Like Water For Chocolate

Throughout the part of the novel that I have read, Tita seems to be constricted in many, if not all, aspects of her life. Her mother is in a sense her master. Mama Elena does not take Tita's feelings into account when making decisions. So to counteract this inability to express what she wants, Tita lets her emotions become infused in the food she prepares. Whatever she was feeling while preparing the food is acted out by those who partake of it. An example is when Mama Elena becomes paralyzed and Tita is the only who can care for her. When Chechna and John try the food prepared by Tita it tastes perfectly fine to them, however, when Mama Elena tastes it there is a bitter element to the food that convinces her that Tita is trying to poison her. Food is a major component in the novel also because the author uses specific recipes to tell her story.