both questions in different ways. Literature is a mirror, since it helps us understand our identities and purposes in our life. We seek answers to who we are and how shall we live. Literature in both the novels mirrors the life, culture and civilization of the people. The thoughts of the great become the part of the literature. We get the feelings of happiness or pain that is possessed by the characters in the novel. We read the literature and we take it whether it is good or evil. It is comforting to read of the travails and the joys of characters who struggle with the same issues that we encounter. So, literature is a mirror, as we discover ourselves and our lives reflected in the characters. It is amazing, that we can see ourselves and glimpses of our own experiences that were written centuries before our birth.

Studying lit...

... middle of paper ...

... to assimilate the concept, argue and this widens our horizons and we try to broom rationalistic and humanistic in nature. When we go on reading books like that we come to know various situations which we may not be experiencing now, but later we can utilize this to handle the situation in a matured way when we actually face it. In today’s fast- paced world, reading has taken aback as modern gadgets and gizmos have made their grand foray in our life. The importance of literature has been overshadowed by media influence. Books are replaced by digital gadgets. But the importance of reading should not be abandoned. Reading novels, magazines and literary work give us a broader prospective of viewing things, improves skills, instills knowledge and makes us aware of various different facets of life. It lays a foundation of an enriched life and adds ‘life’ to the living.