Food As a Character - LWFC

It could be said that the food featured in Like Water For Chocolate serves a very distinct role of arbiter between the rest of the novel’s characters. It constantly remains in a central position of the narrative because, quite naturally, it is woven into the culture that the story s illustrating. To the extent that it is an arbiter, it acts as a balancing mechanism for the conflict (and catalyst points) that occur in the story. In regard to the elements of supernatural realism present in the story, this means that food is a neutral tool to be used for the characters. To use Tita as the most obvious example, she finds comfort in several dishes that she (is sometimes forced to) makes, but is also challenged by them in the same way that another character would; as an obstacle to her beliefs. On the literal level, she is challenged to endure the tragic emotional events of her life which are made harder by serving as one of the more experienced family cooks. Looking more deeply, one might see that while her love of her culture’s food is quite strong, that food is a big part of an overall tradition that she may resent to the core (in regard to specific issues such as her destiny as a mother’s caretaker). She struggles with loving and resenting different parts of her family. It is in this fashion that food is most blatantly personified as a living, breathing character.