Just Another Love Story

Like Water For Chocolate was ... just like another love story to me. There are flaws and issues that get in the way of the mates and then they overcome it in the end. Like how we have been discussing the eight essential elements in a love story. I don't really know how I felt about the ending, just that it ended up like the stories we have read, or the films, books I have read myself. I mean, it's great that Tita and Pedro get one another because Rosaura passes away, and everyone seems to be in a better mood.

Is this supposed to be a 'great' ending to the story? I don't know if it is supposed to, I mean ... Rosaura's character was created so that Tita would not 'mess up' or get ahead of herself too much because of 'love'. I don't know how to say it; the ending with the fire was a great metaphor for everyone's kind of love or relationship. Great detail into how things were set up, how Tita and Pedro's bodies become like sparks which are misinterpreted to be explosions for Esperenza and Alex's wedding. By the time they return to the ranch, but it is ... burnt. Is the burnt ranch supposed to be a metaphor or similie to something?

don't worry, be happy

I thought that the end of the story was emotionally satisfying. Tita and Pedro had a kind of natural death together which is how it should be. However I do not agree with sacrificing your life if your significant other would lose his/hers for what ever reason. There are so many couples that live their lives together, and eventually one ends up passing away at some point in time whether it is young or old, and just because one doesn't kill themselves over it doesn't mean that they didn't love each other. Why do you have to give your life if your other half loses theirs? I felt that Janie had no reason to give her life after Tea Cake because she just learned who she was in life. Life is about being happy and satisfied with who you are and the experience life brings you . If you don't like yourself then maybe you should get some help. I think one of the biggest factors to a good life is knowing who you are. If you can't love who you are then how do you expect to love anyone else?

I have to say that I loved reading Like Water For Chocolate. To me the ending really was love. As we discussed in class, there love is to powerful to be alive on earth. Having them need to die just so they could be together is what I feel makes the story complete. Love is passion that is hot like fire. By the town burning down after they were finally together shows how strong their love really was for one another. Throughout the book we were always able to see the love that Tita and Pedro felt for one another. From the simple act of looking each other in the eyes to him being able to caress her body. Personally, I believe that Pedro's act of marrying Titas sisters to be closer to her was a good move. Knowing that he would always be connected to Tita through her sister is what allowed them to be together in the end. If he had not married Rosaura he may have never gotten to see Tita again. However, others could then argue if their love was so strong to begin with Pedro would have found a way to come back and find her. This is something we can only wonder about though. Another thing we discussed in class was that even through all the love in the story there was also a lot of deaths. It seemed to me that every step Pedro and Tita came closer together someone died right after. Then at the end when they were able to be together both of them died. I'm not really sure what to make of this, but i wonder if there is some significance for it?

The Ending

I like the ending of Like Water for Chocolate simply because Pedro and Tita finally get to be together with out anyone stopping them, like Mama Elena and Rosaura. Though it is exceedingly sad how they both turn out, at least they are together. As well as Esperanza and Alex. The ending is really emotional, as how I believe that a true love story should be. It's about romance, and romance is love and heartbreak, which this novel clearly portrays. This novel is full of ups and downs, and really is a true love story. I really enjoyed reading it.

Passion

I think the ending of Like Water For Chocolate was fitting to the story line. The idea of how their passion was too much for the living world to handle seems to hold true to the book. The entire story is building up this intense passion between them that is never fully satisfied. They did have affairs but I don't think it was an adequate outlet for the romance between them. They could never fully release all the pent up feelings for each other in a guilt free way until the ending. Which obviously, ignited such a passionate response that it resulted in Pedro's death and then followed, by Tita's.

I liked the symbolism with fire throughout the course of the novel. She uses it in many different ways, to symbolize the different intense emotions. The fire at the end seems to be a finale of all these different aspects of symbolism. The intensity of Tita's passion for Pedro is enough to ignite the matches and set flame to the entire ranch. I thought this was an eloquent way to mark an ending of a story that was always rich with symbolism and magical realism. The followup with the analogy of the matches was a great way to tie up that important moment in the middle of the book with the ending. I wouldn't necessarily call this ending a true tradegy, because there is no real sense of loss. Regardless of personal spiritual or religious beliefs, in the sense of Tita's mind, her and Pedro were going to be together. So it must of been the author's intention for this to be a love that will live beyond death. Personal beliefs aside, in the realm of fiction, I think this was a truely eloquent way to end the story for their love.

I surprised myself with this book, at the beginning of the semester this was one of the books I really didn't think I would like. I really enjoyed this novel, much more than Pride and Prejudice especially. I loved the magical realism of the story, since I love fantasy books so much, especially when they are combined with a romance story. I'm very happy that I took this course, it has opened me up to different types of novels that I normally would not have read on my own.

Rosaura's Strength

It truly took me until the very last chapter of this book to decide that I actually really liked it. Once the entire story came together, I found it to be a truly beautiful story of a lifelong love that no obstacle could extinguish. From the moment that Pedro and Tita’s eyes first met at a party, it was fascinating to follow their love story over the course of their lives as they grew, changed, and matured, but never fell out of love.

The person whose story I felt was underplayed in this book was Rosaura. She was at times portrayed as mean or unfeeling; however, I think that she was possibly the strongest character in the book. She was essentially forced into a marriage with a man that she didn’t love and who didn’t love her, and then spent her life watching that man continue his love affair with her sister. Although she struggled with it in the beginning, at the end of the book we discover that she in fact handled the situation with a great deal of grace throughout her life; that can’t possibly have been easy for her.

Although Tita is the character followed through the story, I really felt a connection to Rosaura’s strength and character. I think in her own way she truly loved Pedro too, and was able to see that the best thing for him was to step aside and allow him to be with her sister.

The Fire that Burns Inside

I really enjoyed the book "Like Water For Chocolate". The fact that it used a great deal of symbolism and magic realism was intriguing. I thought it was very ironic that the sister Rosaura, who listened to mama Elena about marriage was the least happy out of the three sisters. Gertrudis and Tita defied mama Elena and ended up getting married to people who actually loved them back. I think this shows that people shouldn't really follow what society and their parents say. You have to have the power to think for yourself and follow the love in your heart, no matter the costs. The fact that Esquivel also uses symbolism to show the emotions of characters was really neat. When Tita puts all her frustrations into the blanket it's because of her mother forbidding her to be with Pedro. That blanket turned out being crazy huge! It's symbolic because it shows the warmth that Tita longs for Pedro and it's kinda symbolic of the bridal scene and what she wishes/ hopes for in the future.The end of this book is very different then that of "Their Eyes are Watching God". In "Their Eyes are Watching God" in the end Janie chooses to save herself for love and shoot Tea cake while in this recent book it is the complete opposite. Tita sacrifices hersefl for the love of her and Pedro. I can't wait get more into Bet Me!