“To be a queen of a household is a powerful thing”, quoted by Jill Scott, which portrays the idea of being the head of a household as a woman. Like Water for Chocolate, written by Laura Esquirel, firmly emphasizes the power that the head of a household could have and use. In this novel, the unavailability of a father in the family led Mama Elena to take the role as a head of household. Mama Elena is a mother of three daughters who treats her youngest daughter overbearingly, due to the Mexican tradition. Although Mama Elena is biologically a woman, she has almost identical characteristics as men do. Usually, fathers have masculine characteristics as a head of household where they are tyrannical, fearless and give strong impact on their kids. Mama Elena perfectly plays the role of masculinity as a way of being despotic and a male figure. Throughout the novel, Mama Elena’s conspicuous masculine figure is clearly portrayed as she still gives masterful influence on Tita even after her death.
The author evidently shows Mama Elena’s tyrannical personality and absolute power over her daughters as Mama Elena follows the Mexican tradition where mother forces a youngest daughter to take care of her mother rest of her life.
…show more content…
Bits of chicken flew in every direction along with the smell of burnt feathers.” (90) It is unusual for women to be adroit at using guns due to the fact that they tend to be weak in both physically and mentally. However, in this scene, Mama Elena’s intrepid and fierce personality breaks the stereotype of women.
Throughout the novel, Mama Elena’s existence plays a terrific impact on her daughters. Whether she is alive or dead, Tita fears Mama Elena’s presence due to her tyrannical personality. When Mama Elena is alive, she tends to use violence to Tita whenever she doesn’t feel comfortable about what Tita