My first reaction to the ending was "What just happened?" However, as I reread, I loved it. Sure, it was a bit creepy--I mean, cheese and rice, Tita ate candles! Who in their right mind would eat candles? But then I realized that it definitely tied into the overall symbol of the box of matches and true love. I thought that the ending was fantastic because it illustrated just how strong true love was.
Tonight, in INT290 we discussed feminism. One of the characteristics of the third wave of feminism (1990's to the present) was that sex was seen as a positive thing. After hearing that, I wondered if Esquivel was a feminist. In the book, for example, Gertrudis is redeemed even though we learned that she was a prostitute. It wasn't written as a disgusting profession or that she was unclean. Instead, Gertrudis chose to do that, to "quench the red-hot fire that was raging inside her" (55). Usually, you hear of women going into prostitution for money or for other various reasons. However, this was for Gertrudis and her own needs, and she didn't have to be seen a slut for doing it.
Overall, I found this book amazing. The magic realism fit perfectly and didn't even make anything seem over-the-top. Not only that, but it was a simple love story, that's it. The story was told exquisitely: it wasn't difficult to understand and made you want to keep reading. Plus it was written like a cookbook. Who doesn't want to learn the secret ingredient for love? It's obviously magic and candles.
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