The Archetypal Hero in Like Water for Chocolate

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“A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with [their] freedom” (Dylan). However, though heroes face complications throughout their quest, in the end they often accomplish an important rask. In the book, Like Water for Chocolate, the main character, Tita shows a perfect example of a hero. Tita is in a continuous emotional quest throughout the entire story, but proves along the way she is indeed one who will not fail. Many characteristics of a hero certainly fit Tita’s character, however, there are some very important ones, she: suffers an unusual childbirth, yields a special weapon, goes through a traumatic event that leads to an adventure, has supernatural help, experiences atonement with mother, and when she dies she is rewarded spiritually.
Tita emulates the standard archetypal hero’s unusual circumstances of birth with her own atypical birth immediately in the beginning of the novel. Almost instantaneously after being introduced to Tita, she “made her entrance into this world, prematurely” (Esquivel 5). A premature birth is certainly abnormal, but it is not the only thing that makes Tita’s birth unique. The cause of her premature birth, in fact, was that “her wailing got so violent that it brought on early labor” (Esquivel 5). Her ability to bring about her own birth coincides with the idea of an unusual birth. It is however, extended even more so when the narrator tells the reader that Tita was “literally washed into this world on a great tide of tears” (Esquivel 6). While not being the most dazzling introduction of a character, it exemplifies the importance and individuality of Tita. Of the elements of an archetypal hero, an unusual birth is crucial because it will often deliver to the reader what a ...

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...vel, 245). Tita was then rewarded spiritually with something she had desired all of her life, she left behind the trace of a true hero.
From the exposition to the denouement of Like Water For Chocolate, the character Tita represents an archetypal hero. One knows so owing to the fact that Tita experiences an unusual birth, wields a special weapon, experiences a traumatic event, receives supernatural help, atones for her mother’s wrongdoings, and is rewarded spiritually at the end of her life. Overall, Tita is not the most glamorous hero, but she fit’s the archetype nearly perfectly. Given this, it is important for one to remember that the subtleties of a character do, in reality, often represent the elements of an archetype. In finding these items, the reader may find deeper meaning within most any story, and Like Water for Chocolate does not stand as an exception.

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