INTRODUCTION
Hello my name is Isla, and my topic is about exploring the significance of food and how it affects characters in Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. This exploration has been divided into three sub-topics and all of which are in relation to the food aspects of this novel. These will include:
1. The effect of recipe sequencing
2. The use of magical realism through food to express the character’s emotions
3. Food as a metaphor
In these topics, Esquivel's use of interesting techniques and symbols involving food will be discussed as well as their effect on the reader.
The effect of recipe sequencing
• Chapters
The book has not been narrated by Tita but rather by a descendant from her family. We learn later on that Tita's cookbook along with her memories have been passed down from generation to generation. The narrator of Like Water for Chocolate has chosen to retell the story in a compilation of twelve chapters, with one for each month of the year. Each chapter has a different recipe which in turn causes different events to happen. The novel isn't a very heavily populated book, yet it is compactly filled with many literary devices that add to the meaning and structure of the story. The
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By using techniques like magical realism, hidden themes found within the novel are given recognition. Another way that these themes are represented is through Esquivel's use of food analogies. Through food the reader is welcomed into a different level of the book, where they have a deeper understanding of character's emotions. The effects of the use of food on characters in the novel, is most obvious and plays an extremely important role in the unravelling of the occurring events. Without food as a major theme in Like Water for Chocolate, the structure of the novel and meaning behind it could be