Secret Self

I think it’s interesting that Tita only truly knows her mother after her mother is dead. When she discovers the box with Mama Elena’s letters, she is finally allowed a glimpse into the Mama Elena that she never had a chance to know. The discovery of her mother’s secret love affair makes Mama Elena seem more human, and it also shows how similar Tita truly is to her mother.

I find it confusing that Mama Elena went to such great lengths to keep Tita from happiness, even when she herself had experienced such a great love affair and such a devastating loss. It seems that her own experiences had turned her bitter, and changed her forever into the person that Tita knew her as. She had to build a shield around her heart, and she no longer had the capacity to recognize or care about true love, even in her daughters.

I think that this theme rings true for each and every one of us. The older we get, it’s easier to understand that our parents and grandparents had a life before us, a life that was completely separate from us; even so, it’s difficult (for me at least!) to truly imagine. Even with those closest to us, our girlfriends or boyfriends, husbands or wives, it’s impossible to know every piece of their heart and soul. It’s interesting to think that as close as we are to someone, we can never know them completely.