Have you ever felt how unfair life is?
If you think life is unfair when a) your brother wins the remote control b) the girl you envy just won the quiz bee where you're good at or c) when most of your friends have huge allowances while you don't; then you're one hell of a lucky person.
We tend to think life is being unfair when we don't have what other people have, in short when we are in green envy of others.
But simple situations like those listed above are nothing compared to the life of Tita, the heroine of the novel Like Water for Chocolate.
Like Water of Chocolate follows the story of Tita, who all her life only wanted to marry her first and genuine love Pedro but because of their family tradition she was prohibited to do so. Being the youngest, she must take care of her mother until her mother dies.
Tita was miserable but her misery does not end there. What's worse is that Pedro married her older sister Rosaura for his reason that it was the only way he could stay near Tita. Tita was crushed and heartbroken, how could the man he love marry the sister she was not very fond of? Not only that, she had prepare the banquet for the wedding, endure the verbal abuse of her mother, hold the envy she felt for her sister and later on, resist the invitation from her only love Pedro.
Yes, as the story progressed, Tita and Pedro developed a 'secret' relationship. After holding their feelings, they finally agreed to share the sin of adultery when finally the only hindrance in their love, Tita's mother, died. They finally gave into the temptation. But Rosaura never gave up her battle even though it was obviously Tita who Pedro loved. Outside, they are considered as a perfect family; Rosaura and Pedro as the married couple, Esperanza as their daughter and Tita as the ever helping sister of Rosaura.
Despite her hatred for her sister, Tita became fond of her sister's child that she took care of her as if she was her own child. She also turned down a marriage proposal from a person she respected the most, from a person who could have given her the life she deserved after all the unfateful events in her life.
Tita showed different pictures as a woman. I wanted to pity her on the first part of the book. You know, the kind of woman who lost almost everything when the only thing she wants was taken away from her. I even admired her, for keeping a though face when Pedro and Rosaura got married. If I were her, I could have given up easily. I would even grab any form of escape from the reality becuase everything that she has gone through were too much to bear.
But on the latter part, I wanted to slap her. She had all the chance to be normal, to get out of the hell-like house she's living with her ungrateful family but she let go of it. Instead, she allowed herself to be a querida. She allowed herself to make love with a married man. And for her to do that in that period, I would not be surprised if people wanted to stone her.
She had all the elements to be character who readers want to love and at the same time hate. She has her reasons why she chose to lead that kind of life. Maybe it was love, one heck of a love. I don't know because I've not experienced it myself. What I know is that Tita's love for Pedro was enough for her to dedicate her life and throw it for Pedro.
Am I a fan of the book? Yeah, sure. It was the first of its kind that I was fortunate enough to encounter. With its montly installments and the technique of using magical realism to exaggerate ordinary scenes, I became a fan of the book and of the author.
Am I fan of Tita, the heroine? No, I don't think so. She's so vulnerable and I don't like the way her vulnerability led her to make her mistakes.
