Like Water For Chocolate Magical Realism Analysis

What is magical realism? According to Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11 Edition), magical realism by definition is a literary genre or style that is especially associated with Latin America and which incorporates fantastic and/or mythical elements into an otherwise realistic piece of fiction such as a novel. Hence, this usually means is that the majority of the novel is real, but there are many obvious fictional parts that are skillfully inlaid in such as way as to be more easily accepted as real. This essay will discuss three different incidences of magical realism in the book Like Water for Chocolate written by Ms. Laura Esquivel. One of the incidents that will be discussed is how the author describes the fantastical birth of Tita,

The author states through the character of Dr. John Brown that “each of us is born with a box of matches inside of us” (115). In making this comment, the author is describing that we each have within us to the ability to create the fire necessary to live. She further describes how strong emotions are the matches that can light the candles that fire us up and “nourishes the soul” (115). Additionally, Ms. Esquivel explains through dialogue that people need to find that “other person,” our soul mate as it were, whose “breath” will keep our internal fire of love burning. Ms. Esquivel continues, “That’s why it’s important to keep your distance from people who have frigid breath” (116). Consequently, the author is positing that any “negative” person around you is able to extinguish your internal fire and, thereby, keep you from finding the love of your life. In other words, if we don’t keep the warmth we need to live growing inside of us, there is the possibility that light that produces this warmth may be extinguished and with this will come death; literally or