Chocolate Case

Extract pg.13 (1-10) Comments

Mama Elena received them in the living room. She was extremely polite and explained why it was impossible for Tita to marry.

"But if you really want Pedro to get married, allow me to suggest my daughter Rosaura, who's just two years older than Tita. She is one hundred percent available and ready for marriage..." In the passage from Like Water for Chocolate, Laura Esquivel illustrates the human tendency to prioritize traditional values over one's well being through the characterization of Mama Elena and deliberate word choice. Mama Elena is described as "extremely polite" (2) in the situation where Pedro is asking for permission to marry Tita. Though this character projects Mama Elena as an understanding, reasonable and a polite woman, the use of the word "extremely" (2) highlights the extra effort Mama Elena put in when explaining why Pedro couldn't marry Tita. The word choice emphasizes the importance Mama Elena feels for sticking to Tradition and Mama Elena leans more to the selfish and unreasonable type rather than the nice and forgiving. The author mentions that Mama Elena "explains why it was impossible for Tita to marry" (3-4). The word "impossible" is very definite. She offers an alternative to the situation when stating that Rosaura is "just two years older"(7), and "is one hundred percent available and ready for marriage." (8-10) Mama Elena carefully chooses her words to show Pedro that Tita and Rosaura are not so different and since Rosaura is "one hundred percent available", he might as well marry her. Her selfish acts demonstrate her desperation for sticking to family traditions. When Mama Elena asks for Pedro and his father to "allow"(6) her to "suggest"(6) her daughter, she doesn't have her daughter's best interests at heart. This passage clearly tears Mama Elena apart by describing her character in an indirect fashion. She won't allow Tita to marry Pedro because she believes in the long-standing Tradition that the youngest daughter is the one that needs to stay at home and take care of the mother. Through the use of word choice and characterization, Laura Esquivel illustrates our tendency to ignore another's well being and rights and care only for their own selfish wants.