One of the main aspects in the novel Like Water for Chocolate is magical

Jacquelyn Barrett’s spookiest experience was, less than a year ago, she got a call from my oldest sister Hannah saying,”did you hear what happened to Grandpa Barrett?” For over two hours she was stuck inside of Citrus Valley Gym, playing with the boys volleyball team. Right after practice ended, her mom got a call from her dad and the next thing she remembers her mom saying “do you know? Grandpa Barrett passed away about a half an hour ago. “Right away on that day 3 April 2017 at 4:50 her life had changed forever. This scenario relates to Gothic literature and Magical realism because it was a very surreal moment. These genres are similar because both genres blend reality and magical moments in one. Gothic literature is a setting that begins with bleak setting and has an ambiguous ending. Also it has a scary and mysterious feeling and makes you wonder what's going to happen next. It impacts the reader by putting intelligent words and a gloomy setting. A example of gothic literature is in the story “Where is here”. In the story “Where is Here” a stranger appears at the family's house and the family reacted with curiosity and concern(69). Magical Realism is a literary genre, therefore there is a realistic narrative and natural techniques, combine with surreal elements of dream or fantasy. Julio Cortazar’s “House Taken Over” is a good example of Magical Realism because both the brother and sister started to hear “noises” coming from a part of the house, so they limited

With the use of narrative strategies, Laura Esquivel was able to portray tone, mood, and purpose throughout the novel, “Like Water for Chocolate”. In this passage, he protagonist Tita is described cooking Ox-Tail soup and recalls to the times with her best friend Nacha who passed away. Nacha was Titas true mother figure in her life, she was the one who taught Tita how to cook, clean, and everything else. Through Esquivel's style she presents a wistful tone by reminding the reader of the memories Tita shared with her friend Nacha. Titas cooking is now a tribute that Nachas soul is alive within her food.                                 Esquivel's notion of Tita and Nachas memories she creates a reminiscent mood because of the sadness she felt

Like Water For Chocolate is one of the Laura Esquivel’s books. The uniqueness of this book is that it uses the cooking, or recipe, to tell a story. In the story, she uses the magic realism, which expresses a primarily realistic view of the real world while encompassing a range of subtly different concepts, to reveal her familiar theme ‘love.’ To summarize the book, there is the family tradition that the last daughter needs to take care her mother until mother’s death without the marriage. The protagonist of this book, Tita, is the last daughter of her family, and therefore, she cannot marry with her love. So, there is the conflict between Mama Elena, who wants to keep the tradition, and Tita, who wants to marry with her love, Pedro, even if it forces family tradition. Esquivel utilizes magic realism to expose the passion to keep family tradition, family relationship, and the complexity of love.

In the book “Bless Me, Ultima” by Rudolfo Anaya there are many occurrences of magical realism. The story is focused around one boy named Antonio. throughout the book Antonio sees and learns different things that will change him forever. He learns that there is evil everywhere in the world. Antonio also meets new people who will mold him into who he is at the end of the book. By the end of the book Antonio loses his innocence and understands how the world really is. Antonio grows up because he experiences life changing events.

The conventions of Myths, Fables, and allegory all have magical elements in common like magical realism. But what sets magical realism aside from these genres is that it portrays magical or unrealistic elements in such a way that it is viewed as natural. Matthew Strecher defines magical realism as “what happens when a highly detailed realistic setting is invaded by something too strong to believe”. Some elements that authors use to support magical realism is using unexplainable things/events in the context to be normal, metamorphosis occurring, and not using regular constructs of time.

She goes from a mellow, passive, or almost barely speaking, to an aggressive and advocating tone against her mother and her sister Rosura. She is quick with her response, and raises her voice when arguing with them. The figurative language in the story depicts the transformation that Tita has to go through. The figurative language shows the sturdy connection between human’s feelings and food or women and their bodies. Poison is being used as a metaphor to indicate how the old society is being corrupted by new society. The magical realism, gives us the blend of an ordinary life with magic. Things that would never happen in reality, but is imported from the beginning to the end of “Like Water for chocolate” to make it enchanted. The story help us readers predict by delivering a hint of something that’s going to occur in the future. It foreshadows with in the lines and the ingredients that is listed at the beginning of every chapter. In the beginning of the chapter the setting of the story indicates the tradition of a girl being raised in the kitchen. Tita is the first in her family to make a different to go beyond the “status quo” and discontinue the oppression of women. She gives women a passage to have to make their own decisions, follow their hearts, but to never forget where they come from.

Society has progressively normalized judgemental behavior, which has caused an increase in social shunning and rejection towards people that "different". Many people tend to form opinions about others without educating themselves first. Instead of gathering facts, they immediately allow their fear of the unknown to form the basis of their opinions. This judgemental behavior has become more common, making it almost impossible for one to fit in if they can't conform to a certain social stigma. Two movies that prove this theory correct are Practical Magic and The Craft. Both movies have different ways of displaying similar themes and main ideas such as the effects of bullying, witchcraft and magic, and sisterhood.

Latin American literature is perhaps best known for its use of magical realism, a literary mode where the fantastical is seamlessly blended with the ordinary, creating a sort of enhanced reality. Though magical realism is practiced by authors from other cultures, the works of authors Salman Rushdie and Toni Morrison, for example, are notable examples of non-Latin works in which magical realism has been used to both great effect and great celebration, it is in the works of Latin American authors where the style has flourished and made its mark on the literary world. Yet even in Latin American works we can find many different kinds of magical realism, all used to achieve a different end. In the works of the Cuban poet and novelist

In Like Water for Chocolate, the main protagonist, Tita sacrifices her love for a man because of her values and wanting to honor them. Throughout the novel, her values are scattered throughout the book and you have to learn them one by one. Tita’s values consist of her cooking, nurturing, and family traditions. Sacrifice plays a big role in Like Water for Chocolate. Values and standards play an even bigger role.

Magical realism is a type of writing where two views of reality come together. There are numerous of ways magical realism is expressed in Latin American writing. A very common one amongst stories is open-ended conclusion in which we the readers just have to accept it. Usually magical realism is used as a metaphor for something more meaningful. One story that conveys a lot of magical realism is The Third Bank of The River by João Guimarães Rosa. The story is about the narrator's dad who was quite the quiet man, who one day bought a boat fit for one. He entered the river and never spoke a word to another soul again. The son is the only one who stays at the house in case of the father's return. He leaves food out for him so that he will survive, until one day he makes an offer to his father, and ends up fleeing in terror.

There is no doubt that magic is present in the Snow White fairytale by the Brothers Grimm; in fact, magic remains pretty common through fairytales as a whole. But there may be more magic then originally meets the eye. Some aspects are very easy to pick out either because they are blatantly called magic or they are events or actions that defy physics or common logic. This being said, some magical acts especially within Snow White are not so easily spotted. Most people know the mirror and the apple were magic, and in the Disney version the true loves kiss was magic, but Snow White herself seems to contain magical characteristics either by birth that appear to grow along with her which allow her to save

Imagine, every morning you wake up to the sound of the rooster singing. Not to the normal crow a rooster makes, but to a beautiful sonata that wakes your soul up from a deep slumber. It may not sound too realistic in our real word, but to a writer, this can bring special emphases to the story’s meaning. This literary practice is called magical realism. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines magical realism, or magic realism as they put it; 1) painting in a meticulously realistic style of imaginary or fantastic scenes or images; and 2) a literary genre or style associated especially with Latin America that incorporates fantastic or mythical elements into otherwise realistic fiction. It is the second definition that author Laura Esquivel, incorporates magical realism into her book, Like Water for Chocolate. Many of the themes and emotions in the book are emphasized with the use of Magical realism.

The title of this novel, Like Water for Chocolate, is also a simile for the burning passion Tita and Pedro had for each other. In Latin countries, “like water for chocolate” mean to boil water to the right temperature in order to make chocolate milk. Figuratively it is a metaphor for state of sexual arousal. Despite their true love for each other, Tita and Pedro had to restrain their feelings under the eyes of society. Their love is like the boiling point of water.

As Esquivel describes the inner emotions of Tita; the main protagonist, through the use of descriptive metaphors she asserts that “The anger she felt within her acted like yeast on bread dough. She felt it's rapid rising flowing into every last recess of her body; like yeast in a small bowl, it spilled over to the outside, escaping in the form of steam through her ears, nose, and all her pores” (Esquivel 149). Her use of metaphors enable the reader to visualize Tita’s anger and frustration by relating them to food items. The way Esquivel is very descriptive when expressing the emotions of Tita convey the mood of resentment; because of the all too familiar feeling of loving someone who you can not be with.

This is further accentuated by preparatory silent grief. This is when they wish they could do something they always used to, but hasn't missed it until it is gone form them, in example they would like to see their children again.