Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel by Carolina

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel by Carolina - October 2023 Scholarship Essay

As a hopeless romantic, I like happy endings. I’ve watched Titanic and read Of Mice and Men, but I’ve never particularly enjoyed the sadness that comes with this kind of entertainment; it’s not my cup of tea. I’ve always wondered why anyone would willingly put themselves through pain, through heartache? I recognize that this is a flawed perspective, but up until this point in my life, I had decided that I’d rather paint a smile on my face than shed tears of sorrow when devouring a novel or a movie. That is, until July of 2023 when my mom recommended a book titled Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. Completely misinforming of the plot, she told me that the book was about a woman who made a man fall in love with her through her recipes and culinary talents. Of course, I decided to read it; it sounded like it was going to be a great story with a great ending where the characters fall in love and live happily ever after. This hope was cut short pretty quickly.
To give a quick synopsis, the novel is about a woman named Tita who is madly in love with a man named Pedro. However, because Tita is the youngest daughter in her household, and because of traditions of machismo in early 20th century Mexico, she is not allowed to marry, as she is responsible for taking care of her mother until death. One day, Pedro asks Tita’s mother, Mama Elena, for Tita’s hand in marriage to which Mama Elena responds with a firm no and the promise of Tita’s older sister, Rosaura, to Pedro. The story follows a long, complicated, and painful journey in which Tita and Pedro are in love, but can’t do a single thing about it. I wouldn’t want to be the person to spoil it, because I would genuinely like for you, the reader of my essay, to experience this novel in its full capacity, with every shock and twist along the way. However, for the purpose of this essay, I must describe the ending. Thirty years pass after Rosaura marries Pedro before Tita and Pedro are finally allowed to be together. After spending such a long time not being able to fully indulge and experience their love for each other, they are finally united. And you know what happens? As they are making love, Pedro dies of a heart attack, and soon after, Tita dies of a broken heart.
This book was thought-provoking, emotion-inducing, overall electrifying. The characters were so well-written, having both flaws and virtues and growing from and despite their circumstances. The structure of the novel was intelligent: written in the form of a recipe book with each chapter being about a different recipe and its connection to Tita’s life. Esquivel beautifully implements bits and pieces of magical realism and imagery to enhance key concepts of life, love, responsibility, traditions, and gender roles. This book moved me, in a way which no other book ever had before. I keep trying to chase the feeling that I felt when I finished reading it; to chase that high, and I’m afraid that I won’t ever read a book as cathartic as this one. I’m grateful to this novel, because I finally understand the significance of pain and sadness, the reality of it.
I’m sitting here, writing this essay, and I’m sobbing from the sadness that this book makes me feel, simply by thinking about it. You can imagine how heartbroken I was after freshly finishing it; I was in a slump for days, not knowing how to move on and say goodbye to the characters and story which had gripped onto my heart and evoked such an intense emotion. I didn’t expect much from this book, but it deeply impacted my perspective on the happiness which I so greatly desired prior to reading it. I realized that the pain and sadness which the book made me feel was a much more substantial and powerful reward than the happiness ever gave me. In Spanish, there is a phrase that goes as such: “Valio la pena”, meaning, to us Hispanics, that something is worth it. However, in direct translation, this phrase means that something is worth the sacrifice or pain. I don’t know why we misuse it, it's simply just custom. Yet, after deep reflection I realize that this book “valio la pena”; the sorrow having been worth the exhilarating and emotional journey and lesson I learned.