Love Making That Will Kill You

Week 13 Like Water for Chocolate

In high school I was made to read this book. I loved it. But re reading it for this class, with Latin American cultures and values in mind was like reading a whole new book.
Tita is the youngest of three girls in a small Mexican family. She shares a love with Pedro, but is not allowed to marry him because it is custom in her family for the youngest daughter to take care of the mother until she dies. So, while Tita is taking care of her very cruel and abusive mother, Perdo agrees to marry Rosaura, the older sister. He said that it was so he could be close to Tita. Meanwhile Tita’s cooking skills are growing. Each chapter of the book begins with a recipe of hers, and then the atmosphere of that chapter revolves around what it was that she made. There is a lot of magical realism within the story.
The rest of the story goes by pretty quickly, considering how much goes on. Pedro and Rosaura have and loose a baby boy, they move away for health reasons and Tita blames her mother for the death of her nephew, her mother beats her so she runs away to this type of bird house and refuses to leave the spot. A doctor comes to talk her down, and finally he succeeds, but her mother won’t let “crazy people” into her house. So Tita goes to live with the doctor. They become close and are to be married, but Tita cannot forget her feelings for Pedro, who recently just had a second child with Tita’s sister.
Eventually Mama Elena dies and Tita is free to be with Perdo. Their love making is so hot, that Perdo dies. And later while thinking about that night, Tita insights a fire and burns down the house, herself in it.
This is another story about oppression. Tita was oppressed by her mother and the traditions of her family. Like the others Tita fought the oppression, this time cooking was her tool, and in the ed she got what she wanted.
She definitely got the short end of the stick and the story didn’t end happily, but it is still a loveable tale and the recipes sound great! Plus the magical realism makes it rather funny and entertaining too.

1. Alyssa- The book takes place in the 1840s, in Buenos Aires, Argentine.
2. Beatriz- Her grandmother had been gotten in trouble with the government for being a spy and instead of imprisonment.
3. Brandon- Her father is a strong supporter of the dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas, but Camila is not.
4. Candace- They each try desperately to avoid this possible love affair as he is a priest and can not take a wife for it will interfere with his devotion to god, and she is the daughter of a socialite who is expect to marry a man of a certain class standard.
5. Kathy- the true story of forbidden love and personal struggle.
6. Kelsey- Camila is a woman who expresses her thoughts and is very rebellious.
7. Kim- Ladislao is the nephew of the governor.
8. Logan- both Camila and Father Gutierrez were oppressed by the laws of a dictator.
9. Maria- They ran away to a town together and became educators.
10. Melissa- Adolfo dislikes his mother and Camila talking to each other, he kicks Camila out and says not to visit her.