Food as a Character

The food is what Tita bases her life off of. It seems to be an extension of her at first, but then it begins to take a complete control of itself before Tita does. The food ends up curing, healing and killing those that matter most to Tita or are plaguing her. Throughout the novel food is the only thing that everyone can relate to. It is the one thing that brings people together and pushes them apart. It is an observer of all of the conversations of the family, because it is in the kitchen and notices everything. A perfect example is the tamales. They would not cook because there was fighting going on in the house and outside the house, so Tita had to trick them by singing to them. The food is like a child that affects everyone. And it is the only thing to survive the fire at the end, so it is the only thing of that family to survive after the big fire are the recipes that were so powerful.