Characters in Like Water For Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

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Recommended: Literature review on the topic of women empowerment

1. Tita Quote: "Tita was so sensitive to onions, any time they were being chopped, they say she would just cry and cry; …" (Pg. 5) Write-up: Tita is the main character of the story, also the narrator, who suffers from unjust oppression from Mama Elena, her mother. She is raised to excel in the kitchen and many entertaining arts where she is expected to spend her whole life taking care of her mother. This is following the family tradition that the youngest daughter takes care of the mother until she dies. With her frivolous wants, Mama Elena denies her marriage and happiness to any man especially Pedro. She eventually breaks down and meets John Brown, the family doctor, who recovers her until she finds happiness again after Mama Elena's death with Pedro. Overall, Tita goes through a very dynamic change in the story which obviously entitles her to be a main character. 2. Mama Elena Quote: "Besides insisting that Tita taste the food in front of her, she [Mama Elena] always had a glass of warm milk… to counteract the effects of the bitter poison that according to her was dissolved in the food." (Pg. 135) Write-up: Mama Elena is a stern and bitter woman who oppresses Tita to be her caretaker through the family tradition. She keeps Tita from her true love, Pedro, and it is later revealed that Mama Elena herself once suffered from a lost love, embittering her for the rest of her life. Any child of her is deemed unworthy when he/she does something that is against her "rules." She takes this to the extreme where the rules are imposed on her more "public family," John Brown and Pedro included. Her stern stature is noted when her daunting gaze makes the Revolutionary general Juan Trevino uneasy. Eventually, her pride and distrust is revealed to be her major flaw which causes her death. 3. Gertrudis Quote: "She [Gertrudis] had come back with the intention of showing Mama Elena how she had triumphed in life. She was a general in the revolutionary army… Leadership was in her blood…" (Pg. 178 - 179) Write-up: Like all the daughters of Mama Elena, Gertrudis despised her very oppressive mother. She escapes her mother by running off with a rebel soldier, Juan Trevino due to a reaction of Tita's Quail in Rose Petal Sauce recipe.

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