A Story of Love, Sex, and War that Belongs to Women

A quote on the back of the novel from the Boston Globe, "A story of love, sex, and war..that belongs to women" sums up this novel perfectly.

A Story of Love...
The most obvious form on love throughout the novel is Tita's instant and unnerving love of Pedro. It was an immediate, intense, uncontrollable love and I felt that my heart break along with Tita's when her mother quickly and flatly denied her of that love. It was very easy to relate to Tita's heartache and very difficult to understand how her mother could take away something so special and rare from her own daughter. Much like Tita, it was very difficult for me to understand this long standing tradition and her mother's unwillingness to break it. It is no wonder Tita grew to resent and eventually hate her own mother. I think I would do the same if I were in her position. A true love such as that between Tita and Pedro is unignorable and undeniable and to have try to hide it would be extremely painful.
I almost feel bad for Rosuara and the love she could have possibly grown to feel for Pedro. In this way alone, I feel like she was a slight victim, but in this way only. The fact that she knew of the love between Pedro and Tita and went ahead with marriage says a lot about Rosaura's character and seems to me that she's just plain selfish or so unindependent that she would do whatever her mother instructed her to do.
I also enjoyed thip in the novel. It seems that Tita learned so much more from Nacha, about life, love, family, and respect than she could have ever learned from Mama Eleana.

...Sex...
If only I could experience sex as its described in this novel! Bright lights and tunnels, scented of roses, fireworks and pent up passion, heart attacks and death! The sex scenes were few but intense, with one man seemingly getting all the action. I wonder if Pedro ever thought it strange to sleep with two sisters? I found it interesting the way the author described Pedro and Rosaura's mating sessions - strict and by the book, always using their wedding sheets (is that what they're called?) and never completely seeing each other naked. Whereas with Pedro and Tita there was color and fireworks, tunnels, candles, passion and lust. Is that because it was forbidden? I know certain acts are that much more enticing when they're off limits. Maybe sex with your first-love-brother-in-law is like that as well?

...War...
The most important "war" in this novel for me was between Mama Elena and Tita. It seemed they were always butting heads and disagreeing, everything Tita did not being good enough. I can't imagine a mother like that, how confusing and confound those feelings must be. And therefore that seems to bring about a war within oneself. On one side, a deep, innate, biological love for a mother and on the other side a nurtured, developed, fertilized hate for the same woman. That would definitely bring some inner turmoil for me. Other "war" type topics were the sisterly war between Rosuara and Tita, with Gertrudis being somewhat Sweeden-like and neutral. Poor Tita, having not only to fight her mother but also her sister. The other very obvious example of war in the novel was the Revolutionary war being fought in town. It was strange to me how it seemed that the war was so close and yet so far away, but never seemed to really affect their ranch, save the time when the revolutionaries came but Mama Eleana scared them off.

Overall, I enjoyed Like Water for Chocolate, excluding the sometimes very random, vague scenes when something somewhat mythical would happen. (My apologizes for not having a ready example of this). The love, sex, desire, heart break, and family bonds were easily relatable and the author did a good job of pulling certain emotional strings. I also enjoyed the format of the novel, with the recipes throughout each chapter.

L...is for the way you look at me

The novel Love evoked a vast array of emotions for the reader throughout the entire novel. Even throughout the Forward, I was highlighting and rereading passages just to be able to fully appreciate the text. Lines such as "The most bitter betrayal, of course, does not come from an enemy whose deceit one expects. It comes most chillingly from a friend, a trusted one - or one's one self" (Morrison, xi), reflect life's true ways and happenings. The author sprinkles the novel with such interesting life quotes such as that listed above; lines that make so much sense but it seems that they have never been said in such a way before. And because of this, it makes them stand out and makes the reader take notice.

O...is for the only one I see

The theme of Love is plastered all over the novel, all seemingly normal relationships but in someway slightly different than expected. There was the obvious, heterosexual love between Heed and Bill Cosey, although it was abnormal due to the large age gap between the two. There was the psuedo typical mother-daughter love between Christine and May, which was abnormal because of the way May sent her daughter away from her as to protect her from the goings-on at the hotel. Heed and Christine loved each other as best friends, which was twisted after Heed's marriage to Christine's grandfather, Bill.

V...is very, very extraordinary

To truly love someone is a very powerful thing, something that changes your life, a moment in time when everything thereafter will never be the same. And I think this is why it hurts like hell to "fall out of love"; although I don't believe that is exactly possible. I think it hurts so badly beacuse you're really just trying to distort, mold, disorganize, and piece together those emotions into something, or someone, else. And it hurts because that's not what you're supposed to do with those feelings, but we do it nonetheless.

E...is even more than anyone you adore can

In Love, there was a lot of this, molding, changing, disorganizing love. Bill Cosey and his love for his first wife and then changing that into love for Heed; the love shared between Heed and Christine as best friends; the mother-daughter love of May and Christine although Christine felt so rejected by her mother. In many ways the characters in the novel all tried to change and recreate their first feelings of love into other kinds of love, into maybe more socially acceptable or easier forms. But its obvious that love is not so easily thrown to the side or manipulated; love is a force to be reckoned with.

In reference to Lusting for Freedom

In the article, Lusting For Freedom, Walker identifies the many ways in which sex can affect a person, namely young girls. She herself was very young when she first began engaging in sexual activity and realized the many benefits of her sexual expereinces. Walker also accepts the fact that many sexual encounters of young females are not all happy-go-lucky. The ugly realities and consequences that sex can sometimes bring, such as sexually transmitted illnesses and pregnancy, are most often the only advertised components of sex. Walker brings to life the postive aspects that sexual relationships can offer, such as self exploration, confidence and pleasure, that are often times looked over in the media, in religion and by parents, in hopes that if only the consequences of sex are discussed, girls will remain innocent. Which as most of us know, is not true. In my own life, sex was never really discussed between my parents and I, although I always knew what was expected of me; to not have sex before marriage. Easy for them to say, as high school sweethearts who got married shortly after graduation. Fully aware of my parents, and my religion’s views of premarital sex, I did it anyway. And in many ways I was lucky enough to have good, self educated and self exploratory sexual relationships. Through these relationships I learned much about myself and other people, much like Walker mentioned.
I enjoyed this article because it puts light on the reasons every human being enjoys sex; not just for physical aspects of it, but for the education it can bring with it. I believe Walker brought up many well-justified points on the positive aspects that sexual relationships can bring and articles like these can begin to bring the “sex talks” into the new age. Many people today need to realize that sex is around and happening, whether it is liked or not, and because of this young people need to be educated on the entire subject, the good, the bad and the ugly. It is also very important not to hide information on healthy sexual relationships, birth control, abortions and teen pregnancy but to enlighten youth on all the possibilities and give them the chance to make the best educated decision for themselves. There are many things in life that do not go away just because they are not talked about, and sex is one of them. I enjoyed this article and its somewhat “alternative” outlook on sex. I believe there should be more articles such as this one circulated in today’s world.

i wish it was the weekend already.