Like Water for Chocolate
“To the table or to bed, you must come when you are bid.” This is the false assumption that Tita lives by throughout the novel Like Water for Chocolate, By Laura Esquivel. Tita lives her life by accepting the rule of others. When faced with conflict, Tita often knowingly refuses to do what is best for her. There are two areas of conflict in the novel that show Tita’s weakness and inability to make decisions. These are both the conflicts with her family, and the conflicts with herself. It would be ridiculous to argue that Mama Elena and Rosaura are positive members of a family, but their inadequacies are all the more reason for Tita to reject their rules and values. It is written in stone early in the novel that Tita is not to marry until the day that Mama Elena dies. Mama Elena takes the time to tell Tita that, “you have to take care of me until the day I die.” (10) This is quite the threat, but the only thing that truly enforces the rule is Mama Elena’s rage. There is no earthly reason from the start of the novel to the finish for Tita not to run away with Pedro and attempt to start a new life elsewhere. Tita’s adherence to Mama Elena’s rules on marriage only speaks for her emotional frailty. After a hospital st . . .
If Tita wants to conquer her family’s demons, she must first conquer her own. Tita wants Pedro, and wants him badly, yet she cannot decide to attain him. Accepting someone else’s rules only leads Tita to discomfort, and she will only truly live when she lives for herself. No one can force Tita to remain in her family prison, and Tita frequently demonstrates that she is too weak and indecisive to escape. After Tita gets better, she promises to marry John Brown, and makes herself a liar just as quickly, when she says, “John, I think we’d better call it off. The one and only time that Tita actually defies Mama Elena is in a mystical vision after Mama Elena is already dead (199-200). Tita falls in love with her doctor, John Brown, and simultaneously fools herself into thinking that she is over Pedro. Tita again proves her instability and weakness when she lands in the hospital from an emotional breakdown, and as a result she makes the first of many changes in opinion towards her suitors. It is just as true with Rosaura as it is with Mama Elena; the only way Tita can conquer her family members is when they are already dead. The narrator states that this is “That crucial decision that would determine her whole future. If Pedro is given the option of continuing to live with the family or throwing caution to the wind and running away with Tita, he will quickly start packing. Its clear that Tita cannot deal with her family, but it is even clearer that Tita cannot deal with herself. ” Tita always comes when others bid for her, and this results in a dreary life in which Tita lives with the fear of Mama Elena’s rage and Rosaura’s blackmail.
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Acceptance Essays
