Like Water For Chocolate Chapter 21 Analysis

One of the things I automatically noticed when reading Laura Esquivel 's Like Water for Chocolate was the constant mentioning of hot and cold sensations that Tita experienced. This begins to appear in the book in as little as 14 pages. On this page it states, “Tita felt her body fill with a wintry chill: in one sharp, quick blast was so cold…”. The wintery chill is alluding to when Mama Elena appeared in the kitchen and brought her news of Rosaura’s agreement to marry Pedro. Stricken with sadness, Tita is left with a feeling of depression, loneliness, and hatred which is symbolized through her constant sensation of being cold. On the other hand we have Tita’s sensation of warmth. Again, this is mentioned in the first chapter on page 14; it

Characters who exhibit cold traits are Mama Elena and Rosaura, while characters who exhibit heat are Pedro and Gertrudis. Tita seems to be stuck in the middle both experiencing hot and cold. This is quickly explained in chapter 6, June, when Doctor Brown talks to Tita about matches. He goes through telling her how to have matches lit and how they are blown out, so he offers up the idea “That’s why it’s important to distance yourself from people who have frigid breath.” Within that chapter Tita returns home and quickly makes a note of saying “She felt an urge to run far, far away, to shield the tiny flame John had coaxed up in her from her mother’s chilling presence.” For yet another example, when Mama Elena comes back as a ghost to Tita later on in Chapter 9, September, but first Tita is greeted by a cold wind that blows open the kitchen door and allows Mama’s spirit in. As for Rosaura, when she dies it makes a mention of her blue lips.Throughout this whole book she seems to get sadder and sadder. It almost makes you stop and think maybe her lips turned blue because the matches inside of her were blown out and she turned cold. On the complete opposite side of the characters, we have Pedro who is could be defined by the word heat. I mean he literally died in a fire started by both Tita and his bodies. On page 38, it said, “It was as if all her inner joy, which had been extinguished, had suddenly