Esquivils Like Water For Cholocate versus Mernissis Dreams of Trespass :: essays research papers

In both Fatima Mernissi’s novel, Dreams of Trespass, and Laura Esquivil’s Like Water for Chocolate, women are oppressed my invisible rules and boundries that are given to them by tradition and society. The female characters in both of these novels are given hardly any freedom and are expected to follow these unwritten laws or they will bring shame upon their families. However, in both of the novels we see that the lead female characters are able to gain power and break the frontiers that oppress them, by using the unwritten laws to their advantage. Ironically, they overcome their oppression by using that that oppresses them to their advantage. In Like Water for Chocolate, the protagonist, Tita, is oppressed by Mexican tradition. In Mexico, the youngest daughter of a family is not allowed to marry because her chief role in life should be to take care of her mother when she is too old to do so herself. Since Tita is the youngest daughter of her family, she is not allowed to marry the man she loves, Pedro, and is forced to spend her life cooking and caring for her mother while Pedro marries her sister. But as the novel goes on, cooking helps her break free from the restraint of her mother and tradition. Cooking is considered to be one for the things that she is oppressed by because she is forced to devote her life to it, but in actuality cooking helps her gain freedom and express emotion. She alters the traditional dinner recopies and is able to create food that is filled with so much passion that it allows her to communicate her love to Pedro. Every time Pedro tastes or smells one of her dishes he becomes overwhelmed with w armth and love. An example of this happening is when Tita prepares stuffed quail shortly after the death of Nacha, the family’s cook. â€Å"He (Pedro) couldn’t help closing his eyes in voluptuous delight and exclaiming ‘It is a dish for the gods’ (Like Water for Chocolate, page 51). Another time when Tita’s cooking strengthens her bond with Pedro is when she is cooking right after Pedro’s son is born. â€Å"Pedro, hearing her from the living room, experienced a sensation that was new to him. The sound of the pans bumping against each other, the smell of the almonds browning in the griddle, the sound of Tita’s melodious voice, singing as she cooked, had kindled his sexual feelings. Esquivil's Like Water For Cholocate versus Mernissi's Dreams of Trespass :: essays research papers In both Fatima Mernissi’s novel, Dreams of Trespass, and Laura Esquivil’s Like Water for Chocolate, women are oppressed my invisible rules and boundries that are given to them by tradition and society. The female characters in both of these novels are given hardly any freedom and are expected to follow these unwritten laws or they will bring shame upon their families. However, in both of the novels we see that the lead female characters are able to gain power and break the frontiers that oppress them, by using the unwritten laws to their advantage. Ironically, they overcome their oppression by using that that oppresses them to their advantage. In Like Water for Chocolate, the protagonist, Tita, is oppressed by Mexican tradition. In Mexico, the youngest daughter of a family is not allowed to marry because her chief role in life should be to take care of her mother when she is too old to do so herself. Since Tita is the youngest daughter of her family, she is not allowed to marry the man she loves, Pedro, and is forced to spend her life cooking and caring for her mother while Pedro marries her sister. But as the novel goes on, cooking helps her break free from the restraint of her mother and tradition. Cooking is considered to be one for the things that she is oppressed by because she is forced to devote her life to it, but in actuality cooking helps her gain freedom and express emotion. She alters the traditional dinner recopies and is able to create food that is filled with so much passion that it allows her to communicate her love to Pedro. Every time Pedro tastes or smells one of her dishes he becomes overwhelmed with w armth and love. An example of this happening is when Tita prepares stuffed quail shortly after the death of Nacha, the family’s cook. â€Å"He (Pedro) couldn’t help closing his eyes in voluptuous delight and exclaiming ‘It is a dish for the gods’ (Like Water for Chocolate, page 51). Another time when Tita’s cooking strengthens her bond with Pedro is when she is cooking right after Pedro’s son is born. â€Å"Pedro, hearing her from the living room, experienced a sensation that was new to him. The sound of the pans bumping against each other, the smell of the almonds browning in the griddle, the sound of Tita’s melodious voice, singing as she cooked, had kindled his sexual feelings.