What a House Means "A house means a family house, a place specially meant for putting children and men in so as to restrict their waywardness and distract them from the longing for adventure and escape they've had since time began." In all of these works nature of family and family relationships are defined by roles, but roles of family members are different. Although they are different, they play an important function of family environment. Every individual in the families had a specific job or role, so family and family relationship exist. In Kitchen individuals had their own roles in order to ensure that their family relationship worked out. "Eriko raised Yuichi a woman alone." Eriko had been taking care of domestic duties and also had ran a nightclub for financial matters by herself, so basically, she played a dual role of mother and father of typical traditional family. " I learned it raising Yuichi." "If a person wants to stand on her own two feet, I recommend undertaking the care and feeding of something. It could be children." "By doing that you come to understand your own limitations." Yuichi's role was to be faithful reflections and a purpose of Eriko and her life. His existence itself made Eriko like her own life and told her limitation of herself after Yuichi's real mother died. " I still went to my part-time job, but after that I would clean house, watch TV, bake cakes: I lived like a housewife." Even though Mikage was not related to the Tanabe family, she became one of their members after she moved in with them. Her jobs at home were cooking and housework which Eriko used to take care of. Ever since Mikage had been living with them, the relationships worked out and their house had changed into a happier place that was for individuals. In Like Water for Chocolate, the relationships between families did not work out because family members did not play their roles in family correctly. Since this family lost a father who was the supporter of the family, the mother was supposed to replace the father and be responsible for the rest of family members and take care of them. On the contrary, she was very selfish in that she used her daughters for her self-interest. This mother did not let her youngest daughter marry because she wanted her to stay and take care of her.