Like Water for Chocolate

            When I was eighteen I didn’t get along with my overly religious mother. My spirit is one that is more carefree, spontaneous, untraditional, and not so good at taking orders from authority. Things got so bad that I left home. My values in life aren’t against my Christian up bringing. I just believe that once a child reaches a certain age then they need to be able to harness their individualism and not be oppressed by someone just because they do not agree with what the child wants. Everyone needs to be allowed to live life how they deem necessary.

            This feisty spirit against overbearing authority, made reading Like Water for Chocolate very difficult for me.  I hated Mama Elena from the beginning. No one has the right to control someone’s life past adolescence. Mama Elena forced Tita to stay single for the entirety of Mama Elena’s life.  Tita wasn’t allowed to find her own happiness. Mama Elena paired Tita’s boyfriend, Pedro, with her sister Rosaura instead of allowing Tita to be married and leave Mama Elena’s side.

            Rosaura is nothing more than a spoiled, selfish brat who whines and also expects everyone around her to serve her every whim. She doesn’t care that she betrayed her sister or married a man she knew didn’t love her. All she cared about was following tradition and making her mother happy. The fact that she became so physically revolting amused me greatly.

            Pedro can be seen as both a hopeless romantic who married into the family to be, as he stated, close to Tita. He can also be seen as a chauvinistic pig-man who monopolizes women. Personally, I think he betrayed Tita. He could never make either of them happy by being married to her sister and making babies with Rosaura.

            There was one character that I highly enjoyed following! I found the most relatable to be Gertrudis. Granted, it was a bit extreme that she left the ranch by running naked across a field and having sex on the back of a horse. Also, unlike Gertrudis working in a brothel for a year, I never became a stripper or hooker. It was the fact she broke free of her mother’s oppression and of strict tradition. It reminded me in a way of when I left my parents house.  Lastly, I have no skill for cooking.

This book is ALL about food, passion, love, and how everything can affect the other elements. Tita’s emotions flow through her cooking. When she is baking the cake with a broken heart it makes everyone who tries it so sad they get sick. When Pedro gives her roses, she makes them into a sensual dish that ignites sexual desire in everyone who tries it. Whenever anyone asks for her recipes she simply answers that it was made with love.

Nothing I have ever done has been by tradition.  I left home by packing my things and leaving while they were both at work. I met my husband on www.hotornot.com, asked him to take me on our first date a few weeks later, and eventually I bought a ring and proposed to him. The way that Tita stayed under her mother’s thumb for so long angered me. I begged the author to let her go! When Tita snapped and went to the hospital I felt sad. I wanted her away from the ranch, but I didn’t want her to live a life of sadness and heartache. The way the story ended just seemed right. The lovers died together and the horrible traditions with them.

Not just a picture book for adults: Zorro

            While I was growing up I used to read the comics in the paper every Sunday with my dad. Never once have I picked up an actual graphic novel because I was under the impression that they were nothing more than glorified comic strips. I have now learned that I was severely incorrect.

Zorro opened my eyes to another world of literacy. It showed me that graphic novels aren’t just adult picture books for short-lived entertainment. Every little stroke of the pen is struck in a manor to inflict the reader with an emotion. The words are placed in text bubbles and are in a font that strikes certain feeling into ones heart. The text bubbles are shaped to reflect the emotion inferred by the text it carries. The way each frame it set up also reflects the way the story plays out. Smaller frames overlap the larger picture in some areas to act as a build-up for the overall scene. The pictures themselves are in magnificent detail! Every character has emotion etched into their faces to convey to the reader the exact feeling of the scene. If the scene is a battle, then the illustration is a bloodbath, the rapes are graphic, and the love is overwhelming. One cannot help but be sucked into the story as if they were watching a movie and not reading a novel.
          One particular picture that captured my attention is in the second chapter when the pirates attack. The picture itself isn't completely in color. Diego is hiding behind his mother who is wielding  two swords, in preparation for battle. This picture is meant to catch attention and keep the reader interested in what happens next. The way the blood is shown, as the only color in the picture, lets one know that something graphic is about to happen. Human curiosity keeps the reader turning the pages. Later in the chapter when the attack actually happens, the warrior within Diego's mother emerges and she sacrifices herself for her son. Her face shows no signs of fear, and when her blade goes through a man's throat, the illustrator graphically depicts pieces of flesh and blood spewing out of the exit wound. Graphic novels even add in text to put sound affects into the reader's mind.

Zorro himself speaks to the reader in ways to captivate them. As a mestizo, half Indian and half Spanish, he is already in the oppressed minority. Most people are considered a minority in some way and upon learning Zorro’s heritage feels connected to him already.  Zorro’s Christian name is Diego de la Vega. His milk-brother, and best friend, is Bernardo. Bernardo is an Indian who acts as Diego’s servant. Their friendship grasps the reader’s attention and allows them to relate even more to the characters.  After the tragic experience against the raiding pirates that killed their mothers, Bernardo never speaks, and his friend’s mute tongue reminds Diego what fuels his desire for justice. The hate for the pirates, the remembrance of his mother, and the soldiers cruel acts against the minorities give him more than enough reason to embrace his talents with the sword and fight for justice.

After completing this amazing novel I have decided to investigate other graphic novels that I have been recommended. I am going to look more into Serenity; a novel based off the hit TV show Firefly, and Manga novels.