Magical Realism Essay

1161 Words3 Pages

The novel, Like Water for Chocolate, written by Laura Esquivel in 1989 is an example of a romantic tragedy that uses elements of Magical Realism. According to Goodreads, Magical Realism is a fiction genre in which magical elements blend to create a realistic atmosphere that accesses a deeper understanding of reality. Laura Esquivel uses elements of Magical Realism to express the emotional obstacles the main character faces. The novel, Like Water for Chocolate, tells the story of Tita de la Garza, who falls in love with her neighbor, Pedro, but she cannot marry him because of a family tradition. Her mother, Elena de la Garza, strongly believes in the family tradition of the youngest daughter not being able to marry anyone to take care of her mother until the day she dies. Instead of allowing Tita to marry Pedro, Elena suggests for him to marry Rosaura, one of Tita 's older sisters. Pedro accepts because he believes this is the only way he can be close to Tita, not because he has any feelings for Rosaura. Not being able to marry the love of her life created a big pain in Tita’s heart, which led to a feeling of mixed emotions inside of her. In Like Water for Chocolate, Magical Realism can be seen mostly through Tita and her cooking as she struggles to control her …show more content…

Tita’s emotions portray the outcome of her cooking; If she is sad the food is unpleasant, but if she is happy the food is very appetizing. Laura Esquivel uses Magical Realism to portray in a vivid image the emotions Tita feels towards pedro, but cannot show in real life. One would expect an ending where love triumphs and everyone lives happily ever after, but that is not the case in Like Water for Chocolate; The novel had an unexpected ending with the dead of both Tita and Pedro as they show their love to each other without any

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