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Like Water For Chocolate Magical Realism Essay

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Like Water For Chocolate Magical Realism Essay
Magical realism is a literary style used by many authors. Written by Laura Esquivel, Like Water for Chocolate is a love story that is both magical and tragic. Tita is the youngest of three daughters, meaning she has to take care of her ill-tempered mother, Mama Elena. She is in love with Pedro, but is not allowed the marry anyone due to a longstanding family tradition. Being so restricted and madly in love with each other, Pedro decides to marry Rosaura, the eldest daughter and Tita’s sister, seeing it as the only way to be close to Tita. This causes an emotional rollercoaster within Tita who is forced to witness the marriage between Pedro and her sister. However, Mama Elena and how outsiders may view her does not allow her to express any of these feelings. Through magical realism, Esquivel expresses the theme of social repression of women by tradition and society. …show more content…
At that moment, a rebel soldier attracted by the smell of roses arrives and takes Gertrudis away and they have sex all while riding on a horse. Later on, it is revealed that Gertrudis ended up in a brothel, and with that knowledge Mama Elena disowns her. After an extended amount of time, Gertrudis comes back as a general in the revolutionary army. Gertrudis, free from Mama Elena and society’s repression, was able to grow, reach her full potential, and become something of her own, not someone society forces her to be. Esquivel uses magical realism to better express the theme and its effects. Through this literary style the author is able to show emotions of a character who is not allowed to express herself. Like Water for Chocolate depicts the struggle of women that is still experienced today. Society hinders women in so many wrongful ways, and gaining freedom of emotion is an enormous step towards being unconfined from society. As the story shows, overcoming this barrier will open the door to so many opportunities in
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